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Five Ways To Prepare For Parenthood - Without.......

One of the most popular events for expectant parents is a baby shower. The opportunity for your friends and family to shower you in gifts and lavish love upon you and your baby is one that you will remember for the rest of your life. The thing is, when you’re a sleep deprived expectant mother, you’re the perfect target for retailers – as are your friends and family. Everyone will buy into the gizmos and the gadgets that are out there and are created under the guise of making early parenthood easy for you. You’ll be gifted Diaper Genies and automatic stroller rockers and diaper cakes to last you the entire first year of your baby’s life. Your house is going to be chock full of ‘stuff’ that retailers will tell you that your child needs, and here’s the reality: what you need is to take your time.
 
Planning for a baby? Not easy. Most people like to think of how to decorate the nursery and which daycare centers they should budget for. But the best way that you can prepare for your new arrival isn’t to spend your afternoon going broke and building furniture. You need to prepare by building your village to help you with your new baby. You need to think about what college fund you’d like to start, and the best savings account for kids that all those baby shower attendees can funnel their cash toward instead of throwing gifts at you. Relaxing and getting yourself centered in the moment, ready for the big show of labor is more important than a bundle of sleep suits that you’re going to wash, hang and rewash before the baby arrives. Below, we’ve got five of the best ways that you can get ready for your new baby and you won’t even have to step foot into a store.


Stop Rushing. There is going to be plenty of time for rushing around when you’re hunting down clean clothes and burp cloths at three in the morning. You don’t need long lists telling you what to do before the baby comes, because your new child is going to turn your whole life upside down as it is. Don’t redecorate or relocate. Use the time that you have right now to relax and learn to sit still. There won’t be too much of that soon enough.


See Friends. It takes a village to support a new mother, let alone to raise a child. Make friends at baby prenatal. Nourish existing friendships and make plans to see each other in the lead up to your due date. Fill your entire life with your friends and you can build a community of people that will want to continue to see you all when the baby comes. Far more valuable than a singing stuffed bear!


Medical Providers. Okay, so while you won’t be in a store, there is a little shopping involved. For medical providers. Interviewing obstetricians and viewing hospitals is important. If you want to have a birth in the home, you need to select your doula and your midwife. Each of these medical personnel will need to be carefully selected by both of you. Ring your friends who have already experienced the miracle of childbirth and see if you can get some reviews.


Sleep. Your body is a temple, one that is creating eyeballs and fingernails and building the chambers of the heart. You need rest. As much sleep as your body will allow you to have, you need to grab with both hands. There will not be much time for sleep when you have a newborn in the house, so don’t take your sleep for granted.


Write. Write a diary through your pregnancy for your baby. Make it an 18th birthday gift to remember if you must. Fill it with your best advice, cooking tips, instructions for sewing and crafts. Anything that you can think of that would be useful, add it into the book and make it something that your child will love. Take the time to do it now before you’re stuck in a cycle of feed, burp and sleep and you suddenly no longer find the time for much!
 
Babies take up a lot of your time and pregnancy will make you see life in a different way than before. Put down the shopping lists and the paraphernalia and just let yourself be. Life’s about to change in a big way. Embrace every moment.

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