July 2016 (7) We're halfway to meeting our little bubs

[allthegoodnamesalreadytaken]

Hi all started a new thread as the old one was getting almost to 1000. We're a very chatty bunch! Happy Friday

Lots of useful advice here about breastfeeding! I'm keen to try but hoping not to get too stressed about it. I know I will though because I say that about everything! I'm not very good at being relaxed!

I'm in my two hour GTT wait now. Bored already and I've only done about 15 minutes! The nurse said they would call with the results tomorrow. She is also sending my urine sample off as there were protein traces. She said it might be nothing and might just be because of not having eaten or drunk anything, but better safe than sorry. Fingers crossed it's fine - I don't need that to worry about as well!

Elliz how cute and snuggly does Ted look there?! Awwh! And kudos on the blanket - I'm about a fifth of the way through mine and need to step up production!

Thank you so much for the car seat info. The Graco Milestone looks fantastic in terms of expense and being environmentally friendly, and I can definitely see my husband going for it... Might just have to suck up transferring baby to and from it to a pram.

Secondhand newborn bundles! Fab idea. I looked at those a few months ago but had forgotten about them since, so thanks for the reminder!

YouandMe good luck with the GTT.

I have just been very naughty and eaten a mid-morning ice lolly. It was delicious!

bluebell - pleasure to be of help! the snuggly-ness of a sleepyhead should never be underestimated. i got quite jealous of him in there, it's such a lovely cocoon.

good luck youandme! have mine tomorrow and keeping everything crossed for the GTT gang. sure your pee is fine (!)..

Bluebell and anyone else- I bought the cheeky wipes kit and some extra wipes and an extra box as I can then have some upstairs and down. My friends swear by them as they say they are much better at cleaning up than wipes that can just 'smear it around'. Plus I've seen it can reduce cases of nappy rash as not using chemicals. Maybe. I just like the colours and using any equipment that makes light work of the dirty jobs will be a positive. I also thought it was all really good quality and arrived quickly.

I decided to buy a pattern and make a baby nest. I imagined it might be cheaper than the proper beds, but whether it was or not I enjoyed the project. Also it was nice to choose a patterned fabric in a colour not just beige. Results below...

I have more projects in the pipeline - quilt, puff pillow quilt, a knitted jumper....- to make but I'm also trying to finish a jumper for me which has been slowed by poor pregnancy eyesight and laziness!

25+6

lucia - that's lovely! your baby will look like a cabbage patch kid!

YouandMe happy belated birthday o hope your day got better.

Dats yes I always suffer with heartburn although I'm sure it's worse this time.

Bluebell it's your first baby I would buy a new Moses basket. Breast pump agreed you can hire them as well. I would buy a new car seat and some clothes for baby it doesn't have to be loads even I've bought new clothes and I have boxes full of things from ds3. I bought the cot bedding, Moses basket, change mat, blankets and sleeping bag from Mothercare this week as they have 30% off nursery. I didn't even ask DH. He likes it all I showed him yesterday.

Primary relax. If breastfeeding works great if it doesn't that's fine too. The main thing to remember is happy mum =happy baby. I breast fed ds1 for about 10 days, ds2 for 6 weeks and ds3 for a week. I'm hoping to really get into breast feeding this time and be successful but if I'm not I know my babies are find on formula. Don't let midwifes bully you into anything.

I feel like I'm finally getting myself organised for a baby. It still seems unreal though. 4 aargh

26+5

Lucia I am really glad to hear that you think the Cheeky Wipes are a good buy. I'm very keen on being as chemical-free and environmentally friendly as possible so they seem like a great idea to me.

I also LOVE your baby nest - clever you!

Is anyone else planning on doing baby first aid training? I've just had a look at the Red Cross website and there are loads of courses in easy reach before my due date, so I think I am going to book onto one.

Also just booked myself a hair cut and a leg wax for next week - I normally do my own waxing but I can't bloody bend any more! Hooray for pampering.

Your all chatty this morning. Quick catch up while doing maths puzzles with the daughter and cooking lunch oh and then off to work for a rest ha ha. I'm a nurse!!! Agree with what everyone's saying bout breast feeding. Approach it open minded. I fed daughter for 15 months and it was great but if it had been hard work I knew formula was available. I joke now that the only thing she was easy with as a baby was feeding. She's been hard work and why do you think we've had a 7 year age gap!!!! Breast feedings cheap and convenient and worth a go. I fed everywhere and soon learnt to be discreet and cover up. Xx

Well that's that all done. Just have to wait for the results now. They've said I should hear tomorrow.

I also had my 28 week midwife appointment afterwards: blood pressure, measurements and baby's heartbeat all fine, so that was nice at least! I'm going back tomorrow afternoon for a whooping cough vaccination.

28+2

Bluebell I was thinking about First Aid training, but couldn't find a suitable time before my due date! DH wants to go too, so I think we will take it in turns after baby arrives.

Ellizardo that blanket is lovely - perfect green. I have a thing about the perfect green! I'm still not sure what blanket to do for this one. DD has a really bright, striped garter stitch cotton one. But I may do single colour and stitch pattern this time. Better pull my finger out, regardless.

Do any of you guys use Ravelry? I love it, although browsing for ages eats into any time I had left to knit when I sat down!

Lucia that baby nest is awesome! What's it filled with?

I'm v tempted by a Sleepyhead this time round. We didn't have a Moses basket last time, we lived in a flat and tried to compromise on 'stuff' so used the Baby Jogger carrycot to begin with for daytime naps and straight into cot, feet-to-foot and swaddled at night. Which was almost a moot point as there was bugger-all sleep going on in the daytime for the first while! But now we've moved, a Sleepyhead is very appealing, as is the prospect of secondhand as they're ££ considering they might outgrow them quickly.

I'd like to do a baby first aid course, too.

Right now I'm practicing foof first aid on myself by having a lie down while DD naps. Feel like I've been riding a horse for a month.

Can I pick your brains for ideas ladies. It's DHs birthday the same day as my due date. Not a major birthday as he will be 35. But I always do something nice for his birthday and I want to mark it not completely dismiss it. So far I've had ds1 day before due date, ds2 day after due date & ds3 3 days after due date so it is possible I could have baby near to due date. Any ideas? I am looking at a baby vest that says happy birthday daddy just in case.

bluebell we are getting the maxicosy pebble. At the mothercare event we went too the incredibly passionate about car seats car seat man said that basically britax and cybex are the kings of safety and maxicosy isnt too far behind. Anything else - although not unsafe - isnt as safe as these 3 brands... not sure how true that is but its convinced us
And gone for the pebble as apparently it is almost identical to the cabriofix but the cabriofix is being phased out (new spangly name is preferred i think)

Thankyou so much for the breastfeeding advice. I will persevere and would like to do at least until 6 months or so but have no clue what to expect! Also... what do you do about family etc wanting to visit and manhandle baby during the early days when youre trying to understand what the frig you are supposed to do?!

Lord, I think I've finally hit that constantly hungry phase that the doctor warned me about a few weeks ago... I had a lovely healthy lunch of salad and jacket potato three hours ago, but I have just put veggie sausages and curly fries in the oven.

dats I love Ravelry. It's my first port of call for any new pattern, but I know exactly what you mean - it's a bit of a rabbit hole time-wise - rather like Pinterest, in fact.

Beautician I am rubbish at DH's birthday. Maybe a babysitter and a meal out for just the two of you, as it might be a while until you can manage that again?!

primary I've had a look at the maxicosy pebble and cabriofix... They seem reasonably priced, but obviously the bases add a lot on! I am really, really annoyed with myself as we had some friends who gave us a rather mouldy maxicosy car seat and base three months ago, and told us that if we couldn't get it clean to just take it to the tip. Well, we decided that the seat was too mouldy, so to the tip it all went... But I had NO IDEA at the time how expensive the bases were, or that they are sold separately. I just assumed it came with the seat. Absolutely gutted!

Oh and primary - no idea about visitors. My dad lives in France and is coming over for a whole month around the time I am due. He has 'base' accommodation for that month but it's 3 hours away from us. I am a bit worried he's going to want to stay over at a time when I am probably not going to want someone else around 24/7. But then I feel a bit mean for thinking that. Don't know what to do, really.

One good suggestion that my brother-in-law had was - if you are a visitor, you bring a meal with you! At least that way visitors are lightening the load rather than adding to it :)

We have a Maxi-Cosi Pebble and a Family Fix base, and now a Pearl (to about age 4) on the same base. Annoyingly, soon after we got it, they brought out a 2-way Pearl so they can go rear-facing for longer - but you also have to buy a different base. So I'm not sure yet what we'll do for DC2.

We chose the Pebble based on safety/Which? reviews and a total bargain in Kiddicare.

Oh and bought Isofix bars off eBay and fitted them ourselves as our aging cars didn't have them as standard.

I have to be another one to echo the most important message (imo) about bf: If you want to try it, give it a good go and we will support each other through it, BUT if it isn't for you that is fine too. It is just important your baby gets milk for the first six months before tackling the world of weaning. And it is important you don't put yourself under so much pressure you crumble.

Loads of chat trying to catch up!
Good advice on breastfeeding I totally agree. For the record- One of mine was formula fed and has no issues, really healthy, never ill, no asthma /allergies despite me having them myself. So I really don't punish myself if for any reason BF doesn't work out. Nothing worse than pressure.

elliz newborn Ted looks so cute you're swaying me that I now NEED one. Adorable

youandme well done for surviving your GTT. And good luck on the results.

My moan of the day is that I've been told today at 28 week app that I now need one too. Queue breakdown of tears on the spot. I don't know quite why the outburst. But I was so angry that she weighed and calculated my BMI- why is a pregnant BMI accurate? It's not accurate anyway. But now it's over 30. Course it is- I've gained two stone. And arranging the GTT is SUCH a faff as DH won't get the time off and one child will need taking to school and the other looked after for 3ish hours.
All this was concluded after my tummy measured 28 weeks rather than 27 as I'm actually only 27 weeks. Everything else was fine and had anti D etc. I feel so down that I've been regularly exercising and training weights in the gym to be told I'm obese it takes me back to being overweight in previous pregnancies and hits a nerve.

Sorry for that selfish outburst, just not a good day for me. Off to eat a (third) biscuit.. (Which I had been resisting)

Interesting reading about car seats. Dh is a bit of a safety buff and signed up to Witch and watched a load of safety vids and crash tests. His conclusion was Britax and Cybex too!

Got my 28 week appt tomorrow and getting paranoid about GD. Not so much about the test more that I'll have to give up chocolate if I have it. Pregnancy rage is bad enough here without having my daily fix of mini eggs!

Just googled sleepy heads as never heard of them before and holy crap why are they so expensive?? Afraid I shan't be investing in that lol.

I'd never heard of sleepyheads either. They look cozy but think I'm going to pass on them as we've got the hand me down Moses basket.

For car seats, we've bought a new one as we couldn't guarantee that a second hand one won't have been in a bump at some point. We also decided to go with an i-size seat (pebble plus) as the regulations will change at some point. Probably more of a consideration if you're planning on more babies in the future but worth a read anyway (dh found out about this while he was looking into seats). www.which.co.uk/reviews/child-car-seats/article/i-size-child-car-seats

Glad to see another obsessive listmaker bluebell -Being organised helps keep me calm - I highly recommend a spreadsheet! grin'

Aldi for nappies! 24 x newborn ones for £1.15 and they get brilliant reviews and awards. Also see if there is a local 'selling page' on Facebook for baby and children's stuff.

I've bought some newborn clothes as I think we are more likely to get 0-3 things as presents. You can get really cheap basics in Asda.

I've seen suggestions that you should buy a breast pump etc so you have it ready if needed, but keep it in the box with receipt so you can take it back if not.

And seconding that Halfords are awesome. We got the Joie stages seat, which takes baby safely up to age 7 for £133 yesterday, and the guy was super helpful. Car seat and mattress are the two things I'm buying new. Pretty much everything else secondhand.

We were lucky enough to be given a barely used sleepyhead. It was my saviour. DD loved it. But I think it's something you could buy when baby arrives if you decide you need it.
I didn't buy a breastpump till DD was here and I could feed. You can get them really easily.
I think a brand new car seat is essential unless you have 100% faith that it never has been in an accident. DD is 15 months and still in her maxi cosi pebble. Think she'll be out after next growth spurt though!

Sorry posted too soon!

cookies that's awful! I can't believe they're checking your BMI?! I can understand why you're so upset. And all because your measuring a week ahead?! Try not to get to worried I guess it's good they take it so seriously. Sending you a hug and a biscuit

I feel like I've missed so much in the past couple of days!

Seems like a lot of us are getting GTTs, I have a family history of diabetes so having mine on 29th April in the morning followed by anti-d in the afternoon (long boring day)
cookies I've always read that bmi is useless for pregnant ladies?? Poor you it seems a bit unfair.
elliz new born ted picture is adorable
Feeling a bit ashamed as some of you creative ladies making things - wish I had the skill and patience.
bluebell yes I was going to look into it. I have an adult first aid certificate and enjoyed the course.
Lots of good bf advice here and I'm really glad we will all be able to support each other at ridiculous times in the morning with whatever feeding problems we may have bottle or boob.

thanks dats for the green high five...colour chosen when i didn't know what team we were on, if only the execution was as perfect as the colour, hee!..ravelry sounds fab, will check it out though my knitting needles have been silent for months now.

beautician - re DH's birthday, have you looked on notonthehighstreet.com? i think that site is excellent and has really good search capacity if you wanted something personalized etc.