Sneeze births! We shall BROOK NO ARGUMENT about overcoming any issues in our way! (Part 11 - blimey!)

[ScrambledSmegs]

Welcome!

Ah but if I had your workload Dream I wouldn't risk any additional transfers!

And to be fair, half the reason he's still sleeping downstairs is because we just put him down and he goes off to sleep by himself so he's not really any trouble normally.

I think we started putting ds1 to bed upstairs at 4 months because we'd read / heard somewhere that the cot death risk was mainly 0-6 mths but peaked between 2-4 mths iyswim. So at 4 mths we put him upstairs to go to bed but still in our room and then in his own room at 6 mths.

I think we've had a luxury of not really having sleeping 'troubles' which leaves you free to follow random bits of advice?

Yay tock lovely news on the scan, a new year baby! And bless your ds, that is so sweet. Does it feel a bit more real now?

Cross posts and missed yours Tock! Yay yay yay for your scan and super cute DS! Well done TeamBean

A bit more real, thanks Ninja. Weighed in at 60kg (+3kg pre preggo) so am putting on weight at the advised pace. Thought I might have overdone it but seems not.

DS has been v cute but was also pretty bored in the scan. We took a handful of haribo sweeties to bribe. At one point he said the baby couldn't have any sweeties. That made us larf. DP is convinced that the sonographer hinted that we were having a boy; I told him I pretty much 100% certain that at this stage it's impossible to tell boy from girl as they are only 6.5cm in total length and we can't yet see the widgeys etc!

Ninja - keep your legs crossed.

Big smile at Biscuit's ref to TeamBean. Thanks lovely. Well chuffed.

Gotta dash. xxxx

Yay tock, wonderful news! And v cute of your DS, awww,

DD has come home from nursery with a shiner Ah well, at least she matches her best friend now, they've both got facial injuries. Poor little bruisers

Re: cribs. We have a crib/cot/toddler bed for DD, and found the crib stage nice as you don't have to bend too far to pick up newborns. More important if you had a CS of course. It also has wheels so could move from our room to hers easily. No moses basket as we just used the pram bed during the day. We've just taken the side of the cot off for DD to make it more like a bed. Not sure what to do for new baby, not feeling that flush . Since DD's still using her bed, and will be able to for about 5 more years, I guess we'll need to buy a new one. Or we could just get her a new toddler bed and give the magic cot to the baby. Aargh, decisions!

Smegs is your cot that magic Stokke one?

Yes. Stokke pram, stokke cot . In my defence, DH wanted them and I just gave in. I love them now of course!

Pram was great but too big and impractical now, like most travel systems. Cot is great though, and I found somewhere that does good quality sheets for it at a fraction of the cost of branded ones.

Just interloping again to read tock's news. That's wonderful! It is possible to tell at 12 weeks sometimes , according to a friend of mine who is an Obs/Gynae consultant, but I think the sonographer will just pick a sex at random when talking about the baby at that scan.

Keep a seat for me. I'll come and settle in properly if my 8/40 scan is fine...

Ah yes the odd shape would have you over a bit of a barrel with the sheets etc. That was one of the things that put us off the stokke pram.

I do love my stokke high chairs though. And we have the newborn seat on for ds2 - it's wicked

The people that make the sheets we bought are DK Glovesheets - they seem to have stopped selling their products directly and you can only buy from stockists now. This one seems ok, although I think the prices have gone up. I didn't pay more than £10 each for DD's sheets.

Oh lord, we have the high chair too They saw us coming, didn't they? We bought the pram from ebay though, and I practically Miltoned it all before DD arrived. One of my pregnancy yoga buddies is a microbiologist, she had a good laugh at me over that!

Tbh the odd shape of the pram was fine, you get used to tucking sheets into an oval.

Fantastic scan news tock

at those with the Stokke high chair.

Brooking for Ninja's baby to stay put until the weekend.

Brooking for you too Bartlet when is the scan?

We were given a new Stokke highchair as a gift from friends and we LOVE it.

Thanks, scarlet. Away at the moment so I'm hoping the appt will be on the doormat when we get back. 6/40 tomorrow, and I'll get the first scan at 8-9 weeks, then nuchal fold/dating at 11-12 weeks, then detailed anomaly scan (by fetal medicine) and fetal echo (by Great Ormond St) at 16 weeks, then that is repeated at 20 and possibly 24 weeks, and that's if everything is fine this time!

Yay for Tocks' great scan! Woohoo!

Also very pleased that the docs have a comprehensive plan in place for Bartlet, and will be looking after you very well. Hurray!

Very interested in all this stokke high chair chat! I didn't like the look of the cot I'm afraid, but we came very close to buying the pram! (Ended up going for the iCandy in the end - totally in love with our pram now!) I have a RL friend with the stokke high chair and she adores it, I can totally see the practical aspects of it, but it just looks so uncomfortable! All that wood is attractive, but it seems quite harsh for soft little bums! Can I canvas opinions from those of you who have them? What do you like/dislike about it, and is your LO comfortable?

No Brooking for Ninja to get the offer on the lovely house accepted, thereby rendering the remaining viewings unnecessary! :)

Actually, it's bizarrely comfortable Scream - I use it myself at the moment when DD isn't in it, because it's so good for my back! It really encourages you to sit properly, so it's probably one of the most comfortable chairs on the market. The Stokke range is recommended for people with back problems and also encouraging good back health in babies/children, and in fact you can buy it from Back In Action.

We bought a cushion set for it but DD prefers to go without - thank goodness, because I hate having to clean it! The wood is great as it's wipe clean. It's a very adjustable chair, it grows with them. Apparently it's been known to be used as an office chair in Scandinavia

The very best thing about it IMO is that it pulls up to the table, so your baby is part of the family when eating. I don't know whether it's coincidence, but DD is so much better at eating and behaving well at the table than many of her peers (not PFB-ness, that was in her nursery 'report' today!), she can even use a knife and fork properly when the mood takes her instead of only a spoon. We bought the chair and the tabletop tray came free, which is great for saving your table from spills/bashing.

Umm... can you tell I love it?!

Ditto what smegs said - even about the cushion! DS was happy without the cushion, thank goodness for the washing! I love it though. Comfy I think and DS can sit nicely when the mood takes him. He has a round bottom though!

Just popping in to say hurrah for Tock so pleased for you lovely.

Hello all other PSEPPs hope you are all blooming

Tock, congrats on a great scan! How sweet of your DS :-)

Ninja, congratulAtions on your offer! Hope your viewings are successful, and that LO stays put until they're done :-) quite tempted to have a nose at property where you are - have been looking at places to rent around there for friends recently.

To hop on the bandwagon a little late, I'm one of the postgrads using reusables. I really love them! Will link to the ones we use and ramble about them when on laptop rather than on phone during.night shift. I would def recommend trying to get samples beforehand to find out what you like - it was those that convinced my DH! Whims's point about not having to use them all the time is also good.

For us, alongside eco-ness, the money saved was an important point, as we don't know what financial position we'll be in when I return to work, whereas we had the money to invest in them beforehand..!

Do most companies offer samples musical?

And how does one pronounce stokke? blush I've sort of been saying stockie??

Cheers for the crib advice, seems overwhelmingly positive! I was expecting it to be voted a frivolity :o but have bid on it.

Tock so glad your scan went well! January 3rd eh, Mr Tock is going to have a very sober Christmas I think? :o

I would say stokka but I have no idea of this is right. No doubt scandinavians the nation over have been sniggering at me

According to google it is pronounced stoh-kuh so I guess biscuits is right?

More tears from ds when he left with dp this morning, I really hopes this stops soon as I'm not sure I can cope with it! He came back from the car twice for more cuddles in floods of tears. I had to come in and have a little cry myself when I'd prised him off me.
Nothing to report here. I think todays main task will be making a nest of cushions on the sofa and then sitting there for most of the day.

Thanks all for your lovely words - and great to have guest appearances from Maybe and Bartlett (BROOKING like billio for you lady). It's so lovely to be able to share with you guys. Fluff - as if DP will be having a sober Christmas!!! I think he feels his days of sobriety are well and truly over after his sacrifice (3 months of hell) to get me diffed. Only kidding. We are having our own Christmas at home though, thank goodness we weren't committed to being with family as in past years.

DP did admit prescan that he's pretty terrified about everything - about the scan, about having two, the responsibilities etc. This is highly unusual, and I really feel for him as he's the most responsible man I know apart from my step-Dad so I wish he felt more confident/comfy about our expanding family. Fortunately I feel quite straight forward about it all (also unlike me)....

I did wonder Bartlett - if DP might have picked up on something genuine but the baby was quite shy and I don't think the sonographer could have seen. Having said that I suspect it is a DS and they are easier to identify.

Interested in all the nappy, high chair, cot/crib/moses basket chat. I didn't ever manage to get DS to settle in our rather crap moses basket. I'm hoping the cocoon is our answer to all that. The sling was our most invaluable piece of equipment...

Smegs - I hope you got some sleep; so tough when a DC decides to give up on sleep and in the middle of your pg too. DS has dropped his nap already... he fell asleep at 6.30 last night and was carried to his bed.

xxxx

Ninja, I'm always right! Just ask DH

It's so sad when they're all tearful. Kids are so perceptive though and he's probably just picking up on the inevitable uncertainty that there must be just from not knowing when the baby will arrive iyswim? You know how it just makes each day uncertain because it could be today. Even if nothing is said specifically he's probably picking up that something is different? Plus there's the house stuff.

He'll get back on track though. I reckon all you can do is reassure him with cuddles as much as possible.

Even the fact that he hears you will go into hospital might worry him a bit as he no doubt knows that normally you go to hospital if you're poorly iyswim? So he might be worried about that?

Tock I'm sure DH will be brilliant. And will take it all in his stride. It's probably because he's so responsible that he's thinking about it now - you know, because he takes his responsibilities seriously iyswim? You're a dream team for your DS though and will be for the new addition :) xx

Oh ninja also I was going today that I think maybe a slightly bigger age gap is easier once the babies are born, because they can (sometimes) be reasoned with and are better able to entertain themselves (sometimes!). But I reckon it makes it harder in the run up to the baby being born because they do have that better understanding that something is going on and feel uncertain because they can't fully understand it, or imagine what it will be like with the new baby. Does that make sense? The younger 'older DCs' probably don't worry as much in the run up but then find it more of a shock when this new addition arrives. I think the phrase I'm looking for is that the older DCs are 'consciously unaware' whereas the younger ones are 'unconsciously unaware' of what is to come?

This is of course based on just my thoughts - no experience!