Hi All,
Stranded definitely stick to your guns on this. My family nearly drove me to the brink after DS was born and it's one of my biggest regrets that I let them do it. Possibly Irish families are on a par with Italian families in this regard? The lot of them flew over as soon as I was in labour. Mercifully weren't staying with us, but came round as soon as I was home from hospital bearing bottles of champagne and holding cameras and stayed for hours playing pass the baby while I ran around getting glasses and nibbles etc. Next day Mum rang saying she'd arranged a lunch - 45 minutes away with 3 of my aunts and she'd see me there with DS... very important to get out of the house - would prevent PND apparently (though why she was concerned about this I don't know), and so it continued with endless rounds of relatives and cups of tea and drinks parties (FFS). In the end DH has to have stern words and send them packing before I ended up back in hospital. Anyway don't be me is what I'm trying to say! BTW my family are actually nice, or well-meaning at least, just exhausting. This time their participation will be limited to taking the toddler for a few hours so that I can park up in bed with the new baby.
rumisyum A lot of what you say rings true. I was really really neat last time round, definitely bigger this time. I'm also kind of nervous about the baby stage too. DS was an appalling sleeper and I'm dreading that this one will be the same. Two plus work is going to be hard, but hopefully it will ease a bit when they're older. DS is at a super cute stage (I much prefer toddler stage to baby) and I am looking forward to spending more time with him.
mslg If your pregnancy has been complication-free and your insurance would cover any health expenses then personally I'd go to SA. I'm flying to Canada for 5 days tomorrow. I'm feeling good so no concerns about going. It may be the last chance to fly long haul for a while and SA is fab!
Basket I had the vista. It's super pram, nice big bassinet and seat, great quality and I loved the huge basket. It is big and heavy though so I didn't like it on public transport and getting in and out of car (same with all travel systems). It was perfect for long walks from the house though. I'm ended up getting a BabyJogger City mini GT and just bought the double for this one!
All good here, tiredness is cranking back up a couple of notches. Looking forward to the 5 days in Canada. Even though it's work, it'll be a nice change of scenery. I'm getting wobbly about leaving DS though. This will be the longest I've ever left him.