June 2016 #7 - We're still waiting for the second trimester "bloom" but healthy babies and stronger kicks all around!!

[nehagarg]

Here is the next one people.

Stats here!

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No it was whilst we were in the uk. Actually being here does help in that respect, because they don't wear school uniform. So they just wear their normal clothes every day, and so getting up and getting dressed quickly every day for school she doesn't have lots of time to think about what she wears. She still prefers dresses and I have no problem with that, because it's no longer the be all and end all.

eastend I totally agree with you too!!!
The one thing your DH is (sadly) right about is that people will assume that any child with a dinosaur about their person, or any kind of transport on their clothes, is male- and you will have to find out how you feel about that. I didn't mind DS being called a girl, but it turns out he really does! One of his first words was BOY! Said very indignantly to people who had referred to him as a little girl.
I still think neutral clothing is the way forward, and it's OK for people to think he's a girl...

I remember when my son was about 2 and half and id walked him down the road to post a letter and we saw a lady who said what a pretty girl whats your name...he looked at me very confused and answered Josh. He was wearing the usual jeans and his orange coat, think the lady was a bit surprised and embarrassed!! So it doesnt just happen when they are babies :) My neice was always dressed very girly - dresses and shiny shoes and once got mistaken for a boy, my sister was quite put out by it but i say its best to laugh it off!!

OH and I went shopping for baby clothes the other week, and aside from being utterly bewildered trying to understand what babies actually wear...in the summer...in Switzerland..., the complication of not knowing the sex made a very confusing shopping trip. I like all the animal print things, and bought some of those. I avoided blues and pinks, and bought whites and yellows and greens and some brights, which may be considered more boy clothes, but I am sure the baby wont object if it is a girl.

We did also buy some dinosaur ones because they were pretty cool, but I did hesitate because they were too male.

It is stupid, I don't want to make an enormous political statement, and nor do I want to condition a girl to pink princesses and a boy to tractors and fire engines. It felt quite a minefield. I do wish we had bought the robot ones as well though: everyone loves robots.

Yes- it's crap that robots and dinos and ambulances should count as "boy"!!! This Xmas my distant aunt gave my DS- 2.5- and my niece-5.5- matching torches that project images- he got really accurate fossils and dinosaurs from the natural history museum, she got frozen. Argh!!!!

There is a reason we dont have as many girl engineers as boy engineers. It all starts with babyhood! This is preposterous!

I don't care if my boy gets called a girl but I can see that that might be confusing for him once he is old enough to understand that he is not a girl.

I am having so much trouble buying for him too as I am trying to remain gender neutral but some of the cartoony things that I love are on the girls rack and I really really like them.

I think gender neutral is a bit of a red herring to be honest. Although it might be trickier to avoid the overtly princesses stuff with girls clothes.

I've not found it it too hard to keep my DS in primary colours with stripes and polka dots etc... but he's still in obviously "boy" clothes but just avoiding all the "mummy's little soldier" slogans and stuff. e.g in JoJo they sell plain popper up bodysuits - the girls ones have rounded collars and tiny ruffles on the shoulders, the boys are just straight polo style collars. I'm totally fine with this - I don't feel the need for boys and girls clothes to be totally gender neutral to the extent of avoiding features like this. Nor will I not put my DD in dresses and tights eventually.

Now my DS is nearly two he's decided for himself that he's into diggers and tractors and got some clothes with those on for christmas as they're his favourites! He loves his play kitchen and 'cooking" just as much as diggers and trucks to be honest so it's not like he's going down a stereotype "boy toy" route. He just likes what he likes! I've said before - I bought him a little mini stroller and he turns it on it's side and pretends it's a boat/car!

Oh no Grubby - thats so annoying! I would have been very upset about that.

We'll be reusing all of DS's clothes for this baby, and would have done if it was a girl too (although I'm sure my mum would have bought a fair few 'pretty girl's' outfits. We were given most of his clothes, but I do remember sending DH to sainsburys for bigger baby vests with explicit instructions not to buy anything baby blue!

I have a girl and she wears a lot of jeans and jumpers dungarees, some dresses but I prefer jumpsuits as easier to run in. When she was little people often thought she was a boy but that doesn't bother me. I just choose clothes I like really. This is another girl so will inherit the same stuff! I think it helps that although she's nearly three she doesn't really care what she wears so there have been no demands for princess stuff... Yet!

Eastend you'll probably be given loads of heavily gender specific outfits as gifts when baby arrives so having a nice selection of neutral clothes of your own is a good idea to fight the pink or blue domination!

Over here it's particularly bad with girls. I've yet to meet a baby girl of any age that doesn't have her ears pierced- I mean, God forbid anyone should think they were a boy!
There's a wealth of diamanté & pearls, gold and leopard print in the shops. And everyone calls girls princess all the time which does annoy me.
Personally I like a bit of pink but I do think most of the fun baby clothes are boys. But I have friends who complain there's no choice when shopping for boys. It's all such personal choice. And screw that not being able to play with certain toys!!

I'm not sure that dressing a baby in blue or pink affects them in the future. I was guilty of going over the top with pink when my twin girls was born as I had 2 boys before so was nice to buy dresses . But once we got to know there personalities more is when I put more thought into what they wear as one girl clearly did not like dresses . Now at 6 one girl is a propper girly girl love her nails and hair and dresses and dolls the other one loves her jurassic park t shirts and has he cars out all the time and takes her dinosaurs everywhere . One of my son's asked her did she want to be a bout and she laughed and said no but they have cooler toys lol
She still does fairly tails she's always a handsome prince with a horse lol

As a child I loved My Little Pony, and had a MLP lunchbox when I was in infant school. Much as I loved the picture on the front though, I was so embarrassed because it was baby pink- I hated it because I thought it was too "girly"! I used to try and hide it when I carried it to school I'm going to try as much as possible to just stay neutral with toys and clothes- whatever the baby ends up being into as he grows is fine, but I'd like for him to have the opportunity to play with and dress in all kinds of things, and he can make up his own mind.

caterpillars it's so lovely seeing them move isn't it?! DH seems to have magical calming powers (which will be put to good effect once the baby's born)- I'll see a huge kick, get him to look or put his hand on my bump, and the baby won't do it again for him!

Oh also, I forgot... I think the baby had hiccups today! It was so cute, it felt like little rhythmic flicks/jumps Perhaps it was just a random muscle twitch but I prefer to assume it was baby hiccups

Thanks for all your thoughts ladies- it's really interesting to get different perspectives 😅 I don't want to use the baby to make a statement or anything but I am quite surprised how strongly I feel about it and I'm glad I'm not alone in giving it some thought. As others have said, I'm sure we'll get given lots of girly things if it's a girl so it will all balance out and I don't need to get too hung up about it. For the sake of marital harmony, I will offer to go through the purchases with DH and anything he violently objects to can go back (although definitely keeping the robots geneva!)

I start my new job tomorrow- my overactive brain will be put to work!

Mollie ahh that's so cute! Our LO enjoys playing hide and seek with DH too!

Ladies with the chicco next to me....I have the chance to get an almost new one for £50 it's only been used a few times because their baby wouldn't settle just need to know is all the fabric part machine washable because I don't directly know them I'd like to wash the lot!! The description just says removable lining. Will obviously buy a new mattress anyway which I was planning to do if we got a new one for comfort, can just save £100 with this!

belleboo afraid mines not arrived yet, so I can't check. Hopefully someone else will know...

Gosh I'm ravenous tonight. Maybe baby is having another growth spurt? It's really hard to not eat when you're feeling this hungry - do you distract yourself or give in?

Ravenous too! Have just had to have a bowl of porridge before bed haha!

DH and I went through baby stuff and got as far as agreeing planes and cars are "stereotypically" for boys but we agreed to keep the lot on the basis the it was on sale. I love how thirty DH is, particularly when it goes in my favour 😊 Phew! another marital crisis averted and my feminist side is satisfied!

Good luck with the new job eastend!

belleboo mine arrives today (I think). Will definitely check and let you know, if it does.

The stroller arrived yesterday. DH had a fun time putting it together. Its beginning to feel so much more real now. I better get started on that mindful birthing book I have been ignoring. This baby is coming out, one way or another.

Good luck eith the job Eastend. Glad you were able to keep some of the fun clothes. . Its not feminism. To me, its pure common sense.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3410783/Would-trust-baby-self-driving-stroller-2-750-buggy-allows-parents-run-it.html dos anyone consider this hands free buggy option?!

Good luck eastend hope you have a good day!