April 2011 - we'll shop til we pop!

[GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh]

Continuation from our old thread here

So maybe this thread we'll see some babies?! And definitely lots more shopping

Oh snap the timing is lousy. I get why he wants to go but thats far too close for comfort. He could miss the birth. hugs

Hello ladies,

Not posted for ages, and have enjoyed catching up with the thread. My , you have been busy chatting!

Well we have moved house and just got our internet connection working, couldn't wait to find out how everyone is getting on.

Architen sounds like you are going to have a busy weekend. I think that people who foster are amazing, and have huge admiration for you. Have you fostered many other children? Sorry if you have already mentionned this on the thread previously but I have had a lot of catching up to do.

Is there anyone else who literally has done nothing to prepare for their new arrival? If so please come and make me feel better. iam 32 weeks on Monday
The nursery to be is full of boxes. We need a new carpet in there, new curtains, to paint walls. All of dd old babystuff is at my husbands Grandmas house, and i need to sort through it all as no idea what clothes etc are there. I have not bought one thing yet, and I mean nothing. We have a pushchair and carseat somewhere but i think they are husbands Grandmas house

I am working until I'm 36weeks, so just hope that this baby doesn't arrive before my due date. I can remember being so organised and prepared for the arrival of dd, and enjoying a few weeks of relaxation before she was born.This time round I will be tearing around like a mad thing at about 38 weeks trying to get everything done. Is anyone else as disorganised as me?

Oh, forgot one thing I have done today is buy some super cute curtain material for the babies room. One of my Mums friends is going to make them for me. I spent ages in the fabric shop just ohhing and ahhing over all the lovely patterns.

I had a major hormonal rant and cry last night over the fact that our fridge/freezer had broken and stormed off upstairs to blub on the bed. I think the last few weeks of moving house and being so busy has just got on top of me. I have just registered with a new GP and need to sort out getting in touch with their midwives and transferring my care to a different hospital.

Anyway moan over. Enjoy your weekends, looking forward to properly catching up with you all over the next few weeks.

Jen I think you've had enough on with moving house to not worry about being unprepared. I'm sure once you get up to DH Grandma's you'll realise you have lots of things from DD that mean you end up being more organised than the rest of us!

Architen I hope the LO you're fostering is ok and that you're ready in time! My Gran is a foster carer (usually teenagers who are on the 'Task' list so can be an adventure at times!) but has been called upon to do emergency placements for little ones too, I was always surprised how quite they are (to begin with anyway!).

In something totally not baby related one of my best work friends has just found out she has a place on a PGCE course for next year grin]. She'll be an amazing teacher and I'm so pleased for her, but have just realised it means she'll have left our office (and Oxford) by the time I go back to work

Glad my song choice made you smile.
LisMca Get well soon.

Jen Same here, 32 weeks tomorrow and all the baby stuff is still in the loft. The spare room which I am hoping to convert into DS "big boy bedroom" is still full of crap with no end in sight.

Mind you i've had a pretty good day off today. DS has now decided he would like to use the big toilet during the day so I have now swapped his daytime nappies for the Feel and Learn pants with Spiderman on and i've spent the day singing Spiderman, Spiderman, does a wee wee whenever he can
We also had to phone up his Daddy at work and his Nan to tell them all about the spiderman pants. He did 4 wees on the toilet today so i'm hoping he keeps it up as I much prefer this lazy version of potty training to the chasing my son around with a portable potty and the carpet shampoo version. But then I am a bit of a lazy cow, and certainly no domestic goddess. I was surprised by how many of my friends seem to have cleaners. I could never have a cleaner, they wouldn't be able to find an empty surface to clean.

Right I'm off to go and take the Phil and Teds out of the box. Wish me luck, i've only looked at the insruction book so far and am already , it's times like this I really could do with a

Have a good weekend ladies.

Ooh Daisy17, I'm in west London but Up the Hill is a message I understand... If you're a hill person you probably know of lovely and sensible person...

Anyhoo, I have a few bits but am also 32 weeks on Monday and NOTHING is done. Flat is a tip, stuff due to go into the loft is everywhere and the cot remains flat packed without a mattress nor sheets to adorn it. Aaaaargh!

morning all and Happy Weekend! Our cotbed arrived yesterday - so sweet seeing the little mattress... it's obviously gone straight into the garage so I'm trying not to panic that it will now stay there till I start labour....

So far (29 weeks) I've got a box on top of my wardrobe with a few bits and pieces (nappies & babygro's...) but that's it!! Gulp. Have ordered mountain buggy & maxicosi but they don't come till end March. I've got plenty of time right?!!!?

Ok - off to tidy house before PIL's arrive.

Well done 1stTime, i'm sure you've got plenty of time!

I'm off to buy bras today. I'll probably get nursing ones. I wanted to leave it for another couple of weeks, but I'm busting out already!

Anyone with any experience got any advice? I'm 33+1 today, will they get even more gigantic?! Pre-pg I was just about 32B, I reckon I'm about 36C now, but we'll find out. Should I get them a bit big?

Spoke to my bride-friend last night about the hen weekend. Should've known she's absolutely 100% understanding and wonderful! And more than happy for me to make a last minute decision.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. x

Petal - i'm not sure my experience was 'typical' but i was a 34A pre-DS1, and i didn't get any bigger in the cup dept all pg. Kept going back to be remeasured, ended up at 38AA - well i didn't buy any of them, just changed to vest tops, lol!

Anyway, DS1 born on a Tues (just after midnight), milk came in Wed evening, I ballooned!!!
Went and got some Bravado bras (there's a lady here who measures at her house and gets them for you, she came to our AN classes), they cover a range of sizes each so you don't need to be too precise.
(I got a Small+, which already fit now, eek)
So i would say don't get too many just yet, can you stick with vest tops?
As yes, it's possible you will get even bigger
(My biggest measurement was a something (36?) DD

Petalouda I thought they followed a certain growth pattern as with both DD I went from a 34B to 36C and remained so after the births for a long time. 15 years later I've gone from pre-preg 36DD to a wait for it... 42G they grew from a 40E to my 42G's in 6 weeks. I feel like I live in the Mothercare changing room! I have bra's ordered to collect next week however, I have noticed that in the last couple of days my bras are now a little tighter than before the measuring!!! So I'm trying to get one that I can grow into otherwise it's a new one every 6 weeks which is madness [hrmm] I'm getting nursing sleep bras as they are dress size rather than cup and rib.

Aha, Cyclebump, now of course I'm desperately trying to work out who you might be!! If you fancy meeting up on Lovely Lady's FB page let me know, though will completely understand if you fancy retaining anonimity given everything we splurge about on here! (Btw, I practically live up there and there is no way on earth I would contemplate trying to do a weekend with a six week old baby!! Vaguely plotting an early autumn weekend.....)

Got really knackered and highly hormonal at school this week, ended up lying down at matron's a couple of times, feeling right pathetic!! Hoping I can make it to my planned leaving date (18th March) and finding it really hard to let things slide a bit. Glad to hear it isn't just me!

Do have a look here for ideas, i think at the beginning esp, when you don't know exactly what size you're going to be, these can be a godsend. And you can always move onto the 'nicer' styles once your size settles down.

Dh off out with the boys to Dad's Club (every 2nd Sat) - it's fab. Planning; papers, bath, food :)

Petal - I went up from an E to a G after DS was born. I'm in a 38FF at the moment.

My advice for hospital and the first couple of weeks is not to bother with a bra - just get some nursing vests with the support in (mothercare ones are good because they are nice and long). Once your milk is in then you can go and get measured and then hopefully the bras you buy will last you a few months!

The other bra tip for the last few weeks is to get some bra extenders - your ribcage only expands massively for the last month and should go back within a month of the birth.

I've got wrapover sleep bras and nursing support vests - have been sleeping in them for a while and they should do me until boob size settles down when BFing.

I was a 34G and am now too big for the 36H I bought recently. I'm hoping they don't go up much more as even Bravissimo are limited above an H.

Having racked my brains I can't think of anything too explicitly naughty so am happy to say hello on Lovely Lady's FB page Daisy. Am trying to think of clues to my identity. Hmmm, my dad was the ghost in the last G&S...

Thanks for all the advice, I'll check out that link when we get home.

Well, from being a pre-preg 32B, the nice lady at mothercare measured me at... 36DD! I nearly fell over backwards! I knew they'd grown but didn't think it was that much!

Just got the one maternity bra, I'll go back in a few weeks for nursing ones, but I like the idea of vests too. And the antenatal classes start in a couple of weeks so it looks like there might be some info then.

Thanks everyone! x

Good idea not getting too many in your current size Petalouda as last time round my size changed from 32B pre-pregnancy to 34C around the 20wk mark, to 34E after my milk came in. And now I'm a 34D...my underwear drawer is like a bra sample sale I have so many different sizes. And most of the time when I'm at home the bra is straight off. I am going to have boobs that rest on my knees in the very near future!

Liv how old is your DS? Due to laziness on my part I'm also thinking of waiting until DS tells me he wants to use the toilet but I'm facing a lot of criticism from friends telling me I should get him out of nappies before this baby is born. He's only 2.2...not 5 or anything

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend.

Caramel DS is 2yrs 10months, He spent today with DH as i've been at work and was apparently only willing to sit on the loo/potty twice and managed one wee (although I think this may be because I can be a tad more persistant/encouraging than my DH). DS still used his potty for me at bedtime so I'll see how we get on tomorrow when i'm home all day again. I'm just pleased he's finally co-operating a little.

I would recommend the following book, Potty Training Boys
although they do advise against the training pants, generally it has some really good tips and information on how you can tell when your child is ready and now DS is a bit more willing to sit on the toliet/potty I may try their "training hour".

Thanks for the tips Liv and I've just bought the book you recommend! Hope today goes better for your DS.

JKS thanks for the bra link. I am finding all of them uncomfortable at the moment.

There must be something in the air liv77 as we are on day 4 of potty training. Wee's are ok, poo's are not. About one accident a day with wee's (and then just half a wee before he realises he need to get to the potty), but every poo has been in his pants. We are going to try bribery tomorrow. A poo in the potty = a fireman sam toy.

We've got a selection of normal pants and bright bots towelling pants. I use the bright bots when we've gone out as they won't hold a full wee but they will hold a dribble - apologies for the tmi!!!

I'm a fan of the Bravado nursing bra's as well, both times I've used this style . Not the prettiest, but by far the best for me, plus the style allows for boob growth and shrinkage.

I remember when pg with ds1 I bought some really pretty nursing bra's from Mothercare (I was also lured into the purchase as they were half price), however they had a seam running down the cup and gave me blocked ducts - ouch! They soon went on EBAY and I bought the Bravado style ones.

I don't learn though as I keep eyeing up the Hot Milk bra's as they are a thing of beauty in the nursing bra world. No doubt I will buy one then come on here and bitch about blocked ducts

Just incase anyone was thinking about buying a Bravado feeding tank top, there are some really cheap ones on Ebay at the moment - I think because they're the more unusual colours, but they are about 1/2 price.

Hi everyone.
Hope you're all ok.
Having a down day today . Sure it's normal as my emotions are up and down but been a bit teary all afternoon and evening.

Work's getting me down - a distinct lack of flexibility and a boss that thinks it's ok to do a negative pdr (undeserved) right before I leave for maternity and right at a time when job future is uncertain. Going to tackle him about it tomorrow but will probably just burst into tears (although DH said this would be good as would make boss feel bad and see how nasty he's being)!

Anyone got any recommendations for breast pads - I know there's been a few mentioned but which are best?

On the good side - bump has been fidgeting today and saw a hand or foot stick out at one point! Feel so reassured with every movement - particularly after reading news about Amanda Holden losing her baby - so devastating.

Got my referral for hospital - have swapped - so now having the baby at Harrogate instead of LGI. Feel a smaller hospital might feel a bit more personal than being part of a conveyor belt. Hope I'm right!

Hello everyone :)

Ilike - can you get those bras in the UK? They do look good, I used Royce when I was feeding DS but will need to buy new ones this time as my boobs are quite a bit bigger. Thinking about it, I suffered a lot from blocked ducts and mastitis - and those bras have seams in the cup!

sassy I'm sorry you're feeling crap. I think for all that things have moved on, lots of companies and individual managers haven't really grasped that they can no longer simply ignore the fact that an employee is pregnant. Hope it goes well tomorrow.

For breast pads, I would recommend the Tommee Tippee ones. They have a little sticky patch on the back which secures them to your bra, which lots of other brands don't (including Boots). Having a breast pad work it's way up to poke out of the top of your clothes is NOT a good look
Thank you for reminding me, I need to buy some!

We've done a fair amount of organising for the baby this weekend, clothes are washed and lists written, car seat cleaned and installed. Don't need to do much shopping at all, but a few family have offered us some cash towards any new baby bits we do need, which is lovely because we will be able to get a few 'nice to haves'.

here you go Alibaba

I found it on my first search, so they're widely available online - I think I may have even used the site I linked to. Ebay is always worth checking out as well.

I always liked Lansinoh's disposible and washable breast pads. I could always use the washable ones as once my milk settled down I never leaked - I've heard they're not so good for people who leak quite a lot.

Thanks ILike. :)

I leaked loads and I could never get on with washables. I can't remember which ones I had, but I found that they didn't absorb enough, and also that they were quite stiff and made my nipples sore.