So, my brilliant idea was to put one child in charge of making my tea, and making what we call my “concentrate.” This is a smaller pitcher of my herb tea, but without all of the water – just like juice concentrate. When we emptied the pitcher of tea, she would just pour the “concentrate” in that pitcher, add the necessary amount of water, and Voila! I had tea. She would then make more concentrate for next time. Simple and easy enough for a child to do. Stocking up on bottled water is another good idea. And making room for the bottles in the refrigerator will allow you to have cold drinks when you’re thirsty.

We also planned some specific things for after the baby. Since we homeschool, the education and schedule for our children was a big concern for me. I didn’t want them to take too much time off from school, so we’d have to back-track and re-learn some things.

1.   School:  One week after the baby was born, we started back to school. This gave the children a sense of normalcy, routine, and security. However, I wore my house slippers to remind myself that I was still convalescing. We also worked on the 3-R’s first, so if I needed a rest, or my attention was drawn to the baby, we would have the important subjects covered.

My husband went back to work after one week at home, but with the option of his taking half days off in the afternoon, if I needed. We never took him up on it, but just the thought that I could call in reinforcements made me feel more relaxed and more in control because I always had a “Plan B.”

2.   Sleep: I realized that if I went to bed at the regular time and woke up at the regular time, with being up in the night to nurse, I would not get enough sleep. I couldn’t sleep in later – with seven other early-rising children, who could? So I chose to get my sleep on the other side of the night, and went to bed earlier to compensate. Yes, it was a discipline to do this, but I was usually tired anyway. And, by the time morning came, I was rested which made it worth it, and made the recuperation time shorter. Another benefit was that with enough sleep, I was able to think clearer during the day.

3.   Nighttime feeding: Having been through the infant stage many times before, I knew the nighttime feeding was the hardest one on me. I’m one of those people who wake up fully when I see light, and don’t get back to sleep easily. So, after discussion, my husband and I decided to have him feed the baby a bottle of my milk at night – or we would opt for formula. Since he stays up later than I do, he would feed the newborn between 10 and 11, which would give me until the next feeding to sleep. It seemed like the ideal solution to help me be a more rested and well mommy. This worked well for us.

Some final hints from years of experience: Have your hair cut or styled right before the baby is born, in an easy-care style. This helps you feel pretty and gives you a semblance of looking together after the baby comes. And have a professional pedicure sometime during the last month of your pregnancy. It will bring you great joy on those rare occasions you do see your toes peeking out from under your belly. And after the baby is born, it will remind you that underneath all this intense time of mothering, there is still a beautiful woman.

Kym Wright has been married to her college sweetheart for 27 years, and they have 8 children and love living in the Metro Atlanta area. Together they publish The Mother’s Heart magazine, a premium online publication for mothers with hearts in their homes. Visit their website at: www.The-Mothers-Heart.com If she has any spare time, Kym gardens with the children, and is an avid bread baker. Quilting is done in her dreams, along with painting, singing, and many more activities she would love to pursue.