Be Prepared for Pre-mature Arrival

Baby Ryan arrived when he was only 34th week and he really caught us by surprise. Being our first child, preparing for his arrival was already a challenge and we were not really prepare for his pre-mature arrival. Luckily, we got a few things done early and did not wait to get those preparations done during the eight or nine month (like many parents do) with good advice from some very concerned friends. Be prepared as early as the sixth or seventh month. List of things that you might want to get ready by now should be the following (based on our own experience):-

• get all the required baby stuff by now. Have a checklist and start buying them (especially if you see any of them on sale with discount). I will share the checklist that we have and an indication of how much they will cost.
• decide on where you are going to have your baby delivered.
• if you wish to get a hair cut before delivery, it is a good time to get it done now. A lot of old folks do not allow you to wash your hair after you have delivered (at least for the first week, if not for the entire month of confinement)
• if you are working expecting mum, please prepare your boss or your collegue for a pre-mature delivery. Start planning your hand-over during your maternity leave.
• prepare the bag that you are going to bring to the hospital should you go into labour.
• if you are planning to have a confinement lady, you should have already confirmed her appointment by now. However, do have contigency plans that she might not be available if you deliver early. (This actually happened to us)
• if you plan to have a live-in maid, you should get your maid in and working for you by this time. You would want your maid to be ready rather than having to train her when you are busy with your pre-matured baby, confinement lady, your mum and your mother-n-law. You could go totally crazy.
• for Chinese mothers who have a whole range of chinese herbs to purchase for the confinement meals and diet, it is a good time to start buying them now.