If you are 37 weeks pregnant and do not have a hospital bag ready for the big day, it is time to get one ready, just in case you go into labor and need to go to the hospital in a rush. Even if you do not need to hurry, when the time comes, you may not be thinking as clearly with all the excitement. Why not put a bag together and be ready.

What will you need:

• Comfortable PJ’s, preferably ones with boob access if you are planning to nurse. Do not pack your favorite PJ’s, unless you are OK with blood stains.
• Your hospital may provide disposable underwear, but in case they do not, pack some from home. Not your sexy ones, but granny ones you do not care too much about, as you may have to throw them away.
• Most hospitals also provide sanitary pads, but just in case, bring some for postpartum bleeding.
• Socks! If it is winter bring slippers as well! You will be walking around on your hospital room floor before you are released.
• If you are the robe type, bring one!
• Clothes to wear when you are released from the hospital. You will most likely NOT fit into your pre pregnancy jeans. Maternity clothes will do just fine at this point.
• An outfit or two to take your baby home in. Consider bringing two different sizes – new born and 0-3 – you never know exactly how much your baby will weigh.
• Receiving blankets, burp clothes.
• Toiletries: body soap, shampoo, conditioner, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant, etc.
• Toiletries and a change of clothes for hubby (he may be spending the night in the hospital with you.)
• Snacks for hubby – chips, energy bar, etc. While you will not be allowed to eat during labor, hubby does not need to suffer with you.
• Your body pillow if you use one or any pillow from home. If you are at the hospital for a while, why not be comfortable.
• Cell phone and charger.
• Books and magazines. You cannot anticipate how long you will be in labor. Have something to help you pass the time.
• Camera!
• Cash for the vending machines.
• Car seat for the baby, already installed.
• Hospital registration forms, completed. You do not want to deal with paperwork when you get there.
• Birth plan, if you have one.
• Insurance cards.
• Your ID or driver license, for admission.

Happy delivery experience!

After 40 weeks (give or take) of carrying and nurturing your baby inside your womb, doctor visits, parenting classes, a baby shower, research and advice, some may think you should be ready for the arrival of your newborn. But how can you be ready to perform a roll you never had any practice in?

Talking to friends and family, taking parenting classes at your hospital, and researching for blogs and books, are all ways to get yourself ready for the arrival of your offspring. But there is nothing like first hand experience, which you will get once your baby arrives. Ready or not, you will find that you deal with what life and your newly expanded family hands you.

So what should you expect when your newborn arrives? The level of emotions you will feel is personal. You may bond with your baby immediately or it may take a little longer. Either way, take into account the temporary ups and downs you may experience if you suffer from baby blues. Feeling overwhelmed, no matter how prepared you may believe you are for this baby, is natural and normal. After all, your life as you know it has changed and you are now a mother.

You can expect little sleep and not very much time for yourself in the beginning. But this will change with time. As your baby grows, he will learn to sleep through the night and you will feel more comfortable to take some time for yourself.

If you plan to breastfeed, you may experience an adjustment period where your body will learn how much milk to produce for the needs of your newborn. Until that happens, you may be leaking (so get pads for your nursing bras). Also you may experience engorgement, nipple pain and other discomforts that will disappear with time and experience. While you are still in the hospital, ask to see a lactation consultant to learn about breast feeding tips and make sure your baby latches on correctly.

Having a baby is demanding, can be exhausting, sometimes nerve wracking and above all, a big responsibility. But at the end of the day, raising your newborn is the most rewarding job you can have. You will melt when your baby starts to smile and find tremendous joy seeing him accomplish milestones and learn new things.

Give it time. You will feel more comfortable in your new roll with experience, and your baby’s growth and development will be an indicator to the fabulous job you are doing.

Preterm labor and birth can be scary for a variety of reasons. First and probably the most obvious, is the realization that your baby needs additional support to survive, and Instead of going home to celebrate with family and friends, you are still very much attached to the hospital if your baby is in NICU.  This is probably the last thing you thought you might have to contend with – leaving your newborn, whom you may have not even had a chance to hold yet, in an incubator in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)..

While you understand the importance of care your child is receiving in the hospital, it would have been much simpler and exciting to take your child home with you. Bonding is just so much easier with physical touch, and you may not have even touched your baby, let alone hold him/her.

It can be frustrating and scary when faced with this scenario, and many parents find it hard to deal with leaving their newborn at the NICU. This time, already so saturated with emotions, may be confusing and scary, but it important for parents with babies in the NICU to do their best to start bonding right away, despite the challenges and difficulties.

Bonding with your baby in the NICU requires patience and strength. Start with being there for your newborn. His/her development is influenced from your care tremendously. Even with no touch, you can give your child love. Talk to him, or read his stories. Your voice and smell, and if possible the touch of your hand on his head, can comfort you both.

If you planed to breastfeed, there is no need to change your plans. Start pumping right away and give your milk to the nurses to give to your baby. This way your milk supply will not diminish due to it not being used, and your baby will have the benefit of mother’s milk.  Breastmilk is important for his immune system and development. If your preemie can not yet eat (which is common in smaller preemies), pump and store your milk.

While parenting in the NICU is difficult and poses challenges, it is time well spent for both you and your little one. Your presence and care may very well help shorten his stay in the hospital, and when you bring your baby home you will already have a strong relationship and the adjustment will be made smoother.

A full term pregnancy lasts anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks (counted from the first day of the last menstrual period). Contractions starting on or after the 37^th week of a healthy pregnancy are normal and expected and will lead you to the delivery room.  It is contraction or dilation (opening of the cervix) before the 37^th week that may lead to preterm labor and/or premature birth.

The danger in premature birth is that the baby may not be fully developed to live outside the womb. Premature babies (also called preemies) are at high risk to develop complications, which in some cases can result in death. The risk of complications increases the earlier the baby is born. After a preterm birth, the preemies are cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) until they are of full term, have reached the minimum weight and are out of harm’s way.

It is hard to predict preterm labor or birth, especially with first pregnancy. There is a range of factors that can affect preterm labor, including certain genital tract infections, placenta issues, excessively large uterus, too much amniotic fluid and certain chronic maternal illnesses. Speak to your doctor about preterm labor or birth if you experience any of the above issues or are concerned about it and want to know more.

After having your first, you may think ‘I’m a pro’, or at least feel like you know what to expect when contemplating having your second child.  However, have you ever wondered if you really ‘know’ what to expect with two children? Having one baby can be a handful, especially to the inexperienced mom, but once you have practiced parenting on your first (and made enough mistakes to call yourself a pro), shouldn’t it be easier with the second?

Well, it is true that you are now out of the dark. You have already experienced all the ‘firsts’ with one child, and with your second baby it will be that much easier it terms of what to expect, how to handle a newborn, how to breastfeed, teething, etc. But is that really all there is to it? Not really.

Being pregnancy with your second

Remember the fatigue you have experienced in the first trimester of your first pregnancy? And back then you didn’t have a baby / child to care for. Now things are a bit different… Which is a good indication of to what is to come after your second is born…

Longs naps like you may have had time for during your first pregnancy are now out of the question. Instead you need extra energy for your first child, who wants to play, needs to be cared for, may already be running around and making you run around after him or her..

This is good time to try and listen to your doctor (or others) telling you NOT to pick up heavy things. But who will carry your child? The fact that you may be pregnant will not change your child’s needs for love, affection, and being held by you.. You may laugh but – it’s true.

Later when you start showing you will have to consider WHEN and HOW to tell him about the new addition to the family…

Intro to having two kids…

Once your second arrives, you will be faced with new challenges. Jealousy is a very common feeling when it comes to siblings. Your first child is facing a new reality. He/she is no longer the center of attention in the family, and sharing your love with a new baby in the house could be challenging for him.

Depending on your firstborn’s age, you’ll be dealing with things other than siblings’ rivalry or jealousy. You may find that you are exhausted from having to care for two, sometimes three if you count Daddy as one of the gang.. You’ll have to strategize curtain things, like maybe how to handle two strollers when leaving the house, or what type of activity will best suit everyone in the family, now that there are so many different age groups in the family, and therefore a variety of interests that may not complement each other at all times (if at all).

But the best part of having another baby is the new experiences and the love and joy that will fill our home and heart. Through all the difficulties, having a baby is a wonderful and amazing experience for both yourself and the rest of the family. Help your firstborn to see how wonderful it can be to be an older brother or sister to your new baby.

Something we do not often think about when we are expecting is how the new addition to the family will affect our relationships. There are new dynamics between a mother and father once a baby is added to the picture – how can there not be? Your life as a childless couple alone has ended, and you become a nuclear family of three (at minimum). That in itself is a big change. Not to mention the fact that the new addition is a small baby that needs your care and love 24/7.

After having a baby, a loving relationship between a couple is interrupted by lack of sleep, having to deal with the new challenges of caring for a newborn, major hormonal shifts (no, those are not over once you give birth, not just yet) and adjusting to your new lifestyle. It may be unexpected, but it is not surprising that your relationship with your partner will change.

In the first few months after having your baby, it is normal for couples to go through a period of readjustment – to say the least. Even if you both equally wanted to become parents, you may find that your expectations are different of both each other and your new lifestyle as a family. The intimacy you had just a little while ago is interrupted to such a degree, that it may seem like the relationship have changed dramatically or maybe you have drifted apart completely.

These feelings are common between couples who just had their first born, and may be accompanied with more frequent conflicts, and both of you feeling frustrated, misunderstood and neglected.  It takes time to adjust to your growing nuclear cell, and reconnecting takes time and effort. But you should keep in mind that it is temporary, and you can and should help each other get over this hump. It will make your relationship stronger at the end.

When you see your friends or family members go through a pregnancy you think, ‘how nice’, or maybe even ‘she’s so lucky’. You never consider the stress and planning that goes into having a child until… you are there (yes, there are a few planners who think of it all in advance, but even they have surprises along the way).

As your delivery date approaches you may suddenly realize that you don’t know much about how to care for a baby.  You may not have ever given a bath to a newborn, and/or you are clueless about breastfeeding.  There are millions of things to know – yet most of us go into motherhood less than prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. These types of thoughts may be overwhelming, but before you freak out you should know that you are not alone!

The truth is that everyone who chooses to have a baby has to learn how to care for their child (and who better than you to care for your baby). It has been done for generations by new (and clueless) parents around the world. However, by some miracle most of us become a ‘pro’ in no time!

In the meanwhile, how do you get over the anxiety and fears you have around caring for a baby that isn’t even here yet? That’s a great question! First, you can (and should) take advantage of parenting classes offered by your hospital, such as baby basics, infant CPR, breastfeeding, etc.

Second, turn to your friends and family for help and advice. Other Moms have experienced many of the same feelings you are facing now (weather they will admit to it is a different story), reach out to them and try to learn from their experience.

You can also find reading material on caring for a newborn online or in print (What to Expect your First Year as well as many others.  There are some really good books that can guide you through more than just the first year!)

When your baby finally arrives, ask for help and accept any help offered to you! Just remember when you suddenly find yourself doubting and fearful of what to do next remember you are not alone!