Preparing for OS baby's arrival

Eels100

Morning (oops afternoon ... lazybones ) OldStylers!

I have the day off (woopwoop!) and am spending it thinking about doing stuff.

My Maternity leave starts in 4 weeks and assuming baby number one arrives on the due date (it simply has to) I will have 2.5 weeks of peace and quiet before it arrives. If it's one of these 37-weeks-is-long-enough-in-here-thanks babies then this thread will be wasted!

I fully intend to have lots of nice tasty healthy meals batch-cooked and frozen, the laundry totally up to date, the bed sheets fresh, curtains washed, windows cleaned, bathroom gleaming, oven less encrusted with grot than it is now, stocked up with tea/coffee/biscuits, paperwork filed etc etc etc. This is a lot to do in 2 weeks when I will be the size of a house and have the energy levels of a tortoise in January.

Can you guys suggest a rough schedule of what I should do when? Work is full time until the second week of July. And does anyone have any suggestions for things they wish they'd done before baby's arrival or that everyone obviously knows to do but I haven't mentioned because I'm completely witless? Baby's stolen my brain!

redballoon_2

Try not to do too much! get friends and family round to help!

scuzz

I think there's a whole section on having a baby OS somewhere. I'm sure someone like Queenie, Math, Squeaky or Pink will be able to assist in locating it for you!!

Eels100

I've done most of the baby preparations already (OK, OK, I got some terry nappies and a bundle of second hand babygros!) so I'm sorted for somewhere to put it and stuff. I just want to get things done around the house in an organised, non-panicked fashion, bearing in mind I can power nap for 50 minutes in every hour at the moment! I have nightmares about coming home from hospital to find the house a complete wreck (bless him but I don't entirely trust OH to manage to organise it in my absence!). I'm also totally at a loss as to what I am likely to need (excepting baby gear) for the first few days ... I am liking the suggestion to get someone else to do it all though, smart thinking!

Maybe this is the long-awaited nesting instinct about to kick in - I've been longing for the day when I actually WANT to do housework!

Pink.

Hi Eels,

Congratulations on your pregnancy. These older threads might help:

Having a baby OS style???

OS list of what you REALLY need for a first baby

Pink

brummiebabe

I can totally understand where you're coming from...but have a bit of advice (from personal experience) - DON'T DO TOO MUCH!!!! You'll be really tired anyway, probably quite big & uncomfortable with 2 weeks to go and it's going to be July (so hopefully hot!!:cool: ) You'll NEVER get this chance to rest again!!! Once baby arrives you'll be SO tired (noone can explain exactly how exhausting having a baby is!!!!!!!) and you'll have wished you rested beforehand!!

Of course you can do jobs...but don't push yourself too hard every day!! Get people to help and try to relax - enjoy your last few weeks of peace & quiet!!!!!!! Believe me, any subsequent pregnancies will be much harder (due to having other children to look after) - so make the most of this one!!

Something to think about...you don't want to be too exhausted for the birth either!!

Maybe try doing one job in the morning, rest, have lunch etc..then one job in the afternoon. Any major jobs..break them down into smaller tasks, so that it's not too tiring!!!

Best of luck..enjoy your maternity leave & hope all goes ok with the birth!!!:)

looneyleo

Honestly...don't go mad! You really need to rest and save energy as much as possible before labour and the first few weeks of sleepless nights. Don't panic about what needs doing and how you are going to get it all. Just list a few "absolutely must do's" and slowly plod through on maternity leave. get as much help from others as you can - they'll be delighted to help I'm sure.

You need to really enjoy your last few weeks of calm by relaxing, pampering and enjoying the peaceful "me" time. I've got 2 children now (4 & 2) and look back with fond memories of my 1st period of maternity leave...it's oh so VERY VERY different now!!!!

Believe me, your house wil be a tip when you get back from hospital, especially if you stay in for more than a couple of days. My OH is fantastic, he does everything but you will (hopefully) have loads of gifts, flowers, cards taking up room in the house, yours and babies washing from the last few days as well as your OH's and don't forget, his time will be taken coming backwards and forwards to the hospital making sure you get everything you need! As I've said before, don't worry about it, get as many people to help as possible and chill...your health and the baby's health is more important than completing a tick list to a schedule!

Best of luck in the delivery ward!!!

pavlovs_dog

ok, bearing in mind im yet to have any personal first hand experience of pregnancy... these are my suggestions/

1. take it easy

2. do what ever tasks you can in the most lesiurely manner possible. for example sorting paperwork: gather your papers, stapler, shredder, files etc in one place, put on a film, and sort as you watch. nice, leisurely pace, and the job will be done before you know it.

batch cooking... my nan has arthritis, so cannot stand for long periods of time in the kitchen. she takes the veggies, chopping board, and a pan or two of water to the table, and then sits there to prepare everything, then puts it on a low heat to cook slowly, so that she's not constantly up and down.

cleaning windows/curtains etc - make the most of being preggers and cajole other people into helping out with the more strenuous tasks. as for fresh bedding.. seeing as you dont know when you're going to 'pop' until it actually happens, can you get a spare set of bedding freshly laundered, so that all OH has to do is strip off the old stuff and put the new stuff on?

stocking up on stuff... can be done as part of a normal shop. in addition to tea/coffee/ biscuits, i'd also suggest a box of washing powder, some washing liquid, and a loaf or two and some milk for the freezer. hopefully that should be most bases covered then! and maybe a packet of pasta and a few ready made sauces, for those days where exhaustion kicks in and you really cant be a*sed to do anything!

i guess if you could start now - the odd hour here or there, it will take the pressure off for your maternity leave. slow n steady is probably the best way to go.

juliapenguin

Eels100 wrote: »

I've done most of the baby preparations already (OK, OK, I got some terry nappies and a bundle of second hand babygros!) so I'm sorted for somewhere to put it and stuff. I just want to get things done around the house in an organised, non-panicked fashion, bearing in mind I can power nap for 50 minutes in every hour at the moment! I have nightmares about coming home from hospital to find the house a complete wreck (bless him but I don't entirely trust OH to manage to organise it in my absence!). I'm also totally at a loss as to what I am likely to need (excepting baby gear) for the first few days ... I am liking the suggestion to get someone else to do it all though, smart thinking!

Maybe this is the long-awaited nesting instinct about to kick in - I've been longing for the day when I actually WANT to do housework!

Don't know whether anyone else has already suggested it, but try flylady.net - the whole 15 minutes at a time thing has worked wonders for me, although my exhaustion isn't baby-related! Ignore how 'American' it is - you get used to it after a while and it really helps you to get over the 'there's too much to do so why bother even trying?' scenario.

skint_spice

Hi

Congrats and enjoy the rest. I would stock up on thank-you cards and stamps - you are sure to get lots of pressies and it's easier to cope with the thank you letters a bit at a time!
I think the best advice I got was to nap when the baby did during the first few weeks and not worry too much about the housework.

Eels100

Thank you cards - knew I'd forgotten something!