Throughout my pregnancy I was given a lot of unsolicited advice. Some of them were brilliant and were certainly God-sent so I thought I'd share them including other tips that I think would be helpful given my own personal experience. Not so much on how to care for a newborn as you can go to classes for that and also every baby is different. More a list of things that every new mother or mom to be should know...
1. Cook and freeze as many meals as your freezer will hold. For the first three weeks after my baby was born, my hubby and I lived off home-cooked frozen dinners. All we did was boil rice or cook pasta to go with the cooked meals. This allowed us more time to spend with our very demanding newborn whilst making sure our own needs are met as well - what is more gratifying than a nice meal! Towards the end of pregnancy, try and cook extra every time you make dinner and then freeze them. It's no extra effort except maybe more chopping but well worth it.
2. If someone is throwing you a Baby Shower, try and have it as early as reasonably possible. Either have a gift registry or do your own baby clothes shopping after the shower. You will end up with so many clothes given as presents and it would be good if they don't end up duplicating what you've already got.
3. Hold off on buying a lot of feeding bottles unless you are absolutely sure that you will not breastfeed. Two bottles would be plenty in the early weeks if you just intend to top up with formula from time to time.
4. Mentally and emotionally prepare to have a very unsettled baby on the third day after child birth. This is the day when babies start to go really hungry and unfortunately your breast milk supply is still low and just coming in. So, it would seem that no matter what you do, your baby would be very unhappy. I was breastfeeding every 2 hours but he would still cry so much and therefore not sleep properly. I eventually allowed the midwives to give my baby formula at midnight as I just couldn't bear to see my baby so unhappy anymore. They were giving 10 ml each time and here is a photo of my baby being fed formula through drops by the midwife. The following day, the paediatrician saw my baby and instructed the midwives to offer the baby 50 ml. of formula after each breastfeed as she saw that the baby was getting really hungry and not having enough milk. This ensures that the baby will continue to suck and help build up my milk supply whilst being well fed as well.
5. If your hospital has an overnight nursery, do take advantage of it. I left my baby with the nursery midwives overnight as North Shore Private Hospital had this facility. The nursery was open from 6pm to 6am and every mother had the option of leaving their baby in the nursery so they can sleep for a few hours straight. The nurses took note of when the feeds were scheduled so they can call the mother to take the baby and return it to the nursery once feed was done. The overnight nursery was a fantastic option however not all hospitals offer it.
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