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

[Adventuregame]

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

sal welcome! I too have an 11 month old and am 22 weeks pregnant. Ever have the "what have I done?" Moment? I've had a few of those!

Congrats on all the scans. Had mine a few weeks ago and all is well.

lucie you just click and go with the isofix base. Ours was included in the travel system package we bought (Vista pram with buggy attachment, iSize car seat and base, adaptors to attach carseat to buggy chassis). Doesn't make much difference when they are little, but when they get bigger and start to throw a strop not having to lean over them to fit a belt helps. We used the seatbelt fix if we were in another car - ie my parents took me and baby somewhere - because we only had one sensible car at the time (yes, looking at you silly toy sports car!).

If anyone is getting a carseat from a friend/relative, make sure to check the expiry date as these can be just 5 years on some models. They all have one hidden on the seat somewhere by law.

raspberry can you please add me to the list (I'm brave enough now. Eek!) as I'm a nightmare around computers!! DC #1, 26th may, girl, I'm 39, Herts. Thanks :)

So Barnes is it somthat the I-size can be used even in non isofix cars?
I keep meaning to check if my skoda Fabia (61 reg) has it as in physically see the fittings, but I don't know what to look for and skoda lovers say it should be in there.
I definitely want a car seat that grows with the child and not having to change it over too soon (definitely not grabbing the car seat out of he car with my baby in it) if we are going to be obliged to use the I-size from 2018 then I don't see the point of getting the one I had my eyes on for now.

Rustler - the i-size base is an "improved" version of the isofix base, so still needs the isofix fittings in the car. The store should be happy to check the car seat is compatible for you and a quick Google should confirm if your car has isofix points.

lucie (i think) not all car seats need a base especially if it's an infant carrier, they secure with the seatbelt pretty easily. Check which seat you intend to use.

"rear-facing carseats/do I buy bottles if I plan to BF/how do I get baby to sleep through/etc etc!"

• your first seat will rear face, try ensure you get one that lasts past 9kg rear facing, 13kg is better. Both britax and maxi cosi do a good one, will try fish out the model name for you. You can go for a seat which should last from birth to 4+ rear facing but they are often more expensive, you may be better off buying an infant carrier then a toddler rear facing. The cheapest start to 4+ ones are joie stages / every stage. I'm probably going to get an infant carrier again then follow on with the britax two way elite (which is what we did for our 4yo who's still in the two way elite and on his current growth projection will be there until new baby outgrows the infant carrier) although am considering the joie stages.

• bottles - yes, but not many, as some babies are fussy about their teats!. Medela claims to have the teat that is most like breast feeding. You may want to express milk to enable others to feed baby occasionally and/or to get baby used to the idea of bottles in preparation for your return to work. I'll be trying to introduce a bottle pretty early on this time and will be trying to stick with approx one bottle a day to keep it going, last time we got out the habit and by 6 months, when i started back set work part time, he was having none of it. It wasn't a crisis, but will try avoid this time!

• your baby won't 'sleep through', and "sleeping through" is only defined as 5 hours solid iirc. Bed sharing and breast feeding make life much easier IMO - you don't have to get out of bed to feed, so you don't fully wake up to do it, i honestly couldn't tell you how many times in any given night I was woken as i simply didn't remember (and not through exhaustion, just because i dozed through most of it).

rustler you won't be forced to move to i-size, if anything it's just that new models brought out will be i-size.

badger anterior on its own isn't anything to worry about, the issue is if it's low lying (not simply in front) - think the term is placenta praevia.

Car seats: if you're looking for an infant carrier the ones that may last longer are

• Maxi Cosi Pebble
• Cabriofix
• Britax Babysafe We had a britax last time and i was happy with it so probably that again.

Some info here on extended rear facing seats (erf) - there's also a fb group 'car seat advice for mummies and daddies' worth a look
erfmission.com/extended-rear-facing-car-seats-that-wont-break-the-bank-seatbelt-install/

Wowzers! Thought as I hadn't taken a photo since W14 it was probably time... where the hell has this sprouted from!! 😳

Rasperry I was asked today if I had used a football pump to blow myself up over Christmas because my bump has suddenly grown!!

Evening ladies

Great photo raspberry!

I went to my first pregnancy pilates session today and feel retched afterwards. Didn't help that the exercise studio was so hot that I thought it was going to faint. Probably didn't help matters by forgetting to eat something this afternoon before my session.

Feel quite pants, as I really used to enjoy pilates and stopped going when I reached 6 weeks due to nausea and sickness. May try a different class, as I don't want to throw in the towel just yet.

To top things off, the nausea has come back and I just threw up. Yay for pregnancy!

Jenny - worth asking them to turn the heat down?! Pregnant ladies usually are hot! Maybe it'd be better next time if you eat before too.

So jealous of the lovely bump! I STILL don't have any noticeable bump, by the evening time I look a bit fat and can't suck it in but that's literally the height of it

jenny I had my first pregnancy yoga session last night and it was excellent! Maybe try yoga instead of Pilates?

With regard to the sleepyhead, I searched it after the discussion on here (had never heard of it) and really like the concept, esp to put in the bed for co-sleeping. Was shocked at the price but a quick amazon search and I found an alternative for under £50 - has rave reviews with many saying it's the same as the sleepyhead without the price tag! Just in case anyone else is looking and wants to save some pennies....
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00UIZIVEY/ref=mp_s_a_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1483686842&sr=8-6&keywords=sleepyhead

Don't worry Nurse - my bump is not photo-worthy either!

I have a double bump (apparently usually labelled a 'B bump') - a bump above my belly button and another bump below. It looks rubbish and just looks wobbly and like I've eaten too many mince pies over Christmas even though generally I'm a size 10. Humph.

Nurse - my bump is also not photo worthy. My entire torso has just thickened, right up to under my boobs so just look like a tree trunk

On a different note, I've been told I have to use all my annual leave in the annual leave year so that means I have to go on annual leave on 1 April (2 months before EDD) and start mat leave 1 week before EDD. Kind of glad I don't have to stay at work as long

My leave is the same as you Barnes Ive got a week booked in November already so will have about 20 days to take before Mat Leave.

However, when I saw the midwife yesterday she's referred me for physio for SPD and has recommended that I think about starting Mat Leave two weeks before my due date so I'd go off on April 10th

I need to use my leave up in the annual leave year too. I don't know Barnes if yours also starts in April but if so is it not possible to tag it onto the end of your maternity leave in 2018? That's what I'm going to do.

Happy new year ladies! What an exciting year we're all going to have! Also wow new thread already! We are a chatty bunch!
I'm 23 weeks today and little fella is moving loads! We can see him kick on the outside now too which is fantastic. Finally getting the anomaly scan today and can't wait to see our LO, he had a major growth spurt over the past month which has resulted in a very prominent bump! DH was apparently a 10lb baby so wondering if this fella is going to be the same!
Just got back last night from Australia and SO jetlagged that I've been awake since 2am :-/ and had dinner and breakfast in a space of 4 hours lol.
Also my GTT results came back normal woohoo! Such a relief. I wonder if I'll have to repeat it at 28 weeks.
Have just caught up on all the posts and I must say I'm so impressed by everyone who has been so organised and started buying furniture and preparing nurseries. Got a load of a baby stuff from my sister including an Ergo and breast feeding pillow (carried it all the way back from Oz and didn't look weird at all lol!). We are hoping to move in March so all the big items will have to wait till after.
Ladies in London, I really want to start a prenatal yoga class and i'm looking at the active birth yoga classes, does anyone go or know about them? There's a book 5 get 1 free class if you book before Jan 31st. Here's the link: activebirthcentre.com/our-services/pregnancy-yoga/

Raspberry re your leave: if you don't feel ready to go off on 1 April, could you not take the leave in march 2018? That would mean you get paid again in that month, provided that you would go back in April 2018?

I'm really puzzled about my mat leave myself, as I was hoping to take it differently between the two NHS trusts I'm working for. This whole sick leave thing from 9 December onwards threw a bit of a spanner in, and I'm not yet closer to deciding whether I'll go back soon or not. Occu health appointment and my now arranged talk to the operational lead next week on Thursday is playing mind tricks. Baby brain all over ! I doubt whether they'll find a solution to make my work less stressful for me, and I can't think of any either. Today isn't gonna be a good day. I'll try again tomorrow x

Another fan of the Sleepyhead here, so good for travelling when baby is small too.

Yes anterior placenta only a problem if it's low and blocking cervix and you'd need a caesarean. They often move though which is good. I've had one both times but high and felt plenty of movement from quite early.

No nice bump here just look like I've over indulged even more than usual!

Also jetlagged here absolutely knackered but DS wants to party between 10 & 1 most nights!

Thanks for the spreadsheet raspberry have added in some details.

Sorry can't remember who was asking about bottles, I BF'd but expressed so DH could give a bottle a couple of times a week. I liked the glass MAM ones, easy to clean and sterilise and cute. Sadly DS stopped taking bottles at 4 months when he started teething but with new teats will be able to use them this time round!

I can't Rustler our annual leave year runs Jan - Dec

As I say though, I think I might need to have the time off tbh as much as I know I'll go out of my mind just sitting at home. Hopefully once the nursery is done it'll give me chance to occupy myself - I'll be able to sit in there and do some knitting

Blossom I've updated for you