Getting Ready for Baby: 7 Things You Might Want to Do Before Delivery

In less than two weeks, I’ll be welcoming in my new baby, and my nesting is in overdrive. If you’re welcoming a new baby soon and anything like me, you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed. Sure, you want to get your nursery in order and all of the baby’s things prepped and ready for his or her arrival, but what else do you need to do? Here’s my list of all the things you might want to do before for delivery.

ONE.

Get any last minute appointments done and enjoy some alone time. 

When was the last time you cut your hair? Need to see your eye doctor or dentist? Need a mani/pedi? Get all of these things done ASAP. Because it will take an act of Congress to get these things done when you’re living life with a newborn.

TWO. 

Sneak in one more date night (with your spouse and your first child(ren) individually). 

One thing I’ve been trying to do is spend quality time with my little babe and big babe. Yes, you probably spend time together with your people all the time, but is it intentional, undivided attention time? Go on one last date with your spouse to enjoy some adult time, or take your little one who is about to be a big sister or brother out for a fun activity, just the two of you. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

THREE.

Pack your hospital bag. 

Since this is my second baby, I’ve been really lax when it comes to having my bag packed, but I do have a mental list of all the things I need. (I wrote this post, Hospital Bag Necessities, two years ago, and I’ll be going over it again in the next couple of days and sharing my updated version soon.) If this is your first child, you’ll probably have your bag packed as soon as you are in the third trimester. Perfectly fine. You’ll be way ahead of the game.

For me, it’s been three and a half years since packing my first hospital bag, so I knew I needed a few new things for the hospital. My go-to website for cute maternity clothes has been Pink Blush Maternity. I absolutely love the fabrics they use, and the beautiful designs and details of all of their pieces. Nothing is ever frumpy. Each piece always makes me feel pretty and stylish, even when I’m nine hundred months pregnant.

grey crochet trim maternity/nursing robe (comes in multiple colors)

You absolutely need a nightgown and a robe. These fabrics will feel so great after delivering and bringing in a new baby into the world, making these two pieces a must-have.

grey ruffled trim maternity/nursing sleep dress (comes in two other colors)

For my going home outfit, I’m staying a realist in knowing that I’ll probably be more swollen coming out of the hospital than going in. Even Princess Kate walked out proudly rocking her pooch.

Light Grey Maternity/Nursing Dress (two colors)

I also thought about how whatever outfit I was wearing would need to be nursing and c-section friendly. Pink Blush delivered again. This dress will be worn the day we go home from the hospital, and I’m praying that something fits on my feet, otherwise I’ll be Flintstone-ing my way out of there.

FOUR.

Deep clean your house. 

Whether you deep clean your house yourself, enlist your family members to lend a helping hand, or hire a professional, you’ll definitely want to clean your house to be sparkling clean. Newborns are susceptible to germs. Make sure they will come home to a clean environment.

FIVE.

Clear out the memory on your phone. 

Right now, I have over 11,000 pictures and 400 videos on my cell phone. Crazy, right? One thing you’re going to be doing once that new baby comes is snapping even more pictures! You’ll definitely want to have as much free storage on your phone as possible.

One way I like to back up my iPhone pictures without hogging up space on my cloud, my computer, and my phone, is to back them up to two places.

The first place I back up my pictures is on my external hard drive (I have 2TB). The second place I like to back them up and to still have them at my finger tips on my phone is the AmazonPhoto app.

If you have Amazon Prime, you have access to this for free. You can upload unlimited photos to Amazon’s photo app, and you can turn on the auto-save feature. The auto-save feature will back up all of your photos when you open the app, just make sure you do this while on wi-fi.

Then, once you’ve backed up your photos to at least two places, you can free up the space on your phone and still have access to your photos. If you want to save videos, it will save 3GB worth of them, but after that, you will have to pay an extra fee. I just move my videos to my external hard drive.

Side note: If you don’t already have Amazon Prime, you can try it for free for 30-days. I highly recommend that any new mom have this service. My favorite things about Amazon Prime is that you get free two-day shipping, access to Amazon Prime Now (because you probably won’t be running to the store as easily as you used to), unlimited photo storage, and on-line video streaming, which brings me to…

SIX.

Queue movies and series on your TV or iPad (or download books).

Friend, you are about to embark into a land called sleep deprivation. You’ll be feeding your little babe throughout the night for at least several weeks (maybe even a year), so the TV (or your phone/iPad) is going to become your new BFF.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can add movies and series to Your Watchlist. Right now I have Downton Abbey (because I’ll be re-watching the entire series), Mr. Selfridge, The Newsroom, and Z at the ready.

On Netflix, I have Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Madmen, Scandal, and Grey’s Anatomy lined upDownload e-books should be at your fingertips if reading is your jam. I have these books on my iPad, because there was no way I finished my summer reading list.

If TV or reading isn’t your thing (because your eyes might grow weary reading), you could also choose to listen to audio books. Audible is my favorite way to listen to audio books (it’s what I used to use when I taught, too), and if you’d like to try it out, you can try it for free for 30 days and receive two free audio books. Just be sure to cancel before your trial is up if it’s not your thing.

SEVEN.

Make some lists and prepare for life postpartum. 

So now that you’ve done all of the above, you’ll need to make some last minute to-do lists. Here’s what’s on mine:

• Call your pediatrician to make sure he/she is taking on new patients.
• Verify insurance coverage and get a new breast pump through them.
• Get up to date with any vaccines your doctor has advised you to get.
• Make sure to have all of these breastfeeding essentials ready to go at home if you’re nursing.
• Have all of these postpartum survival guide items on hand at home.
• Go over these Best New Mama Advice pins on Pinterest:
• Verify last appointments with OB.
• Communicate child care for your children.
  • Who will be watching them while you’re away?
• Find someone to watch your pet(s) while in the hospital.
• Visit the hospital with your child(ren).
• Make sure your house is baby-ready.
  • Do you have your bassinet and swing/bouncer out and ready to go?
  • Baby clothes, blankets, swaddles, wash clothes, and burp cloths washed?
• Make a list of people to call and text when baby arrives. Give this list to your spouse!
• Update your address book if you’ll be sending out birth announcements.
• Line up a newborn photographer if you’ll be using one.
• Communicate to family that you need to be the first person to announce the baby’s arrival on social media.
• Receiving visitors at the hospital? Be sure to communicate that info to your people.
• Have your friends set up a meal train for you? Check with them. Otherwise, have your fridge stocked or freezer meals ready.

That’s all, folks! If you’re reading this because you’re about to bring home a new baby, good luck, friend! Take deep breathes and know that it will be all good.

Veteran mamas, did I miss anything? 

Don’t forget to check out more info about all things new mom world in the New Mama 101 series.

Disclosure: Although this is not a sponsored post, I was given the Pink Blush Maternity items in exchange for a review of the items. All opinions as always are my own.

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