• Learn as much as you can.  Read, read, read! 
• Read all suggestions but do not take medical advice from anyone but your doctor!
• Talk to your baby and read to him/her, even though you’re still pregnant.
• Keep a diary or start a blog.  CHERUBS offers free blogs on our site to members.
• Prepare a nursery and have a baby shower, just as you would if the baby was healthy.
• Take pictures of your expanding belly.
• Talk about how you feel, cry, scream- do whatever you need to do to cope.
• Visit the hospital's NICU/PICU so that you can prepare yourself for what you will see.
• Make sure to plan delivery at a hospital with ECMO.
• Pack a bag (we have a list here in our Parent Reference Guide of suggested items to pack).
• Designate one family member or friend to keep everyone informed before and after the birth so that you’re not overwhelmed with visitors and phone calls.
• Prepare other children for a long hospitalization for the baby and what will happen.
• Ask your doctor about steroid treatments to help the baby’s lung growth.
• Talk to your partner about what is going on and might happen.   You both need to be on the same page and to be a team for your baby.
• Try to get as much rest as you can.