To Do Before the Baby Arrives « Back to Group Discussions

[Tbutton]

I am now 34 weeks along, and I have SO much to do before baby gets here. I was feeling completely overwhelmed this morning, so I found the suggestion to write down absolutely everything, divide it into categories, and then prioritize. Unfortunately, there wasn't one thing I could actually take off the list, but it's already helped me feel less overwhelmed. Beyond that, I thought it would be fun to make a thread where we could all share our to do lists before baby's big day, and then periodically update with the things crossed out that we've accomplished! I thought it would be encouraging and maybe we could help give each other good ideas. 

If no one else is interested, just ignore this!!

Here is my list from this morning- I've crossed out what I've already gotten done today.

To Make:

Diaper Covers

Mama Cloth

2 Wet Bags

Baby Book for new baby

Finish baby book for Samantha

Wipes Solution

Nursing Camisoles

To Clean/Organize:

Clean out Fridge

Clean bathroom rug

Handwash Samantha's new clothes

Set up sewing machine

Unpack the rest of DH's stuff

Organize master closet

Organize bedroom (especially desk/dresser)

Declutter kitchen counter

Get rid of any unnecessary knick knacks

Get files in order (get DH to fix filing cabinet)

Wash clothes for new baby

Get together birth supplies

Wash quilt on dryer

Erase walls

To Buy/Errands:

Get Groceries

Buy washable dog diapers- return disposables (dog in heat)

Buy Carseat and CD on Amazon on Cyber Monday

Get dogs nails clipped

Buy birthday gift for DH

Buy Christmas gifts

Buy new baby's things- diapers, cloth safe diaper cream, bath sponge, baby shampoo

Get plastic drawers for new baby's clothes/blankets

Buy more supportive nursing bra (any suggestions for a nursing bra that doesn't make your boobs look saggy under a shirt??)

Buy pails for diapers and mama cloth

Buy hardware to hang painting in living room

Buy magic erasers

Buy freelance writing book

Miscellaneous Tasks:

Get as much glitter as possible off Samantha's new dress

Facetime grandparents with Sam wearing new dress

Email breeder about Ladybird

Create menu for the week

Writer letter to California

Cancel phone lines with Verizon

Get Tricare referral

Call property manager?? (ask DH)

Find/buy new charger for camera

Finish reading Emergency Childbirth Manual to DH

Find new ways to celebrate Advent

[tiqa]

I love lists because crossing things off them feels so good.  Need to make one of my own soon.  :)

[sapientia]

I have a list too-here's to getting through them in time! :)

As for nursing bras-I finally broke down and bought a few (actually dh made me do it-I hate buying stuff for myself) from the motherhood maternity store-just got their 

nursing sports bra and it's pretty nice. I like it.

[tiqa]

My list... in no particular order.

- Get car maintenanced - see how much snow tires would cost (yeah right, we won't get them probably, bah)

- Pay midwife

- Get rest of stuff on midwife's supply list

- Get fireplace fixed

- Complete a No-Spend Challenge (did horrible in November!)

- Deep clean everything

- Set up furniture once it arrives (it's not baby stuff, it's like, actual furniture my mom is sending from her house)

- Call movers to unload said furniture

- Make some freeze-ahead meals

- Finish manuscript

- Drop everything off at the thrift store

- Call doctor to see if DS needs to go in

- Make appts with the optometrist and dentist for DS and DD

- Find a pediatrician for the baby (and all the kids, really, we've just been going to urgent care)

- Set up health insurance for the baby (our rates will actually go DOWN a whopping $3 a month adding another kid!)

It doesn't look that long but a lot of the items are big ones - like the whole "finish my book" and "clean EVERYTHING" as well as scavenging for supplies etc.  Not to mention the kids are sick and have been so messy and stir-crazy to the point that DH says we should just quit homeschooling and send them to school to get them out of our hair for a few hours a day.  I'm seriously tempted but... just not thrilled about the idea. =/

[Tbutton]

I'm so glad I'm not alone!

Thanks, sapientia, for the nursing bra suggestion!

Tiqa- it sounds like you've got a lot on your plate- I hope things fall into place relatively easily . I can understand how you feel about wanting to get kiddos out of your hair. They must sense the tension because my daughter seems to be hanging by a thread lately. Even our dogs our losing their minds!

I'll post later with an updated list! I hope it doesn't say anything to terrible about me that I find the list sharing so exciting!

[J1379]

Tbutton - these are the best nursing bras I have ever bought:

http://www.bravadodesigns.com/shop/maternity-and-nursing-bras-and-tank

They are a bit pricey...but well worth it!!! I have been able to get them on some good sales online in the past.

[AnahataChakra]

I agree about the bravados I am trying to get together some $$ to get one or two..

Here is my list:

To buy or make:

cloth wipes

bravado tank top

wipe warmer

more cloth dipes

more mama pads(i like the happy heinys brand)

baby seat or swing

baby wash and baby towel

amber necklace

umbillical cord capsules

arnica

more capsules for my placenta

geranium and lavender oil

sitz bath stuff

a cabbage for breasts after 

some comfrey butt gel or balm

To do:

-Order birth kit or put one together

-blow up tub to make sure no holes

-come up with a better plan of where to have tub and set up birth area(kids sleep upstairs in the room next to us so if it happens at night they would wake up but I like the idea of having birth support downstairs and quiet cave upstairs I would appreciate advice here)

-Keep kitchen clean and organized(staying on top of fridge)

-Freezing some cooked beans, some broth, some bread, chili, some muffins maybe

-come up with some kind of gift for brother and sister to keep them busy(baskets maybe)

-Figure out jobs for all the ladies that may come to help(cooking, childcare,flower getting, picture taking, keeping water boiling for the tub, doula-ing)

-christmas!?  figure out how to not spend a ton with out trying to make too much ugg!

-Organize my office I will be working lightly from home after baby is born

-get new tags for car and get car into shop

-get wic appt set up

-cut sons hair

-find them all a new peditrician

-stock pantry with easy kid friendly snacks

-get windows weatherized

-replant my raspberry plants :)

-get my hair cut and get in to acupuncture(seems like a luxury at this point)

-keep up with daily mayan massage, exercises and ball sitting(figure out if baby is in good position and then work towards that)

-Set up my daughters homeschool area with activities

-Organize and clean my closet

[Tbutton]

Thanks for the Bravado suggestions! I might just have to ask for that for Christmas from my DH or mom- they look perfect!

Here is my progress report!

To Make:

Diaper Covers

Mama Cloth

2 Wet Bags

Baby Book for new baby

Finish baby book for Samantha

Wipes Solution

Nursing Camisoles

To Clean/Organize:

Move printer/set up in living room

Clean out Fridge

Clean bathroom rug

Handwash Samantha's new clothes

Set up sewing machine

Unpack the rest of DH's stuff

Organize master closet

Organize bedroom (especially desk/dresser)

Declutter kitchen counter

Get rid of any unnecessary knick knacks

Get files in order (get DH to fix filing cabinet)

Wash clothes for new baby

Get together birth supplies

Wash quilt on dryer

Erase walls

To Buy/Errands:

Get Groceries

Buy washable dog diapers- return disposables (dog in heat)

Get dogs nails clipped

Buy Carseat and CD on Amazon-- wait for in-laws to visit (maybe they'll buy)

Buy birthday gift for DH

Buy Christmas gifts

Buy new baby's things- diapers, cloth safe diaper cream, baby shampoo

Get plastic drawers for new baby's clothes/blankets

Buy more supportive nursing bra

Buy pails for diapers and mama cloth

Buy hardware to hang painting in living room

Buy freelance writing book

Miscellaneous Tasks:

Get as much glitter as possible off Samantha's new dress

Facetime grandparents with Sam wearing new dress

Email breeder about Ladybird

Print patterns for cloth diapers

Write letter to California

Mail letter to California

Cancel phone lines with Verizon-- tried; too early, switched device instead

Get Tricare referral

Call property manager?? (ask DH)

Find/buy new charger for camera-- asked brother, he's looking

Finish reading Emergency Childbirth Manual to DH

Find new ways to celebrate Advent

[rebeccajm]

Wow, thank you for this thread!  I didn't realize all of the little things that I needed to be getting done.  Here's my list!

To Make:

Baby wipes solution

Body wash spray

refill all homemade foaming soap containers

a few sticks of deodorant to last awhile

homemade foaming hand soap starter kits for Christmas gifts

put some coconut oil in a baby food jar for baby's skin

food to freeze: breakfast cookies, pancakes, biscuits, mashed potatoes, tuna patties, baked spaghetti, chicken broth, chicken pieces, whatever else I think of!

To Clean/Organize:

Clean out fridge and top of fridge

Clean and organize play room

Bag and box up at least half the toys and put in garage for yard sale this spring

Move bins into master closet for DH's socks/underwear & organize

Wash clothes, diapers, and wipes for new baby

Get together hospital bag/s

Wash new glass baby bottles and manual pump, just in case

Clean and organize boys' room

Hang the rest of Sawyer's 2T winter stuff in closet

Organize the clothes that will fit Sawyer later into bins

Box up remaining items that will never fit either of the boys again. Move to back of van for donation

To Buy/Errands:

ground beef from farmers market

a better spray bottle for DH's shower spray

a few more Christmas gifts for the kids

gifts for in-laws

Buy cloth safe diaper cream

Christmas cards!

diaper bag

Miscellaneous Tasks:

Birth plan!

Put travel bed downstairs & line with blanket, ready for her to lay in

Keep camera battery charged

Put new knobs on boys' dresser

Beg DH to night time potty train S before the baby comes!

Find out about DH's sick pay

Get DH to install diaper sprayer/may need to buy some fittings

Listen to Hypnobabies every night

Edited by rebeccajm - 1/11/13 at 12:06pm

[AnahataChakra]

You mentioned advent so I wanted to share this page of what we do...  http://www.livinginseason.com/at-home/advent-garden/

[organicviolin]

Oh I have an enormous list! Doesn't help that DS1 (3.5) is down to napping every other day, every 3rd day. PS He's bad at giving me MY time which drives me nuts! At least right now ;-) I digress...

Finish unpacking the house (hello, we just moved)

Organize baby stuff

Clean
Finish website and start my business

cook

Make hats, longies, wool covers, sleep sacks, nursing cover

oh I can't even think anymore

[Tbutton]

So glad you're on board, rebeccajm! I saw that you mentioned cloth safe diaper cream- do you have any suggestions for brands or homemade?? Or does anyone else? 

Anahatachakra- thanks so much for the link. That's a very neat idea!

organicviolen- I totally feel your "we just moved" pain. We had to sell most of our stuff, so we could fit everything into a trailer and move from Georgia to Texas since my husband was coming back from his deployment early. Pregnant and moving is something I hope never to repeat! One of the big silver linings is how little stuff we have now. At least there's a lot less to organize :). If there's too much to list here, then you could always just list the things you've completed! Maybe that would be more encouraging :).

So I have been killing myself trying to get more done. Our in-laws came for a visit, and they bought us new carseats (one for our 3 year old, and one for the new baby!) and a new TV for Christmas. They also bought us a Christmas tree and set it up with our daughter, while we got to go on our first date since my husband came back from his deployment two months ago. I had NO idea how much we really needed a break! They were so nice to have with us!

I've been most stressed about getting the sewing done since we can't afford diaper covers, etc, so I really do need to make them. I've been putting it off for a while since I hate not having a space for sewing. Our new tiny apartment has no room for crafting, and that's been hard for me to accept. I figured it's time to get over it, though, so I finally started on the covers last night, and I finished four of them today. I figured that's the bare minimum to get by, so even if I fail to finish more of them, I'll be okay. I would ideally like to make about six in each size, though, since I don't anticipate having time to sew after the baby's here. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

Also, just out of curiousity, does anyone have good suggestions for how to nurse discreetly in public? I never figured it out with DD, even though I nursed her for three years! When she was tiny, I just went to the car and nursed her. After she got older, I stopped needing to nurse in public. With this one, I don't want to be so inconvenienced as to feel the need to leave whereever I am. Any suggestions? Do nursing covers work well or just draw unwanted attention to what you're doing? Just thought I'd ask in case I should add something like that to the list of something to make or buy...

Oh, and just in case anyone is interested, I found a free app for the iphone called Evernote that lets you make or copy/paste a list and actually strikethrough items and whatnot. It's a little text editor kind of app that allows rich text. I thought that was nifty, so I'm using it for my big list and to make little daily lists. Anyway, that's my nerdy tidbit for the day, I guess :).

So here's a picture of the covers and my progress update:

To Make:

Diaper Covers (made minimum to start- hope to make more)

Mama Cloth

2 Wet Bags

Baby Book for new baby

Finish baby book for Samantha

Wipes Solution

Nursing Camisoles

To Clean/Organize:

Move printer/set up in living room

Clean out Fridge

Clean bathroom rug

Handwash Samantha's new clothes

Set up sewing machine

Unpack the rest of DH's stuff

Organize master closet

Organize bedroom (especially desk/dresser)

Declutter kitchen counter

Get rid of any unnecessary knick knacks

Get files in order (get DH to fix filing cabinet)

Wash clothes for new baby

Get together birth supplies

Wash quilt on dryer

Erase walls

To Buy/Errands:

Get Groceries

Buy washable dog diapers- return disposables (dog in heat)

Get dogs nails clipped

Buy Carseat (thanks, in-laws!)

Buy birthday gift for DH

Buy Christmas gifts

Buy new baby's things- diapers, cloth safe diaper cream, baby shampoo

Get plastic drawers for new baby's clothes/blankets

Buy more supportive nursing bra

Buy pails for diapers and mama cloth

Buy new camera charger

Buy hardware to hang painting in living room

Buy freelance writing book

Miscellaneous Tasks:

Get as much glitter as possible off Samantha's new dress

Facetime grandparents with Sam wearing new dress

Email breeder about Ladybird

Print patterns for cloth diapers

Write letter to California

Mail letter to California

Cancel phone lines with Verizon-- tried; too early, switched device instead

Get Tricare referral

Call property manager?? (ask DH)

Pay bills

Create birth plan before next appointment

Finish reading Emergency Childbirth Manual to DH

Find new ways to celebrate Advent

[rebeccajm]

I don't have any suggestions on diaper cream.  I actually saw that on your list and decided we need some, too. LOL.  I had just planned to use coconut oil.

I haven't gotten anything else on my list done, though I have kept up with the laundry and dishes.  None of it is life or death important, but I would love to at least have some meals frozen before she comes.  I think I may pick one item to do every day and just go for it!  There are almost exactly the same number of items as there are days until her due date.  Maybe that's a sign that I need to start now!

[sapientia]

I am sooo happy to report that I have finished quite a lot. I got a good deal done on my homemade Christmas gifts-all boxed and ready to mail (I have to admit, also thanks to my oldest dd!) Got diapers washed, birth supplies ready to go...and dh froze a couple of big bags o'homemade soup. I plan to make another round of soup this week (just cause I love our homemade chicken broth!) and when dh gets paid on the 14th I have to finish Christmas shopping for the kids. Just a few things, but it's all stuff I have to run to the other end of town for. *sigh*

And of course the ever present housecleaning but the kids will help with that. They can be mighty good helpers.

Here's to getting stuff done, ladies! :)

[rebeccajm]

I went back and put four items I want to get done this weekend in italics.  

[venusthrow]

we use wedela for diaper cream and love it.

[Tbutton]

Way to go, sapientia!! Sounds like you've been busy and productive! I usually do all homemade gifts for Christmas but decided I just couldn't handle it this year. I'm impressed you got all that done!!

rebeccajm- hopefully this thread will make getting those things done more exciting! It's been working well for me as far as motivation.

I'll wait to re-post an updated list until I've gotten more done. Our big things for the week were giving our dog back to the breeder after owning her for a year and a half, and giving my birth plan to my new OB at our second appointment.

We had to move to a much smaller place, and our two dogs have been miserable. They never get enough exercise, they don't have room to play, and after the move, we don't even have enough furniture for them to sit down with us. We have tile now instead of carpet, so their fur is just floating, and we were feeling like our place is too dirty for this baby to be born into it! Plus one of the dogs started scent marking everywhere, and it was a real nightmare. We decided to go ahead and give them both back to their breeders. We had to drive three hours to give the first one up. We told our daughter, who's three, that we were taking her to someone who could give her a new home (this woman is going to drive her back to the breeder for us). We got there, and after getting the dog out and closing the door, she just jumped up on the car and looked at us with the most pitiful look I've ever seen, like she was begging us not to leave her. That moment will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life!!! After we drove away, DD started asking where our new home was, and we realized that she misunderstood us and thought we'd all be going to a new home with our dog. She just assumed we were moving again and was absolutely hysterical when she realized what was happening. After giving back the first dog, the second one is no longer scent marking and is being incredibly well- behaved. We're so traumatized now, we just can't bare to give her up anymore. I hope our daughter can forgive us for all this one day! We had to give up so much stuff to move here while DH was deployed- people were coming in and out of our house buying furniture, etc. My dd got a present in the mail from her grandparents a couple weeks ago, and shortly after, someone knocked on the door. She grabbed her new tricycle and ran to the other side of the room screaming "Don't take my bike!" I wonder how much permanent damage we've done that she expects strangers that come to the door will be taking her things!! And now her dog is gone!! She woke up this morning and started calling for her, and I just started bawling. These pregnant hormones don't help!

On a much happier note, I took my birth plan to my new OB for the first time, and for not being particularly "pro-natural," I was shocked that she had no problems with any of it- even DH or myself catching the baby!! She even called the director of L and D at the hospital to tell her about us and the director asked to meet with us and see our birth plan. She said she'll be putting a pro-natural birth nurse with us when I go into labor!! I'm so shocked and pleased, and all my fears have melted away .

I'm sorry for how long this is, I guess I just wanted to get it all out! What a week!!

[itsajenism]

Left on my to-do list is:

- preparing a meal or two for the freezer.
- making sure to keep a handful of things on-hand once I hit 37 weeks and am cleared for a home birth; quick snacks for labor food, coconut water, Epsom salt, wine
- buy some nursing tank tops

Everything else is done. I have everything ready for my home birth and set aside. All clothes and diapers are washed and put away. I've cleaned and organized a few times in the past month+ so I really just need to maintain, though I'm sure I'll end up deep cleaning a few more times before baby comes.

[rebeccajm]

I've updated my list.  4 more tasks down this weekend, 27 to go!  LOL.  Like I said, I will try to do one a day.  She is due in 29 days!  Seems like so short of a time frame.  We will all be holding our babies SOON, ladies!!!!

[rebeccajm]

23 to go, 23 days until her due date...