Birth Prep with Dollar Tree

Happy August, dear ones!

Here in camp Ray, we’ve been staying busy preparing for the arrival of our second child. What a gift!! What a challenge to be carrying a baby inside and a baby outside at the same time! Here at 39-and-some-change weeks pregnant, I am in full-blown nesting mode. Nesting, resting, and chasing a toddler around : )

I recently did a post about all the things I’ve enjoyed purchasing from Dollar Tree, saving money and still maintaining some style and thoughtful consumerism along the way.

Griffin’s “cozy corner”

Well, le Due Date approaches, and unlike with Griffin, I haven’t had to be induced early (hallelujah!) and with that, I’ve had some lovely time on my hands. Thanks, Jesus! Like most expecting women approaching their due days, I’ve had lists. Lists on lists. Primary lists, secondary lists, and the list of stuff that seems ideal but not a big deal if it doesn’t get done.

I’m happily wading through the latter, and honestly, it feels great. Some items here: re-fold all the clothes in my drawers (thank you to this KonMari basics refresher vid), re-cleaning all the baby nest items that my cat has already slept in multiple times (we like the Dock-a-Tot and SnuggleMe), and making a L&D nurse/Midwife snack + goodie basket.

Griffin’s tiny kitchen in our tiny kitchen!

Bought more loungewear. Also featuring my old slippers because they’re the only ones that fit at the moment : )

Ok, did you know the nurse thank-you/goodie basket is like a thing? Here at the very end of this pregnancy, it popped into my head — “Some women make nurse baskets! I’ll do that!” And then I googled it. And then I became overwhelmed, LOL! And then I reminded myself that I didn’t even remotely do this or even think about it last time and everything was fine and I had two wonderful L&D nurses that, get this, weren’t bitter about me not having prepared a gift basket for them!

I texted my sister who is a nurse anesthetist and asked her thoughts on the nurse basket, and she immediately replied that it would definitely be appreciated! She suggested healthy snacks and coffee gift cards of a small amount.

That, paired with the desire to organize some drawers, set me up for an exciting Dollar Tree run. Here’s what I found!

Lots of packaged snack items. I tried to keep it healthy-ish! I also appreciate that these aren’t huge bags but definitely shareable.

I wanted to grab a few quick care items as well, for those long shifts. I got several Vaseline chapsticks (have used this exact kind and I love it!) scrunchies, elastics, and 4 of these lovely face masks. (P.S. snagged a new scrunchie for myself, too!)

The finished product!

I mean - yes! $1 each!

I arranged the snackies in this basket I found at DT, and included some sparkling waters and bananas from elsewhere. I’ll just use whatever fresh fruit we have on hand when delivery day comes!

Yippee! I found these LED flameless candles for $1 each, which will really help keep our delivery room cozy, relaxed, and not so cold and sterile-feeling. For this pregnancy/birth, we’ve decided to use a totally midwife-led practice that delivers at one of our local hospitals. My birth with Griffin was quite medicated due to high blood pressure/induction, so we didn’t want to go full-out home birth this time. We really love the compassionate care and low intervention of midwives and appreciate being in hospital in the scenario of additional intervention being necessary.

These are the tools/resources I’ve used for this pregnancy and birth:

Positive Birth Company

Christian Hypnobirthing App

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

And some great ones I’ve revisited from last time:

Bradley Method

Supernatural Childbirth

Mindful Mom-to-Be

Score! Baskets on baskets! I already had an idea of the kinds of baskets I might need to help with drawer and closet organization, and at $1 each, I was willing to just snag a variety and see what would work. Thankfully, every piece has been dutifully employed and I don’t need to go back for more at the moment!

Here are the results!

First up - closet help. Our nursery is a constant puzzle of organization. It’s a small room with a small closet, very little storage options, a little one who is constantly growing out of clothes and needing new clothes, and preparing to fit a second child and all their things in the same space. Phew!

It’s also quite a feat to keep small, easily misplaced items out of Griffin’s reach. So for now, I’ve decided to keep her socks, shoes, and tiny hair things at the top of the drawers in the closet. We’ll see how long this lasts, but for now, it makes me happy to see it all in place!

Look at this fine display of nesting — LOL!

Next up, Griffin’s clothes. How did we accumulate so many clothes??! And how is she already fitting in 2T? I used the gold wire low baskets to separate her shirts, pants, dresses, and sleepwear, and the Mari Kondo method of folding to fit it all in. We’ll see how long it lasts looking like this!

Remember — the point isn’t perfection at all times! To me, it’s knowing what I have, cleaning out what we no longer need, and being able to see it all. And having some sort of standard that I re-set to!

And finally, my hair drawer. It felt amazing to take everything out and clean out allll the sneaky hairs that have been accumulating at the bottom of the pile of stuff in this drawer. I used the gold baskets here too in order to keep things visible and organized. Well, more organized : )

This is real life — we’re all living it! It’s not supposed to be perfect. It’s messy, constant work and effort, and a discipline to take your mind from seeing what’s not enough to seeing all you have to be so incredibly grateful for.

I’m grateful for days of childcare, the healthy birth of my new nephew Benji, meals I’ve been able to make at home in these last days before giving birth, and a freezer filled to the brim with healthy meals for after birth.

I’m grateful for a healthy pregnancy, these last weeks feeling peace-filled (albeit busy and noisy with my firey girl Griffin in tow!), and enjoying the very rich, real-life friendships (new and old) I have in this particular season!

Sending my love to you, your family, & your home this month!

What is on your to-do list this month?

with much to be grateful for,

sam

P.S. - If you love frugal finds and shopping tips, check out my posts My Favorite Items from Dollar Tree, A Beginner’s Guide to Aldi and How to Thrift Like a Pro!

P.P.S. - I’m going back to this post of mine, too, to help me finish up my nurse basket! Check out On Giving + Receiving Gifts