Five Top Tips on How to Prepare for Your Baby’s Arrival

How to look after yourself and get organised before you give birth. And, advice on stem cell storage to help give your little one the best life possible.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

As you go into your second and third trimesters, and “bump” becomes more visible, it’s all turning into something real. Yes, you are doing this; bringing a new life into the world. It’s so exciting. (It’s also spine-tinglingly nerve-wracking.)

It’s official. Giving birth will be one of the most significant things you ever do – and there’s not long to go now.

So, how should you prepare for your delivery?

Whilst you’re no doubt being bombarded with well-meaning advice, here at Cells4Life we’re seeing the wood for the trees, and cutting through the impenetrable foliage of advice to offer you some basic yet essential tips.

Plus, if we may, an important, final “just leaving this here”-type suggestion. Something that could be life changing.

1. Look After Yourself

Yes, we know – the most glaringly obvious recommendation in the history of everything. But, once baby arrives, your bundle of joy will take up all your attention and energy, so being physically and emotionally ready is vital.

Did you know, for example, that you can book a pregnancy massage? With super-safe essential oils, treatments like this are worth their weight in gold and are a lovely self-care treat.

Have a think about the following:

Sleep is essential. Due to pregnancy, you may be tired anyway, so a few early nights with an enjoyable book (or a pen and notebook to plan baby names) will ensure that you’ll get some much-needed rest.

Eating well should be a given, although we all know that life can get in the way. There’s no need to eat for two, but you may need some extra calories:

Second trimester (13 to 26 weeks) – 340 extra calories a day(1)

Third trimester (after 26 weeks) – 450 extra calories a day(1)

Check with your doctor.

Heathy eating guidelines are as you would expect. Try to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, decent quality proteins and dairy products. Reduce your salt intake if you can, and choose foods and drinks without added sugar.
Feeling sick? We feel your pain. A slice of wholemeal toast or wholegrain crackers may help.

2. Household Essentials

Onto practical things.

Buy loo roll in bulk, plus toothpaste, shampoo, washing powder, paper towels, soap – anything you use regularly, including personal care products. You don’t want to run out of essentials; life is just about to get busy.

Stockpiling is a wonderful way to Teflon your day. Heading forth to the shops with a new-born in tow can be more of an effort than it should be. This way, running out of washing up liquid is just not going to happen.

Also, did you know that you can buy everyday items like these via flexible subscription services? Explore some options through that website beginning with an A, ending with N, and with Z in the middle.

3. Baby Proofing

Are there hazards at home? It’s time to find out.

Assuming that nobody will see you – you may feel rather foolish, but hey, who cares – crawling around your own home to get your infant’s-eye view on the world is baby proofing par excellence. Once he or she starts to crawl, you’ll be glad you did. You are literally taking the right steps to make your environment safer for a small, curious human being.

The following are a great idea, too:

• Baby gates at the top of the stairs
• Barriers in front of the fire
• Fitting safety devices to drawers, windows and doors
• Moving dangerous chemicals (eg household bleach) out of harm’s way – and locking them away
• Securing heavy furniture, like cupboards or a TV stand to stop them falling over

4. Baby Gear

Advice alert: don’t go crazy. You don’t need to. In our experience, people buy too much and then don’t use it.

5. Consider storing your baby’s tissue and cord blood with Cells4Life.

Yes, quite a distinct, curveball piece of advice.

Nevertheless, this decision today could give you and your family all your precious Stem Cells your baby could need tomorrow.

Stem cell harvesting may be the key that unlocks a disease-free life. Did you know that your unborn baby may live to be 100? Or even older? Along with great age comes poor health, infirmity, and vulnerability. Therefore, staying well is fundamental to a life well lived.

Found within your baby’s umbilical cord is a rich source of stem cells. With cord blood banking, we can take these amazingly powerful cells and store them in the anticipation of using them in future stem cell therapies.

In the future, your son or daughter could benefit from repairs to damaged tissue, organs with a new lease of life, even replaced body parts. Conditions that damage our bodies, such as cancer, liver and heart disease, as well as dementia could one day be a distant memory; something in our past that we can move on from.

Yes, even cerebral palsy, autism and diabetes.

Is stem cell banking worth it?

Wouldn’t you like to imagine that kind of regenerative medicine for your child? Of course it’s worth it.

In 2022, cord blood banking is already changing lives. You’ll have one chance: in the moments directly after the birth. There’s no need for concern. Cells4Life will take care of everything, courtesy of a phlebotomist, discreetly on hand to extract everything that’s needed for storage.

And then – no pain, no discomfort, no embarrassment. That’s it. All done.

So, have you remembered everything? Are you sure? Including an Information pack about stem cell banking from Cells4Life?

Find your FREE Parents Guide to Stem Cell Banking by entering your details below.

Oh, and good luck!

Reference:

1. https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/pregnancy/healthy-eating-pregnancy/#:~:text=Being%20pregnant%2C%20you’ll%20obviously,of%20wholemeal%20toast%20and%20margarine.