We're getting close now! What's still on your "to-do" list? - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[Tear78]

lol, oh no...we've done NOTHING! Now granted, this is our second little one and DD is still in diapers...but, yeah. We're looking into an arms-reach co-sleeper.

[babytoes]

I have been sort of preparing for a couple months now. But I also am not super concerned with all the "trimmings" like SlimP said. Being baby #4, I just don't worry about it much. I totally feel like my baby could come tomorrow and everything will be totally fine. We have enough family and friends that we certainly won't starve, and I already have my birth kit (the midwives gave it to me two weeks ago), speaking of birth kit... Do you guys have to buy one because your MW's don't provide one? Or is it because there are certain things you want that don't come in the MW birth kit? I guess I didn't realize so many of you would be buying one, since ours was a part of the whole MW fee. 

I have washed all of the baby clothes and prepped all the diapers. Although, I would love about 5 more diapers, we will make due for now and buy more after we decide which ones we really like best. Birthing tub we are renting from the MW's. I bought a waterproof bed cover a couple weeks ago, but I may get another one to do a double layer, so we can strip messy sheets and have nice clean ones below. 

As for the trimmings, here is my list of things to do and buy, although the only thing I absolutely have to buy is a car seat.

TO BUY

Car seat

heating pad

sitz bath herbs

witch hazel

cloth nursing pads

extra postpartum pads (MW's provide the big ones, but I'm going to get some "normal" ones for after the first week)

Crib sheets (currently only have one, but baby will be co-sleeping so I'm not in a big rush)

nursing bra (this is at the top of the 'to get' list, I don't have any, so I need at least 2 desperately!)

Recharge drink

extra towels and wash clothes (we do not have enough at all!)

TO DO

Make freezer meals (thinking about three should be good, MIL will be coming by with food I am sure, so not super concerned)

    -lasagna

    -lentil soup

    -meatballs

paint dresser my dad just made for the baby (Doh!! It's so nice!)

do a super spring clean to whole house!

[Bena]

Yeah.... I need to get cooking also!!!! Off ti the freezer meal thread for a little inspiration!

[jodieanneanton]

Originally Posted by SlimP 

Oh My Gosh! I have sooo much to do. We have to move house too and haven't yet found a suitable place but I'm trying to ignore that reality to avoid freaking out.
Sure there's plenty of time, you gals are just super-organised, right?
(Deep breaths....deep breaths....)

All I'm thinking is that baby and I just need one comfy bed, everything else is just trimmings.

I love this perspective.  Thank you, SlimP.  I do have a lot of things I'd *like* to get done, but...

boobs... check!!!

bed... check!!!

A few onsies... check!!!

a few cloth diapers... check!!!

Women have done this for millenia with much much less than that!

[scruffy too]

Thanks for all the ideas!  I read through this thread and took actually notes with a pen and paper.  I really don't feel like I have much to do, partly because I don't want to have a bunch of useless baby crap in the house, and partly because this is my first and I really don't have a good sense of what they might need.  DP tells me what they'll "need" but he loves "stuff" and "gadgets" and I want to avoid all that so I don't know what I'll ACTUALLY need and what he just thinks we "need".

Here's my list:

• Assemble co-sleeper
• Gather birth supplies (most is supplied through the MW, I just need old towels and other things that I already have, they just need to be "gathered.")
• Wash baby clothes
• Get 2nd hand baby clothes from a friend / go over to her house for coffee (x2)
• Research diaper bags (start with reading diaper bag thread on here)
• Get cloth for ring-sling (rings already purchased)
• Find good diaper wipes solution recipe and make some and figure out how to store / use
• Bell cast (not until March)
• Buy nursing bra (not until March)
• Make closet shelves in nursery
• Buy fitted crib sheets
• Names
• Tell HR at work when I plan on working my last day
• Clean ENTIRE house and get rid of all clutter (clutter always pisses me off, but especially this pregnancy - I think I'll wait until I'm well into nesting and off work and do it while DP is at work since it's most of his stuff...  That sounds kinda mean, but I just want this stuff that we NEVER use out of the house - it can be stored in the game room outside - it's not like I'll throw it out.)

[babytoes]

Originally Posted by scruffy too 

• Clean ENTIRE house and get rid of all clutter (clutter always pisses me off, but especially this pregnancy - I think I'll wait until I'm well into nesting and off work and do it while DP is at work since it's most of his stuff...  That sounds kinda mean, but I just want this stuff that we NEVER use out of the house - it can be stored in the game room outside - it's not like I'll throw it out.)

This is our problem exactly!! We have so much clutter, and it's all DP's... every bit of it. It drives me bonkers! I will give him kudos though, he has moved a bunch of stuff to his mom's attic. It was a pretty big push though! If we took one more car load of stuff to her place than I feel better... But at least we got rid of most of it, and I have been able to organize two entire closets, woo hoo!

[spughy]

Oh I would SO like to get rid of more clutter, too.  Problem is that none (or very little) of the clutter is mine.  My clutter takes up a 1.5' X 2.5' space on the top of my dresser.  Yes, I need to deal with it, but it's rather... minor.  DH has been decluttering since early December yet still his stuff is spilling out of his office and down the stairs; DD has a gazillion and one teeny plastic toys that she never, ever plays with and that are probably choking hazards for the baby in about 4 months.  I feel like I should cut off the internet and hide the Harry Potter DVDs until it's all gone...

[Melany]

Originally Posted by spughy 

Oh I would SO like to get rid of more clutter, too.  Problem is that none (or very little) of the clutter is mine.  My clutter takes up a 1.5' X 2.5' space on the top of my dresser.  Yes, I need to deal with it, but it's rather... minor.  DH has been decluttering since early December yet still his stuff is spilling out of his office and down the stairs; DD has a gazillion and one teeny plastic toys that she never, ever plays with and that are probably choking hazards for the baby in about 4 months.  I feel like I should cut off the internet and hide the Harry Potter DVDs until it's all gone...

I cannot handle the toys. It drives me crazy. I actually tried to avoid allowing ANY barbie dolls in the house and she got one as a gift from a friend. My mother saw it and assumed the ban was over and it looks like the barbie section of a toy store threw up in our house. I hate barbie. What I do is if I notice she isn't playing with some things, I'll fill a box with the toys she has been "ignoring" and put them in the garage with a date. If she hasn't asked for the toys in 3-6 months, the box goes unopened to the goodwill. I need to thin the "barbie" herd.  The other added benefit of "thinning" the toys is we end up organizing them and she will play with items that she loves but hasn't pulled out for a while. For example, she has play food and when it's all in the same bin, she plays with it. When it's spread out into all the bins, she doesn't want to play with just one plate and it gets ignored.

[ClumsySugarPlum]

Didn't realize we have so much to do and am starting to freak out a little. My friend is throwing a shower for me and we have locked down a date for that. We need to lock down a date for her to take pictures of me too, but a lot of that depends on getting the baby's room ready, which really means I need to set a date and get busy. Luckily, I have dates set for reviewing sub plans and for my sub to shadow me, so that should prevent me from slacking off too much longer. Here's my list:

1. Post partume pads
2. Figure out what to do with placenta
3. Buy a second changing pad cover
4. Double check length of estimated crib blanket for my mom who is making us one
5. Make and freeze meals
6. Paint and deep clean baby’s room
7. Organize closet by size
8. Load in furniture, accessories, toys, books, diapers, curtains
9. Organize changing table
10. Set up ipod doc
11. Make sure breast pump still works
12. Set up bassinet in our bedroom
13. Buy and install carseat
14. Buy and install baby monitor
15. Pack suitcase and DH’s overnight bag
16. Pack DS’s overnight bag for grandma’s and toy bag for hospital
17. Buy new DD’s gift for DS (Squee! just wrote DD for first time)
18. Double check wheel on stroller
19. Sub plans
20. Leave paperwork
21. Pre-admitting forms for hospital
22. Have baby shower
23. Have DS’s birthday party (I think we are doing these at the same time to get the kids out of moms’ hair with the dads. DS and new babe have a due date one day apart.
24. Write thank you notes for shower
25. Put waterproof mattress cover on bed. (last time my water broke while I was sleeping!)
26. Pregnancy photos (my friend is doing this for us and would like to do some in the baby’s room, which is no where close to done!)
27. Figure out birthday treats for DS to take to school (for he and his new sister)
28. Install hanging double bar in babe’s closet
29. Update birth plan and print multiple copies
30. Look into insurance for after baby’s one month old
31. Organize diaper bag

Okay, if I can knock off one small thing every day, I should be okay....

[Chapsie]

Originally Posted by jodieanneanton 

I love this perspective.  Thank you, SlimP.  I do have a lot of things I'd *like* to get done, but...

boobs... check!!!

bed... check!!!

A few onsies... check!!!

a few cloth diapers... check!!!

Women have done this for millenia with much much less than that!

haha, as we were discussing our house projects and to-do list, my DH husband just told me: "we'll just wrap her in swaddling clothes and lay her in a manger."   ;)   

[SamiPolizzi]

Wow, I definitely thought I really only had a couple things to do before reading everyone else's lists. A least most of the stuff I still need to do isn't super important. Getting the birth kit and other birth supplies would probably be a good things to take care of soon. 

[Melany]

Originally Posted by SamiPolizzi 

Wow, I definitely thought I really only had a couple things to do before reading everyone else's lists. A least most of the stuff I still need to do isn't super important. Getting the birth kit and other birth supplies would probably be a good things to take care of soon. 

I know, my list (above) got longer as I read this thread. EEK!

My husband is off from work today, which works out well since the kids don't have school and he is going to paint the baby's dresser. I'm going to try to talk him into also painting the bookcase that goes with it (both from my child hood).

[LightForest]

I keep flip flopping between feeling like there's no prep to do and feeling like there's a ton I need to get done... I think my main issue is just that I want to feel prepared so that i can give myself a restful postpartum period. This is something I didn't get with DD because she was born with some unexpected medical issues that landed her in the hospital for a short while. I'm trying not to make it into TOO big of a deal though, just in case something happens again to keep baby's first weeks from aligning to my idealized postpartum vision.

In the end, I definitely HAVE to buy the birth kit and a few other postpartum items (like pads). Everything else is icing on the cake

[Tear78]

Okay, clumsysugarplum, you wrote sub plans and my stomach sank a mile. I better ask what's expected of me, but I'll have to at least write the units I haven't yet covered and such. Ugh...thank you...I think. Lol

[buko]

What's NOT on my list?  LOL...  Well, actually, DH and I have done quite a bit-- taken an Infant CPR Class, made lots of to-do and to-buy lists, bought most of what we need, that's for sure (and we're sure to get more at our shower this weekend).  Made lots of plans for birth and ordered most of the homebirth supplies.  Revised our daily/weekly "chore" lists, bought thank you notes...  Planned a basic email birth announcement, etc. 

BUT.

Just for baby/home (not so much exclusively-for-business), we have to:

-Continue BlissBorn classes and practice-- 2.5 hours/class x3 more, 3+ hours/week practice

-Go to/have MWs appointments (duh for us)-- 4-6 appointments x2-3 hours each

-Attend one intro breastfeeding class (might be review, but I think a good one for me)-- 3 hours

-Attend one babywearing meeting/practice with wrap, etc.-- 3 hours

-Have car seat installed/inspected-- 2 hours

-Choose pediatrician-- 3 hours

-Buy the last of the birth supplies-- 1 hour

-Buy the last of the baby essentials-- 3 hours

-Wash/prep diapers and create (and post in laundry area!) diaper washing routine-- 3 hours (prefolds are prepped already!)

-Dye/cut off white onesies/shirts-- 3 hours

-Wash/prep all clothes and linens and some other used items-- 2 hours active time

-Practice diaper folds and EC holds!  Read (DH)/re-read (me) EC book-- 2 hours (me)

-Reorg and set up the (master) bedroom to accommodate baby (pretty big!)-- 12 hours total

-Do a dry (wet!) run with the birth tub-- 3 hours?

-Make one last wholesale club run to stock up on staples (including giant frozen meals)-- 3 hours

-Decide what to do with the placenta (pretty sure I'll/he'll be cutting it up into "pill" chunks to freeze)-- 1 hour

-Finish homebirth/hospital transfer birth plans, set up HB supplies for MWs, pack "just in case" hospital bag-- 2 hours

-Attend shower and write thank you notes-- 3 hours (notes)

-Create "I'm in labor and need to shut down my online stores!!!!" routine/customer email/out of office message/etc.-- 2 hours

Hopefully those times are overestimates!

Not absolute essentials, so may leave until the last week of February:

-Finish organizing basement so we can make room for extra baby stuff-- 4 hours

-Pare down massive amounts of random paper in the office-- not a "must," but would be nice-- 4 hours

-At least get the tax document gathering/analysis process going (running my own business, I have a bigger task here than I did working a 9-5)-- 4-6 hours

-Get car registration situation handled (needs to be done by April, baby due March 1)-- 4-6 hours

-Finish decorating sun room (we moved here last April and this is the only room we never finished decorating)-- 3 hours

-Pack diaper bag(s)-- 2 hours

So, that's...  ~88 hours of "essentials" over about 5.5 weeks, split (though not evenly) between two people.  Plus maybe 23 more hours of nice-to-get-dones.

Maybe... 16-20 hours/week total, which will probably be about 12-14 hours/week me and 8-10 hours/DH (because we'll both do some of these things).

Ergh.  I have done soooo much already-- or at least it feels like it.  It's amazing how much still needs to be done!  Or...  arguably, "needs" to be done, but DH and I both have ADD, so preparedness is key to our not-totally-hating-life after baby is here-- we get overwhelmed really extra-easily otherwise.  I mean, I can see where we'll live if we haven't dyed the onesies or attended either the BF class (I have read LOTS, and my MWs are LCs also), or the babywearing meeting (again, reading and YouTube watching).  Okay, I just went back and highlighted the REAL "necessaries" in blue (hey, ADD makes prioritizing tough!) and it's more like 70 hours, not 88.  So, that's a little better.  Cuts off maybe 3 hours/week.

I also have plenty of non-baby work to do, as does DH, though a recent development cut that by a bit (thank goodness, I guess!)

[firespiritmelody]

Ug, you guys!! I have SO MUCH to do still too! I'm not due until the end of March and baby will probably be here in early April but man oh man! We've pulled NOTHING out of storage yet, haven't sorted any baby clothes (to pull out GN stuff since we have 3 girls and this baby is a BOY!) I haven't done much of any cleaning or rearranging, haven't bought the birth kit or pretty much any supplies. Your lists are great though because it's helping me focus on some of the stuff we really need to get on asap!

[beautifulnm]

Already done/bought:

Set up bassinet

Swaddles

Breastpump

Some baby clothes, some washed already

bought a "pack and play" but might not set it up here since we have the bassinet and she won't be mobile immediately..

Need to do/buy

pack the hospital bag (this is slightly overwhelming for me this time around)

Sterilize all the bottles

Still waiting on the stroller to arrive

Have the car seat, need a second base, and need to install base(s)

need the thing that goes on the car seat under the babyseat

Also wondering about taking the breast pump to the hospital with me. I feel like I might want to be pumping at the hospital to work on supply and curb any cracked nipple issues that wrecked the experience last time around. 

Everyday I wake up thinking about something I need to do, and everyday like today as I type this up I'm sure I'm forgetting 85% of what I need to do. lol PREGNANCY BRAIN.

[hikingfortruth]

Need to do: 

Finish building our house.  :(  Pray we get enough done before the birth to have a comfy space to be in. 

[akind1]

To Do:

I want to do a really massive deep clean. Which means it would be wonderful if MIL could take at least one kid for the day so I could tackle that.

I want a pedicure. Seriously, frivoulous thing to do, but there it is.

I want to take DS and DD out for a special dinner - thinking hibachi - as a big sibling, last hurrah sort of treat.

DS and I are going to do the Super Sibling class at the hospital - basically a tour and stuff.

Buy PP supplies - witch hazel pads, flushable wipes, huge pads

organize baby clothes

Pack hospital bag.

Crochet hats for baby

And really, that's it. 3rd baby, breast fed and we will cosleep. Sidecar already set up from previous baby. Not really that much to do. Plus, not a ton of $$ to do it with anyway.

I'll be having at least 2 showers, so go to those. I also really want to buy a special squish wrap . . . but also, need $$ for that . . .

[scruffy too]

Here's my list:

• Assemble co-sleeper
• Gather birth supplies (most is supplied through the MW, I just need old towels and other things that I already have, they just need to be "gathered.")
• Wash baby clothes
• Get 2nd hand baby clothes from a friend / go over to her house for coffee (x2)
• Research diaper bags (start with reading diaper bag thread on here)
• Get cloth for ring-sling (rings already purchased)
• Find good diaper wipes solution recipe and make some and figure out how to store / use
• Bell cast (not until March)
• Buy nursing bra (not until March)
• Make closet shelves in nursery
• Buy fitted crib sheets
• Names
• Tell HR at work when I plan on working my last day
• Clean ENTIRE house and get rid of all clutter (clutter always pisses me off, but especially this pregnancy - I think I'll wait until I'm well into nesting and off work and do it while DP is at work since it's most of his stuff...  That sounds kinda mean, but I just want this stuff that we NEVER use out of the house - it can be stored in the game room outside - it's not like I'll throw it out.)
• Wash car seat cover

Getting there...  I felt like I had done more... but not much really got crossed off.  Oh well.  I have TONNES of time left