PART 3!! Sept-2012 Baby Bus!! Christmas-and-New-Year-Shaggers-all-aboard!

[TinkerMaloo]

Cant see another one anywhere on the board and part 2 is full up (finally) so here is part 3! (unless I'm just being a moron and missed it?)

Chat more please ladies, we are too fat and useless to do anything else! ;)

good luck with just 4 muslins pgreen! DS has reflux, and as a newborn, 4 wouldn't have even last us one day!!

mexem re bumbos, a few of the couples we met through nct bought them, and none of them were that pleased with them, one child toppled over in theirs, another couldn't fit in it for long, legs were too chubby and they weren't an overly fat child, and they all said the children soon got bored being in them and that they weren't worth the money for the use they got, but i guess some babies must like them otherwise they wouldn't keep selling??

smallgreenone we were given some presents from the white company, which were nice, but i'd never buy anything from there, way too expensive for a baby who (in our experience) threw up over nearly everything he has ever had bought for him! mothercare are good, and kiddicare even more so, and it's quite handy that we are only 30 mins from the kiddicare store, so we got a lot of our stuff from there in a couple of trips, and checked out the bulkier stuff and then ordered things like the cot bed online. They really are fab, and the service is great, and they don't seem to have changed at all even though they sold out to Morrisons recently.

Don't need to buy much here, but may look at the John Lewis sale, one thing i do need is a new changing bag, i have a very cheap one indeed, which was fine for DS, but i need something bigger and a bit more la de dah with pockets, which can cope with nappies and change of clothes for 2 children, plus everything else that i lug around with us!!!

ps jules fingers crossed she stays put for a while longer, although at least she is a good weight if she decides otherwise! i know quite a few premature babies, and they all were fine, the earliest i know was born at 27 + 4 and he is as he should be now, (and he was only 2lb 4 when born) but obviously the longer she stays put, the better!

Hello everyone, hope you're all as well as can be!

I considered a play pen, just to protect baby from DS but with two dog cages under the stairs and all the toys etc I don't need something else to get in the way!
I'm looking for a swing on eBay. Had a brilliant swing for DS but it stopped working while my SIL was using it for her DD and had been discontinued so couldn't replace it. Gutted, that thing was a godsend!
DS had a prince lionheart thing like the bumbo but he just used to tip himself over in it a crawl off like a snail with it still on his back!!

Feeling very pregnant now, midwife suggested referring me for physio for SPD but another midwife put me off by saying they can't really do much. We'll see by the next appt if it gets much worse.

Good news: No massive bump comments this week. Think the cold stare when the conversation leans towards that direction helps!

I think I need to get buying! DH and I were going to wait for the school hols (apart from my recent but now ended eBay splurge) but if the baby did come this early, which is actually possible, we'd be stuffed!

Will try and find our local kiddicare, they sound good. Thanks for the recommendations ladies.

I went back to my former school (I taught there, not where I studied) and saw my old tutor group (now in year 8). When I was there I used to ask them to answer a question for the register (eg tell me your favourite flavour of ice cream when I call your name etc). Today their new teacher (a friend of mine) let us do "What should Miss call her baby" which was hilarious. I hadn't thought of Bob, or Abdullah, or Mitzi before as possible names!

Funchum that's a really sweet thing to do, and at least you get a good laugh from some of the names lol and a bit of a helping hand.

Jules hoping your baby girl stays in their a while longer..

Have my 29 week app tomorrow with mw, and was told by close friend they no longer scan you in the hosp I go, so I won't see my little man for just over 10 weeks (that's if he comes on time) am disappointed in this as I was hoping I'd get another peep at him before he came..

Received a very large bag of clothes today from my sisters friend, so my room is covered in baby clothes (not looking forward to the washing and sorting), feel bad that I haven't bought anything new yet. Got my pram, car seat and cot bed all second hand. Tho will be buying a new matress for it.

Would anyone have any advice on Moses basket or cribs? Which did you use previously or planning on using this time?

X

Don't feel bad Rachel, it's good to reuse stuff. They grow so quickly it would be wasteful to throw something away that has only been worn a couple of times. And I bet your sister's friend is glad they went to a good home.
With my first, I had a moses basket and a cot given to me so just bought new matresses for them.
He refused to sleep in the moses basket and the matress was really thin and mean looking so I put him straight into his cot. He looked really small but once he was swaddled in a blanket he was cosy enough.
This time I'm hoping to get a second hand cot bed for my son and use his cot for the baby.
He's not ready (I'm not ready) to go into a bed yet as I reckon he'll keep getting out of it.

I wont bother with a moses basket at all this time. I'll put the cot by the bed and have a swing downstairs.

That's the plan anyway. All dependent on me pulling my finger out!

Tonight my feet are well and truly raised as my left foot, ankle and calf is swollen like a balloon. Hopefully it calms down overnight or its off to the midwife again for me!!

maketeanotwar thanks for sharing your experience on waterbirth. The idea sounds quite nice so will discuss with midwife.

And thanks all for sharing shopping tips. We have bought some stuff like cot, changing table, baby monitor and pram but the list is so long! We still need to get mattress, bed sheets, swaddle, blanket etc etc etc! Shall probably do it next weekend - order online and pick up from store, find it easier that way! Hope there will be some sales coming up!

re kiddicare, their store is in Peterborough. Its great for us, as it is also their warehouse that supplies the website, so if they have it in stock online, then it will be in that store :) it was the one and only store, but i know that when they sold out to Morrisons (it was a family business till then) they announced they would be opening a few stores around the uk, but i can't remember when/where.

Re moses baskets, unless you plan to sleep overnight anywhere away from home, i wouldn't bother. We bought one for DS, and by 11 weeks he was too long for it! We then bought a glider crib from mothercare, which in hindsight was a much better idea as he stayed in that until we moved him into his own room at 5 months. The glider motion was great - DS would not settle in that or the moses basket unless he was shhh'd and rocked a lot, and with a hot water bottle for comfort. So if you do go down the moses basket route, i'd recommend a rocking stand!

We did use the moses at my parents just before xmas, and it was a lot easier to pack into a car than the crib would have been, but that was the only advantage of it really. This time, we are going to put the moses basket in the lounge and have the crib in our room, that way baby will hopefully be better than his big brother and will sleep in the basket in the day, leaving me able to still look after DS1 and feed us!! and then use the crib at night for 5 months ish...

and if he doesn't like the moses basket, then hopefully he will like the swing we are planning to buy, as i can't face coping with DS1 and another baby who will only sleep if held!!

I wouldn't feel bad about using second hand stuff at all Rachel . I used a brave load of 2nd hand stuff with ds, and the big things like the pram and car seat was bought by my parents.

I used a moses basket for ds and he was fine in it (not that he did much sleeping anyway as he was a colicky baby). Possibly it lasted a little bit longer for him as he was less than 5lb getting out of hospital. I have got one this time, purely for the handyness factor of being able to move it around and intend to keep it for using the day but have the cotbed in our room at night. I also got a rocking stand with it.

Re: moses baskets, I got the mothercare snug, but second hand off ebay, with the stand- less than half the price new! Didn't think much of the crappy mattress it came with so bought a tomy sleepcurve mattress- cheapest at buy4less- which is orthopaedic and helps with breathing, preventing reflux, and all sorts of other things. Liked them for the cot originally, but were so expensive...
I got a moses basket since I figured I'd need one for baby #2, so might as well get one now, plus we can use it for Peanut when we go to my parents' for Christmas, and not worry about somewhere for them to sleep.

I got a prince lionheart bebe pod flex booster seat thingy, since it's supposed to be comfier and bigger than a bumbo, and it straps onto chairs so I can use that instead of buying a high chair- if you buy the plus version it comes with the tray and a toy- cheapest at kiddicare. I also got portable totseats while on offer, so I can always take one out with me when going for a meal or visiting family.

Most of the clothes I've got are second hand too Rachel- I got loads of babygrows a few months ago from suprmarkets, etc. and have been kicking myself ever since as there are so many in my local charity shops- why pay £4.50 for 5 when you can get 6 for £1.20? Admittedly I was a bit daft and didn't notice some of them were a little stained, but I bought some dylon purple dye for some other very pale pink or white stuff I couldn't stand, so I just bunged them in too- and now we have a lovely pile of bright purple things!
It's better to see what you can get cheap/ what other people will get you, as it saves so much money. Then you can splurge on the things that you really want, like those merino sleeping bags or a few luxury items! (Or just save the money, lol).

Ju1es glad to hear things are ok for the moment, hope your Peanut stays in as long as possible!

Hi all, I had my 4d scan last night, and it is definitely a GIRL!
It feels strange to know, as we didnt find out with the first two.
I have got to go back for another scan next week, as she was not in a good position- head down and facing my back, so couldnt get a good view of the face, and couldnt get her to move, so they will rescan a second time for free.
The sonographer did all the measurements, and estimated she weighs 2lb 12at the moment, which is bang on average, it seems big to me though! dd was only 5lb3 at 41 weeks!

It feels weird referring to it as a 'her'!

I want to go buying pink stuff now, but will be getting a lot of things off friends, so it would be a waste of money.

Hope everyone else is ok.
jules glad you are ok, and hope she stays inside for a while longer! x

Lovely to read all your posts and shopping updates. I am holding off buying new things until we have been to NCT sale that is coming up. Never been to one before but hoping to see some things that we need. We have a second hand Moses basket, will buy new mattress. My parents still have the cot that I and siblings used! It's been in the loft for a while, will see what it's like. DH less keen on the idea of using such old cot but I'm sure it will be fine with new mattress too! it feels a bit weird though to think that our baby will be sleeping in the cot I had!
Had 28 week scan and diabetes test and relieved that all is fine. Lovely to see baby again and have another scan photo.
Have a good weekend everyone, whatevere the weather!

Hello All! :)

Went to the hospital and had my GTT done today, so fingers crossed that comes back all fine, and have midwife on Tuesday.
Can't believe theres only 12 weeks to go now, still seem to have so much to do! All the big things are bought but the smaller things are the bits im worried about forgetting!
Thinking more and more about the birth now and the more i think about it, the more i'm leaning towards a water birth if possible. I'm not sure if DH is too keen though. It seems alot more relaxed though, and i'd like to do it all with as little pain relief as possible (obviously if its horrendous, im not going to say no though!) How can i convince hubby that i want to take this route?

Hope all is ok with everyone. :)

cake just get in the pool when the time comes - tell him it helps with pain and reduces tearing - and then if baby is coming, it's coming! What are his misgivings?

Not lOng back from my app, bump measuring small only 27 weeks instead of being 29 + 4days that I am. So got a wee scan to do measurements, head measuring fine but stomach measuring 28weeks. Tho was 3lb. Was good to see him again :)

Thanks for all the advice re Moses baskets, might just get a crib but shall see what dp thinks.

cake I'm the same starting to think about it a lot more but still not really sure what my options are or what I want.
The hospital I'm going to only has one birthing pool, and it's on the ward my dads exgf is on.. So I'm not keen to see her let alone risk her being my mw. Lol

X

Rachel There's only one pool at my hospital too, but i'd like the option if its available.

MakeTea I think he thinks its a bit of a faff really, but I really relax in a warm bath, and it helps my sciatica when i'm not pregnant, so i think it'll be a good option if its available when i'm at hospital
I'm just going to have to put my foot down aren't I?!

Having a very quiet day at work today, counting the minutes till 5!

The thing is, you really can't predict what you might feel like in labour - I thought I would be really depending on DH to hold my hand and make eye contact etc but in fact I went totally into myself, didn't want to be touched and kind of shut everyone out (it was fast and intense) so def don't rule any options out....it's your birth after all...plus I bet he'd rather that any tears are kept to a minimum

Rachel would they arrange for her to not be assigned to you if you let them know that you know her? I can see completely that having your dad's ex as midwife would be awful if things are difficult!

good morning all, yesterday I had an appointment with the consultant MW to discuss my previous labours and the next one, she didn't have my old notes which was the whole point but she noted that I was 'very traumatised' by my 2nd labour especially and that 'you have choices, we'r not going to make you do anything' so we had to reschedule and request my notes again for next time so didn't really achieve anything

That sounds really strange flipperflopper as 2lb12 was my ds's weight at birth (34 weeks). I know where you are coming from as when they told me this one is 2lb3 I thought oh my she's going to be huge at term :)

Glad everything is alright Rachel and you got another sneaky look at your ds. Yes I think you would have the right to request someone else if you know them. When I had ds one of the midwives was a girl from school and the first thing she asked me was if it was ok for her to deal with me as I had the right to ask for someone else.

Think personally I have decided to go for a c-section. I think I am going to request that if I do go myself before the cs date I want to give vbac a try though. My cousin has just informed me that she has decided to get married 6 days before my due date so no doubt I will go then

Ballroom my ds was roughly 3lb when I got my scan on Friday. So he even bigger than flipperfloppers... Now I'm starting to worry that I'll have a huge baby when delivering.

Will have a wee talk with midwife at my next appointment and get her advice. :)

Did anyone attend antenatal classes or anything with their first and would they recommend going? Mw brought this up but I'm not booked into any so not sure if I've left it to late as I'm 30 weeks tomorrow.. God it's scary how quick it's coming round...

X

Hello

Can I join? Im due September the 4th. Starting to get tired again but Im having bother with my iron levels, even though im on 3 iron tablets a day the levels are still dropping!

6 more weeks of work left, cant wait to finish up!

Rachel I did NCT with my first and would recommend it yes, met a fabulous group of women that I'm still in touch with although we do see each other less often now we are all back at work but they were an invaluable support. The info at NCT is nothing you can't learn from a book but it's great that the men go along too and hear it all and can meet other Dads and ask questions.

This time round I'm doing Daisy Birthing and really enjoying it - again a great teacher

I wouldn't worry Rachel . Ds had intrauterine growth restriction so was told when he was born he measured the size of a 29 week old. I didn't attend any classes with my first as I was hospitalised and kind of felt like I missed out a bit, but purely for the social side, nothing else.

Welcome ChoccoCake