There are many things a parent to be must consider prior to the arrival of a new baby. Everything from baby proofing the home to putting together a nursery for the wee one are things that every parents deals with even if it’s not their first child. Preparing for the coming of a new baby can be both stressful and time consuming as well. This is especially true for those expecting their first child. Even with Grandparents, friends, and other parents offering advice the process can devour ones free time and make a person feel as though they’ll never have everything ready in time.
As a father of two young children I have experienced many of the overbearing emotions that come along with a pregnancy. In the case of my wife and our two children preparing for the arrival of our two children was a joy, yet at times it felt more like working for a horrific employer who gives ridiculously impossible deadlines that can’t be met regardless of how much overtime you put in. Perhaps these emotions were brought about by the sheer level of excitement and apprehension that accompanied the announcement of the impending births.
When my wife and I found out that she was pregnant with our first child we initially felt a great deal of excitement and started making plans to convert our home office into a nursery. Our excitement quickly turned to trepidation as we realized just how much work was going to be involved and how expensive the project was going to be. For a couple making a modest living this was a fairly intimidating prospect and we quickly reached out to our parents for advice on how to build a humble yet warm nursery.
Both sets of soon to be Grandparents offered up some great advice and my father actually pitched in and offered his woodworking services to us. Though he put together a fine dresser my wife and I agreed that we wanted to buy most of the furniture and put a nursery together that was unlike any other we’d ever seen.
With the dresser and changing station out of the way some of the worries we had began to fade away, that is until we started looking at baby bassinets. Our jaws drop to the floor when we found out just how expensive and elaborate some of these bassinets were. We were not just looking for an affordable bassinet but a simple one as well. While some of the bassinets we saw looked as though they would allow your infant to access the internet through their bed, we did eventually find a few baby bassinets that would allow our child to sleep comfortably and nothing else.
After viewing baby bassinets we began to look at painting our new nursery. Though this was one of the more affordable aspects of preparing the nursery, my wife and I found ourselves constantly disagreeing on the theme of the room. After a week or so of debates and headaches we finally settled on an underwater theme complete with fish, mermaids and whales. The painting of the nursery commenced and completed within the span of three days and it turned out rather well.
Over the course of two months our office was transformed into a nursery and we then turned our sights to baby proofing the home. There was a brief period of time where my wife and I considered postponing the baby proofing as our child would not be mobile for quite some time however we ultimately decided that it would be easier to prepare now rather than later or after the baby was able to get around on her own. We were also surprised at how complicated this process was too as it involved more than simply plugging up outlets and putting child proof locks on doors. We quickly found that we would need to secure all of our loose wires and cables, and better organize our movie collections as many of our movies where on shelves that could be dangerous to young children. We spent a good portion of our budget on baby proofing our home and in the end everything got put away, organized, secured to a wall or the floor and everything turned out just fine.
Though the process was somewhat difficult and stressful it was definitely an experience that I will look back on with fond remembrance.
We went through many of the same things during preparations for our second child albeit in a much more subdued manner. This was partly due to the fact that the home was already baby proofed before child number two was announced and in part because new baby would be occupying the same nursery. Preparing a home for the arrival of a newborn is both taxing and rewarding however practicing patience and focusing on the end result will always make the process more enjoyable.
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