Preparing the World for Babies

There are a LOT of things to plan for before baby or babies come.  Aside from the obvious of preparing a personalized beautiful nursery (moms) or just a place for the kid to crash (dads) there are plenty of fun decisions to start making.

1. Newborn Photographer There really is only one debate on this issue-the money...Any newborn is going to look adorable sleeping in an old canvas sack with a huge knitted hat with bear ears on his head.  But can I tell you that if you want actual photographs after the session (not just the joy of watching your child being photographed) you can spend anywhere from $500-$2500!  I guess I'll have to find a nice trash can in the alley above our cardboard box beds to hang our new canvas prints of baby.

2. Mohel This is obviously a religious option, unless by chance you want to have a ceremony where all of your family and friends come and watch your child's teeny peenie get circumcised.  The advantage of having this ceremony, of course, is all of the food that's involved and the chance to dress your 5 pound child in an outfit that will no doubt look ridiculous because he doesn't naturally fit into clothes yet.  Also, an added bonus, this is the day your son has his first alcoholic beverage.  On this same day, our daughter will have her baby naming and I'm thinking we might give her a swig of Manishevitz as well to take the edge off.

3. Finding your Pediatrician Josh and I are going to our first pediatrician interview in a couple of weeks.  I've prepared a list of questions to ask at our "meet and greet."
- Do you offer ear plugs to parents when their children are getting shots?
- My husbands tends to get woozy at just about anything dealing with blood and body parts.  Can he be in charge of all appointments because it amuses me?
- Do you have baby scrubs here?  Because that would totally enhance our visit.
- Can parents have lollipops too?  I'm the one who drove them here.
- Do you have any "hot" doctors here?

4. Getting Organized Once babies are born, you are best off keeping a chart of all of your newborns' habits from eating to sleeping to pooping to peeing.  I can't tell you how excited I am to document the color and texture of my children's poop.  I figured this would be an important task and I should prepare early.  So, behind Josh's back, I've been keeping a chart of all of his habits.  It's a little hard when he's at work and requires quite an extensive interview each evening when he gets home.  He also doesn't always let me look in the toilet after he goes to the bathroom so I have to make certain assumptions.  But for the most part it's going well.  Josh is a healthy growing boy.

5. Night Nurse  For any new parent, especially those expecting twins, a night nurse can be a huge help as well as a huge expense.  A friend said, "Those who said money can't buy happiness have never had a night nurse."  I don't doubt this, I'm just not sure we'll be able to get another cardboard box for her.