One year ago Friday was Reese’s due date. Of course, literally nothing was happening so that day doesn’t have a ton of significance for me. I went in to the OBGYN the next day and they said “Looking good! But not enough yet. Go home and you’ll probably go into labor on your own this weekend. Otherwise we’ll see you on Monday.” Lo and behold, I waddled in Monday morning and they scheduled my induction for the next day.

Three days over my due date, two days before we had Reese! More about surviving those extra credit days here. 

I’ve been thinking about this time in my life a lot – the week or two right before Reese came – not only because it was this time last year, but also because my sister-in-law/best friend Haley had her perfect, TINY little Ruby Joy last week! Her due date is actually tomorrow so it was a treat to have her for a whole extra week! She is tiny and beautiful and perfect and we are just over the moon for her. It’s been so fun to relive everything with her basically exactly one year behind me. I read A LOT of pinterest posts and blogs and articles and the amount of lists I made were insane you guys don’t even know. The good news is that when we did eventually make our way to the hospital I didn’t feel like there was anything else I should have done.

I had exactly 2 weeks between my last day teaching and Reese’s due date (plus the 5 days after that!) and I really feel that I used them well. Even though most of the time was spent sleeping – that’s kind of the point. Here are the most important and useful things you can do in the weeks and days leading up to your baby’s arrival to make delivery, recovery, and new life at home as easy and glamorous as possible!

My dad showed up with an entire box full of Diet Cokes and I literally burst into tears. And I know what you’re thinking – it wasn’t all pregnancy hormones.

Week 36 and On (But let’s be real, most of this gets done Week 39)

• Stock Up! This was SO helpful. I bought extra toilet paper, paper towels, clorox wipes, laundry detergent, dishwasher candies, trash bags, along with all of our favorite non-perishable snacks, foods, and drinks. Sure, I knew I’d have to go to the store. But I didn’t want to HAVE to go to the store if you know what I mean. We didn’t need groceries until about 3 weeks after having Reese, and then it was just like milk and eggs. Go get pasta and crackers and Diet Coke so that you can just hang out with your new baby and love life!
• Finish the Nursery – and I mean realistically. This is where I reassessed everything, because I knew – JUST LIKE YOU KNOW – that you will not be repainting all those tiny picture frames when the baby comes. That amazing photo collage you pictured? The handmade baby mobile you pictured above the crib? Now is the time to decide if it’s necessary and realistic. Hang up what you have. Put away all the clothes and blankets. Make a final Target/Hobby Lobby/Babies R Us run and call it good.
• Pack your hospital bag – read my whole saga and packing list here!
• Make some freezer meals! (I didn’t do this but you better bet I will be with the next one!)
• If you haven’t done maternity photos take some now! They don’t have to be expensive or fancy. Just put on a nice outfit, do your hair and makeup and have your husband or a friend take some photos of you against a nice backdrop somewhere. You’ll be glad you have them

Lots of hanging out in the nursery during those days LOL

Week 39-40

• Go on a nice date with your husband. Dress up, do your makeup, go to your favorite place. Pretty soon these dinner dates with just the two of you will be a whole planned event, so just take some time to enjoy your spouse. Talk about everything but pregnancy and the baby – trust me. He needs a break as much as you do.
• Line up your “go time” plan. Does someone else have a key or garage code to your house if you need something? Who will watch your pets? Do you need to call or email your employer to let them know?
• Sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep. I know full-term pregnancy sleep isn’t of the highest quality, but every little bit counts. Go to bed early, sleep late, take naps… whatever you can get will be worth it.
• Buy any remaining baby needs. Yeah I had 9 months but don’t worry I was literally at Target buying baby stuff the night before I was induced so it’s gonna happen. You’ll realize you actually don’t have any newborn-sized jammies or a velcro swaddle that you really want. Now is the time.
• Buy/familiarize yourself with a baby book for your little one. A lot of the stuff you can fill out in advance. I filled in our family tree, the “about mommy & daddy”, and the letters from mom & dad sections a week before I had Reese. I also knew which sections and information were about the birth, so during one of the down times the day after Reese was born I was able to go through and write everything down.
• Get your hair colored/cut. You gotta look fresh! Glen Coco also got a nice grooming appointment before the baby came so he would be super clean and also so we wouldn’t need to worry about it for a while.
• Get a prenatal massage! I am so so glad I did this. It made this huge, sore, and stretch marked whale feel amazing. It seemed a little pricey at first but it was worth every penny. Plus some people swear it can move labor along.

As Close To The Birth As Possible

• Manicure & Pedicure. Splurge on one if you can afford it, because it’s definitely worth it. If you don’t want to spend money, or your schedule makes it tough then just enlist your mom, sister, best friend, or even spouse to give you an at-home mani/pedi.
• Have your house and carpet cleaned. You can usually find really good prices on professional cleaning by asking around, looking for coupons, or finding a killer deal on Groupon. Again, if you don’t want to pay for it just find a good comprehensive cleaning list on Pinterest, call in reinforcements from your mom, sister, bestie, visiting teachers… and then scrub it out to some great tunes! I got our carpets professionally cleaned, but I just cleaned our house myself. I tried not to hunch over too much or overdo it, and I made sure all of the rooms were super well-ventilated when I was using any chemical products. Of course I wasn’t able to do as much as I wanted, but it felt good to DO something during those waiting game days.
• Re-pack and reassess your hospital bag. I did this approximately 15x.
• Shave as best you can and then get a spray tan or use self-tanner. Sooooo nice when your legs are up in the air, trust me.
• Get a priesthood blessing (if that’s your thing) from your husband or father, or even home teachers! I have such tender, precious memories of the blessing The Beard gave me the night before we went in to have Reese. <3
• Do what calms & excites you. I know that sounds like an oxymoron. What I mean is do what makes you feel really good about what you’re about to do. Avoid what freaks you out or makes you scared or anxious. For me that meant reading every birth story I could find. They were so beautiful and amazing and made me feel so grateful and excited for what I was about to do. I also watched “The Delivery” episode of The Office about 8x. Just focus on good vibes for these last few days/hours, and bring positivity and happiness into your heart. I really think that makes a difference, as hippy as it sounds! It’s another thing I loved about a scheduled induction – Those last 24 hours weren’t filled with pain or counting down contractions or throwing things haphazardly into a hospital bag. They were spent on a nice date with my husband and watching The Office on the couch while reading beautiful birth stories. I loved every second of it!

“NATURALLY” Inducing Labor is B.S.

This is 100% my opinion. Well actually about 50% my opinion and 50% what my OBGYN told me. You do you, baby. But this is what I think about those “10 Ways to Naturally Induce Labor” articles that you’ve probably come across or had people tell you in these last weeks and days.

They’re terrible ideas. 

Idk about you but the LAST thing I wanted to do was jump on a tramp or climb a bunch of stairs or dance my baby out to the musical stylings of Michael Jackson (RIP). I barely wanted to eat or drink anything, especially not something that would make me sick. And I definitely didn’t want to be touched AT ALL by ANYONE.  I totally understand the feeling there at the end. Nine months is a LONG EFFING TIME. You’re huge and tired and done and you just want to have that baby. So you do what you gotta do. But make sure you consider this:

Labor and delivery are no joke. Even if you get an epidural and your baby practically falls out like Reese did – it will still take, at minimum, a lot of hours and a lot of effort and a lot of energy. And THEN you’ll have this amazing, perfect, incredible newborn baby to stare at, so you won’t be sleeping for the next 48-72 hours. Do you really want to exhaust yourself with a walk-a-thon or dance-off that then launches you into a day or two of nonstop labor and delivery effort? Maybe it’s worth it to you to eat an entire spicy habanero pepper or chug some castor oil to get your labor going. But you’re going to have AT BEST an upset stomach and AT WORST a disgusting bathroom adventure during labor & delivery. To me that is not worth an extra day or two of pregnancy.

Now I did bounce on a birth ball (for comfort) and went on almost daily long walks around the mall or Target. I might have even gone to the gym once or twice in those two weeks between finishing school and having Reese. It was mostly for my sanity and to pass time. I always tried to carefully monitor my energy level and think “If I went into labor right now would I have the juice to labor and push and deliver and then be awake for several days straight?” I mean to be honest I think the answer to that question was always “NO” even when I first woke up in the morning and did nothing. But the point is I did what I could and wanted to do, and didn’t force anything for the sake of “speeding things up.”

Again, you do you. Just don’t push yourself and make sure you understand the consequences – you’ve already gone through enough for 9 months and you’re about to go through the worst (best)! Rest as much as you can, save your energy and health, and just do what feels good to you.

On Being Induced

While we’re at it and I’m up here on this high horse – being induced ROCKSSSSSSSS. I’m not really sure why there seems to be this negative attitude towards induction!  I seriously loved it so so much. I totally understand that it can be physically a lot more rough if you’re gonna go natural, so you want the baby to come before 41 weeks to avoid that. But if you’re planning on an epidural then I don’t know what the fuss is about. Yeah you gotta be pregnant for like 6-7 more days, max. But hi you just DID that for 9 months. A few more days isn’t so bad. I’m sure they’re tough if you’re having contractions but just not quite ENOUGH contractions, but the good news is that with an induction they’ll be able to give you the epidural pretty early on too.

Here’s what I’m saying: Don’t worry about induction. Don’t worry if your body isn’t going into labor. Don’t worry about an extra week of being pregnant. It’s actually amazing and I honestly hope I can do the same exact thing – scheduled induction – with my next baby. You know exactly when you’re headed to the hospital. You’re ready. You can do your hair and makeup. Your water isn’t going to break somewhere in your house or out in public, but in a hospital bed where you don’t have to clean it up or even see it! You can get an epidural after one contraction if you want! Read more about my scheduled induction/Reese’s Birth Story here. 

The best advice I can give you is to do what you can, but more importantly – what you WANT to – in these days and hours leading up to baby’s birth. Take it easy and think happy thoughts. You are about to have the best day of your life, and things will never be the same again! Good luck!