Weeks 28–32

Choose a pediatricianConfirm they take your insurance and can see the baby at your delivery hospital or right after discharge. Most practices offer a free prenatal meet-and-greet — use it to ask about after-hours calls.
Get the Tdap vaccine, and ask close caregivers to be current on theirsRecommended between 27 and 36 weeks of every pregnancy. Whooping cough is most dangerous in the first months, before the baby's own vaccinations start.
Take an infant CPR and choking classInclude grandparents and anyone else who will be alone with the baby.
Find your health insurance's newborn enrollment windowMost employer plans give you 30 days from birth to add the baby; some give 60. Miss it and you may wait for open enrollment — with a newborn's hospital bills uncovered.
File parental leave paperwork with your employerFMLA and short-term disability forms often need a doctor's signature and 30 days' notice. Confirm your dates and pay in writing.
Buy the essential gearRear-facing car seat, bassinet or crib with a firm flat mattress, diapers in newborn and size 1, wipes, six to eight onesies, swaddles, a rectal thermometer, burp cloths. Everything else can wait.

02

Weeks 33–36

03

Install a car seat or base in the second car if two cars
Stock postpartum recovery suppliesHeavy pads, a peri bottle, stool softener, ibuprofen. The hospital sends some home; you will want more.
Refill household prescriptionsPharmacy runs get hard for a few weeks.
Agree on go-time logisticsWho you call, who drives, where the bag is, which route. Decide now, not during contractions.

04

Complete the birth certificate worksheet before dischargeThe hospital files it with the state. Check every spelling character by character — corrections later mean forms, fees, and weeks.
Request the Social Security number on the same formCheck the box on the birth registration; the card arrives by mail in a few weeks. Doing it later means an in-person SSA visit with original documents.
Book the first pediatrician visit before you leaveThe AAP recommends a checkup at 3–5 days old for weight and jaundice checks — call from the hospital, since slots go fast.
See the lactation consultant before discharge if breastfeedingIncluded while you're admitted; the same hour costs real money as an outpatient, and early latch problems compound quickly.

05

Add the baby to your health insuranceDo it this week even though the window is longer — the baby's hospital charges are billed separately from the birth parent's.
Follow safe sleep at every sleep, including napsAlone, on the back, in the bare crib or bassinet — every time. If you might doze off while feeding at night, feed on an adult bed cleared of pillows and blankets, never on a sofa or armchair.
Track feeds and wet diapers for the first weekBy day 5, expect about six wet diapers a day. Fewer, or a sleepy baby who won't wake to feed, is a same-day call to the pediatrician.
Call the pediatrician immediately for a rectal temperature of 100.4°F or higherFever in the first two months is treated as an emergency, not a wait-and-see.
Schedule the birth parent's postpartum checkupGuidance now calls for contact with your OB or midwife within three weeks, not the old single six-week visit. Book it before the fog sets in.