Getting ready for baby - paperwork

Getting organised for baby

Paperwork. Don’t you just hate it? Contracts, certificates, statements, invoices. The list goes on forever. I’m sure its happened to you when you literally turn your house inside-out looking for that elusive document to prove your registration, qualification, payment, etc and you would give your eye-tooth to find it.

My dear mom was a stickler for being organised, for neatness and tidiness. She taught me these skills because they don’t come naturally to me. I’m a great believer in comfort with everything that I need surrounding me in heaps and bundles – which means that things tend to get a tad untidy. My Ouma used to say: “Don’t put it down, put it away.”

What’s this got to do with you and expecting a baby? A lot really. You’re at the beginning of this journey, so let’s get you organised from the beginning. It may happen one day that your child asks for her birth certificate and you know exactly where to find it. You'll thank me then. 

Take a trip to your favourite stationery store and get yourself a plastic file with individual sleeves. Mark these into different categories e.g., certificates, leases, statements, banking, contracts. Now your new addition. Baby.

You can start filing medical details like test results, ante-natal records, invoices and receipts, bookings, scans, medical-aid application forms and maternity leave details. Hold onto these records because they can be very useful – even when your child is an adult. S/he may need a detailed medical history – beginning with your pregnancy – for a medical condition one day.

Once your baby is here, paperwork descends like confetti. Now it’s registration, immunisation records, growth charts, and medical records detailing the birth from your first contraction to the time of birth and baby’s APGAR score. Initially, you may want to record the time and length of every feed, baby’s daily weight, and sleep schedule – but as you become familiar with your baby’s needs and daily routine, the need to monitor these will fade.

Your baby’s “Road to Health Card” is a very important document, and you will need it to register your child for school one day. Not only does this card record your baby’s health and milestones during the first five years of life, it also records illnesses and essential immunisations that will keep your baby safe when mixing with other children in the community. Who knows, by the time your child goes to school, the Covid vaccine may be standard practice.

If you’ve ever had to deal with your parent's estate, you will realise the pyramid of paperwork involved, and how important it is to have ID, marriage and death certificates filed and marked to wind up the estate. You’ll be doing your child a favour by keeping this paperwork in an accessible file because ... in life, there are no guarantees and nobody can tell you what tomorrow will bring.  

 

Regular exercise is good for your mental and physical health

 

The benefits of REGULAR exercise

“It’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.” Jodi Picoult.

A Swedish study using 36 000 middle-aged men and women over 30 days, found that regular, moderate exercise is more helpful than sporadic rigorous cardiorespiratory exercise, and is also linked with better mental health.

The study found that when people do not exercise, or only exercise ‘when they’re in the mood’, they are more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared with people who exercise regularly. Since the start of Covid, feelings of stress, worry, fear and anxiety have been on the increase globally, and depression rates in South Africa have doubled over the last three years. Ignoring or simply enduring stress is not good for one’s mental health. It can also increase the risk of a heart attack or a stroke.

Moderate exercise for 30 – 40 minutes every day has also been found to improve sleep. A healthy sleeping pattern can help to improve one’s health.

Try walking – ideally barefoot to benefit from ‘earthing’.

What you eat is the fuel of your body. Not only does your diet affect your energy levels, it also strengthens your immune system, plays an important role in the way your brain works, feeds your memory and improves your mood. Eat the good stuff – green, red and yellow fruit and vegetables. Raw when possible.  Make sure that your meals are nutritious and not simply ‘nice to eat’.

Finally, stress can be minimized by connecting with family and friends – the Covid way – by taking regular breaks and doing things differently.