As you heal from delivery, you’ll be dealing with a lack of sleep and a general lack of self-confidence, not to mention the fogginess until the baby arrives. So here a few preparations you can do before the baby arrives.
- Plan a photoshoot: You may think it’s too costly or difficult to fit a photographer into your schedule during the first week of your newborn’s life, but you’ll be glad you did once you have the pictures to look back on. Professional photographs are unmatched, and the right photographer will make your baby look totally adorable. You’ll treasure those photos for the rest of your life, I promise! The truth is that your newborn will develop very quickly!
- Everyone hates it, but my baby is almost a month old and looks nothing like that 6 day old picture. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your children, and it’s well worth it. Before you have the baby, arrange a meeting with a photographer and get to know them, so that it will be comfortable to plan a shoot later! Make sure to stock up on good organic baby clothes as well.
- Deck yourself up before the photoshoot: What is the reason for this? Because, mama, you’ve earned it! Your back will hurt from trying to nurse, and you won’t have time to do your hair with a toddler who wants to be held and fed all the time. Self-care was not a priority for me with my first daughter, so this time I’m making it a priority so I don’t burn out like I did the first time. As I previously stated, the photographs you will take will be ones that you and your baby will cherish indefinitely. During the shoot, you want it at your finest. Furthermore, the more at ease you are, the more at ease your child will be. Happy mama equals happy baby, always!
- Don’t wait, get an appointment with a lactation counselor: This is something I had not anticipated. To prepare to feed your first child, we usually read about breastfeeding and try to do as much research as I could, but consulting a lactation counsellor sooner will save you the burden. Despite the fact that my nipples were bleeding and burning after my first daughter was born, lactation consultants and pediatricians in the hospital failed to notice that she wasn’t sucking any milk. She appeared to have a strong latch and could nurse for hours. However, I had no idea she couldn’t suck hard enough to have something because she had a tongue tie. A good lactation consultant would have diagnosed my daughter’s tongue tie problem right away, preventing it from becoming an ongoing crisis for the first four months of her life and causing milk supply problems for me.
- Stock up on supplies: Because it will be difficult to get to the store during the first two weeks, make sure you have all of your personal supplies. In your nursing nook, keep lotion, breast pads, maxi pads, Paracetamol, aspirin, wipes, bottles, and nursing bras on hand. Also, in those first two weeks, make sure you have some books to read. You may not have the opportunity to read, but you might enjoy getting some free time to do so. I was so busy in the weeks leading up to the birth of the baby that I relished the opportunity to sit on the couch and do nothing but read, nurse, and sleep for the first two weeks. Make sure to stock up on baby essentials as well, such as organic baby sets, crib etc.
- Get your groceries sorted early for a few weeks after delivery: Make sure you have food in your pantry and freezer that you can grab and eat fast. Before the baby arrived, I went to Supermarket and bought as many healthy food snacks as I could. Create a weekly shopping list with the essentials that you can hand over to someone else, along with nutritious eating choices that they can pick up for you.
- For smoothies, I had berries, vegetables, dairy, avocado, and spinach on my list. It feels great to eat healthy for the first two weeks, so resist the urge to eat junk food. I’m so grateful I made a promise to myself to keep healthy meals on hand in my kitchen. You can’t exercise for the first six weeks, so you can feed your body anything it wants to stay healthy.
AUTHOR’S BIO:
I am Lana Murpy, a post-graduate in humanities and communications, and an inquisitive person who loves writing. My forte is digital marketing and everything that has to do with phones and screens. I’m working for Tiny Twig . I am someone who believes that one person can make a change and that’s precisely why I took up writing which is the best tool to communicate these days. I have a decade of experience in writing and marketing.
