February 2014 - Part 5 - The one in which nobody has ANY vomiting, heartburn, or random leg injuries...

[marzipanned]

Well, here's hoping!

That's true champagne yaaaaaay to bumps!

Gosh I'm trying to sort/tidy abit and just found this lovely red blazer I used to wear before I lost weight which I have been wondering whether to get rid of as it was just too big in me - just tried it on and it won't even do up!!!! I really hope that this boob and belly bigness is mostly baby or else I starting to be quite the fatty! Must stop eating crisps

jazz that's really annoying!

DH and I have just been to mothercare. It was totally overwhelming! We only went to window shop, as we've agreed not to buy anything until after the 20 week scan. But we were totally confused by the travel systems etc. And the cost of everything! £25 for a sleeping bag! ouch.

I'm going to draw up a list of things we need and then look up where it's cheapest to buy what. It didn't help that the mothercare is only small so there wasn't much choice.

Oh god Eeyore the travel systems are a bloody nightmare! Did my head in thinking about it - I was even dreaming about them! Luckily I narrowed my options as hopefully want kids quite close together so only concerned myself with ones that go to a double and then I quite easily found one that I want - but god the options are just limitless if not!

I think the things people say to consider are - do you need something light and easy for city or do you want something that you can also take "off road" on grass etc. Most I think you want a carrycot for for the first 6 months when baby lies flat. Getting it into the boot of the car was a big factor for us too.

In terms of car seat my mummy friends said to get the lightest one as when baby gets a bit bigger its really hard to lift it! There's probably loads more to consider too - I'm by no means an expert!

Woo hoo off to ikea to buy storage boxes (and meatballs!)

Eeyore, for sleeping bags look at nearly new sales and on eBay, I had some absolute bargains for DS that way. We bought a 0-3 month one brand new initially but I soon found second hand were absolutely fine, he has some that are a little girly but who cares!
We had a travel system but never used it properly as we had been given a car seat that wasn't compatible. This time round we will have the right car seat. But, given we already have one dc I am planning on a combo of pram and sling to get out and about.

We also had a carry cot which was great but ds was a big and long baby (never fitted newborn clothes) so ir lasted about 6 weeks. However I also used it for naps during the day along with a fisher price bouncer that reclined to a lying position.

I have yet to meet a baby who was still in the carrycot at 6 months! By 3-4 months ds and his friends were just too nosy to lie completely flat!

camwombat I am planning on getting a buggyboard and sling too so that I can swap ds and baby about when needs be.

misskat I have just got back from IKEA - meatballs were great

Something must be happening to us as all as we are staring to think about organising and chucking stuff to make room for no 2. We have just moved to a 3 bed house but baby will be in with us for the first few months and then depending on how they are, they will share a room with ds. If they are crap sleepers then I might turn the guest room in to a temporary nursery further down the line. I need to sort out the downstairs dumping ground too so we can have a proper play room.

We are lucky that our rooms are big so the huge cot bed will go at the foot of our bed and there will be room for 2 beds in ds's room. Not sure where I am going to store baby's stuff in my room though. I would put it in ds's room but I will need access to spare clothes and blankets for 3am ass-plosions

I'm moving into spare room with new baby for up to 6 months. Then will move back in with DH. Last time round we were both like zombies, being woken 7-8 times in the night by DS. This time I'm trying a different t tactic, as I breastfeed there's no point in 2 of us being sleep deprived and with a 3 yr old to care for too I want DH to be as well rested as possible

No decorating planned, we did for DS but I just don't have the time/energy this time round.

Ah maan :P I am so jealous of you all! I can't buy anything until going to UK in November (it costs an arm and kidney and leg here), so just waiting :P Then we can go to Ikea at some point (6 hour drive away from where we live) and get stuuuffff. Hoping for money for christmas with family so we can buy lots of nice babythings :D

I had the most vivid dream last night about breastfeeding my son! (still team yellow, but have an inkling it's a blue one). It was the most surreal thing ever, having never had a baby before so therefore no idea what it feels like, but this baby was loving the boob! Perhaps it's a sign, DH and I had tested the new steriliser last night before going to bed (rock and roll) so perhaps this was bean's protest!

eeyore I am also at the prices of sleeping bags, but figure that as the shops have 2.5 tog in stock now, they should be having some sales in Nov/Dec/Jan when I intend to be an online bargain hunting fiend.

I'm worried about the logistics of a moses basket in our room, only location is at foot of our bed but that would be about 1m from the radiator, so perhaps too hot? If all else fails I'm resigned to adopting vix's approach and moving into the spare room. DH is useless without his sleep, and he will be the one bringing home the bacon whilst I'm off!

I keep having coffee breaks from my dissertation writing whilst fondling and stroking all the baby clothes we've built up. Just want this damn thing out of the way (12 days and counting) and then no more studying! Hurrah!

Petty I've been looking at buggy boards but think my ds at 2 is already too heavy for one and possibly too tall. He has a US Maclaren buggy because it has a higher weigh limit. I might see if I can find one second hand.

Yes I'm going to be leaning heavily on DH this time round! He has to keep 2 businesses going and be I night duty for DS.

Awww vix that sounds such a lovely idea to let DH be well rested

Jazz - good luck with the dissertation! The end is in sight!

Phew ikea was so tiring! They didn't have the little storage boxes I wanted (but a million bloody lids for them grrrr!) but we found a bookshelf/cupboard unit for downstairs which should help me store my craft clutter and bought loads of shelving units for basement so that we can store crap down there too! Bless DH is down there now assembling

I got an awesome duck print for the babies room and will definitely be getting the button rug too! So so cute! It is crazy that were all starting to think about clearing space for babies isn't it! I'm due 5 months today (eeeek) so I luckily have some time to clear out all my shite! Phew having a sit down and a brew now before I tackle the kitchen cleanup

Not sure I'm being lovely tbh, just last time round was really tough on both of us and this seems more practical

I would definitely class it as lovely

camwombat I didn't even think about weight limits on buggy boards! ds will be nearly 3 when dc2 arrives. I just assumed that they were made for this age group! ours will be attached to a bugaboo bee then a maclaren globetrotter.

I will be asking on free cycle for a buggy board and anything else im missing. for ds i got a cossato cot bed (rrp £250) for free and painted it (it didnt need it, I just wanted to) and bought a new mattress. the previous owner even gave me her old sheets which have come in handy on vommy nights!

netmums (shhh!) have a free and for sale section, ditto gumtree. ive had loads of freebies from all 3 sites

petty its probably my ds, he was 2 in July weighs 18+kg and has just gone into 4-5yr tops and 3-4yr bottoms. The lascal website says a max of 20kg, so will have a look nearer the time for a board very cheaply. It would be going on a Quinny buzz then maclaren techno xt.

If no2 is a girl, I have several
friends ready to pass on their old clothes etc, if its another boy, I'm already pretty much sorted.

Oooooh petty I hadn't thought of free cycle etc. We often use it to get rid of stuff so will keep an eye for baby things

missk on our freecycle (Cardiff) you have to reply within a matter of seconds to get any baby stuff but there is LOADS on there. Netmums/gumtree is a little slower - phew! Our freecycle page has just changed though and finding and replying to the posts is an arse. Humph.

Glad I'm not the only one who will be looking for second hand bargains. Though out shopping today I found the hip hip hooray nursery range in Babies r us, which I love, so I may be splurging on that. To be fair I do have a whole set of cream/beige teddies with everything from the cot quilt to curtains, nappy stacker, the works, to sell to pay for it.
We have a local sellers site on FB which I've had some fab bargains on for DD. seriously, things for babies under a year or so are used so little they are virtually brand new anyway. I wouldn't pay named brand prices for anything really!
Maybe I'm just a cheapskate.

Ah I spent a fortune on DS (previous first born) before he arrived. After the first year or do I really got into bargain hunting and 2nd hand stuff. I'm determined to be frugal with this one, but if its a girl I may struggle to restrain myself from buying lots of pretty clothes! If its a boy we have everything we need other than the first stage car seat... Finding out (hopefully) on Thursday

Not previous first born PRECIOUS lol

Lol I'm a right cheapskate too! I'll have a look on fb selling groups too, that's a good idea.

Just been on our local free cycle and there's nothing baby related on today. I did see an offer of cross stitch and embroidery magazines however which I was sooo tempted to see if was still available but I think DH would explode if I brought more shite into the house when we are supposed to be decluttering!

Wow - THAT was a kick! An actual kick, no mistaking it! Live news ladies, you heard it first!

OOh congratulations *littlest! I'm still waiting to feel movement. Keep thinking I might have felt something and then not long after I fart so I think its definitely wind!

I did splurge on lots of new stuff for ds (pfb) but you soon realise just how little gets used and how much it bloody costs! I did splurge on a bedding set from mothercare for him (but I waited until it was half price and used a further discount code!) and it will be reused for dc. Its a nice gender neutral bird print set with lots of blues/teal/yellow/grey etc... Poor dc2, the only new stuff its having at the moment is a set of chest of drawers and a sling!