Celebrating Christmas with the arrival of BabyBloom and XmasPud - we're testing our pelvic floors through the festive season, mince pie tasting and turkey stuffing (nudge nudge), it's the JS Grads 43!

[ThursdayLastWeek]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the 43rd grads thread... celebrating the success of Just Shagging in getting us viroids upduffed!

For those that don't know, a 'viroid' is from the original JSing thread 1, where someone was trying to type ladies (in reference to all the JSing ladies), but their phone decided to call us all viroids instead!

The name stuck and we've been the JSing viroids ever since.

The 42nd grads thread is HERE

The thread we have graduated from is HERE in its 56th outing. WARNING: they're all a bit kerazy not to mention randy!

There is also a Just Mumming thread HERE
for once your babies come along, or to keep up with the graduated graduates!

There is also a private facebook group (so it doesn't give the game away in your news feed!)... if you want to join to see photos of new babies etc, just ask in-thread!

HERE is the stats list, please update your own spot with any updates. (Except it's not because I don't know how to link to the stats sheet!)

Yeah I'm cynical about trying to bring on labour but I'll probably still try a sweep out of desperation at 38 weeks!

Thanks for the positive comments viroids! jelly they estimate her at 6lb 1oz, so she'd be 8lb at full term, 7.5lb at induction. But I've heard these estimates are notoriously unreliable!

Bit worried that she has a wider than average head... best get epi noing!

gouda and niff hope something happens for you both soon. Keep us posted, we are all on tenterhooks for you.

Feathered, we have the sleepyhead, it is brilliant! I also recommend the gro swaddle. This double combo has helped with getting baby pud to sleep.

Eep excited for all of you getting so close to birth!!!!

Feathered I think La has one of those.

Will be adding the gro-swaddle to the ever-growing list Pud! Would also be good to see how La has got on with it Honey.

Pretz it's pretty amazing how they can estimate the weight at birth isn't it? Good luck with the epi-no

Niff your lunch sounds epic.

Pud where do you put your sleepyhead? I was thinking about buying a crib to put it in?

We currently have it in the (very expensive) Chicco Next to Me which is now essentially completely pointless ha ha! Baby will grow out of the sleepyhead at some point and then can sleep in the Chicco.

i debated whether to get the sleepyhead but decided against it. Hoping this one is happy in the chicco. If not i'm sure i've read you can roll up towels to surround them

There's a sweet crib in the JL sale at the moment that I'm eyeing up.

However, I've just given myself a scare with these cost estimates. Look about right?! (ignore the room stuff)

1 Crib (JL one in the sale) £50
2 Bouncer £60
3 Changing bag £80
4 Carry sling £100
5 Sleepyhead 100
6 Monitor £100
7 Breast pump? £100
8 Steriliser and bottles? £100
9 Bedding £100
10 Clothes £100
11 Misc - bath/thermometer/bibs/towels £100
12 Cot and mattress £150
13 Changing table/chest of drawers? £150
14 Car seat and fix base £250
15 Pram w/carry cot £650
16 Room - plastering, painting, blinds £800 (modest est)

TOTAL £2,990

That doesn't look unreasonable Feathered. We got a lot of our stuff second hand/gifted/borrowed and I recommend it cost use about £1200. Can you try ebay/nearly new sales? Crib is a bargain though!

Are nearly new sales an NCT thing Pud?

((YES - just found a nearly new sale in my town in March!))

Looking at that list - thank goodness we've been given loads of stuff second hand!!!

Also - I've finally got my first scan date - it's taken me about 15 phone calls to get it, but it's right when i'm 13 wks (20th Jan).....phew!

feathered did you want to include any cost of antenatal classes as well? I haven't added up everything we've spent, although we were lucky to get given lots second hand from my sis.

jelly forgot to say, I think it's the hormone in the semen that's meant to trigger labour, so sadly no, a crafty shuffle just won't be the same.

merm cross post! Hooray for scan date!

Already paid for NCT Pretz.

Would be nice to have some second hand offers from my sister but fairly certain she's given most stuff to my cousins wife or sold it on. Cheers for that sis.

Hopefully the nearly new sale will save some £££

Happy due date Niff, not long until the next batch of JS babies will be with us.
Yay for head down Pretz my friend's sister just had to be induced a couple of weeks early for medical reasons. The wait for things to get going was long but then she had a straightforward birth without interventions. Think positive!
Good to hear that Babypud likes the sleepyhead. I would also like one for myself, although I'm not too far off with my massive preggo pillow.
It's scary when you add it all up Feathered. I'm planning to hold off on the breast pump for a while. I think if you don't pump until after 3 months then you don't have to bother sterilising (although I might be wrong on that). One less bit of kit to buy. Seems a bit ridiculous to sterilise anyway when ddog is probably going to nuzzle his face!

feathered - Quite a few of your estimates seem to be right at the top end price wise. Whilst we don't have any of room costs you've listed, there's no way we've spent anything near this much!!! Have you been looking on mothercare at all? They have some excellent price deals and a sale on at the moment. Are you not expecting to get any of this through as gifts? Especially clothing!!

If you are planning on breast feeding I'd add in a tube of lansinoh and a couple of breast feeding bras/tops to your list. You can get good ones from H and M if you are a middle of the range size.

If you are planning on pumping only once in a blue moon, then you could go for a manual pump at a fraction of the price. If you are planning on pumping on a regular basis, then I agree it's worth spending more. We are very lucky over here - we can get electric pumps on prescription for free of charge!

The steriliser and bottles you can easily get for half that amount (if you go for a microwave steriliser - if you go for steriliser tablets it would be even less), and I've seen baby monitors for 30-50 quid.

Likewise, the sleepyhead is SO expensive. If you wanted to, you could try swaddling as an alternative, or even check out the mothercare own brand version, the snuggle pod.

I think it's worth spending a decent amount on the sling if you are planning on using it regularly - we went for a ergo baby 360 which can be used from birth and is meant to be the best at protecting your back and shoulders. It was a pricey £130 odd, but we live in a big city without a car, so it will be used a lot for quick trips to the shops, the laundrette, etc. If you were only planning on using it for around the house or the odd trip, there are much cheaper options.

Agree with Gouda that some of your estimates are at the high end Feathered. If you want to buy specific things and can afford to, go for it. However... The changing bag leapt out at me. Mine was free with pushchair and I know lots of people just use the free boots one. No need to spend £80 on it. There are also some things I don't think I'd get until I needed them, like the pump. And I buy furniture at IKEA so it's much cheaper. It won't be needed long enough to justify more money.

But, this is because we don't have much cash so have to think carefully about what we get and where. If I had more, no doubt I would buy the entire contents of John Lewis nursery.

pret actually it's kind of both. There is a theory that semen softens the cervix, but it's the oxytocin from an orgasm that is actually meant to stimulate your uterus, and therefore start labour. This is from the baby center website:

3ways in which having sex could help you go into labour. They're theory, rather than proven, though:

Having an orgasm may help to stimulate your womb (uterus) into action.
Having sex can trigger the release of oxytocin, a hormone that helps your contractions.
Semen may help to soften, or ripen, the neck of your womb (cervix), ready for it to open when labour starts. Semen contains a high number of prostaglandins, which are chemicals that can help to relax tissues.

feathered based on your list here's what i've spent:

1Crib: £120 (chicco next to me)
2Bouncer: not got one, will see if i get one from friends/family
3Changing bag: £25 from amazon, it's great
4Carry sling: £20 from NCT nearly new sale
5Sleepyhead: not got one
6Monitor: i paid a tenner for a simple two way one, i have seen angelcare ones on sale at the moment for £50
7Breast pump: £60 - i got the medela swing on an amazon deal
8Steriliser and bottles: £4 for steriliser (microwave one, don't like the electric ones) and £20 for a set of Mam bottles
9Bedding: so far, about £50, this is for two gro-bags, crib and cot sheets and some blankets
10Clothes: don't buy clothes new, get them from nearly new sales or let other people buy them for you
11Misc - bath/thermometer/bibs/towel: bath around £20, bibs/towels no more than £10. Thermometer around £5.
12Cot and mattress: if you buy new i'd say you have under estimated here, my cot and matress was about £200 from Ikea.
13Changing table/chest of drawers: in total i've paid £500 for my nursery furniture including cot and matress.
14 Car seat and fix base: Isofix base was £130, car seat I got for free but would have cost £120 new.
15Pram w/carry cot: I paid £800 for mine (icandy w/bassinet)
16Room - plastering, painting, blinds: i'm not sure what level of platering your room will need but we paid about £30 for paint, £30 for wall stickers and i just need some curtains and my nursery is done :)

There have been some extra costs here and there, like nursing bra's, boob creams, nappies and wipes, muslins etc but nothing too expensive

I agree with the others feathered that your estimates seem a bit high - no bad thing though to over estimate

I bought a single packet of size 1 nappies today - after changing DS size 6+ ass for months they seem so TINY!

I also had my preggo Pilates semi-private session - I loved it. So different with the equipment compared to a mat class, but I felt really stretched and worked afterwards. My friend and I celebrated by getting a pain au chocolate

Thank you Gouda Honey Jelly and Fruit.

I used I suppose "upper limits" on most of those items - like the clothes and pumps/monitors/sterilisers - with the latter items it's simply because I wasn't sure what I would need/which would be best. Also got a panic on in case for some reason my boobs don't work and I need them. Have decided to ditch pumps and sterilisers from the list for the time being (boobs so massive there's no way they can't already be raring to go).

Ikea prices used for changing table/cot/mattress though hoping we may be lucky enough for second hand cot.

Changing bag - ignore that! I put it down ages ago mostly as a fear of missing out. It has now been erase from the list!!

Lansinoh/Muslims/breast pads fall under misc.

Great tip for bf tops Gouda - H+M is good by me!

Jelly - baby room is currently our wardrobe room and is a complete shit hole - hence we need professional help with plasterer/painter. Can't afford to get it done until close to due date so won't be able to do myself anyway.

Thanks SO much viroids....seriously.....Between the joy of hearing about the NCT nearly new sale and the cuts I've just made, I'm feeling a lot happier! And that's without even looking for better deals on amazon and mothercare! legends

I would Defo shop around for the travel system too feathered. We got the iCandy peach for DD for 750quid which included everything (maxi cosi car seat, adapters, carry cot etc etc) from a one off shop, as opposed to the 1200quid that John Lewis wanted.

Although it's expensive buying everything it's so much fun choosing it too! We don't really need anything at all this time and it feels odd.

Apart from the fact the baby doesn't have a bedroom ... As 3rd bedroom is the loft conversion and I'm not happy to move dd up there yet. That's bothering me a bit but worse comes to worst they will just have to share for a bit!

jelly good to know, wanking I can definitely do! so I'm halfway there. DP seems up for some baby inducing shagging so I'm hopeful we will break our epic dry spell.