09 Things That Need To Be Done When You're Having A Baby
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This article is from the General Pregnancy FAQ, by swnymph@FensEnde.com (Sabrina Cuddy) with numerous contributions by others.
09 Things That Need To Be Done When You're Having A Baby
I'm about 32 weeks along now. Sounds like all the stuff you've
*already* done are good. But I guess the next two things I'd suggest
to do now are: (1) pick a hospital or delivery site now (you may not
have a choice if your OB is associated with only one particular
hospital), and (2) select a childbirth class and sign up ASAP. I
mention the childbirth class because I kind of wish I'd shopped around
more for one - I'm not that enthusiastic about the one we're in, but I
figured they'd all be about the same (not true, from what I now know!),
and the classes fill up fast so you need to sign up soon!
Next I would decide on if you want to paint or wallpaper the nursery.
Selecting the paint/wallpaper takes a loooong time if both you and your
husband are anything like us! And it may take awhile to order certain
paper. Then just getting it painted or papered takes awhile of
course. It's much easier to get this done earlier in the pregnancy.
Now, this is a little iffy, but if you think a baby shower will be
held, you should definitely hold off on buying some things, including
some larger items, in case you have very generous family or friends.
But if you have definite preferences for certain brands/models of
carseat, stroller, etc, you may want to either let relatives know this
in advance, or maybe register at a baby store in your area.
I'm just now visiting the daycare centers that I'm considering, and
I think my timing is just about right (but my baby is due in January
and I don't need the daycare until June 1995). I'm also meeting with
pediatricians now to choose one, and that's worked out fine.
We bought our crib, have been loaned lots and lots of baby clothes,
as well as a swing and two infant car seats. I was surprised with
a baby shower last week, and we received a stroller, lots more clothes,
crib sheets, blankets, and lots of misc stuff. I had purchased
a few cute outfits that I found on sale, as well as a few essentials
before hand, so now we're all set. We bought an almost-new, second-hand
crib in about the 5th month, but we'd been looking at cribs for about
1 month before we found one we liked. New cribs sometimes take quite
awhile on order.
Things I still have left to do in the next couple of weeks:
- Make final decision on which daycare center and submit application.
- Write up birth plan (I already have my ideas all set, just not
written up) and discuss with doctor.
- Still decide on a name! (We've been working on this since
about week 12!)
- Pack a bag for the hospital.
- Buy a couple of wall decorations for the baby's room with
money we received from the baby shower.
I'm very comfortable with everything EXCEPT I really wish we could
decide on a name (we've known it's a girl since the amino around week
12). And I'm really glad we got the baby's room done nice and early,
since we've been putting all the baby things in it as we acquired them.
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