Due February 2017 - thread #7

[topmammy]

Thread #7 for a very chatty bunch!

(Sorry I accidentally used the last message on the previous thread... hope everyone finds the new thread successfully )

Also top tip on the pram prices carly! I'm a retail Buyer so not surprised but they're certainly hiking prices for earlier than the rest of the market.

Sorry your scan was complicated, but at least you get to see baby again :)

Thanks sparkles, congrats on the baby boy!

Congrats sparkles! Boys are lovely :-)

London, we have a bugaboo bee too and traipse around the same area of SE London. Big plus points are that it goes on buses easily, goes round shops, it folds in one piece (although the new model has a small carry cot which might need detaching - I have an older model with a cocoon instead which is comfy for a newborn and didn't miss a carry cot) and it's light too (I used to carry it folded on my shoulder up two flights of stairs when we were in a second floor flat with no 1).

Negatives are that the wheels are a bit rickety and no use in mud or snow. The basket underneath is quite small too. The catches on the handle have broken once or twice but we have fixed no problem with spares.

We have used our bee for five years apart from a year long stint with a double when we had a 19month and newborn. We then went back to the bee with a buggy board when my eldest was 2.5, and still use it today when my 3 year old is too tired to walk! So it's lasted really well.

As you can probably see I'm a fan :-) there is an even smaller buggy called baby zen yoyo which I have seen people using too.

Good luck!

Congrats on the pinkness ceecee 💖
Amazing scan pic! Can see the ribcage etc...

And congrats ceecee too, girls are great. xxx

Congrats to scan people /finding out blue or pink! My current gut feeling for me is boy, but I did think girl for ages. 7th October scan date feels like aaaages away! I'm very impatient

Baby has given me a couple of big kicks around the same time early evening for the past two days, usually when I'm eating dinner. I was actually mid swallow when one kick came out of the blue and I nearly choked! . Not feeling much in the way of fluttering though, just these sudden occasional big kicks.

I'm definitely still starting maternity leave at 34 weeks. I'm knackered already, hah! I am going to assume also that I might have the baby around 37 weeks again like I did with DD.

So much to catch up on!
Congratulations on the scans CeeCee and Sparkles. I'm getting so impatient for mine now!
Welcome newbies
I'm also in the southern train area Fenella. It was one of several reasons I decided to give up work after going back for a few weeks. I ended up late home to my dd every night and she was getting a bit frantic for me by that stage. Plus my DH was having to do all the nursery pick ups so we didn't get fined when we should have been sharing it. Where have you moved to?
Is anyone with older dc not planning to get a double? Dd will be 2.2 but is a very good walker so I'm wondering if I can make do with a pram and a sling. I have an uppababy but it is the old version so although I can get an extra seat, it's not compatible with the pram attachment. I will need to use this so the baby can lie flat for at least 6 months.
It sounds like I need to make my mind up soon re the pram if prices are going to go up. I'm seriously pissed off that I'm being penalised for something I didn't vote for and still don't want.

sbs - not crazy at all. I've bought all the 0-3 months clothes and am planning to tell people we don't need anymore. I figure after the first 3 months the novelty of dressing my baby will have worn off and people can get 3-6 month clothes if they want.

Truth is, I'm quite fussy (though not as fussy as DH) so I'd prefer to get clothes and decor stuff myself. I've already said as much to my on DM and she totally gets it because she knows me. She just told me to tell her what I like and she'll buy it :) Does that make ungrateful and spoilt? Perhaps!

Congrats CeeCee!

Blue thanks for all the insight. I've been reading the Which Reviews for various pushchairs and I think this one is in my top choices. People have mentioned kids look quite exposed because of the lack of sidebars- has that been an issue at all? Have your kids found the seat comfy even with less padding on it for longer trips out?

Top I started getting big kicks on Monday evening too! Its so weird but I like it. It makes me feel like she's really strong. I got a few today and yesterday evening as well.

Congrats CeeCee & Sparkles- great news!

How old is your Uppababy Friendly? Mine's 2013 & am prob going to get a piggyback board (still available for older models from John Lewis amongst others). DS will be 3 so
I'm sort of borderline but we walk everywhere & he's pretty lazy....can't work out whether I should be forcing him to walk or going for the safe option!

I have the same Uppababy as you friendly and ready and thinking of using a combo of extra seat, buggy board and normal seat with baby in sling. Extra seat not compatible with carry cot as Friendly says, but it is with car seat so ok for short hops out.

Although having said that, we're on holiday at the moment have have only used the buggy for about 20 mins in total which surprised us, so there's a chance we don't need the extra seat at all. We have an umbrella fold one too, so if we need two for a longer trip out at the weekend DH and I could push one each. Partly the reason we haven't used it though is because we're in Holland and DS has been carted around on the back of a bike

Also, Friendly if I do get the extra seat I plan to buy second hand, as I doubt it would get used enough to make it worth the £100-ish it costs new. I've seen them on eBay for about £40. So I'm going to wait to see how DS is and whether we need one before I buy. I will def get a buggy board though, but plan to get a universal one so it will also fit our smaller stroller.

As an aside, totally with you on the leaving EU front, still sad that I didn't get to vote as I don't have UK citizenship.

No maternity leave worries for me thank goodness. I got made redundant at around 30-32 weeks with my first and have been a sahm ever since. When baby is born we will have a 4 year old (that doesn't start school until September 2017) and a 2 year old (that doesn't start pre school/nursery until Jan 2018) and a newborn so it wouldn't be cost effective for me to work anyway with the fortune we would pay in childcare.

I have my scan on Monday, really excited now as its crept up, seems to be going really fast. We aren't finding out and its killing me already haha, I'll be ripping mybhair out by 30 weeks x

Those wondering about doubles, from my experience ...

I got a double when I had my second, dd1 was 10 days from turning 2. I got the my child sienta duo, was cheap, not bulky and did the trick. I don't drive and dh works from 6am until 5pm so I walk a lot and used it on public transport often. I walk an average of 2 hours a day but that can often be more like 4-5 hours. The pram was an absolute god send for 6 months and then just never used. I started using the single when dd1 was two and a half. I used a buggy board and I just put a baby carrier under the pram so if it was a very heavy walking day dd1 could go in the pram and dd2 in the carrier. This time dd2 will be 2years3-4 months when baby is born and we are skipping the double. I'm not willing to fork out for the sake of 3 months. I've started having dd2 (23months) walk everywhere now to get her used to it and she's doing great. I take the stroller out in case but its rarely needed and often when i do its more for my ease to be totally honest. I'm getting a sling to use when baby is little and have my carrier if needed once baby is a bit older.

I will say though mine have been very good walkers and prefer it to being in the pram so it's made it easier. The downfall is I have to set off everywhere with lots of extra time as obviously it takes longer with little legs walking!

Sorry about the super long post just wanted to give some insight. I know a few people who've bought a double and its been a waste. Personally if your elder child is going to be over 2 and a half I wouldn't bother. Mine will be slightly younger but still doesn't seem worth it x

My darling boy

Morning lovely ladies.

Is anyone else getting a really sharp stabbing pain when coughing under their bump? It's absolute agony when I cough and I think I'm getting a cold so coughing and sneezing a lot. Is it just more stretching pain?

Aawww sparkles lovely clear picture!!

Yay! Congrats on the girl ceecee glad all went well. Pink shopping is so much fun :)

sparkles congrats on your little boy, the boys are deco catching up the girls now! I bet blue shopping is equally as fun :) baby shopping in general is just fun...I think I am an addict lol x

Thanks keeping, what you've said backs up my feeling that we wouldn't get enough use out of a double to make it worthwhile. I do drive and have use of the car during the week as DH gets the train to work, but tend to walk unless it's raining heavily as it's better for my sanity when stuck at home with a baby to get some fresh air and exercise! I'll buy a buggy board and see how we get on with that and a sling, and then I can always buy a double when the baby arrives if it looks like we need one.

Glad to hear that keeping, DD will be 2 years 8 months and our plan was just to get a buggy board, but my friend due a week before me is getting a double, which had me a bit worried, even though her DD is 4 months younger than mine.

I'm planning on using annual leave from 36 weeks and maternity leave from 38 weeks. I found out at my consultant appointment last week that I'll be induced at 38 weeks (or before if there are problems) but I'm still going with this plan as I can't plan for problems and will just have to deal with them if they arise. I'll have time off over Christmas, then be back in work for four weeks, if I find it hard I'll use annual leave to make them short weeks.

I'm a bit worried about the price rises mentioned up thread for the icandy, but I definitely don't want to buy before the 20 week scan at the earliest, so I think I'll just see what happens and maybe have to go for a cheaper pram if prices do go up.

london, the bee probably IS the best urban pram/pushchair. I'm farther out than you in the borough of Bromley and surrounded by woods and fields, so I got a buffalo when I was pregnant with DD because we do a lot of woodsy walks, but I'd bought a second hand bee by the time she was 4 months for going on public transport and because we were moving to Paris for 8 months from when she was 7 months. It was perfect! I have never felt the need or urge to get an umbrella fold little stroller because the bee is already compact and super eat to push (one handed, unlike umbrella folds!). It has real staying power as my 98th centile tall daughter will still be using it until this baby is born and then will go on the bugaboo comfort buggy board. I don't plan to get the carrycot, though, I'll just be using the fleece cocoon.

Plus, they're pretty. I actually resold my bee+ for just as much as I had bought it in 2014 just last month and have bought a new limited edition bee3 because I love the petrol blue colour.

Thanks for all the input on the buggies. I have the 2014 uppababy so I think I'll just get the buggy board for now. Dd has been walking for almost 11 months and wants to walk everywhere anyway. It's about half a mile to Waitrose, the playground and the duck pond and slightly less to playgroup so a manageable distance. Annoyingly it's uphill but dd manages there and back a lot of the time. I do like to contain her in the buggy so she doesn't destroy waitrose but hopefully I'll manage. It will only be on days out that it will be more tricky but I have the car and a sling.
I've booked dd's chicken pox vaccination today because I can't face her having pox either being pregnant or with a small baby. Already dreading it.

Interesting that the vast majority of us seem to have gone for the bugaboo or the cosatto giggle- clearly we all have excellent taste!

Day 3 of new house here and I am exhausted and everything hurts! Have tried to take it easy as far as possible but there's been no avoiding some heavy lifting and I keep getting so paranoid I've hurt the baby

Ah Friendly, I hadn't considered that not having a double buggy will mean DS running riot around Waitrose!

I have reins for him as he's not keen on hand holding and tends to run off without any concern for his safety or where we are, so in busy areas like airports or theme parks/zoos they actually give him more freedom as it means he can walk when he'd otherwise be contained in the buggy against his will. Maybe I'll have to use them for shopping. I have a feeling I'll be using Ocado a lot more than I do currently!

I use reins all the time too twocats. I don't trust dd to not run off. She actually sees them as a sign she can walk and gets excited!
The only thing I would say about the bugaboo is that it's quite low down. My DH is really tall and said that, and the majority of other prams, felt like a child's pram to him. The uppababy was one of the only ones where he wouldn't have to stoop. He hates our maclaren stroller for the same reason. I don't think that this is a problem for non Giants though and I have heard great things.