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Pregnancy Can Be Overwhelming!
Are you planning for a new baby?
Maybe you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by all there is to learn and do during your pregnancy?
Many new moms feel this way.
You are certainly NOT alone!
Good news!
There is tons of FREE help available, so don’t get overwhelmed!
You have come to the right place.
Keep reading…
If you are pregnant, now is the time to begin planning for your new baby’s arrival!
The better you plan now, the easier your transition into motherhood will be.
These are the questions you are probably beginning to ask…
- What do you include on your baby registry?
- How do you write a birth plan?
- How do you hire a doula?
- Who will be helping you during your recovery time?
- What should you include in your postpartum plan?
- How about a newborn care plan?
- Should you set up a meal train?
- What are some easy freezer meals to make ahead?
- What should you pack in your hospital bag?
Pregnancy Planning Help is Here!
DON’T GET OVERWHELMED!
I will help you to get organized for your new baby!
I have compiled some great resources for you here.
Download these FREE worksheets, templates and email courses to get you started with all your planning needs!
I am also including some links to some of my favorite products if you need ideas as you prepare for the big day!
Ready?
Here we go!
How to Get Organized for Baby
We’ll start by making a “Master To-Do List.”
We’ll break it down into each trimester, so you don’t get overwhelmed. (Take it one item at a time.) Add your own items to this list too!
After the “To-Do List”, you’ll find a list of my favorite planning resources for pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Here’s what you’ll find in this post:
- 1st Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- 3rd Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- Pregnancy Planning Resources
Planning for a New Baby Master To-Do List
1st Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- Find a resource for tracking your pregnancy week-by-week. There are great books, apps and websites that are really amazing! It is exciting to learn what is happening with your body and baby each week of your pregnancy! I like this FREE pregnancy email course for starters. Just plug in your due date and get free weekly updates delivered to your inbox!
- Find a natural food-based prenatal vitamin and start taking it daily.
- Choose a health care provider for your pregnancy and delivery. Do you want a midwife? obstetrician? home birth? family practitioner? All of these options provide prenatal care! Make your 1st appointment asap!
- Start studying! There are TONS of online resources and apps about pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care. It is a good idea to get a jump start by reading up before you take a childbirth class. Make sure that you are getting accurate up-to-date information, though! Subscribe to this blog for lots more great information on pregnancy, birth, postpartum and newborn care!
- Decide if you want to hire a birth doula. Read how to hire a doula here. This site also helps you find doulas in your area!
- Consider hiring a postpartum doula. Find a postpartum doula in your area here.
2nd Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- If you haven’t yet hired a doula, this should be done now. Start your doula search here.
- Start a Baby Registry. Not sure if you need one? Read this.
- Sign up for a childbirth class. I love this online childbirth class! If you’d like to learn more about all the various options for childbirth classes, check out this post.
- Start planning for your postpartum recovery.
- Take my FREE “Planning for Postpartum” Email Mini-Course. Get it here.
- Start planning for baby needs. What does my baby need? Get this printable baby essentials checklist!
- Begin a shopping list for personal supplies for postpartum, breastfeeding and newborn care. My postpartum planning packet contains a shopping list of products to consider. This website can give you some ideas of products you might wish to include.
- Research what you will need for new baby. Talk to other mamas to find out their favorite baby items. Here are my recommendations for baby essentials!
- Start preparing some freezer meals and stocking your freezer. Here’s how!
- Begin preparing the nursery or space for baby.
- Start searching for childcare, if needed.
- Write a guest list for your baby shower if you are having one. Make sure the invitation has a link to your baby registry!
- Stock up on household and personal supplies, such as toilet paper, laundry soap, food staples, diapers, etc.
- Buy your postpartum personal care supplies. Don’t know what you’ll need? Check out my recommendations for natural postpartum care supplies.
- GET ORGANIZED! This is a great time to start getting your home (and schedule) ready for baby. Clean out the clutter, sort through the paper piles and establish a cleaning routine. In fact, getting some routines going in your life NOW will spill over into your life post-baby! One of my blogging friends, Hilary, has put together this great little course designed to help moms, like you, establish routines to keep your home and family more organized. This is a course for all moms (including nesting moms!) If you would like to get some cleaning and organizing routines in place before your baby arrives, this is a great course for you! It’s also a very manageable approach to organizing and cleaning…. I promise! Once you get these Family Routines established in your home, you can benefit from them for years to come! I like that she teaches you how to get your whole family involved and gives you some really great tools to help you get organized and stay organized! It’s also a very affordable course… a great value for what you get, so I’m excited to share it will you!!
3rd Trimester Pregnancy Master List
- Take your childbirth class!
- Tour your hospital or birthing center.
- Take a breastfeeding class
- Take an infant care class
- Choose a doctor for your baby.
- Set up the nursery
- Purchase diapers and other baby care items
- Write a Birth Plan. Here’s how!
- Make a Postpartum Plan. Use this FREE printable plan.
- Plan a Postpartum Baby-Moon. Learn more!
- Create your Newborn Care Plan. FREE Printable Plan here!
- Start a packing list for your hospital or birth center stay.
- Pack for the hospital by week 35, if possible.
- Ask a friend to set up a meal train for after baby.
- Make sure you have a new car seat to bring baby home. Install the base so it’s ready to go!
- Wash all your baby’s clothing and bedding.
- Wash and sterilize all bottles, pacifiers, and pump parts.
- Have your house cleaned to get ready. Coming home to a clean house will really help your postpartum recovery!
- Plan something fun for your due date. Then if your baby doesn’t arrive by then, you won’t be too disappointed!
Would You Like to Have a PRINTABLE Copy of this Planning Checklist?
Other Great Pregnancy Planning Resources!
The Nesting Planner – My Favorite Pregnancy Planner!
Even though this post is largely about FREE planning resources, I want to bring to your attention this very affordable planner.
As a postpartum doula, I am VERY excited to recommend this great planning resource! Why? Because it is the most complete planner for pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, breastfeeding and newborn care.
It is loaded with printable checklists, worksheets and other planning tools. It will help you get organized and stay on track throughout your entire pregnancy. And best of all…. it is all done for you!
You will never miss a step with monthly checklists and reminders that easily itemize what must be done before the big day! Check out the Nesting Planner here.
Pregnancy Planning Resources
Pregnancy Week-by-Week Planning Checklist!
Wow! This is such a great FREE resource for pregnant mamas! Subscribe to Alli’s and Trina’s amazing FREE new mom planning course and get weekly email updates and reminders.
When planning for a new baby, these weekly emails can really help you can stay on course.
Type in your due date and email address and you’re all set! Their weekly emails will both inspire and motivate you as you get ready for the big day!
They also offer some great tips and planning ideas for each week!
How to Find a Great Prenatal Vitamin
Not all prenatal vitamins are created equal! Find out why you should choose a natural food-based prenatal vitamin and see my top picks here.
How to Start a Baby Registry
People will want to buy you baby gifts! You might as well direct them to the items you want. When planning for a new baby, a Baby Registry is essential! Here is a popular online baby registry!
How to Hire a Doula
Doula Match is one of my favorite resources for finding a doula.
They walk you through the entire process for how to find the perfect doula for your family. You can find birth and postpartum doulas in your area.
Search the doulas in your area who are available for your due date. It’s easy!
How to Write a Birth Plan
Earth Mama Organics, one of my favorite companies selling mom and baby products, has one of the best online templates for creating an amazing birth plan. Best part…. it’s totally FREE!
Create your FREE birth plan here.
How to Write a Newborn Care Plan
Many new parents don’t know about the importance of a newborn care plan.
If you are planning a hospital birth, this FREE PRINTABLE PLAN walks you through all the important decisions you will need to make during your new baby’s hospital stay.
It will also familiarize you with common hospital newborn procedures so that you can make informed decisions regarding your baby’s care.
When planning for a new baby, writing up a newborn care plan is a MUST!
How to Write a Postpartum Plan
Writing a postpartum plan is something that many mamas forget to do when planning for a new baby. They just decide to “wing it” with the new baby thing and later regret that decision!
Download this FREE Postpartum Plan for ideas on how to plan for this special recovery time.
Use this plan as a springboard for discussion for you and your partner. It provides helpful tips and suggestions for how to organize and plan for your recovery!
Also, if you haven’t read my post on the 5-5-5 Recovery Plan for Postpartum, it will really help inspire you with ideas!
How to Find the Best Childbirth Class
One of the most important decisions you make when planning for a new baby is which childbirth class to take. Every new mom should take a childbirth class. There is so much to learn!
You may think you can just research on your own, but you might miss some very important pieces if you do!
There are many great options for classes depending on if you deliver in a hospital, birthing center or choose a home birth.
I’m especially excited about all the great online options now! Learn more in this great reference guide to help you decide!
My FREE Postpartum Planning Resources!
If you haven’t downloaded my FREE Postpartum Planning Packet, do that first! The packet comes with a postpartum planning worksheet PLUS a checklist for things to do before baby arrives.
What you will get:
1. First is my Postpartum Planning Worksheet.
This planner helps new parents create a postpartum plan by asking the right questions and encouraging dialog about things you might not normally think about.
It’s an easy template designed to make planning for your new baby less work.
2. Next is a helpful Pregnancy Checklist so that you remember the things you need to do before the big day!
These resources are focused on the postpartum recovery time. Many pregnancy checklists focus on baby, but this one focuses on mom!
It helps you plan for an amazing “baby moon” with your precious newborn!
Postpartum Meal Planning
When planning for a new baby, make sure that you take some time to think about meal planning. Here are some great tips for making sure that dinner gets on the table without you having to do it!
Organize a Meal Train
Ask a friend or family member to set up a meal train for you! There are many online meal organizers that are easy to use. Here’s one.
Stock Your Freezer with Meals During Pregnancy!
You may have family and friends who offer to bring you a few meals, but consider stocking your freezer with extra do-ahead meals in case your recovery is harder than expected.
Moms who end up with unexpected cesareans or other postpartum complications require a longer recovery time.
Having a freezer stocked with easy to grab meals ends up being a HUGE blessing in these situations!
Even if you have no real complications, the extra meals will be so nice for days when you just need a nap or have a cluster-feeding newborn!
Trust me, there will definitely be days when you won’t feel like cooking!
Here is a Healthy Freezer Meal Plan that is great for new postpartum mothers!
This plan comes with over 100 freezer-tested recipes for healthy postpartum meals, printable shopping lists for each recipe, printable freezer meal labels and lots of tips for how to prepare and freeze the meals.
Remember, not all meals freeze well and Kelly (the gal who created this meal plan) has really done her homework by planning and testing all the recipes in this plan.
When planning for a new baby, also consider a meal delivery service. Many restaurants have this option now! Sure, it’s more expensive, but remember, this is only temporary!
If you have a relative or friend staying with you after your baby is born, they may be able to cook too!
If this is the case, SAVE the freezer meals or other meal options until they go home.
It may be a while before you are able to spend much time in the kitchen! 🙂
Postpartum Childcare Planning
Do you have older children? When planning for a new baby, make sure that you set up help with your older children.
You may wish to plan some childcare for them during the early weeks so that you can rest during the day.
Since you will be getting up during the night to feed your baby, you will need plenty of time in bed during the day!
There are many ways to set up care for your older children:
- Send them off to grandma’s for some special grandparent time
- Have grandma or other relative or a friend stay with you to help out at your home
- Hire childcare help: a postpartum doula or a nanny (these can be short-term or long-term arrangements)
- Pre-arrange some play dates with friends who have children.
Postpartum Shopping Lists
- Household essentials
- Food and groceries
- Mom care products
- Baby care products
- Download my free shopping list as part of the postpartum packet.
Household Management Tips
Check out my free postpartum packet for how to prepare for your postpartum recovery!
When planning for a new baby, there is no such thing as “too organized”! 🙂
Want some extra help with household organization?
One of my blogging friends, Hilary, has put together this great little course designed to help moms, like you, establish routines to keep your home and family more organized.
This is a course for all moms (including nesting moms!)
If you would like to get some cleaning and organizing routines in place before your baby arrives, this is a great course for you!
It’s also a very manageable approach to organizing and cleaning…. I promise!
Once you get these Family Routines established in your home, you can benefit from them for years to come!
I like that she teaches you how to get your whole family involved and gives you some really great tools to help you get organized and stay organized!
It’s also a very affordable course… a great value for what you get, so I’m excited to share it will you!!
Are you planning for a new baby?
Have you found these resources helpful?
Do you know of any other FREE pregnancy or postpartum planning resources for new moms?
Please share in the comments. Thank you for visiting!
I like that you mention finding the type of healthcare provider you want during your first trimester, such as an obstetrician or midwife, so you can start to get prenatal care. It would probably be a good idea to figure out as soon as possible so you can start to research the local obstetricians or other providers. This could help you have time to research thoroughly and to make the first appointment as soon as possible to start getting the best prenatal care to keep your child healthy.
Absolutely! The earlier the better for a healthy pregnancy and baby. Thanks for the comment, Erika, and for your encouragement to other mothers!