To start preparing for baby this early in pregnancy...

[room32]

I am 26 weeks pregnant with first. This week I bought a pram and at the weekend am painting the soon-to-be nursery with friends. This is the first real preparation I have done. Both my parents and MIL have said this is far too soon and I am tempting fate, I need to wait a couple of months yet.

I do understand where MIL is coming from as as well as DP and his siblings she had several late losses and a premature baby who only lived a short time. There's no particular history with my parents but they are both terrible worriers. Therefore I initially thought they were all BU. However now I am wondering if I'm jumping the gun.

Also DP and I were TTC for 5 years and had to have 2 rounds of IVF so we are all over the place emotionally and I can't really think straight on this one. Should I wait? Or is now ok?

It's your way of celebrating and showing love for your baby, plus it's easier to do it now than in two months when you have a massive bump and no energy.

I'd say there's no reason not to do it; I did the same for my DD when I was at about the same stage of pregnancy.

I think 26/40 is a very normal time to start doing things. I don’t think there is a wrong or a right time,m.
It’s hardly like you’re 10/40 and not even had a scan yet.

The likelihood of your baby coming now is slim, and actually if he or she did, you may be grateful sometime down the line that you already had a few things sorted. But equally, baby bits are very easy to come by, so if you did absolutely nothing, you’d still be fine

I started buying things after 20-week scan. No point in missing out on good deals, etc. There is no such thing as tempting fate when it comes to being pregnant. If something happens, then it will happen regardless of whether you've bought things or not. 'Something' could happen at any time during pregnancy or even after the baby is here.

Enjoy your pregnancy! And congratulations

You’re about 65% of the way through your pregnancy. Definitely not a bad time to start getting things organised. Have fun

There's nothing stopping you. Or to worry about if you don't have a high risk pregnancy.

I bought my pram and car seat from pramworld as I could put a deposit down and arrange delivery and finalise the bill closer to the time. If anything happened then I got the deposit back.

Try to enjoy the pregnancy and don't let everyone focus on losses. Its not fair on you and can give you undue stress

Hi hun. My mother was the same and I ended up buying things when I was 35 weeks which was fine and suited me as I had a busy job at that time. When I first saw this post I really thought you would be about six weeks! I think 26 weeks is just the right time before the third trimester hits and you get really tired.

Also congratulations!

I'm 29 weeks, our nursery has been pretty much ready since before Christmas and we got our pram in the Black Friday sales. I've been picking up little bits second hand for ages and spreading the costs out. Hospital bags also almost packed too. DH and I were both early babies, don't want to be caught out.

It's earlier than I started, but only because I was in total denial that a baby was on the way

My SIL had DNiece at 30 weeks and was urging me to get prepping for that reason!

I started to get increasingly uncomfortable from about 30 weeks. Definitely recommend you start now. Ignore the worriers & naysayers. Anyway, there's loads you can do later on - I did a lot of batch cooking for the freezer, & (fairly short bursts of) cleaning.

I think it's a bit silly when people get in a flap about buying prams and babygros in the sale at 6 weeks, but 26 weeks is a perfectly fine time to be doing it. Even if your baby was born tomorrow you're past the threshold of viability and they'd have a very strong chance of coming home safe.

I'm 27 and I started buying last week. I feel like I'm not too big and have the energy to deal with stuff at the moment whereas I've had a shit pregnancy until now so making the most of it before I feel nauseaus and can't get baby brain working.

I was surrounded by people unwilling to 'tempt fate' and ended up in the hospital looking at my baby still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel it robbed me of the excitement I could have had in the build up.

Yes it's awful when something happens. But I suspect it's awful whether or not you brought baby stuff. Its giving odd power to 'things' to seem them mattering at all, really.

I did buy stuff anyway - stuff can always be sold/stored for a future baby/given to charity, depending on your finances/feelings.

I might be taken aback if you were literally getting everything down to the last bootie at 26wks, but makes loads of sense to start doing things like decorate the nursery and buying the big expensive things now. Spreading costs, giving time for paint fumes to abate etc etc. Perfect timing, I'd say.

I dont believe in "tempting fate"- you dont want to leave everything until you are 37 weeks or your LO is born. You have the right to get excited and buy things, I appreciate people's experiences can make them nervous but it shouldnt cloud your experience. Best of luck!

Your family would hate me then! I'm 21 weeks and a part from clothes I'm pretty much prepared! We bought the pram at 12 weeks, I have been picking up bits here and there ever since. I bought the moses basket at 18 weeks.

My reasoning is that my health isn't great, and I don't know how capable I'm going to be later in the pregnancy. I have a dd already who needs my energy and attention, and I don't know how I will be managing late in this pregnancy. For that reason I'm getting things done early.

I thought you were going to be about 6 weeks! I think that’s totally normal. With my first I was in hospital from 29 weeks and only got out for a few days at 38 weeks to prepare before he was born at 39 weeks so I was glad I had organised things around 6 months!

Huge, huge congratulations on your pregnancy. I was trying for 8 years myself, so know how you feel.

I started getting ready for "bump" once I'd reached 25 weeks - I think that after that if a baby arrives, although tiny, it can survive, and I wanted to be ready ("Bump" actually came at 34 weeks and I was very unwell so my planning actually worked). 26 weeks is a good time to start getting organised - before you get too tired/large and can still do all the decorating etc. Enjoy it!

It’s not early. In 11 weeks you will be full term. Buying things is not going to make your baby more and less likely to not survive. I know someone whose baby was born very poorly and died in hospital at 4 days old. Her DH’s friends offered to remove the baby things from her house but she found them comforting. She kept them up and they were used for her second baby.

I’m 13 weeks with second child but I have had 2 previous MC and I going to pick up a second hand baby bath today.

Thanks everyone, some of these responses really made me smile! I'm better than I was in the first trimester but between anxious families and the impact of infertility I can't say I've been letting myself get excited, definitely something to work on!

You will enjoy it - I spent my entire pregnancy absolutely terrified that something would go wrong. Given your history that's entirely understandable. And - you are never, ever going to forget that feeling of first going into Mothercare and looking for things for you, rather than someone else. The enjoyment will come, be kind to yourself.

Totally normal and actually good because buying furniture etc can be a pain logistically with delivery issues, damages etc. I left it quite late this time round and am having loads of problems so probably won’t have anything resembling a lovely nursery until after the baby is born. Just get on with things while you have time and energy to enjoy it.

second trimester i had energy and fewer aches and pains. crack on.

Of course YANBU. If something bad were to happen during the latter part of this pregnancy it wont be because you were excited and preparing to meet your child. And honestly, if things do go badly, you cannot insulate yourself from the pain of that by not listening to your heart now.

I did most preparation after 20 week scan as it was a way to enjoy the pregnancy and look forward to baby's arrival. In the event we had some complications and I went off work at 31 weeks on medical advice. I was glad I had done most of the purchases and preparation apart from bits and pieces as it allowed me to rest.