countdown and list-making
As the summer goes into full-swing, I’m realizing that I have 9-ish weeks now left to prepare for Baby Sparkleberry. So being the organized list-maker I am, I am trying to get an idea of what I still need to do. A lot of it depends on if we’re moving or not, and we won’t know the answer to that question until July 31st at the latest.
1. Research vaccinations and decide which ones and when I want them administered. (At least for the vaccinations babies typically get during their first few months.)
2. Find a pediatrician. I have no idea how to go about doing this. Do I need to wait and find out where I’m going to be living first?
3. Write thank-you notes
4. Do the necessary paperwork for the hospital. Call and ask if they do a hospital tour at a time when my husband can come too – i.e. NOT 4:30 on a weekday afternoon!
5. Figure out stuff with the birth class. I know; I’m such a procrastinator. :-) Sign up for the water birth class at the hospital – I have to take it if I want to have a water birth, and I’m trying to keep my options open.
6. Design baby announcements to send to friends & family; look into where to get them printed; make sure address list is up-to-date (if you’ve moved since Christmas, let us know your new address!).
7. I know I’m missing things, but I can’t think of them right now. I’m sure it will come to me and I’ll update the list.
Baby items we still need to buy before the baby is born:
1. Diaper bag
2. Arm’s Reach mini co-sleeper
3. Infant carseat
4. Sling
5. Newborn disposable diapers for the first few weeks (does it matter what brand? how many will I need?)
6. Changing pad
7. Nursing pillow
8. Waterproof mattress pad for our bed, and probably something for the co-sleeper as well
We already have some stuff, like basic clothes, cloth diapers, baby monitors, bathtime necessities, a few bottles, and all the towels and blankets I’ll ever need.
Baby items we’d like to get pretty soon after the baby is born:
1. Pack n play (yay! got one today!)
2. Ergo carrier
3. Bouncer/swing (or borrow one to see if baby likes it)
4. Diaper pail and liner for the cloth diapers
5. Breast pump (?)
6. Pacifiers
Obviously other things we’ll need to get down the road – like when our baby gets into solid foods, starts crawling/walking, etc. etc. Am I missing anything?
13 thoughts on “countdown and list-making”
pediatrician- ask around, you want one who is recommended by people who have the same child beliefs as you (co sleeping, selective vaccines etc). Then call them up and find out what you have to do for a new patient, they’ll ask your due date etc. you can probably get in for an interview if you want.
Diapers- PAMPER SADDLERS. they are the BEST for newborns. you’ll need more than you think. When Caylee was in disposables we were going through like a pack and a half a week. They poop a lot. I would say at least 3 packs, but only buy one at a time, that way if she is allergic to a certain brand you can just try a different one without having to return the others.
I recommend Dr Sears Vaccine book. it just gives you information about each shot, the pros and cons of each, what is in each etc. It’s not a “This is how you do it” book. just full of info. half.com has some for cheaper. :)
So there you have it. MY OPINION. he he.
Hiya! Since you’ve asked questions in your post, I’m just gunna chime in.
I felt overwhelmed trying to find a pediatrician. But, I just asked around and looked to see which names were close to us and also covered by our insurance. I stopped in to meet with one of the peds in the practice for an informal chat. She answered all of my questions.
I met with her on a Monday. Johnny was born on the following Saturday. Good thing I didn’t put it off any longer!
She showed up at the hospital to do his initial checks, and I didn’t have to contact her or anything. I just had to give the hospital her info and they took care of it.
I’m happy with the practice but I might switch since it’s in our old neighborhood and we’re like 30 minutes + away now.
For the newborn phase, we used Pampers Swaddlers and Huggies. The Swaddlers were our hands-down favorite. They had a good fit, soft feel, and were softer than the Huggies.
Johnny was in size N for 6 weeks. But, he was only 6 lbs. 5 oz. at birth, so he was in them longer than an 8 lb baby would. I think we went through 200 or 250 diapers in that size. Yeesh. Since you can’t know how big your baby will be, maybe get 1-2 jumbo packs (those are the smallest size, actually). And hang on to your receipts in case your baby is big! :)
Our hospital had him in size 1s and that’s what they gave us to go home in, but they fit him hugely and we had to fold them down.
I have a few slings, and I’m sure I’ve told you, but my Baby K’Tan is my absolute favorite. I LOVE that sling. It is really easy to use and care for, and I can put him in it without setting him down. As in, I can hold him in one arm, get the sling situated on me, and put him in without ever setting it down.
I have a maya ring sling and I never could get it to fit me comfortably.
Go to the K’tan site (www.babyktan.com) and let me know what you think! Or let me know what kind of sling you’re lookin at.
Also, by all means, please research vaccines and talk with your potential pediatricians and read up on studies and stuff. But for the record, we’re following the CDC’s recommended vaccination schedule. He’s had no adverse reactions. And he’s protected against polio. Heh!
Yeah I need to check out Dr. Sears’ vaccine book. Unfortunately, I don’t know a lot of local moms, so I’m not sure who to ask about pediatricians. I also don’t know if I should get one in my current neighborhood, where my hospital is, or if I should wait and see if we’re moving because once we move we’ll be like 30 minutes away. I feel like so much is hinging on this house. :-(
Can’t say much about pediatricians, since I just have to go with luck-o-the-draw. As in, no pediatricians have been taking new medicaid patients in this COUNTY for the past two YEARS. Something about medicaid pushing too many patients on the doctors until the doctors finally burn out and then stop taking ANY medicaid patients just to get medicaid off their backs. (Can I say ‘medicaid’ one more time? please? MEDICAID.) Anyway, so w/ all three of mine (once we moved here), I had to just go to the clinic and say, “i need a doctor”. And I get who they give me. Luckily he’s a nice guy and he’s used to me and my strange crunchy ways now. Of course, he’s leaving in September. ::sigh::
But enough about that!
Of the newborn ‘sposies we’ve tried, we’ve learned to NEVER GO GENERIC. Not worth it. Leaks, leaks, leaks. I haven’t tried Luvs in newborns (have in toddlers/older babies and they work great), but White Cloud is trash. Swaddlers are our fave’s b/c of the softness and everything else Kacie mentioned. Huggies didn’t old O’s bf poopies, but they (the few samples I had sent away for) were fine for Levi. But he wasn’t in very many of them…
Vaccines, yeah, I’m gonna recommend Dr. Sear’s book, as I did to Jes. :-P
Childbirth classes… rent Orgasmic Birth. :-D
Another vote for pampers swaddlers!! Up until now, we’ve only had sons in them (everything else leaked like CRAZY!) I’m eager to see if they’re just as good with our daughter (she *should* be here in about 2-3 weeks) I use them up until size 2 and then switch to either cloth or target brand sposies.
On breast pumps…I bought a medela with our first. Spent big bucks on it and it’s lasted SO well….this will be the 3rd baby I’ll be pumping with. I used it a LOT with #1 and not very much with #2…I anticipate that it won’t get used much this time either…with 3 kids we RARELY get to go out alone! :p
On vaccines, there’s a great article out there by a Christian Doctor. I wish I could remember the name and you can’t get it online…you have to pay to get it sent to you. For the life of me I can’t remember his name or where to get it…it’s been a number of years since we visited this issue. He was not biased either way, though we made the decision to not vaccinate. I’m sorry I can’t remember his name!
If you get the full sized co-sleeper, you won’t need to invest in a pack n’ play…it doubles as one…just something to think about.
Have you had all your showers yet or are there any left? A diaper shower would be SO helpful!! Those swaddlers get expensive and if you request the sizes you want….you’ll be stocked up!! :-) Good luck!
One more thing to really research….the eye stuff they put in (erythromycin ointment) and the vitamin K shot…The eye “gunk” is to prevent blindness should the mom have and STD….they treat the masses instead of the individual…(one reason we birth at home is to avoid ALL those issues) I’d suggest reading up on it and deciding if you want it or not. The vitamin K shot has been linked to leukemia. Definitely something to think about and again, much less likely of a need for it when you’re delivering a girl and thus wouldn’t be even need to consider circumcision.
Sorry…I’m full of posts this morning!! (must be because the kids had me up really early! :-) Back to the pampers swaddlers…if you get them as gifts and request receipts or gift receipts you can ALWAYS exchange them for other sizes….you really can’t go wrong stocking up….it helps the budget too if you’re getting 1 or 2 packs a week NOW before the baby arrives….then it doesn’t feel like such a hardship when she DOES arrive and you’re going through a TON of diapers! My babies always seem to come a month early and are a good 7 1/2lbs…I find the newborn are STILL too big for an “average” sized baby so I bought some premie for this time around….just one or two packs for the first days. With the breastfeeding mine end up doubling their weight by 2-3 months so we go through the sizes pretty quickly!
I would check with your insurance as far as pediatricians. I don’t get a lot of choice, so I’m lucky that we have a ped that we like. You could do some quick phone interviews to help find one. I would probably just find one who is close to you now and then if you move you can always switch to one that is closer. Oh, and I’ve found that some things don’t need to be discussed with the ped. I mean, obviously vaxes will come up but I didn’t mention cosleeping because there is such a negative stigma against it. In my opinion, the ped is there for medical advice not parenting advice, and I don’t think cosleeping is a medical issue. Even when they asked how Josh was sleeping, I always just said he was fine and didn’t give details about how much he was waking at night, etc. since I was okay with how things were going (not that it was easy, because it wasn’t and he was never a “good sleeper”, but I do think frequent nightwakings are really normal and cosleeping helped me deal with them).
For slings, what are you thinking about? If you have certain kinds you are interested in I can give you some recommendations. I would also check the FSOT forums on thebabywearer.com because you can get some really good deals there. Slings is one of the things that I think is hard to figure out until you have the baby because different things work for different people and different babies.
My to-do list is very much the same as yours. My friend (who since moved away) recommended a pediatrician for us. I have to set up an appointment. I have a hand me down crib, and we bought crib bedding and a convertible infant car seat. If you would like, I can send you some links on vaccinations that our friend sent us. It has an alternative schedule and everything. We have 2 more childbirth classes which includes a hospital tour and a breastfeeding class. I like the classes. We will be done by July 14th I guess. I am getting the room ready for the baby and my parents when they come.
The todo list is never ending!
for the record, Luvs doesn’t make newborn :( but Luvs are great once they are a size1
How exciting:)!
If you want some input on vaccines, let me know and I can point you to some good places to research.
I’m reading Dr. Spears’ Vaccine Book right now, so hopefully that will help with my decision. :-)
Annie (#1): About the slings… I have a moby wrap and I want to get an Ergo. I was also thinking of getting a maya wrap ring sling so I have a variety, and then can move on from there after the baby’s born and I figure out what works for both of us.
Comments are closed.