What do you wish you had done in the last weeks/days of pregnancy?...

[Miffster]

...now you have had your baby?

Am 39 weeks and expecting DC1 shortly. Freezer filled, birth plan typed up, baby clothes washed, online grocery order ready to be actioned, can fold and unfold buggy one-handed, Christmas decs up, blah blah.

Leaving house for expeditions not really much of a lure due to needing the loo every 17 minutes, and pressure on cervix making me feel like baby is about to fall out. Also dislike being gawped at by members of public in street.

Aside from reading novels, sleeping and watching crap TV (the usual) is there anything you'd particularly recommend?

Sleep, go out to your favourite places to eat, relax and watch dvds, read up on potential breastfeeding and sleep issues you may have with your new baby - congratulations btw!

shop for any birthday presents/cards needed for the next 3 months.
sleep
hair cut and coloured
sleep
meal out in a snooty, very grown-up restaurant.
sleep

Did haircut and manicure ( short nails, clear polish) yesterday. Bought nursing bras today and have read baby books for the last 3 weeks, am bored with baby books now and am reading novels whilst I still can. :)

:( about idea of ripping up the birth plan.
I like my birth plan.

And am planning a home birth, purely because unfortunately due to past experiences hospitals are v. traumatic places for me. Therefore the thought that I may have to go into one as an emergency case and have forceps/have to lie on back etc etc after all fills me with utter horror and makes me shake and throw up. So I want to believe that I will have a nice normal home birth and all will be well.

Birth plan is basically : do not go to hospital unless my life or the baby's life is in danger.

I would probably have gone out more. I don't mean partying, just generally getting out of the house as now having had my daughter a week ago, it seems like I won't be able to leave the house in ages what with the weather making it difficult, me having had stitches so driving is impossible and a few other reasons attached to the birth.

Just get out and about and do any shopping or 'me time' things that you won't be able to do later.

things like long leisurely baths by candlelight are good to cram in now!

Miffster - home birth is indeed great. though i didn't write a birth plan

i think..i'd have loved to go for tea & cake more. and do my xmas shopping.

Hire a cleaner if you can possibly afford it.

Sleep.

Browse in the shops. Take long leisurely baths, enjoying your bump.

Go to lots of snooty, non child-friendly places (restaurants, posh cafes, concerts)

Have a pregnancy massage (Neals Yard do them and I had one 2 weeks before my due date. DS was born two days later, probably because I was so relaxed)

Go to a spa/luxury swimming pool

Sleep

and sleep some more

Good thread.

I'd second having a huge stack of thank you cards ready, people are very kind and will send pressies. Even people you dont know! I bought a few presents for upcoming birthdays too.

Honestly, do sleep, everyone said it to me and I ignored them - I was obsessed with nesting and getting DD's room perfect (utterly pointless as she sleeps in our room and hardly uses her room)

Agree - get a couple of pairs of nice PJs, you will be in them a lot and they will cheer you up. Maternity PJs unbutton really low so you can feed at 2 am without hoiking your top up round your neck on freezing nights.

Have tons of chocolate in the house, you just crave sugar (the tiredness probably) and BF burns off 500 calories a day, so get stuck in. Also, biscuits as you will have visitors (Although shame on any visitors who arrive at a new mums without bearing cake).

Enjoy your last few days. DD#1 is 3 months old and my old life has vanished (she is totally worth it though).

Not seen anyone else say it much but spend time with your OH! Birth and a new baby is a huge journey you'll go on together and the bonding in the days leading up to it all is important.

If he's at work all week, don't spend the evenings and weekends only doing practical stuff (the urge to resist is difficult, I remember!) but go to the cinema, out for a meal, make time to cuddle and talk. It's his life which is going to change forever too!

hair cut & colour
mani & pedi
general maintenance
bought some beautiful dark coloured PJs
researched BF help sites
agree with having paperwork organised
good luck!

In the case of DD -I wish I'd done my Xmas shopping.

She arrived midway through November when she was due in December so took me somewhat by surprise....and then I still had all my presents to buy.

(not this year but many years ago)

What everyone else said re sleep, dinner out and cinema. 6 months on I haven't managed this yet ;) although the baby does sleep most of the time in the beginning and so should you.

Ummm have lots of sex if you can manage it now!

I too planned a homebirth and dreaded having to transfer. In the end we did tfr due to long drawn out labour and the hospital was fantastic. Still had pool and only one mw who stayed with us throughout with no involvement from others. Pack a bag just in case and make sure there are lots of snacks, sweet and savoury as well as drinks. If you do end up having to go in make sure your OH knows what you want/ don't want and isn't afraid to speak up for you.

Best of luck. It's the best!

Sleep! definitely. Lots of lie ins and cuddles in bed. I love my bed and definitely don't spend enough time in it now .

Have meals with your OH, where you both sit down at the table, at the same time, eating something that is warm and requires both hands. And having a civilised conversation (ie not about sleep patterns, poo, etc).

Enjoy watching things on TV in the evening without having half your attention focused on listening out for your DC.

Catch up with friends and enjoy having conversations without interruption.

If you're thinking of going back to work within a year, consider researching childcare options - I thought there would be time enough afterwards but the first few months passed in a haze and when I did get round to it, my first choice nurseries were full, nearly 8 months in advance!

Most of all, relax and enjoy - hope it all goes well!

Just to reiterate what everyone else has said - SLEEP! You cannot understand how much you will miss it! I wish I had slept more. Also, anything that you think you'll have time to do when the baby's here - you won't. Also get a 'babykit' for the room you'll be spending the most time in postnatally - for me, the living room. By this I mean nappies, wipes, cotton wool, endless supply of water (and chocolate). If you're breadtfeeding look up all the info you can - watch DVDs on it, ask people, watch people do it, go to bf classes. None of it can adequately prepare you for it enough but knowledge is power!
Oh and not really your question but some free advice anyway - add nice soft loo roll to your hospital bag. Trust me.

Good luck! :)

Find something to record the infectious giggles of your little ones. Every time I see that ad I feel wistful that it remains just a memory .

I had trouble sleeping during the day - consider buying an eye mask and some lavender oil to use whilst practicing napping (sprinkle oil on mask). It was the best thing my OH bought me.

I also made a nice relaxing playlist for my iPod which I listened to a lot and planned to play during the birth (only managed to get it on afterwards). The songs still remind me of those early days and it really makes me smile when my now 7 month old enjoys the music (and I have a copy of the CD in his memory box).

Dreemagurl - OMG you just added the two things I was going to!

Get some drawers in your lounge sorted out with babyclothes, muslins etc. Then you won't have to keep going back and forth to the bedroom...

I also second the bit about breastfeeding - its not easy and just because you've read a book doesn't mean that is enough! Talk to people, get some experienced people you can phone at short notice, and read real people's stories about b/f to prepare yourself.

I wish I'd waxed the top of my {whispered} pubic hairline for the possibility of an emergency C-section. If not necessary it can be ignored while it grows back, otherwise it makes the possibililty of internal hair regrowth in the scar much more comfortable.

Pereneal massage. Or is that TMI!

Sleep, lounge in bed reading the papers, have a pedicure, take long baths, buy stamps for thank you cards, stock up on DVD box sets for long BF sessions...

Also, think about an online food delivery service. I think Ocado are great, and if you set up a regular order/shopping list now, you're just a few clicks away from food shopping arriving at your door.

I'd definitely recommend a birth plan that considers all eventualities. Mine started with the idea of a water birth and ended with the possibilities of a CS under GA. I ended up having the crash CS, but my comprehensive birth plan meant that everyone was clear that DS (who was absolutely fine) was given straight to my husband and stayed with him until I woke up 90 minutes later. I was also clear that I wanted them to wait until I was able to breastfeed him, rather than giving him formula, and that was respected too.

taken a 'before' photo of my vagina so 1. you'd be in a better place to know how well it was healing afterwards and 2. so if you were really damaged in the process, you would be able to show a surgeon how to piece you back together again. i know that you should accept you're unlikely to have the same body again, but if things go really pearshape as they sometimes do, that photo may come in handy

oh and buy lots of shirtdresses for breastfeeding

Read lots of books and stayed in bed all day just because I could.

Eaten out and gone to the cinema more.

Get into bed, watch DVD and SLEEP!!!!

Have hair cut and coloured.

Start applying lansinoh to nipples.

Be more prepared for BF.

Stock up freezer/fridge.

Keep house as clean as possible, you won't have time after the birth.

Buy lots of comfy pyjamas and jogging type bottoms for afterwards, you won't want to wear anything else.

Sleep and sleep and sleep!! Seriously.

I always wish I'd taken time out and had that lovely long luxurious candlelit bath in warm water with bubbles in it, instead of spending all my days cleaning and moving stuff about and putting things in boxes and tidying up according to my husband's daily instructions as he left for work!! More fool me!!!

Sleep like it's going out of fashion. Spend nights cuddled up with your OH. Sit down and enjoy your dinner. Watch films that you've really wanted to watch. Stay in the bath for as long as humanly possible. Sleep some more. Don't worry about the birth (in the space of 12 days I broke my leg, had and epidural, had a precipitous labour lasting 1hour 9 minutes of hell and an emergency cesarean with a general...after planning a natural water birth) life can throw some spanners in the works but I have a beautiful 3 month old who's my world....I'd just like more sleep and less metal in my leg lol x