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Your ninth-month to-do list :

       What a month! Excitement, anticipation...maybe a little tinge of worry. Some days, it probably seems to be taking forever; other days, you aren’t sure where the time has gone — and your baby will be here soon! There’s plenty to do in these last weeks: winding up at work, getting your home ready for your amazing new arrival, buying things you’ve never shopped for before, such as diapers and tiny undershirts. Without wearing yourself out, you’ll want to make the most of this precious time. 

Need a little help getting organized? Read on!

Ready for the birth

      Jill Ritchie, a certified doula and owner of Babeeze in Arms Doula Centre in London, Ont., stresses that the most important thing to do before you have your baby is to plan for support during labour and in the early weeks postpartum.

     • Ritchie recommends writing a birth plan — what she calls a “hopes and wishes list”: a short, realistic, positive letter for your support team describing the kind of labour and birth you’d like to have. 

     • You will want to put together a labour bag. Besides your hopes and wishes list, Ritchie suggests including: your hospital registration forms and health card; slippers or warm socks; an oversized T-shirt to labour in; a sports bra for the bath or shower; a robe; comforts (music, lotion, lip balm, hand-held fan); your own pillow and birth ball; a list of people to call and a cellphone or change for the pay phone; and your camera and video camera (both charged!). Add toiletries, Gatorade or clear juice, and nutritious snacks for you and your partner.


    • Pack postpartum supplies too: diapers and clothes for the baby, something comfortable to wear home, maxi-pads and a nursing bra.