If you're expecting your first child, you probably already have a long list of things you need to do: choose a pediatrician, update your health insurance policy, prepare the nursery, pack your overnight hospital bag, take birthing and breastfeeding classes. The list goes on and on!
If you are a first-time parent, your life is about to change in ways you don't even realize yet. It is just as important to have a checklist of things to do for yourself before baby arrives.
Take It Easy
Relax in a warm milk bath. Stroll hand in hand with your mate. Read a very long book (NOT a parenting book). Take a yoga class. Binge watch a TV show on Netflix.
Once the baby arrives, you won't have as much time to invest in yourself and your schedule will be set by a tiny person, so enjoy the slow pace of relaxation while you can.
Get Pampered
Do your feet hurt? How's your back? Is your hair growing faster than it ever has before? Schedule a spa day where you enjoy a pedicure (since you probably can't reach your toes anyway), a prenatal massage, and a haircut (ask for an extra long shampoo).
You're growing a PERSON inside your PERSON... you deserve some extra-special treatment.
Schedule a Maternity Photo Session
Even if you feel as big as a walrus, I promise you are beautiful! You will love these photos for decades to come, and by the time your baby is a preschooler, he will also love seeing what Mommy looked like when he was in your tummy!
Take a Babymoon
Plan an overnight trip, a weekend, or even a week-long vacation if possible. Need ideas? Check out these 5 Blissful Babymoon Destinations ... Right Here in the States!
Pack lightly (it may be the last time you do for years to come). Enjoy your relationship with your partner. See an R-rated movie. Sleep in (it may be the last time for this as well... at least till they can pour their own cereal and turn on the Disney channel!).
Fill Your Freezer
Make as many freezer dinners as you can to make nightly meal prep easier once baby arrives. Try our 8 Freezer to Slow Cooker Chicken Dishes. Buy a frozen lasagna (or two or three). When friends and family ask how they can help you, ask for a meal you can freeze for later.
Accept Offers for Help
When friends and family offer to help — before AND after you give birth — learn to say yes! Let them bring meals, run errands, clean your house, do your laundry. You can pay it forward to someone else down the line.
Schedule a Professional House Cleaning
My mother-in-law paid for professional cleaners to come to our house while I was in the hospital with our first child. It was the best present she ever gave me (if you don't count my husband). We got to come home to a clean, germ-free house and we could spend our time bonding with our sweet new bundle of pride and joy!
