August 2011 - 2nd trimester blooming - not us!

[KTisPG]

New thread for us August 11 ladies

Going to chip in my two peneth about prams/travel sytems for what it's worth.

Personally I hate travel systems. They tend to be big, bulky, a faff to fold and take up lots of room. My biggest bug bear with them though and one of the few things I hate to see is tiny babies being wheeled around the shops in their car seats. When we chose our pram and car seat for DD I very purposely chose two what could not be fitted together. I have a silver cross linear freeway pram (which is rear and forward facing) and a britax car seat with isofix. I have just brought a new mattress for the pram and will use all again. I did however use my lovely maclaren techno XT from when DD was around 5 months as it is so much lighter and manuverable. So we didn't use the pram much at all but it was lovely and snug for DD in the winter months. Therefore if you can pick up a decent second hand pram then it may definitely be worth it. Spending £600 odd pounds on something you may only use for 6 months was too much for me. My silver cross was £120 on ebay and still looks like new.

I would also say to definitely get a car seat with isofix fittlings if your car allows it - they are much safer for baby if you ever were to have crash as they are secured to the car's chassis and do not rely on a seatbelt. Also they are impossible to fit incorrectly as you hear them click into place and the side arms turn from red to green - no faffing with a seat belt at all.

I would definitely pick a car seat on it's safetly profection first and not if it fits onto the pram I want. I am a which member so if anyone needs any reviews of car seats just let me know. Right I'll get off my soapbox now.

Getting over my blue shock a bit and am taking DD shopping at the weekend and letting her chose some baby clothes for Dirk (as the bump is called).

Very proud Mummy at the moment as DD impressed the lady who runs her swimming classes by swimming her 5 metres twice in a row last week that she is being moved up 3 lessons in one go (normally you just move up one at a time). She will be the youngest in her new class by over a year. She is a real water baby and happily dives in and swims underwater. Finally getting a return on these lessons as she has been going since she was 16 weeks old.

neverlookback I got my dreamgenii on ebay. Was new and managed to get it for £25 so would just keep a look out.
So glad you got a doppler, bless your DH for getting you one :)

Get shopping MrsV!! I can't wait to go shopping for maternity clothes, that's what I told DH I wanted for Xmas, yet no shopping for me yet! Booooooo!

Lol Hersetta at Dirk, we're Rosie or Jim here according to our friends 6 yo :)

I like the bump-names topic! Mine, don't ask why, is called Norbert...

My bump is Ryan, as it kicks loads and there's no way I'll call the baby Ryan as Dp wishes I would after giggs who retires thus year!

We called my previous bump dd beans, and it's her nick name now!

Hi ladies,

All good here, scan on Monday, can't wait.

My opinion on buggies, is that I personally love the nipper 360 buggy, goes from birth and agree with Hersetta, travel systems are bulky, cumbersome and a waste of money. I had a jane pro slalom thing in the beginning with my first and remember literally crying with exhaustion and frustration trying to fold the bloody thing! I have a nipper double and its just fab and intend to get a single too. When you have more than one child it really helps to have one continuous handle so you can hold toddlers hand and steer the buggy at the same time. Its a small detail but its very important.

As for bump names, DS1 was grub as i was watching im a celebrity in early pregnancy and I thought he was like a wiggety grub. DS2 was called pip after the size of an apple pip and this one is called little fluff, no idea why!

Take care all, i'll update when I have had my scan x

We've never had a decent bump name, although I've told DH he can call it Winston since there's no way I'll allow him to use that for baby's actual name, despite his continued pleas!

I remembered the other tip I had; if you get a travel system with a pram attachment then you can save yourself £30 (or £2 at an NCT sale, or a raid of a mate's loft) by using the pram at night instead of a moses basket!

annie sorry about the low platelets, do they have a plan for raising them?

hersetta we might just make use of that Which membership of yours....!

I don't find the Jane difficult at all TBH, must have changed the system now as you can practically do it one handed and I'm sure after a bit of practice, you could!
:)

Happy Friday all :)

wheresmytractor I have the single nipper running pram but the front wheel doesn't swivel to steer what's the double like? Can you run with it? I would Defo get it if it does, I love my running pram, like a 4x4!

The Nipper does now have a swivel wheel, a friend of mine with twins has a Nipper 360 and it's great.

I like the bump names topic too! Ours was originally 'lentil' but we had to change that when we found out there were two, so they are now 'The Poddington Peas'!

Hi all, what a glooooooooorious day

Just a quickie. Have any of you ever used little lamb nappies? These are the ones being recommended by Nappy Lady, and they look lovely and soft, but the reviews are mixed TBH. Mostly good, with the odd leakage (which I assume you get with all nappies at some point, disposable or washable). I would prefer the microfibre ones as they are quick to dry, but the bamboo ones are more absorbent, but they reckon can take 24 hours or more to dry. We have a tumbler that we never use so it's up in the shed at the end of the garden, and don't really want to use it if we can help it. TIA x

Hey KLou, the weather is unbelievable! Trying to enjoy to the full, even whilst on bed rest. Thanks for the recommendation on the pushchair. It looks cool! I am going to look at this tomorrow. What do you think?? It seems like a good deal for a nice system that has what I need. It is currently selling on Kiddisave for £774.

And I have to share with all you ladies an amazing maternity/nursing bra. I have about 6 different types of bras now and this one is sooo comfortable and cute!

wishwales that looks a really great deal! :)

wishwales it looks a good deal, it will be esp nice for a newborn with the pram mode

lovely weather today, i hope it stays like this. i actually thought it was gonna rain today like yesterday, so nice suprise. i am knackered though been out all day and have a quite big non walking 15 month old who i end up carrying a lot, so tires me out and now i feel like bump is aching, which is a bit much at only half way through!!

mrsvidic the double nipper is absolutely fab, it is so light to steer and control, my boys love being side by side and each side can be flat or upright independently. I can manage topush my little one, hold 3 year olds hand, balance a scooter on top and confidently steer now thats multitasking! Just make sure you go for the newer version (360) which as lml says has a swivel wheel.
klou I had the jane second hand (sil) 3 years ago so it was atleast 5 years old, bought it coz it was offered by family, wish i'd done some research first.

2 days till scan! ahhhh! so excited! x x

wishwales that bra looks great, thank you for the tip! I love my other bravado bras but I'd not come across that one before and will need to get a new one, that could be it! I'm confused by my size though - all my previous maternity and nursing ones are a full band size and cup size bigger than what I currently am. Presumably I grew at some point in my previous pregnancies?!

Klou I had a free sample of a little lamb nappy and we used it alongside our totsbots bamboozles, but by the time DD had grown out of it it was falling apart, I wasn't impressed with the quality of how it was sewn together. Also I found the wraps leaked - the moisture wicked through them. I've found the motherease wraps to be the best, whatever nappy you're using.
Bamboo nappies will take around 24hours to dry, but that's because they're so absorbant which makes them great nappies! We use bumgenius (microfibre) in the day and bamboo at night when they're in the nappy for longer. We prob have about 16 bumgenius nappies and 6 bamboozles. HTH! Bear in mind my knowledge is 4 years out of date though...!

Think I may have to invest / trawl eBay for a double nipper then!

Just woke after a mammoth 11 hour sleep. Does anyone else get these headaches that last 3 days? Doing my head in, literally!

Had a lovely day yesterday as I took dd to the Trafford centre and got a dress and tights for work, I wouldn't recommend going there for mat clothes as they only stock them in 4 shops but I went to the Mamas and papas in the end!

My bump has sprouted so much my friends can't believe it, indeed one of the mums at toddler group was rather bitchy astounded that I was a lot bigger than her and 4 weeks earlier! I'm actually happy my bump is big as I no longer look chubby but pregnant, so it's water off a ducks back!

Anyway I'm going to try to get some excersize !

klou I forgot to mention you will have your heating on loads when your dc gets here, which may male clothes dry quicker? At outs our radiators are constantly covered in tiny clothes!

MrsVidic, I was there yesterday as well. No clothes shopping for me though. I've already got a bump, so am stuck in maternity wear now, which I hate, so avoid shopping for clothes if I can.

The best bit was going to Las Iguanas courtesy of my generous parents.

I'll have to keep looking then. These blummin washables are doing my head in!! So many to chose from, and so many mixed reviews. This is our first bubba, so want to buy some that will last our second one.
We've got a log/coal burning stove that does all our heating and hot water. We don't have gas as can only get LPG where we live. We had a massive log store built last year the size of a car port on the side of our house. At the mo we let it go out overnight and stoke it up first thing, but will keep it going 24/7 when little one here. Love it, and best of all IT'S FREE!!! Abundance of free wood around (and we live next to a forest that is around the size of Birmingham and there is plenty of waste in there where they've been cutting the trees down!)
Not a very nice day today, bit overcast, total contrast to yesterday!!!

cappuccino you will love the bra!!! i want to wear mine every day

klou i got the second hand bebecar system today and it looks great!!

Oh that's fab! wishwales, it was a bargain and you defo got a lot for your money :)

Been buying so much today. Won a new Angelcare Sound and Movement deluxe monitor on ebay (the one with 2 handsets) for £69!! So chuffed! The cheapest I've found the single handset one is £70 and the deluxe is around £115!! Can leave one in bedroom, and one downstairs with this one instead of carrying it around, which is great!
Bought 20 reusable nappies for £60 from Easy Peasy. It's the Eco Bumble ones, and the reviews are fab. Need to get some covers, and some terries to use as boosters, but for £15 for 5 delivered it didn't break the bank to buy and try them!!
Also got some Lanolin cream for BF (£5!!) and 400g sudocrem (£4.50!)
Getting some more Tommee Tippee bottles tomorrow as Tesco have them on half price so may as well take advantage :)
Oh, it's so exciting. Scan Tuesday afternoon too!!!

Klou if your planning on bf then I really wouldn't bother with more bottles than 2 as lots of dc's won't take a bottle after 6 months if breast fed and a zippy cup is far easier and cheaper. Also your dc may not like the bottles, ie you'll want to try a different brand ie dr browns are excellent for cholic. Just a thought ....

Popping in to say hello again, have been reading people's posts.

I have my scan today, very excited, but very nervous. And realised that I don't have one of those pots to pee in to take to the hospital! Perhaps I'll be able to grab one at my local surgery.

Been thinking about my birth plan, I'm 100% set on a water birth, but I know it's just up to my luck. Will have to give birth at St Michael's Hospital or Southmead, although I'm preferring the idea of Southmead at the moment.

Has anyone had an all natural birth? No epidurals, etc. Just gas and air? That's what I'm planning, although I hope I'm not flipping mad.