Preparing for Parenthood â€“ Things You Should Know

I was pondering what to actually write about how my husband and I had been preparing for parenthood.

I thought that we hadn’t really been preparing at all and realized that we were over half way and that this was a HUGE deal.

I was talking to a friend of mine who made me realize all the things that I had already done to try to prepare myself for what was to come.

Here are a few things that I suggest doing.
1. Enroll in the antenatal classes that are offered by your hospital/ birthing center etc, these classes will help you to be prepared for the actual labour and also breast feeding.

They make you aware of your options with pain relief and give you an opportunity to meet with people who are around the same stage of pregnancy as you who you can share advise, tips and even form friendships with, for all you know they may even be in the hospital the same time as you.

2. Check out sites and forums that are focused around trying to conceive, parenting and pregnancy, I have found that the people on these forums are gold in relation to advice and support.

There is also heaps of information in relation to each stage of pregnancy, what to expect and even parenting sections in many of them.

3. Magazines are the next best thing. You will have plenty of time during your pregnancy where you just want to curl up on the lounge or in bed with a magazine.

There are many magazines around that not only focus on pregnancy but they also focus on things such as babies first year, illnesses, maternity wear and even information on how early to book into schools, childcare etc.

I was surprised at the fact that if you had a particular school in mind that was popular you need to plan these things before the baby is even born!

4. Books, the best book I have read that is informative yet also comedic is written by Kaz Cooke and is called Up the duff.

This book outlines pregnancy month by month, including what to expect, what to plan for, what tests will be performed and other things that make you feel normal and not the only one who is going through a particular thing.

Kaz also follows up with a book on Kid wrangling which I am yet to read but I will not hesitate in buying.

5. Parents and mothers, although all the advice they give you will not be what you want to hear or may not be the way in which you want to do things, some of the advice from your parents will be priceless.

Something my mum told me the other day was so simple yet so important I realized that without other people’s advice I would not know a lot of the things I know today.

Although I do not feel as though I am at all prepared for the sleepless nights, the endless nappies and the first times for everything.

I think that with the above sources of advice and information have provided me with priceless information that I’m sure will help me when the time comes in 3 months.

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