Wendy here, from Pretty Well Organized with another tip on Baby Preparation!
Baby on board? Know someone who does? One of the hardest decisions we have made in preparation for our new baby is “What do I do with my other child(ren) when I deliver?”
For us, there was no easy one-size-fits-all solution. We knew we wanted Miss O to be involved in our hospital stay; meaning: We wanted her to meet her new baby brother. However, change for children is hard. Having surprised us with a fantastic transition to a new school about a month ago, we are feeling more comfortable with her coping with change. But too much change is hard on anyone.
We knew we wanted her to maintain as much normalcy in her schedule as possible, so we definitely wanted to keep her as close to her routine as we could. We started thinking about options months ago, long before we needed to most likely. But here we are, just days {or hours, who knows!} before our new baby is born and I’m still finalizing the details. One thing is for sure, a plan is better than no plan at all.
We are very fortunate. We have grandparents, local, who are retired {jackpot, right?!}. They are quite busy and my father-in-law is still farming. They spend a lot of time traveling and camping with friends, so I locked them in for our expected dates of delivery just as soon as we approached them about keeping our daughter while we were in the hospital.
With a confirmed location for our daughter to stay, I started working on putting together some key information to help with Miss O’s extended stay with her grandparents.
1.) A schedule, complete with information like addresses, times, etc.
2.) Key contacts
3.) Insurance information
4.) A to do list for me to prepare
Given that going into labor can be unexpected, I made sure to over document / detail to make sure all my bases were covered. The last thing I wanted to do was go into labor early and panic about where my daughter was going to be, any details grandparents needed or be worried that she might not be wearing matching shoes {I think we can all agree that wouldn’t be the end of the world!}.
The Schedule
I created a simple Microsoft Excel file with her schedule for the planned week of delivery. I am having a repeat c-section, so I have a definite “last day” which is helpful for planning purposes, however, as we know, that doesn’t always mean everyone cooperates! Here is a generalized version of what I created:
Below the schedule in the file I have specific instructions for each location:
– For School: The drop off/pick up procedures, code for the school & teachers information.
– For Swimming: Directions on how to get her to swim class, what she needs, etc.
– For Dance Class: How to navigate to the write studio, what she needs etc.
I printed out 5 copies of this document. I put one in each of our hospital bags (one for me and one for my husband). I also gave one to my mother-in-law, gave one to my mother and left one in our home.
Key Contacts
On a separate spreadsheet, I created a listing of key contacts that may be important for my in-laws to have during the time they have our daughter. In lieu of providing that information, here is a list of the types of information I included:
– My husband’s contact information (cell, work, etc.)
– My contact information (cell, work, etc.)
– My mother’s contact information
– My mother-in-law’s contact information
– My father-in-law’s contact information
– Numbers for the school & teachers
– Numbers for the hospital
– Insurance numbers
– Our daughter’s pediatrician information, dentist, preferred ER
Insurance Cards
I made photo copies of our insurance cards to include in the event that my daughter were to need to see a doctor for any reason.
To Do List
This was a big one for me. When I looked at all the things our daughter would be doing while we were in the hospital, I needed to make a thorough list of all the thing she would need. For example, Monday’s she needs to take a blanket to school for rest time. Friday’s she needs her dance bag with specific contents inside. Since baby is unpredictable, this would give me a listing of items to pack for her quickly should we need to hit the road to the hospital OR a good list to leave behind for grandma to pack for her in the event we had to rush out.
Summary
I stapled the 5 copies of each of the items mentioned above into packets and gave a copy to those mentioned above. An ounce of preparation really will help us to not stress on that day any more than we have to. I did at one point consider putting them in folders… or even laminating them… but I knew I’d never hear the end of that!
Hope this plan helps you {or a friend} to de-stress and plan out a few details in advance to help with delivery.
Wendy
Want to read more? Check out a few other posts about planning for baby on PrettyWellOrganized.com
