Preparing For The Big Day

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.” – Osho

The last few weeks of my pregnancy was filled with oodles of anxiety to welcome my little bundle of joy. When I look back, it feels like those nine months flew by in a jiffy and at times I feel like it lasted an eternity.

To sum it up, those nine months helped me endure everything; like the physical implications – morning sickness, weight gain, leg and back cramps and the emotional turmoil – mood swings, yelling, irritation (keeping the list short as I do not want to scare you with the rest of it). But, all in all it has been my most cherished journey.
As I was closing in on the D-Day, I started doing my bit of preparations for the same. I want to share a few pointers with all the beautiful mommies to be out there which might just make things a tad bit easier.

Mental Preparation – According to me, the most important aspect. Labour  is a herculean task and being mentally prepared is of utmost importance. Here, I also know that no amount of readiness is going to be enough as I myself did not know what to expect. But, I started my bit of research on the whole process. I read up online and spoke to a few of my friends and family members about the process but, I would like to give a word of caution here. Please do not indulge yourselves with too many labour stories from different women, especially that pesky next door aunty who loves to exaggerate as these stories often turn out to become “horror stories”. The last thing you want to do is to stress yourself too much and complicate the experience. Every woman’s labour is  different. It may just turn out to be a breeze when you were unnecessarily losing your sleep over it.

C Section / Normal Delivery – Unfortunately one of the most common reasons of worry for a lot of women. Once again please chuck all the free advice with respect to this and just go by your doctor. As always I have a few examples of free advice to share with you.

Examples of Free advice

• Walk 10 kms daily and you will have a normal delivery for sure. Yes, I agree that walking or any form of permitted physical activity during pregnancy will surely make the process easier for you but, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will deliver normally.

• Eat a particular food product and deliver normally. Wow! I think these solicitors should get into advertising. They will do a fabulous job.

• Keep talking to the baby and tell him / her that you want a normal delivery. Yet again, I have a different opinion on this. Talking to your unborn child is agreeably the most beautiful and stimulating experience for both of you. But, it doesn’t assure you a normal delivery.

• Do not take epidural under any circumstance, even if you are dying of pain as it induces a C section. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this anymore.

Honestly, I too agree that a normal delivery is much better and much preferred but, nowadays we have amazingly equipped hospitals and very well trained doctors to handle even the toughest situations.

Hospital Bag – Do keep this ready and handy in the ninth month itself to avoid last minute rush (you may not even have the time or the energy for it). I have a list ready for the same which I am sharing. Trust me on this ladies, I was ready with my bags packed and everything was totally smooth at the hospital.

List for your hospital bag

• All documents (if you are insured), papers and hospital reports.
• Nursing gowns
• Slippers
• Baby clothes (if the hospital does not provide the same)
• Toiletries – Tooth brush, paste, soap, body lotions, comb (anything else that you use on a regular basis)
• Sanitary Napkins

Also, please replace all the jewellery that you wear regularly with artificial ones when you are nearing your due date as you will have to take them off. I lost some of them and that’s why the warning. If possible, don’t paint your nails around your due date (which I’m sure you won’t be interested in. Try painting your toe nails during this time). I faced trouble here as well.

Lastly, sit back and enjoy and take ample amount of rest in these last few weeks as one thing is for sure – your life is never again going to be the same after this.
Do you have any other pointers to add? Drop a line and let me know.

Like what you read and want to connect with me?

Connect with me on my Website

Also read: Hospital Bag Checklist For Mom And Baby

#pregnancymustknow