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Preparing for Baby’s Arrival ~ Helpful Tips for Moms and Dads

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It can be a very exciting time as delivery day draws near and in order to make it the most positive experience possible for you and your spouse, there are a few important considerations to make.

Be Prepared

Pack a hospital bag for you and baby, attend a hospital tour that includes a viewing of the delivery room and post-delivery room - ask lots of questions, familiarize yourself with the driving route to the hospital, alternative routes and drop off and parking policies.

It‘s also a good idea to check with your hospital and health insurance provider about what paperwork you may need to bring in or fill out, and if there’s anything you can do in advance. You don't want to add any stress or additional tasks for yourself on the big day. Being prepared will help keep you calm and keep the process as seamless as can be.

Delivery Aides

Check with your hospital what delivery aides they allow. Some hospitals will let you bring in your own music, give you access to an exercise ball or let you bring your own, provide access to a shower or bathtub, allow your spouse or another significant other to attend with you. Any delivery aid you can think of that might help you through the labor experience or make it more comfortable for you – ask about it. But be sure to ask well in advance about your particular hospital of choice's policies to minimize frustration on the day of delivery.

Big Decisions

Spend time with your spouse talking through important decisions related to the birth, like for example cord blood banking. Since collecting your baby’s cord blood can only be done at the time of birth, you’ll need to decide and make arrangements ahead of time to ensure the collection happens and you don’t miss out on this one time opportunity.

Talk with your doctor about blood banking and decide if it’s right for your family. Other decisions to discuss might involve whether you want to call family right away, bring in the video camera, and so on.

Plan for Siblings

You want to be sure to have a child care plan in place for your other children. Reach out to a number of trusted caregivers for your younger children, or make a plan to drop them off or have them picked up by another family. Have their phone numbers accessible, go through routines and most importantly, be sure you have back up plans in case the initial caregiver planned is unavailable.

 

Katie Moore is an active writer within the blogging community who discusses maternity, motherhood, prenatal health, child birth and other topics within this niche.  If you have any questions or would like to connect with Katie please contact her via twitter @moorekm26.

Melissa @ Mommy Living the Life of Riley: I'm a former 7th grade Science teacher turned stay-at-home mom that lives in Houston, Texas. I am married to my college sweetheart and have a beautiful daughter named Riley, that definitely keeps me on my toes! I am also involved in starting a small business which would both manufacture and sell an invention that I've patented, called Toothpaste 2 Go. I love interacting with my readers and hope to learn as much about you as you learn about me!

View Comments (6)

    • LOL! So true, Rosemary! To me, it still seems a little strange that you can tell someone the EXACT date your baby is going to be born! :)

  • I am 32 weeks pregnant and so I'm definitely in the planning stage. I really think cord blood banking is a scam. The problem is that most of the diseases that cord blood cells are used to cure are already present in the cord blood of infants who will develop those diseases. Therefore, the blood is unusable. Also, it isn't really a tested procedure - of the thousands of cord blood transfers that have been done since the 90s, only a very few (the number I've seen a few times is 14) have used the person's own cord blood.
    It stinks that there are companies out there trying to scare future parents into spending their money on something that doesn't have any proven benefit. I'm going to use those several thousand dollars I could have used for cord blood, and put together a college investment fund.

    Here are some independent articles that talk about cord blood banking.

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/private-cord-blood-banking-worth-price/story?id=10568271#.TyXColyXSpA
    http://www.kidsdr.com/daily-dose/is-cord-blood-banking-worth-it

    • Thanks for the comment Laura and for the articles you included. Cord blood banking is definitely something to think about critically before proceeding, for it is expensive and an ongoing cost. I didn't choose to bank with my daughter either for it was something that was beyond our budget. Good luck with the new baby! :luck:

  • Great info. As a soon to be Dad I've kept a whole checklist of TTD's and with 3-4 weeks to go finally have it all ready and accounted for. We are not doing the cord blood banking after researching it.

    For Dads it's not as much abut planning, as it is helping your wife/SO execute those plans she has already put in place. I take control of my strong points like building stuff and lifting heavy things :)

    • Thanks so much for being such a great helper to your wife...I know she really appreciates it! Good luck with the new baby and CONGRATULATIONS! :big grin:

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