What I should have done to prepare for Baby

The RIGHT thing to do:

*  Make absolutely certain you have help.  With only one child, it's not too bad.  But when I had my second child, I desperately needed any and all help I could possibly find.

*  Stock up on food.  Prepare a TON of meals ahead of time and freeze freeze freeze.  I had read this advice and thought "what a great idea!" so I set about doubling all my casserole recipes and freezing them.  I added cooking instructions to each dish though, as I knew my husband would need to be able to pull the casserole out of the freezer and read the directions.  So I took a Sharpie and put the instructions in big letters right on the foil.  That is just as important - if you have help, they can just pull whatever dish is in the freezer and read the cooking instructions!

*  Label all your child's dresser drawers.  If you have help, or just have a husband (:-D), labeling all your child's drawers with what goes where is vital.  Not only will it help when the grandparents come over, but it will help YOU when it's 4am and you're up for the FOURTH time, changing a diaper or just looking for a baby wipe.  This was SO helpful for my mother that I went the extra mile when I had my second child and labeled my entire kitchen as well!  She could then just read where all the dishes went and I could catch a power nap while she put the dishes away and got dinner started.

*  Plan something WONDERFUL for your older sibling.  The change in my son when we brought our daughter home was a terrific shock to my husband and me.  He was constantly trying to push the baby away and demanded my attention out of a fear that he was being replaced somehow.  The only way I got any peace was when dad or the grandparents took him out somewhere.  He spent quite a bit of time at indoor fun centers riding on slides, etc.  Plan on your older sibling changing behavior for the worse for about a month.

*  PLAN for a c-section.  I didn't have a c-section thank god.  But my first birth was extremely difficult due to my son's mis-positioning.  Because of my extra-long, extra-hard labor, I had an extra-long recovery that was quite painful.  Talk with your OB about all the items you might need for your recovery, and get them BEFOREHAND:  a pillow to sit on to help with the tenderness and swelling; stool softeners; Tucks pads; hydrocortisone; etc.  The cramping after my first birth was quite painful as well, so be prepared with a good supply of motrin or whatever OTC pain killer your doctor recommends.  Also, buy a LOT of sanitary napkins.  I had purchased one box in anticipation, but my post-partum bleeding lasted 5 weeks and I went through that box in about 4 days.  It's not easy to get around with a newborn while you're trying to recover and can't sit down anywhere without your "donut" because of your stitches!

*  Program your delivery places in your phone now.  After spending all night feeding, changing and burping a baby and then doing it all during the day on 2 hours sleep, the mere thought of cooking dinner can bring on a panic attack.  Just pick up the phone and in 30 minutes or so, your dinner is served.  You may think your stash of frozen prepared food will sustain you - but it won't.

The WRONG thing to do:

*  Have an expectation of what your birth will be like.  You WILL be disappointed.  My first birth was not what I wanted.  My second birth was not what I expected.  Plan on giving birth any way you possibly can, and be glad that you both come out of it happy and healthy, no matter how that happened.

*  Buy adorable outfits.  With your first baby, you go out and buy what's "cute".  Resist this urge!  Buy 1 or 2 cute outfits for photo shoots.  The rest of the time, your baby will be swaddled, in a onesie or sleeper.

*  Expect to adhere to a regular routine.  Forget it.  Roll with the punches and be happy if you get a shower once a week.  No, I am NOT kidding!

*  Have a bunch of people over for a party.  This might sound nice, but you did the equivalent of running a marathon without benefit of training!  You need to rest.  The baby needs you every 2 hours or so around the clock.  Take pictures and upload them to flickr or easyshare and tell people to go there for a look.

One piece of advice I heard and initially didn't follow, but changed my mind REALLY quick after having my son:

"When you get home from the hospital, get in your bathrobe, and don't get out of it for at least a week."

This may sound weird, but the reality of it is, it's some of the best advice out there.  First of all, it will lighten your laundry load.  Second, it will free you up from the duty of "fixing yourself" every morning.  But most importantly, it will remind all your visitors that you NEED your rest.  Many people will come to visit, drop off a dish, want to change a diaper or feed the baby a bottle.  This is wonderful.  But it's all too easy to forget that mom is *EXHAUSTED* and desperately needs to rest and recover from the marathon of birth.  You might "feel fine" and don't need to rest.  When you find yourself saying that, I *dare* you to go into your bedroom and lie down and count to 60.  I'll bet you won't get to 20.  You're running on pure adrenaline and you NEED to rest.