Nov 2010, energy levels are low, but only one trimester to go!

[hmmSleep]

Here's the new discussion thread!

Stats thread here

4madboys I got my form at my 28 week app, checked my account today and the money was in so about 1 and half weeks for me tho have yet to get letter saying I have got it but already bought the changing bag and paid off the Pram today

4madboys Thanks for clearing up the whether to put sheets in the pram issue It seemed logical to me to put a sheet or something down as it would be easier to wash puke/poo out of than having to wash the carrycot mattress, but none of my books etc. mention it at all!

loopy I'm impressed at what you've bought-looks like you've got everything you'll need for the first few months.

Do any of your DHs take any interest whatsoever in buying stuff? Told my DH what we still need to get and that as it's all bulky stuff he needs to come with me to help carry it all. Once I started listing things and asking for his opinion his eyes just glaze over and he stops listening!! He seems to be trying to be a bit more involved since I threatened to put the X Factor on if he didn't contribute to the conversation

Comtessa, Smokey and Mibby - count me in for a Nottingham meet-up too!
Hmmsleep -thanks for reassuring me that I'm not the only one yet to buy anything...
Looopy -your list is very impressive, the only thing that I bought which we still use now and isn't on your list is a night-light- something like this from John Lewis
Not strictly an essential, but was really helpful for middle of the night feeds and we still use the fade setting now when we put DD to bed. HTH!

Hi everyone!! Hope you are all well? Thank-god, my redundancy pay and benefits seem to have started coming through so won't have to continue living off of just £20.00 a week for food shopping - which is good as we're all starving here!! DS is back to school tomorrow and I have managed to buy quite a few things for baby.

4MadBoys and Bunnygirl80 I think that putting a sheet in the bottom of the carrycot is a grand idea!! I am definitely going to do that when the time comes, would never have thought of that if you hadn't mentioned it, so thank-you!!

I have bought most things so far;

Pram, carry cot, changing bag, car seat(all matching)
cot, changing unit, nappies, baby grows, sleep suits, hats, mittens, booties, socks, moses basket and stand (with bedding), carrier with cover (for walks where buggy is not needed), snowsuit (incase it is cold!), bibs, microwave for sterilising, nappy wrapper, breast pump, swaddling pod, etc.

Just need to get;

Breast feeding pillow, steriliser, baby toiletries (wash stuff), bath support, changing mat, top and tail bowl, sleeping bag, maternity towels and pads, sling, etc.

Also need to get things sorted for home birth; mattress protector, etc. I've probably forgotten some things but imagine I'll be running around near the end buying anything and everything that I see.

Have been doing a lot of housework this week. Managed to Vax the living/dining room this bank holiday, so that is clean for baby's arrival. Also made some wine (which takes 6 months to brew, so am looking forward to actually being able to drink that - if we don't try for another little one straight after this one!) and made blackberry jam - fun, and yummy! Just need to finish baby's room now by getting some decorations - lamp shade, rug, wardrobe, wall stickers, etc. - and then I will be happy, for now!!

How is everyone else getting on with preparations? Is anyone else having a home birth? If so are you going to be having a birthing pool? I'm not bothering - don't think it would be practical in our house to be honest - and they are so expensive.

Mibby I have not had any BH contractions as far as I know. Although after DH and I have made love recently my bump goes really hard for a small amount of time, this sometimes happens if I have been walking for more than an hour as well, are these BH??? I never had them last time with DS so I don't know what I am feeling to be honest

Sorry for super long post!
Speak soon!! x x x

Nottingham meet-up should be here

(Crosses fingers, hits "post message" and looks away)

Huzzah! It worked!

In regards to buying things all we have left to get is a mattress for the cotbed but SIL said she would buy that so all we need to get is cotbed sheets, so all done :)

I'm off to Cambridge tomorrow and then a friends wedding Friday and business thing in Birmingham Saturday so hope everyone has a good weekend, ache and pain free as best we can get at this late stage x

Hello everyone - not been here for ages - the grim business of trying to find somewhere to live has taken over!

Just marking my place, still hoping to catch up on the thread(s), and hope everyone is well!

Good luck with the house hunting llandb

I just got my changing bag to match my pram, the thing cost me about £12 less than any other site (still brand new) and I only ordered it less than 24 hours ago from e-bay, very happy :)

Feeling very unorganised. Babys room still full of junk and needing decorated, curtains, rug, lampshade, night light.
I bought steriliser and bottles today. Tommee Tippee steriliser half price in tesco and bottles half price in argos.

Have also put pram together today. I am so sick of looking at car seats tho. Have read in a few places that it's hard to get them to fit in Freelander and Dumfries is useless for anywhere to try different seats. To make mattters worse my sister works ina big mothercare - in the travel dept - and is lecturing that britax is best. It's also expensive tho. Feeling very skint and fed up.

harmony glad your money has come through. I'm self employed so i really need to find out if i'm entitled to maternity allowance or anything else.
Just started on iron
tablets and not looking forward to side effects.

Sorry for long self indulgent post.

hey are top n tail bowls actually necessary? trying to avoid excessive clutter...even though its small. i just dont remember seeing anyone use one but then again i prob havent been around newborns in a long time!!

Oh will get some moses basket sheets for buggy so - tks 4madboys

Actually bought something today, muslin squares and a few cartons of formula for emergencies, ha, guess it's a start!

Tiany, I found a top and tail bowl quite handy, but 2 normal bowls would do the job just as well, I just didn't have any normal bowls to spare! Didn't actually use for topping and tailing, used it for nappy changes until the baby was old enough to use nappy wipes on.

Have been sleeping sooo badly recently, downing the gaviscon before bed and sleeping propped up but the acid reflux is still keeping me awake, any tips from other sufferers?

Have also realised we need to start planning who to call to come and look after dcs when I go into labour, all relatives live miles away so need to think of someone nearby that can step in until one of the grandparents can drive over. Otherwise guess I'll be heading to hospital on my own until someone arrives to relieve dh!

harmony - I'm planning on a home birth, assuming my placenta's shifted (I'll find out next Friday). At my 20 week scan it was covering the opening to the cervix; if it hasn't shifted, that'll mean a C-section, but I really really want another home birth. (No pool, though! - for similar reasons to yours.) And because of this uncertainty, I'm fairly unprepared. Once I know where I'll be giving birth, I'll start doing some proper planning.

Thanks for the nice messages! Feeling chirpier again now, tho dysfunctional pelvis v frustrating.

tiany nope, we were given a top and tail bowl and definitely think it was pointless. But on the other hand I think we used (fragrance-free, hypoall) baby wipes from almost the beginning - is that advised against?

hmmsleep I alternate between gaviscon and rennies. Reckon the change helps - a bit.

saving money I so wish we'd just bought cot, sheets, highchair, bibs, towels, bowls etc at Ikea last time. Waaaaay cheaper and perfectly good. This time getting everything we can there. Especially the highchair - that Ikea ?Antilop one is great and about a tenner. My SiL told me so but I was too PFB to get it. This time buying DS a new bed at Ikea plus a cot for the newbie.

On the clothes question, I remember finding this all very confusing the first time. In particular I could never get a clear answer to the "what should he wear in this weather?" question. I guess it quickly becomes so instinctive that you forget it isn't obvious, but definitely a big source of early motherhood bewilderment for me. I was always sticking my freezing fingers down the poor child's back to check how warm he was (apparently that's what you're supposed to do) which must have been a severe trial to him in the first weeks of his life. Reckon from watching friends since that babies vary quite a lot on this question as all others - my DS hated being cold (still does) so wore a bit more than the (very meagre) recommendations. He couldn't sleep in the "just a babygro" at 18 degrees type recommendations, tho we certainly never overheated him. But I've seen several others who get really bothered if at all warm. So guess it's yet another point on which mother knows best, as soon as she's had a chance to figure out what she's doing.

harmony forgot to say, I'm hoping for homebirth too. Don't think will bother with birthpool either. Expensive, and I think I would just worry about our nice bamboo floor, of which I am inordinately proud. Tho every time I go swimming I realise how much more comfortable I am in the water and wonder if ought to get one after all.

Hope everyone has a better couple of weeks, especially with the pains and the financial worries. And good luck with that test date, Rinny!

grinningbee I also have managed to share an infection with DH. My doctor said that DH should be checked too, and when he went off to his doctor he got a "while you're here, might as well check your prostate too..."

Survived a trip to IKEA last night, in fact your post is very timely umf as I was just wondering if there was a reason not to get things there - it's a lot cheaper than any of the baby boutiques in town and although it doesn't look quite as posh, the baby won't care and most things will be grown out of in a couple of years.

No home birth here, I'm planning to go the university clinic. They don't do gas and air or pethadine in Germany, so I'd like to be somewhere where I can get an epidural if I want one (ok, might not be possible depending on circumstances, but that's the plan).

Looopy I thought I was doing well, but that is impressively organised.

Cardi Was it very wrong of me to snigger when I read he had his prostate checked too? Heehee! Well, with all the indignity we have to go through, I like to think of it as payback!

Top and tail bowls... never used mine. Probably won't this time either!

I am soooo unorganised. Dd is still in our room (despite me asking numerous times for her room to be cleared). It's all decorated but needs a carpet and curtains. I don't want her to think she's being evicted because of the baby, so I need to put a rocket up dh's bum.

I have bought nothing so far. Got a moses basket which was barely used last time as dd slept with me for just over a year (note to self - this is NOT happening again!) but I suppose I should buy a few blue clothes as he might not appreciate the pink ones we have

Smokeybacon I can totally sympathise with running around after a 16 month old. Same age as mine, and my goodness it's hard work! She's just tried to choke herself by stuffing half a bourbon biscuit down her throat... and she's taken the batteries out of the house phone too! Found one... need to locate the other... more than likely to be in the pan cupboard if I know anything about it!

Btw, before I go battery hunting - seeing as Ikea was mentioned, may I recommend the Antilop highchair? It is fab. Cheap and very easy to clean! Love ours, and it's easy to take to bits if you want to go away for a few days and take it with you.

Right. Must go and do something productive now

I did try to be sympathetic, poor DH, and at least not snigger in front of him. I think he appreciates what women have to go through.

The IKEA highchair seems to be recommended by everyone. Good to know so that we don't go out and spend megabucks on something we don't need.

feeling slightly more organised now that i've sat down and gone thru my baby list and have crossed out abt half the items. the qn i have now is did i buy enough of each?

still dawdling over the pram and the cot. think i'm most likely gonna get a second hand moses basket and hope the bub fits in there for a while....at least till the post xmas sales when i can get a nice cot!

for those who've had them already, what exactly do BH contractions feel like? i had a really weird cramping feeling while on the way in to work today. felt like period cramps of sorts. v dull mildly throbby ache just at the base of the bump. is that it?

Tesco was having an offer on steriliser over the bank holiday. Tommee Tippee and Avent microwave and electric sterilisers going quite cheap. picked up the avent electric for £20.

Vix7 i've no idea what BH feel like, but i have had the same feeling as you over the weekend, especially on Saturday when we were walking round kiddicare, i ended up sitting down for a bit and then it faded away - got me worried, but didn't think about whether they could be BH's as i expected those to be sharped and across the whole bump - but no idea where i got that idea from - so hopefully someone will be along soon enough to tell us newbies what they feel like!!!!

PS empathise with comtessa as my DP is an only child, his folks live in UK but still a few hours from us, and she is wanting to buy stuff for us too, trying not to let it be an issue, but she is happy spending £20+ on a babygrow and i just think it's crazy money to spend on a babygrow when it will get various bodily fluids on it, and will be too small to wear within a very short period of time! we've bought cheap stuff from the supermarkets, averaging £1 per babygrow, and also been given some clothes, but trying not to offend her if i can...hoping to suggest she buys bump some toys as we've not really bought any yet - then she can go as mad as she wants!

Vix7 and loooopy, does yours feel like a stitch at all? If so, apparently that's the uterine wall stretching.

Thanks loooopy, just feel a bit bad for wanting to do stuff myself when she's being so generous. In fact have asked mumsnet to delete my post as I think I once sent her a link to a funny thread, so she may know my username and may look on here sometimes! Would not want to upset her or hurt her in any way. I don't know about you, but I get a bit tense at the thought of having too much stuff! (Hangs head in shame at being terrible and ungrateful DIL)
Good idea on the toys though.

comtessa, it felt more like period cramps. not v bad ones, but definitely more cramplike than stitchlike

uterine wall stretching?!?!