When baby gets here, you will be BUSY. And tired. Really, really tired. If you are type A planner, you may be thinking “what can I do pre-baby to make post-baby a little less crazy?”

Well despite what everyone will tell you, “sleep now” is not super practical. (Sleep isn’t like a bank account; you can’t save now and spend later. Unfortunately.) But there are some things you can do that will actually make your post-baby life a little easier.

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I wish I could tell you that the advice I’m about to share is because I did these things but, no. I’m using my perfect 20/20 hindsight vision to let you know what I WISH I had done because, oh baby, it would have made life SO MUCH EASIER.

  1. Buy and set-up the stuff. OK this one I did do. Crib, car seat and the other essentials. Get them sooner rather than later and get them set up. We didn’t get the car seat in the car before baby came and then hubs had to figure it out in the hospital pick-up lane. Less than ideal. Do that before baby comes and if you can, swing by your local fire station to have the firefighters or EMTs check that you did it right.
  2. Clean your car. Once you get that car seat in, cleaning the nooks and crannies of your car becomes a big pain in the butt. Vacuum that bad boy out or splurge on a car detail before you install the car seat and before baby arrives. And enjoy your last few weeks or days with a clean car. It’ll be years before that happens again.
  3. Hire help. Our son arrived in the spring, you know, right as everything comes back to life and the lawn needs to be mowed every 72 hours. Thankfully my mother-in-law saw how much time lawn care was taking away from my hubby’s ability to help with baby and adding to his stress. A month after baby arrived, she gifted us with three months of lawn care. Don’t wait for a brilliant family member. Hire a housecleaner, lawn service or whatever else you think might help before baby arrives and to start immediately after baby comes. Maybe the hired help lasts forever or maybe it’s just for the first few months. Either way, you’ll be really happy you did it.
  4. Discuss paternity leave. It’s not just moms who are entitled to FMLA, dads are too. It is usually unpaid but you can use vacation days to secure some income. My hubby took four weeks of paternity leave, overlapping with me for a week and then being our son’s primary caretaker for the first three weeks I was back at work. It was awesome; truly the best newborn related decision our family ever made. Start talking about it now with your hubs and see if y’all can swing it.
  5. Figure out childcare. I had been told 100 times to do this while I was pregnant and I still didn’t. SO FOOLISH! Instead when I was up at 4a trying to go back to sleep after one feeding but before the next, I would start to freak out. And then I would be googling day cares in my town on my iPhone until suddenly it was time for the next feeding and guess who hadn’t had a wink of sleep. Total rookie mistake.
  6. Get Amazon Prime. For the love of ice cream and peanut butter, if you don’t already have Amazon Prime, get it now. I only realized I needed something from the store right as my sweet angel had fallen asleep. Pre Prime, this was maddening because I would forget again by the time we could leave the house. Post Prime, no biggie. I’d buy it online while he napped and have it 48 hours later. On top of this awesomeness, they have special discounts for new parents on staples like diapers and wipes. It was about 2  months after having my son that I got Prime and, man, I have never looked back.
  7. Eat something. Specifically if you are headed into the hospital to deliver but it looks like time is on your side, go through your favorite drive-thru and get a bite to eat. We went into the hospital around 5p because we thought maybe my water broke…or maybe I peed myself. We were betting on the latter and anticipated being home for dinner but it ended up being the former. And once you check in to the hospital for delivery they are strict about the no food rule. I didn’t deliver my son until 8p the next night. Yup, 27 hours with nothing but a granola bar on the drive in. I was STARVED by the end of it. So I advise you, eat something.

What’s your advice for expecting moms?

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