October 2017 #5!

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Hope no one minds me setting up a new thread- we were getting full up on the other one!

Here is the link to the deets sheet, feel free to add or edit your details as you please:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pa8LZMKMLvREYH4kFiNqn1dD7aTb053cT_KHvghwvSM/edit?usp=sharing

Bring on the third trimester aches, midwife appointments and birth plan chat!

Yes I am trying(!) to get my hands on a Cozee crib, although Mothercare are not making that easy! I have looked at them in store though and really like them so trying not to be deterred! They are pricey but I decided to treat myself.

I wanted to try a sleepyhead after a friend recommended one but have heard conflicting advice about whether you can use one in the Cozee. I've heard that John Lewis staff have been advising people only to use a sleepyhead in a cot, but the sleepyhead website says you can use it in a crib/bassinet, so I'm not sure what the difference is? It's all so confusing!

I may follow suit on the treating yourself to a cozee- we also have both sets of grandparents living 150 miles away so will be useful to have something that can also travel with us. 😊

I reckon a sleepyhead would fit in a cozee as apparently they're bigger than a snüzpod and I know people who have used them in those! I know sleepyheads are very popular (my SiL raves about them)... personally I'm not too convinced on their safety having read the advice from the Lullaby Trust about not using anything that's padded and goes around baby's head, plus I found a few (very unfortunate) incidents of bubbas who rolled in the night in similar devices and suffocated against the sides. Logical me says this is a very unlikely scenario but the final no for me personally was seeing sleephead actively promote co-sleeping on their website, which I don't agree with. (... and I'm the spirit of openness a healthy chunk of my vendetta against sleepyheads comes purely from my emotional reaction to feeling that SiL just tells us what to use and buy to have exactly the same baby journey she has- we're the same age but she has 2 children under 3 so assumes the expert position on child-raising and I'm just a bit fed up of being told what to buy or do... I want this to be our journey where we make the decisions... is that so wrong?!) Sometimes I feel like just letting Bubbabean sleep in a sock drawer for the first six months as the market for all things baby-related feels so overwhelming at times!!! 🙈

Yes I like the fact that you can travel with it, that it tilts and it looks smart too, it appealed to me much more than a Moses basket type set up (and a full size cot won't fit in our room at the start). But agree it isn't exactly cheap when you think how long it will last! Oh well, I still want it!

All valid points re: sleepyhead, it really is a minefield isn't it?! Who knew the world of baby products was so darn complicated!! And everyone likes to stick their oar in with "helpful" advice too!

Arghhhh as I suspected, no 28 week check up, just stabbed with needles. Asked if I had any concerns, told the lovely midwife there that I was worried that my bump was quite small, she said 'yes I can see that' and told me that she would have given me the 28 week check up but she didn't have time, bless her. And that wasn't what I was there for anyway... so tried to call my hospital/midwife and no flipping answer. Grrrr. Lovely midwife with the stabby needles did say that I was quite petite anyway (officially love her), and that I had a long torso so baby was probably tucked up somewhere... Worried now. Especially as I won't be able to get an appointment for next week as we are away (not by choice, close family wedding).

Arghhhh, someone pass me some calm and serenity. Sorry for drama queen post but I would rather know now if there is something amiss...

Sorry that sounds a bit pants boxes. I wouldn't worry about having the appointment after next week, as I said I ended up having my 28 week app at just shy of 30 weeks as midwife didn't have a free slot before then. And wouldn't you know it my friend (who was consistently told she was measuring very big all through the last stages) has just given birth to a baby weighing 6lbs 11oz, so obviously not so big after all! I'm sure mini-boxes is perfectly housed in there as the lovely midwife said today 😊

Bumble my justification in my head is fast becoming to compare baby purchases with wedding purchases... which cost a lot more for only 1 day so by that logic everything that lasts 6 months seems really good value!! 🙈🙈

Sorry you weren't able to have the full appointment today boxes - but honestly try not to worry about bump size, mine is almost off the chart small, but baby was spot on at last scan and sonographer said it is just a combo of the position of the baby (curled up and tucked right back into my pelvis) and the fact that I'm fairly tall and slim(ish!)

Midwife also told me that the main thing to check is movement, as long as they are wriggling away in there that is a really good indication that all is well.

mummabubs that is excellent logic!

Hi all
Hope you are all well. I will be 30 weeks on Sunday & the time seems to be just flying by. Bump grown loads this week & feeling lots of movement, only 4 weeks left at work & ante natal classes start next Thursday! It's all getting very real now & exciting. Still loads of stuff I think we need to buy buy trying not to spend on unnecessary items that people keep saying to buy. There's so many baby things on the market I'm also getting very confused lol.
Is anyone going to be getting the flu jab? I've had the whooping cough one but just don't really want the flu one I e never had flu since I was a child & thinking it's kind of the wrong season not like it's the middle of winter, just unsure if to get it. x

My weight has really jumped as well, though I only seem to be weighed before scans as well - but it was up by 2kgs between nuchal and anomaly, but then another 6kgs between anomaly and placenta site scan. Though that was right after a week's holiday during which I treated myself to ALL the milkshakes...

And it does seem like everywhere does it differently with the fundal height measurements - I was measured at the 25-week check (though I was 25+6), and again a couple of days ago. And both midwives (I've yet to see the same person twice for anything during this pregnancy - I'm starting to think I probably won't at all) have seemed to take it fairly seriously, though I don't know what they would have done if I hadn't measured exactly what they thought I should for my dates...

We've also decided to go for a postnatal doula, and I feel so happy with that decision. We haven't got much of a support network where we are, so it's just really nice to know that there will be someone around to help us out in figuring out how to care for a baby in the first few weeks - and she'll be a familiar face, for once! Plus, she's also a birth doula, so she gave me a few pointers for what it might be useful to put in my birth plan (ie, as few people in the room as possible, always explain examinations before doing them, the BRAIN acronym) - instead of the wishful thinking I was wondering if I was meant to put (eg, go to hospital, have baby 30 minutes later, go home 3 hours after that).

Hi @ButterflyGem - pretty sure you can't get a flu shot right now. They usually make them in the autumn for that season's strain and give them out over winter, I believe. They wouldn't have any flu jabs right now, so we're all off the hook on that one!

@ButterflyGem just to say you definitely can get the flu jab all year round! My GP surgery is still advertising for people to have it. I'm an NHS employee working with the elderly so I always have it every year so didn't need a top up but if you do decide you want it you can definitely have it 😊

I had my bump measured at my 25 week check up but she didn't say if it was big or small and just wrote "done" in my notes, no numbers. So I've no idea what the point of it was. I have a growth scan and my 28 week check next week so will get a better idea then. Strange how differently things are done in different areas.

@Cineraria I agree, I would do baby led weaning again. It was very messy for a while (though not as messy as for you by the sounds of it!) but we often get compliments now about what a neat and tidy eater DD is. She is still a fussy madam though so not sure it helped in that respect!

Ooh the thread has been moving quick the past 24 hrs!

I haven't been weighed at all except for at my hospital scans (12 & 20 w) and only by the midwife at my booking in appt. def think I've put on about a stone but it seems to all be on my bump, luckily I haven't filled out anywhere else really.

Also this may be tmi but I gave hand expressing a go tonight, more out of interest/to learn how to do it than for the milk and I was amazed when liquid actually came out. I actually felt kind of emotional about it I didn't do it a lot, I stopped when I saw liquid, but I was so amazed that my boobs seem to have a real life function! DP seemed a bit freaked out tbh ha. I told him he better get used to it!

I've got my baby shower on Sunday so please pray for sunshine over SE London because we're outside in the park!

Lots of questions going on here so quick round up from me:

I see the same midwife every time, she only does Fridays in the community so every time I see her I make the next one or two appts directly with her. She's based at one of the surgeries within my doctor's practice. They don't measure generally until 28 weeks and then plot it on a graph, only raise concerns based on if you're very big or small or slow down/speed up more than expected. I assume everyone has the same big green book as "notes"? Maybe not. In mine there is lots of info about what they will do and when.

Won't be the same midwife for birth generally, though some will have a day where they see patients and then a couple of shifts in the hospital, so you might see one you know if yours does this. Normal full time for a labour ward midwife is 3x 12hr (AFAIK) shifts so you could end up with anyone really.

Hi everyone! I don't normally post but I have been checking in sometimes (here and the positifricintentive thread some of you were on). Bit delayed, but congratulations everyone! I just wanted to say Boxes, they measure from top to bottom of the bump (took me by surprise, for some reason I thought they'd go across) so if you're tall the bump will always look smaller, it's not going to stick out as much. My friend, who is 6', didn't look pregnant all the way through and she has a healthy and long 2 year old now! I have the opposite problem, I'm a foot shorter and mine sticks out miles! Hope that helps! I'm 30+5 by the way!

Also if your ribs expand more, your bump can look smaller as there is more room to grow upward. Mine don't at all, maybe as some are fused; I wore a 30 band size bra all throughout my last pregnancy, so my bump sticks out a lot and looks like the end of a salami by the end of the pregnancy and my poor son was born with little curling inward feet as he was long and they got squashed by my ribs. We had to massage them several times a day to help them uncurl. This one is supposed to be much longer!

We are finishing the nursery today!! Cot and changing table has just been delivered so building that and all the finishing touches!! Then I'm all ready to have a baby!

Aah @greentreeseverywhere that's so exciting! What cot did you go for?

I have my baby shower today in the park, luckily I think the weather may just hold out

Another Saturday where I overdid it with walking too far :/ Stoopid amazing weather makes me want to go miles all the time! Now sat on the sofa feeling super breathless and rubbish this morning. OH WELLZ. Anyone else struggling to get into gear with researching/buying baby stuff because they feel too brain dead? I am going to be terrible when the baby arrives and I TRULY feel exhaustion! :D

Well done with being so organised Greentrees. I wish we were! My DS is 22 months and yesterday we finally ordered the shelf we always planned to use in his nursery above his changing table and also converted his cot to a bed as I can't lift him into it easily any more if he's asleep. The only reason our bedroom is ready for the next one is because we never put away the co-sleeper or chest of drawers we had from when my son used it as we were already trying for another. He still gets in the co-sleeper sometimes and it reminds me how much he has grown as he fills it now!

Hope the shower goes well, Gimble. Have fun!

Good luck with the baby shower, @GimbleInTheWabe! I'm hoping for good weather today as well, as I'm on my way to see a play at the Globe - I was wondering what had possessed me to sign up for sitting on their seats for three hours, but then I realised I didn't know I was pregnant when I booked the tickets. Maybe it'll be so good I won't notice the pain?

And I've finally got some of those much-vaunted hand-me-downs! Only problem is, I don't think the donor really looked them over before passing them on - they're quite moth-eaten. And while I'm all in favour of second-hand, I'd rather not dress the baby in something that's already been a moth's dinner.

So what's the best course of action when 9-12 month stuff? Keep it, take a picture to share once baby is big enough - or just bin it and pretend to be unable to find it when the time comes?

And re. getting organised - I'm so glad I did my giant spreadsheet of stuff a couple of months ago. It's not as impressive as @Cineraria's, but it'll do. I never thought I'd say this, but this spreadsheet is my friend! We've decided to just keep everything nicely packed away until September, though, as there are still some of our own things that we don't know where to put when we move stuff around...

Hey Cineraria that's interesting about rib expansion... I'm usually a 32 bra band size and I'm already up to 38 at 29 weeks !!! Thanks for the explanation I thought something odd was going on as im not much bigger anywhere else

enjoy your baby shower Gimble
mines tmin September and it's already causing me a head ache (my mum and mil 🙄) I didn't even really want one
it's the Oxford range from Argos. we're moving at Xmas so we got a cheap easy to take apart set 🤣

I'm starting to panic about lack of organisation today!

I'm not due until the third week of October, but we're currently looking to move somewhere else and are in the process of viewing houses, so I can't see us being moved until the end of August, and then its sorting everything out!
And then sorting out moving to a different hospital/doctors/midwife (where we're moving is an hour away from here), and I'm getting quite stressed about the whole thing!

I had to take a day off work last week as I had awful stitch pain across my stomach for a full day whilst at work to the point I almost had to pull over on my drive home as it was awful. Woke up in the morning and the pain was still there so took the day off work, just lay down and relaxed and have felt much better since!

Does anyone else worry their baby isn't lying properly? I feel like mine is lying slightly sideways to the right as it's always really hard there and sticking out and and I can't really feel him above my belly button.

leannejade we are in exactly the same position. Due to move into our new place at the end of August (dependent on the previous tenants moving out...) so the panic has well and truly set in... all we have is the pram and some boxes of clothing for baby. Ahhhhhh! Just want to be organised and have a horrible feeling that something is bound to go wrong and we will end up in a tent! Not to mention all the stress of packing and unpacking etc. Just trying to remain positive. It will all be fine, right? Well done to everyone who has got nurseries etc sorted!

Can anyone advise what to do re sterilisers etc? Popped into mothercare yesterday and had a quick look at some stuff, but it's just so confusing! Planning on breastfeeding, so so I just need a bottle sterliser? Which one? There were microwave ones, steam ones, ones that looked like they had been designed by NASA... They are bloody expensive as well! And baby monitors... which one to get? This is where my genius plan to start up a business of personal baby shopping would come in useful...

It is such a minefield of products isn't it boxes. We're still getting stuck on sleeping arrangements as we have a carrycot as part of our travel system bundle so DH wants to keep them in that for the first 6 months on a stand rather than buy a Moses basket/next to bed sleeping thingy... whilst I do agree with saving money where possible I don't see how transporting a fixed wooden stand in a small car to our parents every month or so is going to work out... equally the product I love (Tutti Bambini Cozee) does feel like a lot to spend for something you only use for 6 months. Uurrrggghhhh it's overwhelming in my headspace right now!! (Possibly unaided by the limited sleep I'm getting at night from acid reflux and an ever wriggly Bubbabean!)

Sorry, went on a complete tangent there! I meant to reply that I'm also hoping to breastfeed and I've heard some have managed this without the need for bottles/sterilisers at all... so I figure I won't buy any pre-birth and if it looks like we will need them then I'll dare to look at the market. (For what it's worth I also hear that a dishwasher or a pressure cooker will sterilise baby bottles just as well as "official" equipment??)