7 Steps to Post Partum Prep {7qt}

Okay folks, we're at 38 weeks 4 days, which means this baby's coming SOON! I've started prepping for the lovely post partum period and figured I might as well share what I'm doing this time around to try to make things a little easier.

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What to wear??

Outfit from a couple babies ago!

  My post partum uniform is pretty formulaic—leggings/yoga pants, nursing tank (these are my all-time favorites), long cardigan, scarf. Once I'm ready to be seen, I'll throw on a nursing-friendly shift dress, too (thredup is really handy for finding these, just filter to select for shirt dresses - get $10 credit here!). This post has more ideas if you're looking for some!


I also just ordered this "nursing nightgown" to see if it can make wearing pajamas feel a little bit less slovenly... I'll let you know how it works!

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What to eat??

Since we're doing a home birth this time around, I won't have hospital room service on call, so I'm making a list of filling convenience foods/takeout meals I'm going to want to eat, since nursing makes me WAY hungrier than pregnancy, and my heartburn will be gone so I *can* eat whatever I want! There are going to be a lot of milk shakes in my future.

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What about those other kids?

I've stocked up on some interesting activity books to keep everyone out of my hair when I need some quiet time, but honestly? I'm so grumpy and exhausted in the last weeks of pregnancy that they're pretty used to the whole "leave mom alone" routine!

We'll take at least a few days off of school, but then we'll keep going full-force because it's honestly a lot easier for me just to keep up with our regular routine while nursing a tiny baby and save a longer break for when the baby's bigger!

Throughout the pregnancy (and even beforehand, honestly), I work pretty hard on getting them to be as independent as possible—fetching their own snacks, making their own breakfast, cooking simple meals and even washing dishes and doing their own laundry this time around, since our oldest is 9.5 and much more capable than last time.

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But what in the world can kids actually cook?

Actually, a decent amount of things! You can find a pretty great list here, as well as a kids' cooking course. Once their knife skills are up to snuff (worth investing time in for sure!), they can prep raw veggies to serve as a side dish, or cut up veggies to roast in the oven for another easy side. Mine love making quesadillas (the Griddler makes this really easy!), grilled cheese sandwiches, melts and mini pizzas in the toaster oven, scrambled eggs... They can follow basic recipes really well and I'm pretty proud of how far they've come!

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What about post partum... Supplies?

I ordered a home birth kit from the company my midwife recommended, but once you're beyond the giant pad phase, these (unscented only!) are my favorite pads to have on hand. Much more breathable than the icky plastic-y ones, and super-absorbent!

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How about baby gear?

We used to have a co-sleeper but none of the babies would actually sleep in it... They just hate being flat on their backs! Last time we borrowed a rock n play and it was a total game changer for the times when the baby wasn't in bed with us! It's nice to have a baby-holder apparatus to keep the baby safe from older kids who thunder through the house like a herd of wild elephants.

Thirsties covers on tiny twins!

We generally cloth diaper from the beginning (I ordered one pack of disposables for nighttime) and really like infant prefolds + Rumparooz covers (those seriously fit even 5lb babies!) or Thirsties covers (a little larger but fit longer, too) for the tiny newborn phase. I like having a million infant prefolds around for mopping up spit-up, shoving down my nursing tank to catch drips during the night (this is a super-glam post), and really for any general cleanup. We also set up towels+bigger prefolds in bed for nighttime to save the sheets from needing to be changed when the baby inevitably pees or spits up all over the place. Moral of the story: even if you're not cloth diapering, prefolds are your best friends.

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What are your post-partum must-haves? 

I've got to be missing something here, right? Let me know what's a must for you!

Linking up with Kelly for 7 Quick Takes!