Preparing for your new baby takes a lot of work. Of course there’s washing all the newborn clothes, getting bottles ready, and getting out your baby gear! But from my experience, there are some things that – once I got home from the hospital – I thought, “dang I wish I would’ve done that before we left!”
Our second time around, I am making sure I do things that my future mom-of-two self will thank me for! That way I won’t have to worry about chores or prepping or cleaning once we are back home with a tiny newborn. Doing the following will totally help get rid of the stress of bringing your newborn home, will allow you time to just relax, and take care of you + your baby without fussing over your “should’ve done that” list:
Wash your bedding and blankets
The obvious stuff to wash is everything your baby will wear – clothes, swaddles, and etc. But what about the things your baby will be on? Such as your own bedding, blankets, pillow covers, or throw pillows. If you’ll have your new baby on the bed, or plan on nursing in bed, this is essential to do! Plus it’s always so amazing to crawl into freshly washed and made bedding anyway 🙂
Run the dishwasher/do the laundry
No one likes coming home to a sink full of dishes, or laundry waiting to be folded and put away. I have been staying on top of doing our laundry this week (and John has been on top of dishes duty) for that very reason – we don’t want to have to come home from the hospital to a pile of clothes on the bed that still need to be put away!
Make your postpartum kit/basket
When you get home from the hospital, the last thing you’ll want is to be doing is trying to find where you left your peri bottle or running across the house for your Always pads. I made a little “postpartum kit” when I came home with izzy, and I am definitely making it again the second time around 🙂 It includes all the essentials for taking care of my down-there once I’m home:
- Always overnight pads: You’ll definitely experience some bleeding once you’re home, most likely for the first few weeks. I grabbed a pack of the Always brand pads in size 5 overnights and size 1’s.
- Herbal Perineal Spray by Earth Mama: I definitely stand by using this spray for the first few weeks you’re in recovery! I felt like I could hardly walk when I got home, and using this plus padsicles really helped with keeping my down-there comfortable and healing.
- Padscicles Kit: Click here to find out how to make them!
- Bamboobies Nipple Cream: I used this one when I had izzy, and luckily I never experienced cracking, bleeding, or pain the entire 13 months I breastfed. Definitely a must to have on hand!
- Chocolate: This goes without saying haha! Having some yummy, individually wrapped chocolates in your postpartum kit will be like having a small reward waiting for you while you’re nursing, up at night, or just need a pick me up. l personally love Ghiradelli’s Dark Chocolates.
- Healthy Snacks: Though chocolate is amazing, having some healthy snacks on hand in your postpartum basket (and on your nightstand) will make it easy to grab and munch instead of walking to the kitchen to find or make something. I recommend nuts, apple slices (eat within the hour of slicing them), lactation cookies or bars, granola bars made with oats (oats are a staple for helping boost milk production), a banana, a muffin, and a filled water bottle.
- Peri spray bottle: The hospital will most likely send you home with one, and they’re amazing for getting clean without having to disrupt any stitches with wipes.
- Witch Hazel: I’ve been using the Thayer’s Brand of witch hazel religiously for skin care over the last 6 years, and love the results I get. So I grabbed these Thayer’s Pre-Soaked Witch Hazel Pads for postpartum recovery! You can also put some Witch hazel in your peri bottle mixed with water to sooth swelling and help with pain.
set aside diapers+wipes in various places around your house
You never know where a blowout will happen, or where you’ll end up planting yourself to nurse, or where you’ll take a sit-down break. I have a ready-to-go diaper and wipes stash in our living room, in izzy’s bedroom, and in our bedroom. You can refill your stash throughout the week as you start to run low 🙂
wipe down surfaces
Another thing that I like to do is wipe down countertops, door handles, light switches, vacuum the carpets, and wet swiffer the hardwood floors before we leave for the hospital. I will do this more regularly once it gets close to the due date, especially because we have pets – I want our place as clean as possible for when we bring baby home.
Plus, there’s nothing like coming home to a clean house with sparkling floors! This is also a great chore for your hubby to take on if you’re feeling “too preggo” to do it yourself — since the cleaning and tidying will become his role once you’re back home so that mom can focus on herself and the new baby.
get yourself a postpartum pick-me-up to look forward to
For me, this looks like a new bath soak/scrub or face mask or book — something I can turn my brain off and do for some much needed rest+relaxation. For our second pregnancy, I bought myself a rose petal sugar scrub for my first showers once we’re home <3
if you have other kids: Pack their bags/get them ready
If someone is going to watch your first baby/babies while you and hubby are in the hospital, or if someone is going to stay at your house with your kids, it’s important to either have their overnight bag packed OR have a list ready of what a typical day with your kiddos like. We are planning on having our good friends watch izzy, but if we have to leave her at home, we have a list of what a typical day looks like for my mom to reference.
if you have a toddler: stock up on their diapers
The last thing you’d want is to run out of diapers for your toddler after you bring home the new baby. I took advantage of Target’s new drive up/order pick up feature in the Cartwheel app to get more of izzy’s diapers this week!
With drive-up, I don’t even need to get out of the car – I just park, let target know I’m there through the app, and someone brings my order straight to the car within minutes. It’s seriously the best invention EVER for new moms who don’t want to unload kids and strollers to grab 1-2 things from the store.
figure out your “once we’re home” meal plan
This is also kind of obvious, but some might not think to have freezer meals prepped or sign themselves up for a meal train. For our first baby, we had two weeks of Freshly meals delivered to us, which was so helpful! This time around we made sure to have the fridge stocked with snacks, drinks, and pantry essentials so that we wouldn’t have to grocery shop immediately after we got back home.
Another great thing to take advantage of is Instacart – a grocery delivery service that most chain grocery stores offer for grocery delivery. The app has someone shop your list for you, and deliver it right to your door for a small delivery fee. It’s also the best thing ever for new/busy moms!
We were tossing around dates we think would be fun for her to be born on…May 4th would be fun for Star Wars Day, and May 5th would also be cool because she would be 5/5, since her big sis’s birthday is 7/7. But at this point we are just wanting her to be here already!! Hopefully she comes this weekend 🙂 Happy Friday everyone!
