Due August 2011, third and final trimester here we come!!!!

[KLou111]

Oooooo ladies, an exciting time for us all either already here or speedily arriving.
Can't believe how quick it's all going.

Bubbas will be here in no time!!!!

KT i had gtt on the mon and got phoned up on weds asking to come in, i think if it comes back negative they may take longer and just send it in the post though

never i think some people advice don't use bumpers at all?? i have never understood why they are particularly dangerous though? but on the other hand they are slightly pointless, i've used them for my 2 but they just seem to be a decoration thing rather than functional

Regarding bumpers my dd once got her head caught under one, she was fine but it shook us both up (she was 1) I wont be using one

Finally catching up after our week away.
I think the cot bumper thing is that it stops air flow so could increase cot death risk, and its just another thing to get tangled up in.

Cot mattress - we've also got a sprung one with washable cover, going to use it third time round and similarly to whoever else commented its still got lots of life in it and is nice and firm. I've seen foam ones that have gone squishy with a dent in the middle and it doesn't look as supportive for the baby.

Cot beds/cots I would say it depends how soon you want to have a second baby! If you think you'll want a 2 ish year age gap then you'll need the cot again, so might aswell get a big bed for your older child and re-use the cot iyswim, whereas if you've got a cotbed then you won't get the use of the 'bed' function before you need it back as a cot for a baby.

Been feeling really rough the last few days, IBS playing up, and wondering if I've got low iron? Went to bed at the same time as the DCs last night and slept 13 hours (with wee breaks obviously!) My 28wk bloods were done 2 weeks ago and were fine, could I have become anaemic since then?!

So sorry for those with GD, rhesus -ve etc, and really sorry I can't offer any advice. Glad all those twins and wishwales baby are staying put!

Morning all-really interesting to hear about all the sleeping arrangements - I picked up a cot from my bro this weekend and have put it all together seems very real!

I also picked up his Moses basket and stand but having got it home it seems very flimsy and looks like it has been used as a cat bed for a few years-even with a new mattress I'm not keen. So now trying to work out whether to buy another Moses basket or a crib? Which will the baby be in for longer? And any recommendations for under £100?
X

Baby I would have thought will be in a crib for a lot longer than moses basket Annie, but we're going to put baby in his/her room as soon as so we're just getting a moses basket for our room before transfer to cot :) We're getting the Clair de Lune My Toys one from Argos, with rocking stand is about £42.

Annie I got a great deal at Mamas & Papas on this www.mamasandpapas.com/product-elfie-and-mop-moses-basket/770021800/type-i/ reduced from £99 to £49, and on the day I bought it there was a further 10% off!! The sides are quite well padded, well more padded than some I've seen and it's got good reviews.

I too am hoping that baby can go straight from moses basket (in our room) to cot in it's own room, however if not, I will have to buy a 2nd hand crib...

Thanks - thats good to know. Being a first timer I was taking the advice of keeping baby in my room for the first 6 months - is this unrealistic? and why is that? is it because they move out when they grow out of the crib / moses basket or is it because of the general disruption to DP in the night if he is needing more sleep so he can go to work etc? or is it a space issue? Just curious as I'm trying to plan at the moment.

Another question (sorry!) are you going to use grobags from day 1 or will you start with blankets etc?

Thanks!!

Annie also a first timer and would also like answers to those questions...

annie bearing in mind i'm quite alternative in my approach, we def plan on sharing room (bed in fact) with baby until at LEAST 6months-longer if it's working for baby. It'll be less disruptive for us imo, as we can pick up early signs of waking and change/feed baby as needed without baby needing to wake us up "properly". Am also starting out with blankets as again imo they are more adaptable to different temperatures.

Am first timer too, but as soon as baby can go in his/her own room, we'll be moving them in there. I think some people recommend they stay in your room due to feeding and cot death risks etc. We both work from home so thankfully DH going to work at a certain time isn't an issue, but if he were to work I would definitely move baby into own room sooner as I don't see the point both being properly disturbed. Also I have a couple of friends of friends who put baby in their own room from day 1 and never had a problem :) I think it's just personal choice and whatever you feel comfortable doing TBH.

Annie Have bought 2 gro bags, so as long as I don't have a small baby (I think can only use from 8lbs) I will be using straight away if it's not too warm (we live in a stone house so always cooler than a normal house), otherwise think will use cellular blanket until the time is needed for grobag :)

I'm also going to be sharing a room although not the bed with the baby for at least 6 months. I will have a crib to start with and then when the baby is more mobile I'll put it in the travel cot (can't fit cotbed in my room). I think it is safer from a cotdeath point of view to share, but mainly I'm doing it because it is so much easier for feeding. If DH is struggling with the lack of sleep he will go in the spare room.

KLou Im with you on this, its all down to personal choice - there are so many people out there that are 'you must do this you must do that' yes I know there are risks but if you took every bit of advice you'd never dare do anything.

Thank said baby will be in a crib in our room for a while as im breastfeeding, I got the crib as it was an ebay bargin :) and I just got a new mattress for it.

Ive not even thought about sheets yet

My good news for the day is that my cyst has gone!! They think the bleed the other week was it bursting :) I now no longer have to see consultants.. woop

Annie gro-bags can only be used from a certain weight / size (I think 8lbs 8oz) so the arrival makes the decision for you!

thats good news winterlover xx
Ive had my GTT this morn its was so boring 10 women all same stage of pg and not one spoke to each other, how v bizarre!! fingers crossed i get the all clear i cant bear the thought of not being able to eat choc and cake!!

i ordered a gliding crib last night, i have only had moses baskets before but ds was so big he was out of his by 8 weeks and as the cotbed doesnt fit in our room he had to go in his own room from 8 weeks, but he carried on waking for night feeds till he was 12 months old and i put my foot down!! so i had to sit on a dining room chair in his room to feed him rather than being im my own bed so hopefully a crib will mean this baba can stay a bit longer in our room, im also praying this one sleeps through much much sooner!

I aways swaddle them at first and prob use sleeping bag from around 3-4 months but i cant remember exactly, i often wish id kept a diary of everthing as i seem to forget so much!

klou I have that moses basket and stand too, Its very cute :D

great news winter. Must be a relief to have that gone! Here's to a swimmingly easy rest-of-pregnancy for you! :)

As for sleeping arrangements, I'm still not too sure what our exact plans are. We bought the "Arms Reach Universal Co-Sleeper" which attaches to the side of our bed. The plan is for them to be in that initially (for as long as they'll both fit!) and then prob move into their own room. I like the ease of gro-bags but think ours will be too tiny initially so plan to swaddle I think. For us it kind of depends what they like - they'll be so used to be able to prod each other that they might not like swaddling.

I am enjoying my first proper day off! Have had the most hectic weekend with building work in both my lounge and kitchen - and all the furniture / stuff from those rooms in my dining room! BUT the vast majority is done and looks fantastic -we have SO much more room in our kitchen and lounge now. Hurrah!

I continue with my complete addiction to chocolate biscuits tho - current fave are Waitrose 'essential' chocolate digestives (they ARE essential, see?!). Bit worried though as I am, literally, getting through about 15-20 a day. How would I know if I were developing GD?!

Totally addicted to sweets, cake and choc MrsS and all fine for me so far. I actually feel sick at the thought of eating a proper meal (I do have though) as I'd rather have a bar of choc!!
Glad the work is going well.

We've now decided to use our other spare room as baby's room. It's next to our bedroom, rather than next to the bathroom over the hall, so will be less traffic past the nursery if we have people stay and they use the bathroom. We won't be using it except for baby's bath time as soon as our ensuite is finished. Also means we have more room in the nursery which is better. We didn't see the point of having a bigger guest room and struggle with the nursery for the 1-2 times a month we have overnight visitors for a couple of days. We can just about get the double bed in the smaller room, so that's worked out well.
But the room next to our room just needs painting and furnishing so at least there is less to do. But it's like DH said, until the smaller room is done, we STILL can't do the nursery as we can't move the furniture out of there until it's done. Blummin pain in the arse! Will just have to paint around it all when I can get in!

i normally use grobags from day 1, you can get some small ones for newborn, we got from america for ds1 and just reused it, i think its a swaddling one but we never used the swaddling part. so if they are under the 8lbs you can buy smaller ones if you want, i think its upto 10lbs, called size 0-3

We swaddled DD til she was about 3 or 4 months (can't remember ) as she had a very strong startle reflex and would wake herself, but DS didn't need swaddling, and found his thumb early on, so went into grobags as soon as he was big enough; he had a blanket before then which was tightly tucked in so he couldn't kick it off. If its a hot summer its going to be a question of keeping our babies cool enough though.
Cribs def last longer than moses baskets (like they'll fit for months rather than weeks), but as has been said, if you're moving them into their cot in their room quite quickly then it doesn't really matter. And if your pram is detatchable from the wheels then you can just use that overnight instead of a moses basket and save some money.
I'm wondering how the waitrose choc digestives compare to mcvities? and realising the only way is a taste test
My mum told me today she's sure I'm bigger than last time...thanks! Need to take more bump photos, we've got loads from DD and DS, and this one we've only take one set at 22 weeks so far! Baby is sooooooooooo active its wearing me out.
winter great news about the cyst going :)

Waitrose is just in a different league. I thought it was impossible to out-do mcvities but the waitrose ones win hands down. I'm quite the expert now

KT I had a GTT on a Wednesday and was told if I didn't hear anything by the next Monday evening then it was clear. Our hospital have a policy of only contacting you if it's positive.

Mrs S when you have your urine screening, they check for sugar, if that was high they'd do a GTT, otherwise you're fine to keep eating biscuits and cakes!!

winter great news on the cyst :)

I was going to use gro bags I got from my cousin but I hadn't realised the age limits. Is swaddling going to be a possibility in Summer or is it likely to be too hot? If it is hot weather, what should you use instead? Am worried about overheating, does anybody have suggestions about how to keep baby cool if it gets hot?

bryher if the weather is really hot just put them in less clothes and they should be fine? my ds1 was born in june and was quite hot that year, he used to spend quite a bit of time in just a baby vest, or those short romper things. at night i used to put him in just a vest under his sleeping bag but if its reallyyy hot i know some people do put them just to sleep in a nappy and cover with a light blanket

i got a really lightweight swaddle type blanket from Boots for about 12.99 sort of t shirt thickness so i was thinking that with maybe a cellular blanket if its still warm when baby arrives im sure ill go into Sept tho!
ive took a few pictures of bumps growth but as its my 3rd my stomach looks like the surface of the moon!!!!
A girl i used to work with came yesterday with her kids and she has seen me pg with my last 2 and she said i look WIDE!!! cheers haha, dont actually think that has much to do with being pg!!
when i was pg with my 1st i was worried my pevis wouldnt be big enough for a baby to fit tho and the mw felt and said "you could fit a horse through there"!!

pmsl at your tactless mw, neverlookback My MIL has repeatedly told DH that I am 'made for having babies', and dismisses his insistence that we're only having two with an airy 'once you've had one the rest are like shelling peas'.

Bryher DS was born at the end of summer and it was still pretty hot...we did swaddle him for the first few weeks, until he decided not to put up with it anymore Tbh I don't remember a whole lot of sleeping going on regardless of what kind of covers he was under.

WRT to sizing of sleeping bags... there's no age limit, but there is a weight limit, although the ones I had were 0-6 month ones from asda and the weight limit on those was 7lb 7oz, so I think different brands must have different weight limits. The other thing you need to check is whether the baby's head would fit through the neckhole when the sleeping bag is done up.. if it can, it's not safe to use as the baby can wriggle down inside the sleeping bag.
Having said all this, it's funny to see all the 'rules' we need to abide by in this country re baby bedding, I have two friends with kids in Norway and they have no such rules - they use duvets from day 1 and baby sleeping bags (which are just like mini adult ones!) in their prams! I can understand the sleeping bags with the cold weather, but their houses are warmer than ours if anything, so that doesn't apply to the duvets

After our experience of last time, we are just going to co-sleep straight away, with me and baby in spare double bed and DH staying in our room. We faffed around trying to get DS to sleep in the carrycot last time (record 20 mins unless it was attached to pram ), so are cutting out the middle man this time :o It was also far easier in terms of breastfeeding :) Last time, we had DS's cot against the spare double bed and started putting him in it from around 3 months with me in the bed next to him. Then we went on holiday at around 4ish months and he had to have a seperate room due to space and we found we all slept a lot better so I moved back into my own bedroom when we got back :o Hoping to do something similar this time :)