Last-Minute Pregnancy To-Do List Before Baby Arrives: A Checklist for Pregnant Moms in Their Third Trimester by Christy VanBibber

Nine months (or rather 10!) of excitement, stress, more excitement, a growing belly, doctor appointments, morning sickness, battling over names, baby showers, new tiny clothes, a beautiful new nursery – and BOOM! The time has come and your little one is ready to make his or her arrival any day now. Although you have done so much already, what have you forgotten? (After all, pregnancy brain, I learned firsthand, is the real deal!) I reached out to some moms (and dads) and asked them to help put together a last-minute to-do list before you bring your sweet little one home. Here are some of the things they suggest you add to your ever-growing list:

• Make sure you have a plan in place for your pets. They will most likely be home for a day or two without you!

• Prepare and freeze meals so you don’t have to worry about cooking for a while once you get home.

• Make sure you have enough baby clothes, washed and ready, so that you don’t have to worry about laundry through all the spit up and blow outs!
  

• Treat yourself! Get a manicure and pedicure, and perhaps even a prenatal massage. You won’t be sorry!

• Be flexible and open-minded about your labor and delivery. If you have created a birth plan, finalize it, but remember that babies often have their own plans – and that’s OK!

• Make sure you have packed, and double checked, your hospital bag. Include a list of people you would like your significant other to contact once Baby arrives.

• Make time for you and your significant other! It’s easy to make it all about Baby, but remember that a good partnership is the foundation of your relationship.
  

• If it applies to you, make sure you have completed your maternity leave paperwork! You want to be able to soak up all the time you can at home with your little one without having to worry about legalities!

• Check with your local fire department or county traffic safety coordinator to ensure your car seat is installed correctly.

• Succumb to your pregnancy nesting urges and clean and organize your house. Or, better yet, if you’re not feeling those nesting impulses, hire someone else do it for you!
  

• Make time to spend some one-on-one time with your older children. Talk to them about the changes that are to come and remind them how special they are to you.

• And on that note, take some time for yourself! Read a book, float in the pool, clear your mind and breathe!

• Make sure you have a good breast pump if you plan on breastfeeding. Double check with your insurance company because you may be able to get one for free through them.

• Get as much sleep as you can. Seriously! Nap, sleep in, nap some more. Soak. It. Up.
  

• And lastly, if you can be so lucky, take a babymoon! Get away and have one last carefree hoorah with your significant other. You will not regret it! 

Enjoy the process and remember that everything will work out exactly how it is supposed to. If you forget something on your list, I promise you, the world will not end, and in the long run you probably won’t even remember you forgot it. You’ve got this mamas. You were made for this!

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