July 2013 - thread 5 - baby kicks and scan pics, we're halfway there!

[dinkystinky]

New thread to natter on. Will go find the due date thread to link on in a tick...

Morning all, got my consultant appointment hopefully it won't be another non-existent one... as its two buses there and a lot of munchies for me and he who rules me. I also have bump envy depending where he is sometimes I have this lovely bump then other times it looks like too many pies and not bump (or am i been cynical?) yet midwives are very jealous of my stomach muscles and reckon I'll give birth no problem

Oh forgot - 20+3 today :)

Minipenguin - look at Ebay for bundles of baby clothes (especially for the first 3 months). Its great value. I like M&S babygrows as they are lovely and soft. Supermarkets often do colourful ones. Whatever sex this child is, it will be going into its big brothers' clothing.

Given our babies will be summer babies rather than winter ones (like Ds2) or spring (like Ds1) I'm going on the basis that I need more vests (wide necked ones) than sleep suits - so 10 vests vs 5 sleep suits if you have easy access to a washing machine - if not, double it. Couple of light weight cardies. Light weight hat. You'll do alot of washing in the first few days/weeks so you basically want enough so you dont run out. If you need more, you can buy them when the baby is here. Nappies. Nappy bags for disposal. Cotton wool pads (not balls - too small to do anything) or wipes for the early cleaning days. Change mat. Muslins. Not much else needed really though - you'll need a car seat to get home. And you already have a buggy - you may want a sling. Check out local sling meets.

For you, you will need maternity pads if having a vaginal birth (more than you could imagine you will need - start with 4 packs then buy more if need be), nipple balm and breastpads if bfing. Enormous cheap pants for post birth (primark or supermarket cheapies will do the trick -bin when done with). I also found breastshells great for keeping tender nipples away from material in early days. If bottlefeeding/expressing, you'll need steriliser and bottles. I like to swaddle in the early days so use huge muslins for that.

and can i just add - you will still need maternity pads if you have a CS - i was surprised at how long bleeding lasted after DD (longer than with DS who was VB). and yes to soft breastpads and lots of muslins!!!

also try NCT sales for newborn sizes - i literally had two suitcases full of stuff for DS (sept baby) - but it was a warm sept and he was a tiny baby. so lots of his stuff was in the wrong size for wrong time of year - it all ended up at our local NCT sale (DD was spring baby). this baby will have a lovely choice of white/bright/pink/blue sleepsuits - as long as it doesnt end up a big baby we should be fine! i washed them through last weekend and couldnt believe how tiny my DCs once were (and that was NB size which they didnt get into for a while). made me quite teary at how fast they have grown up .

MiniPenguinMaker Found some very cute bright ones in TK Maxx the other week... Have Pm'd you about Employment Tribunal....

With DD had just as many basics as possible, vests, babygros, cardies... especially if you're going to be taking the LO to visit family/friends soon after birth, and won't be within easy reach of a washer at home...

Moses basket/carrycot/travel cot if you are planning to visit anyone... also useful at home in first few weeks!

Hello! Back from four days of fabulous weather in which the Cairngorms did their very best to look like the Alps! DH had the most amazing day ski mountaineering with some of the adult leaders, from the Cairngorm ski centre over the plateau down to the loch and up to Ben Macdui and back. I'm kind of sad to have missed out on that, but I definitely don't feel safe to ski.

I managed to get out for three of the four days - needed a rest on day 3 so was the Kitchen Apprentice. You need an awful lot of biscuits for 40 portions of cheesecake!

Small has bagged several Corbetts now. Not sure if they count if done pre-natally though I was glad to still feel quite confident and competent on the hill, despite the bump.

I think Small either loves or hates driving, as I've been getting a right kicking when in the car this week.

20+3

Dinky & BadMiss Thanks for all the tips on clothes and things you need the early post birth days. You experienced ladies will see my posts later on bugging you all about the must haves and also the hospital bag.

abz glad you had a lovely time :)

dinky shelley and badmiss that's really helpful! So far we have about 7 vests and babygrows in 0-3m, after a grandparent-to-be funded shopping spree, and a sleepsack, but nothing else. I'm thinking a few in newborn is a good idea, then see how big the baby is and buy more of what we need.

BB01 we're pretty much decided on the cosatto giggle. It seems to get almost universally good reviews, and seems very reasonable cost for what you get. We were also quite tempted by the Urbo from mamas and papas, but it seems to have a lot of reviews with problems with the front wheels, and is a fair bit more expensive than the cosatto. We haven't bought yet, I'm keeping my eye out for somewhere with a sale.

Persuasion -my DC were really long and chunky monkeys so went straight into their 0-3 month clothes. I think I had 2 newborn sleepsuits which never got used. So while a good idea to have a couple of newborn dont go overboard.

Abzs - glad you had a fab break. Bagging corbetts in utero definitely counts

P.s. Shelley - thanks for clarifying that you need maternity pads post c-sec.

Oh, and abz I have no idea what most of your post means, thus no comment (what IS a corbett?). Glad you enjoyed the break though. I don't have any holiday coming up but wish I did, I really could do with a break to look forward to!

Mini I've had a few bright coloured sleepsuits from next. With DS3 everything in the shops seemed to be pastel colours so I ended up getting a load of plain white sleepsuits, vests and muslins from asda and some packets of dylon. Looked lovely and DS3 got a lot of compliments.

Anyone else been feeling really rude assertive? I think I've offended quite a few people with my attitude just lately. Mostly people moaning that I am unwilling to be public property this time. Apparantly I'm being very unreasonable for not telling everyone I was pregnant as soon as I'd peed on the stick and for not sending out a group text to tell everyone I know the results of every blood and wee test.

I'm a soon to be mum of 4 and managing all their appointments and activities is a full time job. Also I have to spend a lot of time doing housework to keep it in a state that the nappy bin isn't overflowing and toothpaste/loo roll hasn't been squirted/unravelled all over the bathroom. I don't have time to ring people after every single appointment and even if I did I don't always want to tell everyone my buisness.

And breathe! Is it obvious I've been up since 5am with a 6 year old who was very excited about his school trip today .

I just buy job lots of 0-3 month vests ( bodysuits) and white towelling babygros - my dc6 was summer born and their legs ad feet are so skinny they look almost blue when not covered ...
I am looking at the donkey from a distance as have cameleons and lived them but need a double ... DP not laughing!!

Elliejj I am with you on the 'why didn't I know ' front - sooooo frustrating - even when they do know I have to face the comments and japes and jests some of which are wearing thin and I only announced a fortnight ago

Persuasion - a Corbett is a kind of Scottish mountain summit. There are lists of them and people tick them off and try to visit them all - 'bagging'. Quite a good explanation [http://www.jimwillsher.co.uk/Site/Hills/Hills_Intro.php here].

DH just phoned - we are off to Mothercare tonight to see if they have an alternative to the Uppababy Vista. Ideally something that only costs an arm rather than the full arm and leg...

iclaudius glad I'm not the only one. I was determined to wait as long as possible before announcing anything as I hate the stupid comments from people who think they are hilarious and also I had a miscarriage last time and I was nervous. Don't get me started on people who've watched one born every minute and think they know everything. I know people who try and speak medical jargon and do it wrong and also people who want to hear my birth story and tell me all the bits I didn't do right. My personal favourite was someone telling me I should have asked for an epidural as soon as I got to hospital so I could rest before being induced. Never mind that I wasn't in any pain at that point. This time I won't be telling anyone when I go to hospital apart from PIL as they'll need to look after the other DC's. I'll just tell people when I get home and have slept.

Mini H&M and Next have nice bright stuff. I think Tesco have some as well. If you haven't already, join the baby clubs at Sainsburys, Boots etc so you get lots of free stuff and samples. The one thing everyone with babies already keeps telling me is to buy loads of muslins!

In other news I had a really good consultant appt today - no antibodies present in the last blood test so got the all clear and they see no reason not to expect a 'normal vaginal delivery'

persuasion my DD was in her 'tiny baby' stuff followed by 'newborn' for ages...

Hi all, second devil's advice to join up to the clubs, there seem to be a lot of discount vouchers etc. now to keep track of them! slouchingpanda your pushchair story made me laugh - that is exactly what we did. Baby steps ... .

The other thing I've been told about baby clothes is don't go overboard on the newborn baby stuff as lovely friends, colleagues and relatives who want to get the baby a present when it's born will invariably buy small / newborn clothes so you might well end up with more than you think.

Thanks for the advice re: maternity pads dinky, shelley and others - a necessary but less exciting purchase than lovely baby outfits I have to say.

Scan next Friday and then seeing consultant straight afterwards (hope the scan appt is on time, thought it was a bit too good to be true that it all lined up). We know what we're having already as it was unavoidably obvious on some early scans but looking forward to and slightly nervous about seeing the little chap again.

18+5

Have to say we hardly used our muslins....!

My advice is don't buy too much of any one thing. You can always top up on clothes/muslins/nappies/maternity pads (if necessary, online or sending DH) once baby is born.

Glad you had a nice time Abzs and managed to get some proper walking in. We're off to SIL's in the Brecon Beacons this weekend and hoping the weather will be similarly kind to us.

Thanks for all the great advice on baby essentials, all the experienced mummies. Like several others I'm steadfastly refusing to buy anything until after my 20 week scan but I still have 1001 thoughts and questions, several of which have already been answered. Having season-appropriate advice is good too as most of the "check lists" you see in books and mags seem to focus on winter babies. I'm one of those people who is always cold and it has to be seriously scorching for me to bare my arms and legs, so one of my biggest worries is that I'll overdress LO and he or she will overheat. I'm also wondering, what do newborns sleep in/under when it's hot at night? Would one of those "gro-bags" be OK or would that be too much?

Another random wondering is about carrycots. As we've been offered a lovely wooden crib which will go beside our bed, I'm not planning to get a moses basket, but instead use the carrycot part of the travel system we've got our eye on for daytime sleeps downstairs. I assume the carrycot will come with a mattress but as it's going to get quite a bit of use, I'm thinking I'll also need several sets of sheets. Are there special ones that come depending on each make of carrycot? Someone suggested a little while back using a normal pillowcase as a sheet for a moses basket but would the same apply for the carrycot? It's hard to imagine a mattress being that small!

Oops seem to have written an essay as usual. Was going to go off on a spiel about grandparent names but I'll save that for another time!

18+3

panda I guess you must be fairly local to me if you've been shopping in reading? Are you planning to go to RBH? I had dd there in 2007 and am booked there again.

cheese my MIL was not ready for the traditional granny names when her first gc arrived 14 years ago so chose "amma" which suits her so well everyone calls her that now!

Dd was very sicky so we used a fresh muslin with every feed for ages, again we needed loads of sleep suits/vests and the washable sofa throws were invaluable. No idea what I've got left in the loft after its been borrowed by both sils, going to sort out clothes & new mattresses after our Easter break.

Odd vinegar - we used our muslins all the time. But DS1 and DS2 used to posset a lot.

Glad you had a good appt today Devil.

Ama - I tend to swaddle in early days and layer blankets on if cold. Ds1 slept in sleep suit, ds2 slept in vest and sleep suit. In height of summer you can use 0.5 tog sleep bags (basically just a sewn up sheet) and pop baby in there in a nappy if you don't swaddle. Or just in their vest and nappy if hot.

Not sure about carrycot answer as I just used some of my big swaddle muslins as sheets for ours.

OhGood I was just sorting through DD's tiny baby clothes the other day. It's hard to believe they were so small! The tiny baby stuff was hanging off her and we didn't need any newborn stuff until after she was 3 months old.

Mothercare sometimes have some really nice bright clothing. It's often with the boys stuff, but I've always thought it was unisex.

My mum wasn't ready to be a granny or a grandma, but is happy being nana. My dad is baba (that's just what DD started calling him herself).

Thanks dinky just the sort of answers I was after. I do like the idea of swaddling actually so will maybe give it a go and see how LO likes it. If it's OK to use large muslins as carrycot sheets (I guess they would also work for the crib) I will probably do that, rather than splash out on expensive fitted ones which some places will no doubt try to sell me!