Top 5

I've been meaning to write this for 7 months now, and I can't get it out of my head now, so here goes. I know this is useless for most of you, but maybe you know someone. feel free to pass it along.

My top 5 things to think about before you deliver:

1. Make sure you trust your OBGYN or midwife. I cannot stress this enough. You need to know your doctor is making all the right decisions, based on what you want and on what's best for your baby. When things started going south and our OBGYN said we might have to do a c-section, we had no problems with it whatsoever because we absolutely trusted our doctor. This is a big thing, choose your doctor/midwife carefully.

2. Even if you plan a home childbirth in a birthing pool, read about all the other possibilities. I refused to read about c-sections because that was not going to happen, I was going to have a vaginal delivery, period. Well, we know how that turned out. On top of the traumatic experience of an emergency c-section, I was completely unprepared for what the recovery process entailed, and the pain of the surgical procedure (my first surgery ever). It wasn't too bad until day 2, when I was so overwhelmed by everything that I just started crying. And crying with shoulder gas pain is the worst.

3. Speak up. If for any circumstance you don't like one of your nurses or any other staff, don't hesitate to fire them. The supervisor will more than likely give you a new nurse, no questions asked. We fired one of my nurses because she was being rude and snappy, and the nurse I got instead was a gift from God Himself. Katie was awesome. Not only did she do her job well, helped me with burping Evan and explained the whole shoulder gas pain to me, but she came back the next day (though she wasn't my nurse anymore) and gave me the best gift a breastfeeding mother can have: Soothies. OMG, I loved her! Her and my night time nurse, Pamela. They rocked.

4. Pack comfy clothes. I know this sounds obvious, but reconsider what you have. I had my maternity jeans, yoga pants, and a dress that I meant to use as a nightgown. It was cold and snowy outside, I didn't intent on wearing the dress. However, that was the only thing I could wear. So there I went, pretty dress, unshaven legs, and hiking shoes. And still cold. Think yoga pants with a drawstring that you need to secure or your pants will fall. You need that comfy.

5. If you plan on breastfeeding, buy nursing tanks, but don't think about nursing bras until at least a week after delivery. Your boobs will grow and your torso will shrink a bit once you stop retaining liquids. If you wait a bit, you have a better shot at getting the size right. Unlike me, who ended up with a bra that's too big in the torso and it shifts in the middle of the night, which caused some uncomfortable wet spots. And either way, there are few things worse that an ill fitting bra. And go get those Soothies, they are really fabulous and giving sore and cracked nipples an refreshing break.