To ask for best maternity leave tips pre-baby

[MeredithGrey1]

Posting for traffic, sorry!

I’m going on maternity leave at the end of this week, and I’ll be 36+6 weeks pregnant. This is my first baby and there’s no reason to think she’ll come early so I may have a few weeks before she arrives. What are people’s best ideas for things to do during the period between leave starting and the baby arriving? Either fun/relaxing things that you wish you’d done more of before the baby arrived, or organisation/admin stuff that it would have been really helpful to have sorted when the baby arrived (eg batch cooking some meals for the freezer so that for the first couple of days you have meals already sorted).

I think we’ve got everything sorted but I’m sure there’ll be little things I’ve missed!

Go out for coffee or meals alone. Go to the cinema and sit in peace and watch a film. Have a massage and go swimming. Nap. My first came very unexpectedly at 37 weeks, so I only really had a day of mat leave before she arrived. What I felt I've missed a lot that first year was just being able to leave the house alone and do some sort of adult activity by myself. I would have died for a quiet lunch in a cafe alone with two free hands and time to eat everything before I had to rush somewhere or feed a baby.

Definitely batch cooking. But also if you can treat yourself to a nice pedicure or something. Go to the cinema and out for meals if means allow. Basically things that you might miss for a while. Try and relax! Don’t get stressed by people messaging to ask if you’ve gone into labour!

I sorted out the whole house top to bottom. Spring clean and organised all the cupboards. Everything had a place so nothing could be left out in limbo. I also decorated and sorted the nursery and all of DS toys and clothes ready for when he arrived. Also hospital bag and lots of batch cooking for ease! I only had one spare day before DS arrived and I spent that making some pretty felt bunting for his room. Some people would rather be relaxing but I’m so happy I got all of that done. It was far more useful to me than just relaxing. But I can see the appeal of relaxing before baby arrives!

I cleaned everything and went for walks with the dog as I knew that it'd be a while before I could really do it again.

Batch meal cooking, prep anything you might need in the first week, prepare supermarket deliveries if you can, get a hair cut.

100% batch cooking. Cook as much as you have the space to store!! Also make sure you've got all the baby's clothes washed and ready. Also, make sure you have got plenty of bibs or muslins as babies sick..... a lot!!! Good luck @MeredithGrey1 .

Love your username by the way! I've been on maternity for the last 12 months and have basically just been watching Greys on repeat!

Get the house sorted! I've been doing this slowly but surely, trying not to knacker myself as I'm up every night being sick 🙄 I've also washed, ironed and sorted all the baby's clothes and will start my batch cooking today. Definitely make time to do some nice things though, I've been out with friends, out for a meal and cinema with DH, we had a meal out with both sets of parents on Monday and I had a lovely night away with my mum and plan to get a couple of lunches out with my MIL too.

I'm also enjoying just sitting and relaxing with something on TV or a magazine/book, just enjoying these last few days of peace and quiet and cuddles with my cats. I'm also thinking I should get my hair done soon as it could be a while before I get the chance!

Get a haircut. This will become difficult later! Nap. Leave the house with only your phone, keys and purse. Batch cook - definitely useful. Buy good snacks if you are breastfeeding.

Thanks! Haircut is definitely a good idea, hadn't thought of that.

As far as getting the house clean and sorted, we actually moved house last week and the lovely lovely previous owners left it completely spotless. We worked really hard over the long weekend to get it all unpacked (and obviously packing up and moving involved quite a bit of decluttering anyway) and so I'm quite lucky that apart from day to day cleaning/keeping on top of it, there is no big, whole house spring clean that is needed. The fact they left it so clean is probably one of the very few bonuses of moving house so close to my due date.

Definitely another vote for relaxing self indulgence . Swim, massage, coffee, lunch, maybe a little cupboard cleaning, I had a pedicure too. My husband had done a sterling job of cutting my toenails for a little while by then, but it was lovely to have them done nicely.
The clever ones have a practice with the pushchair/car seat shenanigans to avoid getting stuck and tearful outside hobbycraft when trying to put a car seat with pushchair adapters still on into the car....some wonderful person (I have no idea male or female) spotted me struggling and rushed in and made it all better with no fuss. Sometimes people are awesome
All the best

Batch cooking was the best thing I did. Didn’t have to cook a single meal until my dd was two months old (we have a huge chest freezer)

If you go for batch cooking, don't do dinners as your dh/dp will be around to cook or to have baby while you cook. Lunches are the tricky bit, so I'd make soup/ savoury muffins/ small portions of lasagna/shepherds pie or whatever - things you can slam in the microwave and eat one handed if you need to.

Practically - batch cook, wash all of the baby's clothes etc. If you've put your non maternity clothes away, maybe make sure some of the looser, comfier stuff is easy to get to.

But mainly - sleep. Lie in bed until noon. Go to the cinema. Definitely get the haircut. If the weather is nice and you're feeling up to it, go for walks and stop for a slow coffee and have a slice of cake. Eat meals using both hands.

Dentist and anything else which needs doing in the next 20 years!

If you’re hoping to breast feed do some reading about it, watch some videos. I think most of us are woefully unprepared.
If BF too avoid batch cooking curries or anything with lentils. My baby got miserable with wind when I ate them.
Flapjacks packed with nuts/fruit are good for snacking and keeping you going early days.
I enjoyed napping, reading, swimming, baths when on mat leave.

READ!

yes to the above. batch cook as much as you can, even if only for the first few days. (or head to cook and buy some of their freezer meals...more expensive but also more time for you time!)

relax. read books (i bought three to read while i was on mat leave with ds. still haven't read them and he'll 2 in september. baby 2 is arriving in July so maybe i'll get to read them then....#wishfulthinking

Chill out and do whatever you feel like you might miss if you didn't do them for a while. Batch cooking wouldn't be on my list tbh but would be useful if you can be arsed. This is the last time for ages that it's all about you so do whatever makes you happy. And sleep if you feel like it.

Enjoy it- I agree try to relax, massage is brilliant in late pregnancy (as is reflexology!), batch cooking and if not just make sure the house is well stocked with snacks etc for when you're home alone with baby.
FWIW I had lovely plans and anticipated being 10-14 days overdue as that's what EVERYONE said. Was due to go on mat leave at 37 weeks- the Wednesday night of my last week in work waters broke and I didn't get a days maternity leave. Nails, hair, massage all booked. Ah well...

I had my eyebrows and eyelashes done in peace! And also then looked much better than I would have done otherwise post birth not that it really matters but still...

Get organised, obviously go through baby stuff but it's worth doing household paperwork that will be due. Find out places that would be baby friendly for the first few weeks - eg cafes which have breastfeeding groups that meet up. I also spring cleaned the house. Then take time out for you.

Nap.
Haircut.
Any dentist or optician appointment you might need (it's more difficult with a baby!)
Pedicure/manicure/massage
Cinema
Nap
Sort baby stuff
Check hospital bags