So You’re Going to Have a Baby – A Preparation Guide From a Mom of Two

Written by: Caroline

Every pregnant woman is guaranteed to get unsolicited advice. They’ll get advice about pregnancy, parenting, and what gadgets they will need or not need once baby arrives. Most of the time this advice will come from friends or family members who mean well and want to share their hard-earned knowledge on the topic. Sometimes it will come from strangers at the grocery store or perhaps a neighbor. Sometimes the advice can be contradictory. I’m not going to lie, it can be a little overwhelming.

I recently recorded an episode of the Craft Parenting Podcast where Hillary and I talk all about pregnancy (keep a lookout for part one coming October 8!). While preparing notes for that episode, I created a simplified list of tips and tricks about adding a new baby to your family. 

I certaintly don’t want to add to the volume of prenancy tips that are “out there”. The items on this list are things that worked well for us. Remember, every mom-baby pair is different. I encourage you to do your own research and always do what’s best for your situation.

I wrote this from a mom’s perspective so most things are mom-centric. I’ll see if I can convince Joe to write some things from a dad’s perspective for a blog drop before our second episode.

STICK WITH THE BASICS

My philosophy is to stick with items that are simple and easy to clean. Inevitably your baby is going to get some kind of bodily fluid on everything they use. The easier it is to clean the better!

Don’t go overboard with baby items. At the very basic level, your new baby needs a safe way to get home, a safe place to sleep, some outfits, and diapers. There are usually cheap workarounds for everything else, it’s just a matter of how much work you need to do.

EDUCATION IS KEY

Attend a prenatal class either online or in-person and tour the facility where you are planning on giving birth. The hospital we delivered at offered classes in the evening and they covered a wide range of topics. 

Find a podcast that you like and listen to it. I listened to the Pregnancy Podcast and got a lot of helpful information. She doesn’t lie to you, uses evidence-based research, and is an advocate for what you want to do. Some of the things she said I took with a grain of salt, but overall, she’s very honest about what could happen. 

Don’t just blindly trust what you hear or read. Always make sure to verify the info with your doctor, just in case. I’m a big advocate for being as informed as possible.

SAFETY FIRST

Know how your baby’s car seat works and read the manual before installing it into your car. You can get it installed by someone who is certified within a month of your due date or install it yourself. Our local fire station has people who install car seats, but you have to schedule an appointment and then hope they don’t get called on a run. If you are going to install it yourself look online to see if there are videos or tutorials to ensure you are installing it correctly. 

Typically, infant car seats are “pumpkin” seats that attach to a base that stays in your car. You can buy extra bases for the seat if you need them. I recommend having at least two bases, one in the car that your child will be riding in the most and one to potentially move from car to car. We purchased four bases for our car seat: one for each of us and each grandmother. We have barely used the other two bases and could have probably gotten by with just two bases total.

There are “grow with me” car seats that are becoming more popular but those usually have to stay mounted in the car so you will have to take the child out of the car seat every time they need to leave the car. We preferred being able to carry the pumpkin seat around until the kids were about 9 months old. With the pumpkin seat if Lilly fell asleep she could stay sleeping as we attached the car seat to the stroller so we could go grocery shopping. At about 11 months old Lilly transitioned to a grow with me car seat. At the rate Elliot is going he’ll transition by the time he’s 9 months old.

INVOLVE YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER

For the first few weeks, or until right before your significant other (SO) goes back to work it’s super helpful if SO can change their diaper and get the kid ready to eat while you use the bathroom and get the baby’s food ready. Unfortunately, until the kid hits 10+ pounds they’re guaranteed to wake up in the middle of the night (and it doesn’t always change when they reach that 10-pound threshold) and SO can go right back to bed while you’re feeding the kid unless if you think you need them to help keep you awake. If you’re bottle-feeding you can do every other feed or whatever works best for you.

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED FOR FEEDING YOUR LITTLE ONE

If you’re planning on breastfeeding don’t go overboard on getting nursing pads, breast milk storage bags, etc. Have some bottles and storage bags on hand so if you have to pump you have ways to store milk, but try a few brands so you can figure out what you like and what works for you. I recommend having some kind of lanolin cream on hand. I had different challenges with each kid and cream worked for me, but there are lots of different products out there. You might also have local friends that give you their leftovers which will help you get started and see what different brands are like. I use the “Up and Up” brand breast milk storage bags and Bamboobies reusable nursing pads.

If you’re even thinking that you’ll need to pump, start working with your insurance as soon as possible. It won’t get delivered until about a month or two before your due date, but you can start the process of ordering it early in your pregnancy. Medela has a link through their website where they’ll find who works with your insurance to get you a pump. Additionally, you can go with the website Aeroflow and they’ll do the heavy lifting for you. I do not recommend the Motif Luna pump but do highly recommend the Medela Pump In Style Advance. The Luna needs frequent replacement parts vs the Medela where I’ve only replaced some parts once.

Have a few bottles on hand even if you’re planning on exclusively breastfeeding. The first or second night Elliot was home from the hospital he didn’t want to latch in the middle of the night so I pumped and gave him a bottle. It was messy, we were both frustrated, but it worked. If I didn’t have a pump or bottles on hand I’m not sure what I would have done. 

Both the NICU and a nutritionist we talked to during our prenatal classes recommended Dr. Brown’s bottles which is what we have used with both kids.

FIND A LOCAL COMMUNITY

If you’re on Facebook, find a local mom’s group to join. Don’t be afraid to drop them if they start getting crazy. In some instances, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t and some mom’s groups have a few more crazies than others. These groups can be a great resource to get information from experienced moms, but some people are very opinionated on things and can make you feel like you’re making terrible decisions. 

No matter what at the end of all of the craziness that is pregnancy you’ll get to meet the little person that YOU created! Soak it all in, because it really does fly by.

CONNECT WITH US

Thanks so much for being here! If you enjoyed this blog post, then share it with your family and friends on your favorite social media platform. Use the hashtag #craftparenting and tag us. We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram so you can get up-to-date information on when new content is available, see pictures of our adorable kids, and more. Send us an email and let us know your thoughts on this blog post.

Don’t forget to check back every Tuesday and Saturday for new blog posts and a new episode of the Craft Parenting Podcast every Thursday. The podcast is also available on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify 
• Overcast 
• Podcast Addict
• Stitcher
• and all major platforms!