Preparing for a Baby...

From the moment you see that plus sign on that pregnancy test, everything is a whirlwind! Before you know it, the end is in sight and it's nearly your due date. I’m no expert. As a first time mummy to be, I (like everyone else in this position) am just scraping along finding my feet with this whole trying to be as organized as possible thing! Here are my top tips for getting prepared before baby arrives:

Stock up on the essentials—especially when they are on offer.

There’s a whole list of things you definitely know you're going to need. I’m not talking one of those lists that you read online of top baby essentials. I’m talking practical things; nappies, bottles, formula (if you're planning not to breast feed), and wipes. You know you're going to need these things so why pay full price for them? We quickly decided that we are going to use Aldi’s nappies and wipes as they win all the awards and are super cheap and, let's face it, what’s the point in spending top pennies on top brands when the budget ranges are just as good? That said, you can still make savings. Most of the supermarkets and shops that sell baby items have baby events regularly throughout the year.

We dropped on when Aldi had their baby event in January and picked up two packs of size one nappies and three packs of size two nappies as well as two boxes of wipes (they have them in the huge boxes). We saved around 30p on each pack of nappies and a couple of pounds on the wipes. It doesn’t seem a lot, but it soon adds up—especially when they are things you need anyway.

Be honest about what you actually need…

As I have said, there are so many lists out there about “essentials” that you need for baby. What I have LOVED watching recently is videos on youtube or reading blog posts about the complete opposite… what did bloggers/youtubers wish they had not bothered with! This is SO helpful.

Be honest with yourself about your situation and your baby. Do you need a proper changing table for your nursery? We brought a chest of malm drawers from Ikea and popped a changing mat on the top. Do you really need a Moses basket? Why do you need a special bin for throwing out nappies? Be honest with yourself about what essentials you actually need.

…Especially when people ask you.

We have been very organized with everything baby related, and because we haven’t been precious about second hand stuff, have been very lucky to receive quite a lot of lovely things from others. One of our friends nieces’ had a little girl in September and was getting rid of all of her clothes which were just going to be going to the charity shop and instead chose to pass them on to us—two huge bin bags of items from dresses to baby grows and vests. We were SO grateful however our supply of 0-3 clothes went from a few things we have picked up ourselves to suddenly being inundated with things.

With my baby showers just around the corner and me due to finish work this week, I have been getting a lot of questions about what we actually need for little miss. Ive been very honest with anyone who asked and said we don’t need any more clothes in 0-3 but if they want to buy things, buy either 3-6 months clothes or get us vouchers for somewhere like mothercare where we can pick things up when we need something such as a high chair or play mat. Don’t be afraid if people ask and are insisting they want to get you something, to be honest about what you actually need. The last thing you want is to end up with lots of beautiful things that you actually don’t get to use.

Batch Cooking

Let's be honest, when you have a baby, the last thing you want to be doing is cooking. Even if your other half is Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsey, be honest. You will be tired and exhausted and the last thing you want to be doing is standing in the kitchen thinking about what to cook for tea. One thing I said when we talked about preparing for baby was that I didn’t want to rely on takeaways. Number one because it is expensive and number two because it's unhealthy. I’ve mentioned over on my blog several times about the fact I have continued to do Slimming World throughout my pregnancy and up to now (at 36 weeks) have gained around 12-14 pounds. I don’t want to suddenly lose everything and pop lots of weight on in the first couple of weeks after baby's arrival. Plus when you eat like crap, you feel like crap, and when you're tired and cranky, who wants to add feeling horrible and bloated too?

For that reason, I decided quickly that I was going to start batch cooking in the weeks leading up to Baby B’s arrival. When cooking our evening meals such as Chili, curries, spaghetti Bolognese, etc., I have been doing four portions and freezing two. We have the advantage of having an extra freezer in our garage which is proving very handy for my stash of post baby meals.

Read up for yourself.

When you announce your pregnancy, be prepared to suddenly be bombarded with baby advice from everyone! I’m not saying don’t listen to advice, all I am saying is take the things that people tell you with a pinch of salt and make your own judgments on things. I have spent a lot of time in my pregnancy reading different things from blogs to books and making my own mind up on different things. At the end of the day, this is your pregnancy, your birth, and your baby. You have to do what is right for you.

Pack your hospital bag early.

Maybe it is just me being super organized, but I have had my hospital bag packed for weeks. I've been collecting things and making a list from about 20 weeks and finally had everything packed in both mine and little miss's hospital bag when I was around 31 weeks. I went to our local MAU for high BP at around 30 weeks and was really shocked when I heard the lady in the bed opposite send her husband home and instruct him that the list for the bag was on the shelf by the TV and where to find the things he needed to pack! I was horrified! I’d rather have the bag packed for weeks rather than not be organized should we need to grab at short notice. I have done a blog post about what is in both mine and baby's hospital bags over on my blog.

Prepare your pets.

We have three cats and one thing I spent a lot of time reading up on was about preparing them for baby's arrival. We haven’t got any little ones in our family, so our cats haven’t been used to having little ones around. We started making little changes just after Christmas when I was about 25 weeks pregnant, such as leaving the cats downstairs in the evening/overnight rather than having them in our bedroom (they used to curl up on the end of our bed) because once baby arrives, she will obviously be in our room. We decided to start this early so that it wasn’t baby coming along making new changes and it gave us nearly four months before her arrival so they would just be used to it. We have also been dotting baby stuff around the house to get them used to things. My friend brought us a beautiful Moses basket which, for the last two weeks has been in the living room with a blanket over it to discourage them from climbing in. We have also been playing baby noises (easy to find on youtube) which is getting them used to the sounds and, even better, my friend from work who had a baby in late December has been popping round for a brew to get them used to seeing an actual baby. Remember it is as much of an adjustment for them as well as you.

Spend time with your significant other.

One of the biggest changes people have told me about when having a baby is how much your relationship with your other half changes. You both become so wrapped up in this tiny bundle of joy you created and everything is different.

We have always been very strict with the fact that we try and make time for one night a week where we don’t do anything else other than spend time with each other. Even if it is just curling up on the sofa and binge watching NCIS or watching a film and we try and do a “going out” date night once a month.

In the build up to finishing work for maternity leave, I have been working a four day week using the rest of my annual leave up which meant most of the time, I got a day off in the week with my husband. As I work Monday – Friday and he works in retail, which mean he works most weekends, evenings are when we see each other most, so it's lovely when we get a day off together. We have tried to use these days off just for us. For my birthday, my in-laws paid for us to have afternoon tea and it's been lovely making little dates for us—even if it is just getting out of the house for a couple of hours together and spending some us time.

Pamper yourself.

This is an important one! Treat yourself. Now I’m not saying go out and have a spa day every week, but damn girl, when you have grown a human for nine months, you deserve a little bit of love. Try and schedule your hair cut for close to your due date so you feel in tip top condition for when baby arrives. If you like having your nails painted, treat yourself to a manicure. You don’t even have to go to the salon to treat yourself. Go to town and treat yourself to a face mask and a lush bath bomb. Pop your favorite tunes on and relax in the bath for an hour.