How to prepare for returning home with a newborn baby?

I knew that the day when I would come home with the longed-for child for the first time would remain in my memory forever. So I decided to prepare well for it.

1. Layette and corner for the child

We started preparations for accepting a child around the 5th month of pregnancy. I believe that the second trimester is the perfect time for preparation, which we feel like doing and usually feel the best. Personally, in the 9th month I only dreamed of… giving birth.

Therefore, around 8 months I had almost everything ready: a room, clothes and almost all children's accessories and gadgets. At that time, I also prepared and organized everything in the Children's room and in our bedroom as if the Child were already living with us: nappies, clothes and cosmetics at hand, everything washed and ironed. Wojtek could not understand it at all. But it is thanks to the first time Mikołaj and I entered the house, to his room, when I put him on the changing table, I had everything at my fingertips. Then Wojtek said that it was all great for me to think up and prepare. It saved us a lot of unnecessary stress.

You can find my advice about the layette here.

2. Order

There are two things that I love hotels for: hotel cleanliness and hotel breakfasts. On the day of returning home from the hospital, I really wanted it to be as clean as a hotel. With all due respect to Wojtek, I knew that when cleaning up, he did not pay attention to the fact that he would spend the days of my stay in the hospital on the umbilical (of course!), Work and daily visits, so he would not have much time for cleaning. I would like to add that we moved 2 months earlier and many things have not yet taken place, and in the last months of my (at risk) pregnancy I did not have the physical opportunity to clean up. We even considered hiring a cleaning company once, but completely unnecessarily. My mother and sister made an amazing surprise for me and when I was in the hospital they came, their sleeves rolled up and they cleaned everything perfectly. thank you <3

3. Bedding

For the birth of my child, I bought a beautiful satin cotton bedding, which I washed in baby powder before giving birth, ironed it and asked Wojtek to wear it on our return. Mmmm, now it was better than a 5 star hotel.

4. Visit

More and more of my friends do not want any visits on the day they return from the hospital. And I, the old Polish custom, when a woman, mother, was welcomed at home by other women from the immediate surroundings, on the day of return with Mikołaj, I invited women closest to us and to Mikołaj, my sister with children, mother and mother-in-law. Of course, they didn't stay with us for 3 weeks, or even for dinner, but it was a very nice experience to have them with you at such an important moment.

5. List of numbers

As the older sister told me, I prepared a list of necessary numbers, and it contained contacts for people from my area:

• lactation midwife arriving home
• environmental midwife
• pediatrician doctor commuting home.

Thanks to them I felt much safer.

6. Paternity leave

We wondered for a long time when it was worth taking advantage of paternity leave. Our decision was made in the first two weeks after coming from the hospital with the newborn and I believe that it is the best decision in the world. Thanks to this, we were able to learn and care for the baby together, support him and get closer to each other. When everyone asked how I felt, if I had "Baby Blues" I didn't know what they were talking about. Two weeks later, when I was alone with the newborn, I already knew. But I remembered these absolutely wonderful 2 days in a full family 2/14. I wouldn't trade them for any other.

(Eventually, when I left the hospital, I received a leave of absence for Wojtek to look after me, because I was after the surgery and we did not have to take paternity leave at that time. We used it when Mikołaj was 11 months old and ... there is nothing to compare! paternity right after giving birth and returning home.)

And how was or will it be with you?

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