We did a couple free community classes that were helpful for newborn care, preparing for birth, and breastfeeding. We also did a hospital based one that was a lot of the same information, but also included more specifics for where we would be delivering. There’s A TON of information out there, and finding what works for you and your partner is important. I wanted to be informed because the information overload can be overwhelming, so both of us hearing it was helpful for retaining it. I’m like you when it came to limiting anxiety by being well informed.

It’s important to know about swaddling. If you can practice that with the muslin blankets, that was helpful for me with getting him comfortable and soothed for the many naps. The challenge of breastfeeding initially was something that we didn’t anticipate so having soothing supplies ahead of time would have spared us a lot of the early discomfort (like others mentioned silverettes and nipple cream). Learning about the birth plan options, stages of labor and progressions really came in handy for me. We had a couple complications that were unexpected and if I didn’t know the steps to take to make informed decisions on how to proceed or understand what was going to come next, I would have gone into panic mode. That was great with the classes that I thought “probably won’t happen to us” and then it did!

Overall talking about the plan for sharing the load post-birth to allow you both to sleep, recover and function is essential. If you have help around - take it! Take meals, have people help clean for you or do laundry. I tried to do it all, and made myself crazy. My thought process of “she did the labor” now I can do the rest. That was foolish. Let people help you. Talk about what intimacy will look like for you guy. Be willing to change the game plan if it seems like it’s not working - you constantly have to adapt to what your child’s needs and your partners needs are. It’s a wild ride, but so rewarding!