Friday, January 05, 2007

Welcome advice

When I was on my recent travels, I solicited advice on parenting and how to survive it. I thought I would share what I had learned; if you have anything to dispute or add, please do.

- Sleep when the baby sleeps. (This one came from multiple sources.)
- Steal as much shit as you can at the hospital, such as infant-sized caps and swaddling blankets.
- If you're having a boy, you will learn a lot about insects and dinosaurs.
- When someone comes over to see the baby, let them help - don't try to host them.

There may have been more pieces of advice, but those are what I remember.

I realize I have been over-blogging lately, but never fear - I am about to leave town again for a few days in NYC for work, so things should calm down, unless some extra-late amnio result comes back or something.

2 comments:

Emmie said...

Oh, I am sooo ready for boys, seeing as I took classes in both paleontology and entomology in college (that's how we English majors could fulfill science core requirements without taking chemistry). I knew the fact that I can map out every type of dinosaur would come in handy one day. ;)

The one piece of advice I've picked up so far is freeze a lot of dinners for you and your husband in advance of your due date.

Emmie
(google insists on revealing the "real" me)

Jane Roper said...

I definitely second the steal-as-much-as-you-can-from-the-hospital advice.

Sleep when baby sleeps is also good, though not always feasible.

Regarding visitors, I'd say allow friends who are parents to visit first, before others. They'll "get it": the need to wash their hands, help out, and not stay too long.

Freezing dinners: also good.

If you plan to nurse (which I imagine you do) have lots of zip-front tops / sweaters / sweatshirts on hand.

Prepare to receive conflicting advice from different people / books / authorities / etc. And try not to freak out about doing everything *right* (something I've been guilty of already)