Things to do before the baby arrives part 1

You're pregnant! Congratulations! You've probably got a million things going through your mind. Where is the baby going to sleep? To breastfeed or not? How can I get rid of these awful stretch marks? Should I start looking into colleges and modeling agencies? I can't help you with the last one, but here are a few basic things to do before your baby arrives.

Make sure the pantry and freezer are stocked. You might want to find some recipes you can make and freeze for those days when you're too exhausted to cook. From what I've heard, that's every day! Get plenty of “hand-foods” such as fruits, cereal bars and bottled drinks because there's a good chance that at least one of your hands will be occupied at any given point in time.

Learn what you can about babies in general. You're definitely going to get a lot of advice from all sides, some of which doesn't apply to your child. It helps to find one or two people in addition to your doctor you can go to with any questions, as well as asking for recommendations of helpful books or websites.

Baby-proof the house. Invest in covers for all power outlets, gates for the doors and stairs and safety latches for the cabinets. Keep all cords out of reach and put blunt padding on any sharp corners. It might seem too early to think of things like this, but time with babies passes very quickly! Also, my friend found baby gates helpful for keeping the dog out of the baby's room.

Buy and install a car seat. Do not use a car seat that has already been in an accident because it will not be as effective. Get a new rear-facing seat and learn how to properly install it in the backseat of your car. NEVER install a rear-facing seat in the front.

On a similar tip, start seeking out new cribs, mattresses and changing tables. Hand-me-downs are not recommended for these either. Get the baby's room ready ahead of time.

If you don't already have them, start getting clothing of various sizes. Hand-me-downs are usually fine. I suggest not getting a whole lot of things in “newborn” sizes because of how fast babies grow. Also, remember that the sizes of baby clothes are usually inaccurate-a lot of 6-month-olds are in 9-month clothes, 9-month-olds in 12-month clothes, etc. Don't feel you have to spend a lot of money on J. Crew or Baby Gap clothes to impress anyone because babies don't do much other than sleep anyway.