How to Prepare for Maternity Leave

Ahhhhh, maternity leave.  If you’re pregnant and working, you’re probably dreaming of the day it happens.  Not only do you finally get to HAVE the baby, but you’ll finallllllllllllly be getting a break!! Obviously babies are hard work.  But, at least you get a break from your job, amiright?  You may want to start considering how to prepare for maternity leave, because…

Somewhere around 10 days postpartum, as you’re beginning to adjust to being a full-time zombie who is incapable of completing any non-baby related tasks while your spouse is blissfully back at work, you may find yourself in a weird place. 

I was…. Bored…  Lonely… and tired. I couldn’t believe I had another 10ish weeks of maternity leave. 

I felt lost.

I didn’t know how to do anything baby related and I didn’t know the right answer to any of my questions. 

I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything besides caring for my baby (I wasn’t). I wanted to do more, but I was focused on allowing my body to heal.

I thought I had prepared for my maternity leave.  I mean, I had some easy-to-prep meals planned out at least. 

Here are some things I wish I had done differently to better enjoy my maternity leave.

*I did end up staying home instead of going back to work.  I still wish I had been more prepared for the days immediately following childbirth.

Lower All Expectations

Seriously.  My expectations were quite low.  But the first several days after having a baby were much crazier than I could ever imagine.   

Wash & Sterilize Bottles Before Baby

This may seem like common sense, but I was really banking on breastfeeding so I didn’t do this.  If you do begin breastfeeding only to switch to formula 4 days later (oh, hi), you will seriously want some bottles ready. 

Make sure you read my post, Formula Feeding 101.

Prepare for Loneliness in Advance

I’m a loner, ya’ll!  I honestly cannot recall another time in my adult life that I truly felt lonely.  I love alone time. I crave it. I was not expecting to be lonely on my maternity leave! Frankly it sounded great! Just me and my baby.  Turns out, you never really consider all of those daily interactions with people when you work outside of the home. Or even just seeing strangers.  Need a change of scenery? Drive somewhere. That’s not an easy task when you’re a new mom who’s overwhelmed with everything baby. Prepare for this by making plans with people in advance. Say your due date is the 5th, Maybe give yourself 15 days and make plans for the 20th. Even if it’s just inviting someone over. And continue making plans to give yourself something to look forward to.  The more you get out of the house, the easier it will become. 

Wash All Newborn Baby Clothes

I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. This list seems pretty basic.  I had some weird idea that my baby might be a giant and then what if she didn’t fit into any newborn clothes?  Or something? Newsflash- That’s very uncommon. Please be prepared by washing all of the newborn clothes. Also, do not for a second think that you have too many clothes in any size. I promise you will use them.  I thought it was excessive and that I should return things. Nope. Excessive clothing is great for babies. But, do make sure your laundry detergent is appropriate for babies. 

Click here to ready about my Top 10 Must Have Baby Items, including my favorite laundry detergent.

Set Up a Changing Station Basket

I lived in my bed for the first week.  I was healing from a third degree tear and feeding a baby every 1.5 hours and changing diapers / sleeping in between.  I quickly threw together some diapers, wipes, and a changing pad to sit bedside. Quite frankly I think the baby was changed more on our bed during that time than on her changing table.  Get yourself a basket that holds lots of diapers that you can take with you in case you want to venture into the living room. The changing pad is important because…..

Prepare for Poop, Pee, and Sticky Breast Milk All Over Everything

I don’t know why it’s sticky.  But it’s not fun. And it’s very surprising and frustrating when your baby is constantly pooping and/or (yes, AND/or) peeing at the very moment you remove their diaper.  Never think that it won’t happen. It actually seems like they DO do this most of the time for the first few weeks. Just make sure you ALWAYS have something under them when you’re changing them for the first month.

Be Mindful of the Bassinet Placement

Our bedroom is kind of cramped, so I basically assembled the bassinet, plopped it next to my side of the bed and called it done!  In retrospect, I never really used the handy-dandy-easy-access-moveable-side-thing (bassinet linked so you understand what the heck I’m even saying).  I should have placed the bassinet longways against the wall our headboard is set against. This way the bassinet would still be next to my side of the bed, but wouldn’t be in the way so much while I try to get in and out of bed.  This is important while healing from any tearing you may have. 

Prepare Your Bathroom for Baby

This really just isn’t something I had ever thought about before having a baby.  What happens when my husband goes back to work and I need to use the restroom? And I don’t mean for pee?  I’m talking about the first few times you go number two after tearing during childbirth. When you’re on so many laxatives and praying your hardest and doing your best to make things happen without straining.  Like, how in the actual..?? Anyways, it can take time. So, I found myself dragging whatever contraption my baby was in at the time into the bathroom with me. It was excessive. It was necessary. Don’t be like me.  Be prepared. Put a baby contraption of some sort in your bathroom and let it live there until you can poop freely and without being so concerned about your baby.

If I had a do-over, I’d get something like this:

Get a Pumping Bra if You’re Planning to Pump

I was expecting to pump.  But, I didn’t get a pumping bra ahead of time.  I guess you can’t really understand the need until you try doing it every 2 hours without one.  Trust me. 

Find a Couple Shows You’d Like to Watch

You can also do this during leave, but I was happy to know I had a full season of a very addictive show to watch without having to use my brain to find anything new the first few weeks.  The more episodes, the better.

Have All the Facts About Going Back to Work vs Staying Home

If you’re seriously considering staying at home after baby, know whether or not you can afford to, and/or what it might take to make it possible.  We had a lot of financial changes, and I was on the fence so I kept avoiding crunching the new numbers. Knowing your options upfront will probably make your maternity leave less stressful. 

Have Snacks on Hand

The days following baby are such a blur- I have no idea what I ate.  What I do remember is that I was extremely happy that we had leftover snacks from the surplus we took with us to the hospital. I fondly remember eating granola bars at all hours and polishing off a large bag of white cheddar smart popcorn.  Mmmm.

While you’re here, check out my list of must-have items for your hospital bag.

Prepare Freezer Meals

I had intended to this, but with everything else we had going on during my pregnancy (wedding, home renovations), I settled for a freezer full of ingredients for easy-to-make meals. And frozen pizzas. These definitely came in handy the first couple months, but those first couple weeks really need pop-and-bake style meals unless you’re cool with cereal and the occasional chipotle. The latter worked fine for us, but I was really wishing I had a pop-and-bake option for all of the afternoons I decided to make dinner, only to realize it was actually 6pm.

Give Yourself Grace

I’m a very task oriented person.  I love checking things off my to-do list.  I had in mind that I would accomplish quite a few things during my maternity leave.  Maybe you do, too. And I did! And you probably will! But it will take a few weeks of adjusting and getting into a groove before you’re accomplishing much other than healing, eating, showering, and taking care of baby.  And when you look at the clock, confident that you’ll see “11 am” because you think you’re doing pretty good that day, but instead you see “4 pm”, don’t stress. Just remember, you are doing pretty good. And remember that the point of maternity leave is to be with your baby.  Bond with your baby. And you are totally rocking it. 

Are you prepared for maternity leave?  Let me know in the comments!


XO,
Abby

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