Having a baby is a welcome gift to any couple. But bringing home a baby takes a lot more preparation than just decorating your baby’s new room or making sure that you have all the baby products. It also means being emotionally prepared for the challenges of being a parent.
Having a well-thought plan will help decrease the overwhelming feeling of this new phase in your life. Some of the important things that you need to consider include:
- Identifying the kind of help you need back home.
- The people that are going to visit your house and when they’ll visit.
- Ensuring that you also get enough sleep.
- Will your husband be around during the first week or he’ll immediately get back to work?
Creating a checklist will help you prepare for the transition of bringing a new baby home and making sure that you and your baby have the things you need in those first few weeks. You may draw out specific needs into different categories such as:
- Recovery phase. How will you find help during your recovery period? Also, make sure that you have the supplies at hand to ease any pains and take note of any special instructions from your ob-gynecologist.
- Meals. Do you have any house helpers to do the cooking for you while you and your baby are resting and bonding? If none, who will be in-charge of preparing meals for the household?
- Baby care. Who will lend an extra hand with diaper changing, bathing, and breastfeeding? Will your husband take a paternity leave or do you need to hire a nanny?
The most important part of this postpartum planning is of course, your baby. So make sure that you arrange baby station in your house where you can easily access the things your baby needs.
- Sleep aid. Any items that will help promote sleep like blanket, cuddly toy, or lavender lotion is a must.
- Feeding. If you plan to breastfeed, snuggly blanket, pillows to make breastfeeding comfortable, and lots of healthy food to increase milk production are the important things you need. For bottle-feeding, feeding bottles, cleaning materials for the bottles, and formula are the must.
- Diaper Change. Have a basket with necessary items such as diapers, clean clothes, baby wipes, and powder prepared.
Although nothing will really prepare you for this new responsibility in your life, having everything in order will help ease the tension and anxiety of bringing home your baby. Do your post-partum planning like you did during your pregnancy. But don’t forget to breathe and relax, and just enjoy this new blessing.
