When to start maternity leave with second baby
5 things every Mum should do on maternity leave before the baby arrives
hey guys and welcome back if you are new
here and this is your very first time
big welcome to you my name is patina ray
so in today's video I want to talk to
you about five things that every mum
needs to do on maternity leave before
the baby arrives now there are lots of
videos and articles out there that will
tell you to pack the hospital bag and
prepare the baby clothes and make sure
everything set up and while these things
are great and essential and things that
you need to do the five things that I
want to focus on are more about you and
making sure that you're looking after
yourself really well you're not
preparing yourself for that period after
you've had a baby you've been through
this huge experience and you've got a
brand-new little baby in your arms who
needs you for everything and I think
it's really important to do the things
now so that you're really prepared for
that time afterwards so first time
around I was maybe a little bit like you
and I was just fixated on all the cute
little baby clothes and all the little
nappies and just wanting my little baby
in my arms and dreaming and imagining
that I didn't really take the time to
plan and prepare for that time once the
baby was there and how I was gonna look
after myself and because of that I did a
pretty crappy job of looking after
myself in that first year with the first
baby so second time around I was a lot
smarter this time that's where all my
focus is going like I've set the cut up
and I've got clothes out and washed them
but other than that I just know you know
what I am everything to this baby all he
really needs is me what I need to do is
make sure that I'm gonna be in a good
place so that I can respond to his names
which is why I think these five things
are really important my number one thing
that I think you should do on maternity
leave before the baby arrives
is go on a date with your husband or
your partner because once that baby
arrives it's all gonna be about the baby
and you aren't gonna have time to just
the drop of a hat
go and have breakfast together or go out
for dinner it all becomes a lot harder a
lot more stressful a little bit less
enjoyable so if you can take the time
now to go on a date at
if you can do many dates that's even
better invest the time in your
relationship get that connection nice
and strong so going into that first six
weeks even that first six months or
first year you're feeling really good in
your relationship obviously it's still
something you want to focus on in the
first year and not forget completely
about it but if you can get a date in
before baby arrives you're definitely
going to be starting on the right foot
my second tip is to sort out any
necessary paperwork that you're probably
going to have to fill in in the next six
months now there is nothing worse than
being home from hospital with a new baby
in your arms you're not feeling great in
your body you're bleeding you're tired
your brain is foggy and you've got to
fill in what feels like in a thousand
page document so obviously some things
you have to wait until the baby is born
for so applying for things like paper in
to leave here in Australia if you're
applying through centerlink you can't
actually do the finalization until the
baby arrives because they need a due
date and that sort of thing but you can
kind of get the prep work done most of
it filled out so you only have to fill
in those last little bits things like
taxes if you can get all the stuff
together and organized in here in
Australia you have to file after June 30
but if you can have it all together so
it's less stress at the time it's going
to make your life so much easier so
there are other things you might want to
think about things like birth registries
childcare enrollment for other children
so trying to get these things sorted
before baby arrives is going to help you
so much because you really won't have
the brain space to fill out all these
technical things once bub is here you
just want to kind of be in that newborn
bubble and not having to think too hard
my third thing that I think you should
do before baby arrives is take a whole
day off just for you to do something
that you enjoy so it can be tempting to
spend this time before bug arrives
getting everything organized and feeling
like you have to scrub your house within
an inch of its life but I really
recommend taking a day at least again if
you can do multiple days it's even
better to do things that you really
enjoy and for me personally I like to do
things that I can't do we
above in tow so whilst watching Netflix
all day is amazing and great and
probably something you want to do at the
later stages of pregnancy you will
probably be watching a favorite of
Netflix once bub arrives whilst you're
feeding so things like taking yourself
out on a lunch date maybe going shopping
maybe for you it's going to the movies
or having your hair and nails done maybe
it's going to the beach maybe it's just
reading a book in the Sun taking a whole
day just to do something for you without
feeling guilty without feeling like you
should be doing something else
taking a day for yourself is a really
quality way of spending your time before
this baby arrives and a really good way
of filling yourself up so you go into
that first few weeks and months with a
new baby feeling really good feeling
like you've had time for yourself and
that you're really ready for them to be
here as most of us fine once that bub
arrives you don't have time to do
anything for yourself and things like
showering become personal time so if you
can take the time now to really enjoy a
day to yourself I really think that's a
good way to spend your maternity leave
before baby arrives
so my fourth tip is to try and get food
organized for the first six weeks after
having a baby now everyone's heard of
filling the freezer before the baby
arrives which is great you don't have to
do it all alone though you could host a
party and fight your friends around
everyone cooks for you beautiful friend
of mine is throwing me exactly that
which is so amazing
another way that you could do it is
instead of asking for gifts at your baby
shower you ask them to bring a frozen
meal that you can put in your freezer so
just having a group of 10 or so
girlfriends coming together will give
you a good start at those first six
weeks of having pre-prepared meals you
could have a set order through your
local grocery store that's going to come
every week for the first six weeks it's
just the same order or peated order
those things that you always get anyway
at least you know there will be
something it doesn't matter if you're
eating really plain meals make sure that
you've included lots of fruit and
veggies so that you're still getting
lots of fresh stuff and lots of
nutrients but it doesn't matter if it's
the same thing over and over no one is
expecting gourmet meals
in those first few weeks after you've
had a baby it's also a really good idea
to stock up on some pre-prepared snacks
and things like that things like musi
bars fruit nuts rice crackers all those
sorts of things that you can just have
in the pantry because breastfeeding
makes you so hungry and having those
things healthy snacks that you can just
grab easily is gonna be a great help in
those first few weeks and my fifth and
final tip for what you should do before
bub arrives is to buy some in-between
clothes I wasn't silly enough to take
clothes that fit me before I fell prey
but I hadn't really accounted for the
fact that I was going to have this quiet
deflated belly and the clothes that I
picked didn't really make me feel very
good so I think it's really important to
buy yourself something that you're going
to feel good in between when you leave
the hospital and you maybe don't want to
wear maternity clothes anymore and when
you possibly can start getting back into
some regular clothes so things with
elastic waist are really good if you
feel really good in dresses and that's
what makes you feel really good
you could definitely go for a dress as
well just make sure it's quite
free-flowing and that you've got access
at the top if you are going to
breastfeed I think it's really important
to invest in just a couple of pieces for
yourself so that you don't spend those
first few weeks just feeling blah by all
means if you feel great in your PJs just
buy yourself a few nice pair of PJ's and
hang about in them but I know for me the
actual act of having a shower and
getting dressed makes me feel like I
have achieved something today for me a
few outfits that are going to work in
those first few weeks when I still don't
fit back in my clothes helped to make me
feel so much more normal and so much
better about myself that I really think
it's worth investing in so now I would
love to hear from you what are some of
the things that you think are top
priority to do in that maternity leave
before baby arrives I'd love to hear
from your suggestions pop them in the
comments below otherwise if you're
watching this video because you have a
baby drew very soon good luck let me
know when he or she arrives make sure
that you subscribe to this channel if
you haven't already
and I'll see you in the next video
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