You are just a few more weeks away from completing the full term. This is the time when your heart is filled with a myriad of feelings.
You are happy, thrilled, excited apart from being nervous, anxious and sometimes, even paranoid. But, trust me you are not the first woman to feel that way.
Every woman who has experienced this journey will vouch that these are just the feelings she went through during the final few weeks of pregnancy.
And the good news is that you are 8 months pregnant which means you are a few weeks away to see your baby.
However, there is still some time to go before your little one makes an appearance. So, this is no time to let your feelings get the better of you. Rather, this is the month when you need to be all set for your pregnancy.
Need some help to ensure that everything is in place before you enter the final month? Here is a pregnancy checklist to help you out.
Group B Strep Test
You may have had undergone several tests in the initial months of your pregnancy to ensure that your baby is developing in the right way.
You may also be visiting your doctor regularly for checkups to ensure that your pregnancy is progressing normally.
Now when you are eight months pregnant, your doctor will test you for Group B Strep. Wondering what this is for? Well, Group B Strep is a kind of bacteria which may be present in your body.
Now, the presence of this does not have any significant effect on your health. However, this can affect your little one and cause dire consequences.
For the test, the doctor will conduct an external vaginal culture. If it tests positive for the bacteria, the doctor will note this and put you on medication when you go into labor.
This, in turn, will ensure that the bacteria are not transmitted to your baby during birth.
Washing Baby Clothes
You might have bought all the baby essentials like clothes, napkins, swaddling blankets, etc by this time. However, if you thought that you can use these just like that, think again.
Remember that these things might have been handled several times by various people in the shop before you finally bought them.
So, there is ought to be germs in the layers of these clothing. Thus, it is important to wash all these clothes in medicated water with a mild cleanser before you put them away for later use.
Also, remember that new clothes can be extremely scratchy. Since your newborn’s skin will be very delicate, putting on brand new clothes will be uncomfortable for the baby and may even cause skin rashes.
Washing the clothes will take that roughness out of the clothes and make them soft which would be perfect for your baby’s skin.
Pack Your Hospital Bag
Agreed you have still some time to go before you get admitted to the hospital. However, there is no harm in initiating the packing of your hospital bag.
With time you are getting bigger and tend to tire out soon. So, it would be a good thing to start packing up your hospital bag right away.
Put in all the things that you would need while you are put up in the hospital like the change of clothes, sanitary napkins, towels, books, etc.
Make sure to pack baby accessories too in the bag. Starting the packing early will ensure that you have ample time to add in things that you may forget initially.
Final Month at Work
Contrary to what you may think, it is advisable that this should be your final month at work before you take that maternity leave.
So, complete all your pending projects and hand over the crucial responsibilities to fellow workers.
Hope this checklist will help you to make your way through the 8th month of pregnancy.
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