the week before delivery

There’s nothing quite like the feeling in the final days before you have your baby. Whether it’s your first, second, or even your fifth baby, welcoming a new family member who needs your undivided love and attention is something that warrants excitement. I was induced with Hudson and had a scheduled c-section with Hayes. So with both babies, I knew that I’d be going into the hospital the next day and had a little bit of an idea of what to expect.

Todd and I had taken a tour of the hospital during one of our childbirth classes and received the full meal deal of labor and delivery room tours. We knew what floor to go to, how to ring the bell and tell the nurses that you were there to have a baby, and unfortunately, I knew that I’d be spending the next day or so in one of those wonderful backless hospital gowns. I got my bags all packed during that week. My extensive packing list came in handy. I didn’t want to forget anything. It was most important to me to have 3-4 pillows- especially for my c-section recovery.

39 weeks pregnant with Hudson- our last doctor’s appointment before he was born

Having my bags packed was important, but it was more important to make sure the house was ready for a baby when we came home. This meant stocking the pantry and freezer, preparing the nursery, and scrubbing baseboards and ceiling fan blades in an effort to make the house as clean as possible. I also knew that I’d be sleeping in our downstairs guest room (to avoid climbing the stairs to the master bedroom) for a few weeks. So I moved my clothes and some of my toiletries to the guest room so it would be all ready for me when I came home.

Preparing the nursery was my favorite part, of course. It just smelled like a baby before a baby was even there. I washed all of the baby clothes in sweet-smelling baby detergent. I hung all of the clothes in the closet. I stocked up on Huggies Snug and Dry in newborn and size 1 (I’m prone to having big babies) and packed them in the large chest in the room.

Nesting is such a funny thing, but our house has never looked as good as it does the week before a baby comes home. Todd and I are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends who volunteered and created a meal schedule for us. We were all set to have meals delivered to our house for the next six weeks. But we still went ahead and stocked up on essentials so we could prepare some of our favorite dishes. And my mom stocked our freezer with a couple of our favorite casseroles.

Something about staying so busy the week before I delivered my babies made it even more surreal the night before I went to the hospital and laid wide awake in my bed. I was just thinking about how much our lives would change the next day. How did nine months creep by but then all of a sudden the due date was upon me and I couldn’t believe how quickly time had flown. Taking time to prepare my mind in that week by packing, stocking up, and cleaning helped me focus on preparing my heart in that sleepless night before we went to the hospital to meet our baby.

Read more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page (http://www.blogher.com/huggieson BlogHer.com.

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Comments

  1. says

    This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me… I’m having our little fella next week! I’m soaking in these last few moments with Saylor as my only baby (tear) and am getting so excited to welcome the new addition. Your packing list came in handy… I need to get on the ball :). Hope you are doing well!

  2. Laura says

    Wow! You just described my life two weeks ago on this day. That Monday was my last night home before the scheduled C-section of my second child. I had all of the same feelings and even convinced my husband to get on a ladder and clean the fan blades! I love your posts. Thanks for sharing!

  3. says

    Erin… would love for you to post some recipes that you like that freeze well… I am due mid-June and will be working on prepping my freezer soon 🙂 It would be GREAT to hear some new recipes!

  4. says

    I didn’t get to experience that last week like I thought I would. I had our first baby Feb 16th–he was due March 8th so exactly 3 weeks early. I went into the hospital on Valentines day with pre-eclampsia and had to be induced. I didn’t even have my bag packed yet because my cervix had not even begun to ripen. I was told he’d probably be born late! But my body apparently didn’t like that idea much! ha. But regardless of that experience, I now have a precious almost month-old baby boy in my arms. I couldn’t be happier!

  5. says

    My husband and I are talking about trying for children sometime in the near future. In anticipation of this, I went ahead and printed off your hospital packing list, as I know I could never have thought of all of that on my own! Can’t hurt to be prepared, right? Even though I am not even pregnant yet, haha! Some of the other things that you did pre-baby were also great ideas – washing all of the clothes, sleeping with the lovey, stocking up the fridge with frozen meals, etc. You would be a great pregnancy/lifestyle coordinator!

  6. Kelsey Jo says

    I cannot wait to.print.out your list of.essentials. With my first I kept saying there are things I wish I had and things I definitely didn’t need…your list is just perfect…thank you. 🙂

    I was wondering what baby detergent you used because the ones I’ve used don’t have a smell and I’d love nothing more than something sweet smelling that would always remind me of that special time. 🙂

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