Lizziemun, what gorgeous girls' names. Sorry you are not getting to chat when everyone else is on the board. My other half also likes Ruby, but I decided on a whim against as it is becoming so popular. The great thing about your names is they all have good nicknames as well as being lovely in full for when she grows up (the boardroom test...) I also liked Nina for Georgina, although I realise most people use Georgie. I had a friend at college who was Gina as well. Lorelei is gorgeous.
Stretchmarks, the babyshow sounds like fun. How long did you spend with the 4D scan? I have been put off them by the fact that I heard that people spend up to forty minutes getting the right angles etc.
I would not be apologetic about the matching clothes. My cousin swore she would not do it with her twins after reading all the right parenting guides that tell you to individualise etc etc, but guess what, she caved, and the girls are very much their own separate selves anyway. So, I think it falls into that category of if it doesn't cause friction, why not?
So bamboo? Anyone actually used it before? Horror stories about drying time put me off the Tots Bots, but I bought some straight terry style nappies in bamboo from ebay and thought they were the softest loveliest things for a newborn. Am going to buy some bamboo cloth from a website I found through ebay and make some more squares.
I bought a lot of my nappies from ebay and some of the used ones seem a bit harsh/crinkley - like old towels that have not used fabric conditioner. The Motherease Sandy nappies I bought are like this. They are otherwise perfect and I believe strongly in using second hand if I can so any tips for getting them soft again without using chemicals would be much appreciated.
Also does anyone know whether you can use a nappy service if you don't want phosphate based cleaning solutions used on your nappies, or are you stuck doing them yourself if you want to stay green?