Preparations

The time is soon approaching. Now, you will need to start focusing on getting the house and car prepared to bring home your child.

The Home
Setting up your house for your child is an important step; both for your child's safety and as a pivotal moment for you and your wife. One thing you may notice from your wife is the "nesting instinct". Women often start to focus on their surroundings and feel a strong urge to make everything perfect for the child. This is nothing to worry about, but it is good to know about so you can have a forewarning that this may happen. Personally I knew nothing about the "nesting instinct" and thought that the grandparents-to-be were over exaggerating with how my wife would act when it came time to start setting up the nursery. As I came to find out later, they were not.

The Nursery
This is the time in the pregnancy where you will actually get to do something productive. After the baby shower, you will hopefully have all sorts of new furniture, toys, and baby containment areas to set up. Setting up the big items--crib, play pin, swings, etc.--are a nice way for you to get to work and contribute to what will make up the majority of the places your baby will occupy.

The Car
Car seats are an absolutely crucial part of getting things ready for baby's coming home party. However, this is not as easy a task as you might think. How to set up a car seat properly is one of the most important things you will need to learn before your baby is born. In fact, the hospital is required by law to not allow you to take your child home until they have tested your car seat to make sure it is installed properly. But fear not, there is a website you can go to in order to find a location near you that will inspect you car seat for proper installation!

(Kevin Nelson, 2004)