Your baby is almost on his or her way and you have your birth plan ready, good on you! Is the baby room already ready? How about what happens after birth? How long will you stay in hospital and who is going to take care of you while you and your partner take care of your newborn?

It's hard to imagine what will happen after you give birth. In a former post I showed a schedule of what 24 hours with a newborn could look like. Even when you see the schedule, you can not prepare for the utter exhaustion and insecurity you might feel.

What could you do now to prepare for after birth?

- you can ask a family member to come and stay with you

- you can prep some meals and stick them in the freezer

- you can already start buying maternity pads because you are going to need them. Lots!

- you can make sure you have enough sheets (for your own bed) because of night sweats

- you can make sure you have enough water bottles in every room you could feed newborn

The reason why I suggest that someone from your family should stay with you is because it can never hurt to have an extra pair of hands. When you have just given birth to a child, your body needs to heal. There will be barely any time to do so though - especially in the first week when you want baby to have their best start in life. Usually this means that everything is about the newborn and less about your healing. Make sure you have someone around you who cares for you while you care for your newborn.