I already wrote a post on how to take care of yourself during the initial stages of pregnancy. You can read the post here
In this post I write about how to prep before our D-Day. The most difficult period in this whole pregnancy phase starts at 36 weeks. Though i love technology & social media so much, the last four weeks I felt like uninstalling all the Apps. Coz mums to be are stalked everyday for update 😂
We are subjected to these annoying questions/suggestions from people all around you.
“hasn’t baby come yet”, “any symptoms”, “how are you feeling today”, “are you following baby’s movements”, “rush to hospital if you think baby is not moving well”, “do csec immediately if it becomes overdue”….
my mind voice reply to all the questions were “andha kelvi ya en da enna paathu ketta”??!!
Though they are asked at right intentions it creates unnecessary anxiety & panic which actually does no good at the end stages of pregnancy. In fact those hormones delay labour is another popular myth. So whoever reading this don’t ask such questions to mum-to-be. She could even be your sister or a dearest friend but at times every person needs privacy. Kindly respect that.
Found the quote in a blog & how apt is that
Alternatively those 4 weeks can be used productively by mums-to-be and get maximum prepped for the D-Day. The following are the few sample ways in which you could spend time, relax yourself & dream happily about the little one.
Pack Hospital Bag :
I have written a separate blog post for this. You can check it here
Organize Wardrobe :
If you plan to breastfeed then you definitely have to add few things to your wardrobe. I got few nursing friendly tops from Mothercare, H&M.. Organized my wardrobe in such a way that all the comfy nighties & other nursing friendly clothes are easily accesible. Its a great time pass and will keep your mind off from labour related stress & worry for sometime..
(P.S Dont ask me how my wardrobe looks like now after 6 weeks of delivery 😂😂 Its a big pile of mess now)
Organize Kitchen :
This is the best way to keep your mind off from stress & anxiety. I labelled stuff that mom had sent to me, also the other things in kitchen pantry so it will be easier for S to work. Since it was only us I did all the labelling (also mildly vetti 😂😂). Got a carton from Tesco & kept all my post natal eatable things separately.. Stock your kitchen with essential lentils,rice,garlic, methi seeds (they increase breast milk), saunf, nuts,dry fruits
Setting up Baby’s room :
Wherever you are planning to keep the baby, make sure the room is clean. Clean & wash the sheets. Get baby things sorted out before their arrival. Ours is a small one BHK apartment, we already have two wardrobes for each of us in our bedroom. Didn’t want to stuff it with third wardrobe for her. So got a Chester Draw & placed it in living room. We just bought a small wooden cupboard for her & kept some essential things like daily wear dress, muslin clothes, diapers, blankets etc in our room. Also the two things that helped me the most being new mum are the Diaper Changing Mat & Breastfeeding pillow.
Until they get hold of latch & until we are comfortable holding them, the pillow comes handy. Also in my case Aadhu at times falls asleep in the pillow itself after a feed. It is really helpful.
Diaper Changing Mat is a must & saves you from unnecessary mess while changing diapers. I usually place her on the mat, clean her & change diapers. Also you can apply oil to babies, massage them in the mat itself.
The other things we got for her were a separate bin to throw diapers, a bin to keep unwashed clothes of her.
Also we always keep some diapers, hand sanitizer, some tissues ready on the top of that cupboard.
Prepare Snacks :
After delivery we will be crazily hungry especially if you are breastfeeding. It is better to prepare some healthy snack in advance & keep them ready so that after coming from hospital it will definitely be useful. I made these Gond ke ladoo (Edible Gum ladoo) and they were so handy in the initial days. Especially at midnight we don’t have to eat biscuits or other store bought snack.
The recipe was shared to me by my friend Arch and in North India its usually given to new moms. There are so many variations to this recipe, the below one is based on my taste preference and also the availability of ingredients in my pantry ☺️ You can include or exclude stuff which you are allergic/not fond of.
Ingredients :
Wheat flour – 3 cups
Edible Gum – 2 tbsp
Seedless Dates – 1/2 cup
Dried Figs – 1/2 cup
Carom seeds – 1/2 tbsp
Ginger Powder – 1/2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tbsp
Pistachios – 1/4 cup
Walnuts – 1/4 cup
Almonds – 1/4 cup
Jaggery – 2 tbsp
Ghee – 1/2 cup
Preparation :
– Heat a tbsp of ghee in a frying pan & roast the edible gum
– Once they are crisp, remove from pan and let it cool down
– Grind dates & figs together
– Grind all the nuts together along with carom seeds & ginger powder
– In the same pan dry roast wheat flour until you get nice aroma
– Add cardamom powder, jaggery powder, dates mixture and the nuts powder
– Mix everything well by adding extra ghee
– After 5 minutes turn off the stove & let it cool down for few minutes
– Apply ghee in your palms and shape them to ladoos
You can make simple dry fruit laddus, granola bars too at home & keep them ready
Precook essentials :
This is for those who will be managing the new born alone post delivery. I made milagu jeera rasam, poondu kuzhambu, milagu kuzhambu and some daal tadka. I had frozen them too. When we were back from hospital it helped us a lot. Though friends gave fresh food initally for me as soon as I came back home, shiva used Daal & curry for few days and later on I had that Rasam & kuzhambu too. They tasted as good as it was made fresh. You can freeze soups and other things too.
Walking & Yoga :
During these last few weeks whenever I felt overwhelmed or stressed, I used to go for a walk. It definitely calmed me down and as far as yoga, I cant stress enough how yoga helped me throughout pregnancy. Not even once i suffered from backache or tummy ache or swelling of legs in the last trimester *touchwood*. I used to do SuryaNamaskar (5 reps), Butterfly Asana, Marjaryasana (Cat pose), few breathing exercises & stretches everyday until a day before delivery.
The last four to five weeks at least spend 30-40 minutes a day trying these relaxation techniques. They keep your mind and body calm. It definitely helps you in labour.
Also drink lots of water and keep your body hydrated. Thats very important too.
Youtube Tutorials :
I watched lot of tutorials on handling newborn to breastfeeding to various other things to care post delivery. The internet is so vast and even in these videos there might be some tips&tricks which may not be applicable to us or we may not prefer them, learn to ignore things which are not needed. It was a great time pass for me
Shopping :
When you are stressed lot of impulse purchases will happen. But don’t mind all that. This is the phase to load new stuff for babies & as well as for us. So whenever you feel anxious or stressed ask your better half to take you to shopping. The last few weeks I spent most of my weekends in Mothercare, Next ,H&M and Primark 😬😬
Wash Baby’s clothes :
This is just a precaution. Since newborn skin is very sensitive, I decided to wash the new clothes before taking them to hospital. Mainly to avoid unnecessary skin allergies
Netflix, Movies & Music :
When you are too stressed thinking about baby & delivery, take your mind off from it by binge watching any series in Netflix or watch your favorite movies. This is what I did 😀
I might have listened to Sashti kavacham, ARR songs & some Tamil kuthu song playlist 😛 over a hundred times throughout pregnancy. It refreshes my mind & kept me calm during stressful times
Talking to Womb :
Last but not least, talking to the womb is the best therapy especially if you are in last leg of pregnancy. It is been said that babies start to hear sounds as early as from 22 weeks. Our voice will register to them as well when the babies respond to our voices , it gives so much joy when tiny little toes kicks us. It will give positive vibe & it will help us get through the last few weeks without worrying much about anything.
I hope this post helps 🙂
