Things you wish you were told...

[ToonLass]

Hello,

I am 28wks and starting to seriously think about everything I need to get organised.

Wanting to know if there's anything you wish you had been told prior to the arrival if your wee one - anything from pram choices/hospital bags/pain relief/delivery options/feeding etc etc

Any advice would be gratefully received :)

Don't bother with cute outfits...sleep suits and vests are the way to go.

The way to extract small baby from a super explosive poo soaked vest is to wriggle the opening down over their shoulders and then down the body.

Also, following in from the above, always have a fresh un-folded ready to go nappy immediately to hand as there is usually more poo waiting to come out just as you remove the first nappy.

Buy the thickest maternity pads you can find and LOADS of them. If you have a tear/epi/stitches/generally tender down there, soak in witch hazel and pop in the fridge for a bit AH-MAZING

Guests are welcome within reason, but they must work for their newborn snuggles..I make a point when I visit friends with newborns of offering help with any random chores like hanging up washing, doing the washing up etc, and made others do the same for me!

I felt like a right fool trying to do up the studs on DD's babygro in the hospital - take five minutes and practise! But your baby won't really care if their vest is on backwards...

Remember that your baby won't have read any books so don't worry if he/she doesn't do what you expect from what you've read. Or what you've been told.

Sitting down hurts! I sort of vaguely knew I'd be sore but I didn't know I'd need gas and air for my stitches or that sitting down and getting up would make me cry.

You're not spoiling your baby by cuddling him/her. It's allowed. Cuddle all day if you want to- one day you'll have to pin them down for cuddles!

Start putting nipple cream on your nipples from 37w if you plan on bf.

The recovery is tough. I couldnt sit up for 2 days because of the pain from the stitches. Then when I could move around, I could feel my insides knocking about. You know how you can feel water slshing in a half full bottle in a packpack? Something like that. Had to get a girdle for support.

If your baby will be wearing socks, makes sure when you put them into the wash that they go in a delicates bag so they dont get lost and clog up your machine.