May 2017 #6........ 'Half way there and trips to Mothercare'

[Adventuregame]

And the chat/moans/advice/excitement continues.............any newbies welcome !

What a day! DH and I have been strolling all around London, feet and back are truly in pieces now! Got home and he ran me a bath, candles on, a drink and a little bit of chocolate is hitting the spot right now ☺

Amazing news on all of the scans and some gorgeous little bumps out there!

I'll make sure I update the spreadsheet with EDDs and those for the coffee meet up on the 16th on Monday morning for sure and then I'll repost the link to the sheet.

Hi again! Jumping on this board as I lost it a bit when we switched
Couple of quick questions for the more knowledgeable ladies around:

1. Slings - love the idea of one, no idea where to start! With this being my first any advice would be appreciated

1. Ante-natal courses - we have booked into the local NHS one provided by our hospital, it's a one day thing on a Saturday. Will this be enough, or should we be looking at NCT courses too?! First timers to all of this so feeling a little overwhelmed!

Will try and update my details on spreadsheet when on the computer, be great to see if anyone else is around the Sussex area!

Badger that sounds like a tough weekend! Hope you get a chance to put your feet up too.

Ticky NHS and NCT will cover the same things, it's more about networking with other mums to be and I believe NCT has a longer focus on breastfeeding. I stuck with the NHS ones as I figured I'd be more likely to meet local mums who actually live near me rather than those 15-20 miles away. And in the end I met more people going to baby groups after anyway. Not sure if I'm going to go this time but may pop in to the first one to see who's there. Our NHS ones aren't scheduled until much later - last time my first class was at 36 weeks and there were 4 classes! NCT I think you can do from 30-odd weeks.

Thank you for your nice comments everyone! I do feel a bit like a pig but hey.

I'm the same as stationary with the NHS classes being a lot later on. Not sure if second timers are allowed to go or if first places go to first timers. To be honest, the NHS ones at our place weren't great and I know how to look after a baby etc however a morning off work sounds appealing to me!

Raspberryinmelon - are you able to update the list, as I'm having a boy and this is baby no 2#?

Many thanks

Morning ladies

Hope you are all well.

Just wanted to know if any of you are thinking of having a baby shower or if any of their friends/family are wanting to organise one?

I didn't have one when I was pregnant with dd, as I wasn't really fussed about it and am not sure I'll bother this time round but have a feeling my friends might have other ideas.

Jennymac my mum and sister have made it very clear that i will be having a baby shower, it's the first baby in the family so they are both very excited, plus they love any excuse for a get together! Not really sure what to expect though!

Hi jenny I didn't have one last time and won't be having one this time! I'll be honest; I don't like them! Most people I speak to don't like going to them and feel they "need" to take a gift for the mum or feel pressured into taking a present before baby is born...also I hate being the centre of attention in such an obvious way! I find it really awkward!!

Plus I have a horror story of a friend who did the huge baby shower, the unveiling of the nursery, multiple Facebook pictures then she had a stillbirth. Horrific.

However, this isn't a judgmental post and totally support those having them! I just personally wouldn't!

Sonnet18 - I too don't like being the centre of attention and am not fussed about having a baby shower.

Tickyboovicki - I went to the baby showers of a couple of my friends, who were pregnant at the same as me a few years back. We ate lots of cupcakes and goodies as well as played games like 'guess the contents of the nappy' etc. They also had a sweepstake on whether the baby will arrive on its due date and how much it would weigh.

Baby showers are not my thing at all, refused to let my friends organise one 1st time round and I doubt they'll offer this time!

I won't be having one, have made it clear to my sister and best friend!! We got married last year so all our nearest and dearest already have spent enough money on things like hen parties, wedding stays, present etc so have just said it would be nice to go just for a meal with the girls before the baby is due with a clear rule of no gifts!! Xx

That's a nice idea mrspage!

No babyshower here either. A friend had one & it was lovely but I just find it an odd concept. Will have some sort of barbeque / get together early summer so everyone can meet her when she's here.

Also, I don't have a big group of girlfriends - best friends are a mix of men & women that DH & I went to 6th form with. (Didn't have a hen night or anything like that for wedding).

My mum hates the idea of baby showers too - she refuses to go to SIL's!

I think me and my mum and a couple of other close family members may go out for afternoon tea or something but definitely no presents or organised fun!

I was thinking about having a get together when I go to Belgium end of February. They don't really have the habit of a baby shower, and besides they're not in the habit of buying a present after birth anything else than from a wishlist, just like with a wedding, which makes a lot more sense IMHO.
At my work (the nice job) I have a colleague who is due.10 days before me and they have a baby shower tradition but at least it's not all focus on me, and a nice bring and share lunch, which I love doing! They chip in all together to have a few goodies generally, which I think is a nice gesture. In any place I've worked over here, baby showers are just quite a nice thing to do, so I don't mind.
I hope you're recovered from the walk Raspberry.
Maybe we can do a 'last' get together with us in April without presents but just a good laugh about our bellies? Have a group photo to keep etc?

I think afternoon tea is a lovely idea as an alternative to a baby shower!

I know that my friends and mum will organise something, but it'll be a chilled get together for sure. Just sharing stories of birth etc and a natter with tea and cake.

All recovered just about thanks Rustler although I need to treck to Mothercare today to return my car seat and pram - we've got the Wayfarer Chelsea which came with a black car seat which at the time we were told they weren't releasing a matching car seat and changing bag until the Autumn - we'll, they've released it now and it's in a package deal. Thankfully I bought it within the Xmas returns period so I'll pay the little bit of difference and swap the package over. Just a pain to get the whole thing back to Bluewater.

I've got my work Christmas party tonight, it'll be fun I'm sure, but a pain to get to Mayfair with the tube strike.

Jennymac no prob, I'll update tomorrow!

Anyone got any exciting plans for today?

I like the afternoon tea idea. One of my friends threw me a surprise baby shower when I had my first- and I found it utterly mortifying This friend didn't know me very well and although I really appreciated the effort she went to, I really cannot stand being the centre of attention. At all. I still don't quite understand why those who know me better didn't shoot the idea down!

I do think it's a nice way to get together though.

I've not been o. The thread in ages. I'm really shit at keeping up with group threads .

I've got my 20 week scan on Tuesday. It's DS's first full day of preschool so it's mine and DH's first day together alone in 5 years that hasn't had to be planned!

And my DM has offered to get our pushchair so that's a huge weight off my mind

I'm clearing out spare room ready to strip wallpaper & get it plastered (will be the nursery).

DH's boss kindly gave us his little one's old nursery furniture. It's a few years old and needs repainting, but good quality and will save us a fortune! Feeling weirdly real now we have that in the house!

Have a good time tonight raspberry and good luck with Tuesday's scan tantrum!

We're half way through stripping the nursery today - now moving onto plan B

The previous occupants had a border round the whole room that we've removed but the glue won't come off without stripping the lining paper underneath so it's a bigger job than we'd anticipated. Anyone know if we can just put more paper over the top of painted lining paper? Or will it end up bumpy?!

Oh well - Off to B&Q again!

Unless your new paper is thick grow you'll probably be able to see the glue. I share your pain. When we renovated the last place we had about 50 years worth of wallpaper to strip before decorating.

Anyone bought a nursing chair? I didn't the first time as we didn't have space so just fed in the bed at night, and it was very hard on my back. Quite fancy one for the new baby's room.

Esme I had one for my first but didn't use it much.

Is anyone else likely to move house? Think we'd manage for a few months if we don't find anything before May but neither can I imagine moving with a tiny baby. Would just have to pay packers and whoever I can get to help out!

teainbed were looking to move as well. Our house is currently on the market so fingers crossed we find a buyer before may! But if not we have space here, just want it to be a property that we actually own! So might end up doing the moving process with a tiny baby anyway. Our fate is in the hands of the timing!

Why was that tea? Are they not that useful?

We moved into a half finished house when DD was 10 months. It wasn't the most fun time. There were no doors on and she had just started crawling. Good movers are essential.