Things to do on maternity leave.........

[Nicky1306]

Hey!

So I started my mat leave on 17th Dec since then we've moved house, had Xmas and new year.......it's been hetic to say the least! DD starts at her new school tomorrow I'm now 34 weeks, I'm sure I had a whole heap of things I wanted to do while off on mat leave.......I just can't remover what!! Do far I have pack hospital bag and batch cook, what's on your lists of things to do while on mat leave? X x

Mine was to lie on the sofa & eat lots of choc, but dd had to be induced 4 weeks early so that was my plan scuppered!

Maybe clean the house, get all bills etc sorted, organise shopping (via Internet if nec), wash baby clothes

Mine was pack bag, finalize birth plan, amend will, pre/prepare child benefit forms, sort all house filing, tax return, batch cook, fit car seat, Christmas prep (obviously over now,) sort nursery, bake general treats for me and dh, do some freelance work, finish off and let out a rental house..

RELAX I wish when I was pregnant I just say down more and watched a whole program through or read a book without having to keep stopping or bake. Whatever you enjoy doing but enjoy the time

Sleep. You will miss it.

Definitely do some batch cooking (wish I'd done this), organise the baby's things so you know where to find a clean vest in the middle of the night, pack your hospital bags, and relax!

I second relax, batch cook. I cleaned as well, did one job, like dust living room, then sat for like 30 minutes and relaxed, then did another job. Really pleased I did as it meant when baby came home house was spotless, except for dh mess he created for the 2 days I was in hospital, especially with family descending upon us etc.

I sorted out all our old photos and put them into albums.

This meant that once DS1 was born, our albums were all up to date, which made it easier to keep going with it. It might be a reaction to the fact that my parents didn't do a baby album or baby book for me, just a load of loose photos in a shoe box.

Not everyone prints their photos out these days, but all of our DCs have really enjoyed looking through photo albums of when they were little.

We're having building work done so not much sleeping/washing/cooking going on at the mo...

but

I am finally getting round to doing our wedding album and sticking wedding cards into a book (over 2 years after the event!) - in fact a friend told me that was a good idea, as if I don't do it now I probably never will...

I am 33 weeks and on mat leave now, I am painting nursery furniture, laying in new flooring in nursey, buying everything I think I will need, (first baby so a huge shopping list) painting nursery mural, preparing birthplan, preparing hospital bag, batch cooking, and writing an essay for my PGCE course, plus doing some assignements for the course as well....plus sorting out my two horses, moving them to a new field with accesss to fieldshelter, mucking out, and generally trying to prepare the farm as much as i can so i can try to minimise the work I have to do with the baby in a sling once he is born...

Ignore the baby stuff beyond the basics, plenty of time after for that. Read books, watch films, craft things if you like to, walk round town window shopping, meet friends for lunch or a coffee, relax. This will all go out of the window soon enough and baby will be all you can think about, so make the most of it!

Well today I sat on my backside!! Lol tomorrow I will be more productive , I really like the idea of doing DD1's baby album so will get that started and Defo plan on doing some batch cooking x x

Go to the cinema - it could be a while (apart from baby and mum showings) before you get there again!

I did lots of cooking for the freezer so that I would have home cooked food on hand once we got baby home.

And I did lots of meeting friends for lunch/cake etc, and general lounging about!

I was going to say sleep & cinema! And meet friends & enjoy having conversations not focused on or interrupted by babies!

Definitely sleep.

Stay up late doing something you want to do followed by a lye in. Have a leisurely walk around town meet up for coffee with some friends. Read a book. Watch a whole film without either falling asleep or being interupted. Sleep, have naps. Cook some nice meals you may not have the time soon.
I am 30weeks but sahm with a toddler and I am doing a huge clear out before next dc arrives. Hopefully will mean I don't worry too much about mess and visitors after birth. (Currently have a lot of clutter)

swim

go to the pictures on your own in the daytime

stock up on books from charity shops for reading whilst bf

do anything that you need two free hands to do

Definitely get out and about. I'm currently 28 weeks and starting a list of things I want to do when I'm on mat leave, and it includes a few trips into town to visit certain shops/ museums, etc. Also the cinema (if there's something decent on) and swimming. I shall be getting stuck into a really big knitting project and doing lots of baking too.

Last time round I found myself doing FAR too much housework - it doesn't really help when the baby's here because it all gets messy again so quickly.

Find out what local groups there are that you can either start going to now, like bfing support groups, lll and nct, aquanatal or ones you can take Lo to when they arrive, like local play groups and aquatots.

Cook, sleep and read.

Sleep.
Read a whole.book.
Drink a hot drink while it is still hot.
Get a fresh set of bed linen handy so DH can make sure your first night home post birth is in a lovely fresh bed.
Watch dvd box sets.

Lie on the sofa. Have an afternoon nap. Read a lot.

I did none of those things with DS1. With DS2 I had a lovely 4 weeks before he arrived

Ohhh cinema sounds good! X