I did a pre-baby parenting course as part of a University study.
There were two really good parts.
Separately, write down your expectations after the baby arrives with chores. What percentage of dinners do you expect to cook? What percentage of nappy changing? What percentage of cleaning? Of supermarket shopping? Does the father expect to go out drinking with his mates once a week? Do you expect him to look after the baby while you go for your weekly swim? When the babies awake and painfully cheerful at 4.30 in the morning, who will get up with it? A lot of problems can arise because partners thought they had the same expectations, but it turns out they didn’t.
The other item, and I can’t remember the details exactly, but we had to shade in a 24 hour clock with x numbers of feeds, one hour of fussing, making dinner, and so on, and you very quickly realise there isn’t enough time in the day.
The best thing for getting enough sleep in my opinion is to co-sleep and breastfeed. If you are not obese, sick or a smoker, your bedding is not supersoft, and you are doing this thoughtfully, the risk of SIDS is lower than having them in a separate room. Even if you don’t want to do this all the time, it’s much safer to do this than to fall asleep on the couch with them. If you have trouble breastfeeding (hint: it’s not meant to hurt), the Australian Breastfeeding Association has a 24 hour help-line, staffed by volunteers (you don’t even need to be a member), and you can attend their meetings if you want some hands on advice.
I also recommend baby led weaning for when they start on solids. You just give them ordinary food they can hold themselves and savage. It’s really, really easy.
With the birth, I’m a big fan of doulas. Some can be a bit flaky-hippie, but find one that suits you. Having a calm support person to tell people to keep the lights down and advocate for your birth plan is amazing. I don’t know the WA system, but if they have something like a Birth Centre, or at the very least, somewhere that practices Midwifery Group Practice, that’s the way to go.
Oh, and don’t buy anything, unless a really cute outfit catches your eye. People will want to give you crazy amounts of stuff. You’ll get way too many clothes, so try and direct friends to get more useful things