Due March 2010 - we're halfway there!

[annamama]

... this is a new thread following on from the last one, welcome oldies & newbies ...

Disposibles : just like everything else, it will vary wildly from person to person how many maternity towels/breast pads/disposible knickers you'll need.

If in doubt, get more than you think you are going to need. Or just get a starter supply and if you do not like whatever you bought you can change brand/kind.

Disposable knickers... just seems too uncomfortable. I still have an unopened box from last time. Just get your dodgy old ugly unsexy knickers from the bottom of the drawer!

I just got cheap black humungous Tesco / Matalan knickers for post birth.

Thick mat pads are riduclously uncomfy - I switched straight to thin ones. Trust me, having had infections after each birth - nothing would mask the smell!

Problem with see your toes-type next one liner is that it has been done a few times before (I believe!)

Lansinoh pads are great.

Mumbot I love "hello baby goodbye pelvic floor" but I GUARANTEE that we'll not meet our babies on the next thread. Save that for the final one!

Um, maybe going against the flow here (no pun intended) but I'd advise to just get a few of things like breast pads / maternity towels and then see how you go. Everyone's different. I didn't need to use breast pads at all - just never leaked - so I ended up with loads I didn't need.

I did need plenty of maternity towels, but 20 is a good start. If you need more, the shops don't close once you've got a baby (although it's easy to forget that) and it's simple enough to get out and stock up (or send someone else to get some).

What I did get in advance last time round which was v useful was a load of large(ish) cheap black knickers which served me well, while needing to wear towels and could be chucked out afterwards if necessary.

My DD is fine now, thanks for asking Pixie. Still has check-ups every 9 months or so, but fingers crossed all seems OK.

Cheap cotton multipack knickers (mine were from Asda) = disposable, non?
I agree the paper ones are just horrible: gastly to look at and uncomfortable to wear.

Swings am loving the "shops don't close, you know" advice. Had to use the same thing on my DH in Sainsburys, where he seriously wanted to buy everything that was half price on the basis that we may need it! He also thought that maternity towels were like face towels that you lay on to give birth. Which made me

Good advice on trying different brands - I didn't even think of that [duh face].

Pacific that's my interpretation of disposable knix too (I did a similar thing for the first nine weeks of pregnancy as the progesterone pessaries that I needed after the IVF left a horrible waxiness that ruined knickers!).

Awww, IWCAS, it is nice to hear you sound excited! at rubber ducks!! But: they are essential. I am quite tempted getting the ones that glow in the dark ..

Yes, shops are open after child birth but getting there can be a challenge when pinned to the sofa by babyshaped limpet unless you have obliging DH/P or other family.
I admire all you organised folk, really I do. But the flipside is of course that really babies need hardly anything at all... Although not having ANY maternitiy towels would be a major mistake ...

Hi, ladies, am hopelessly behind after a week away with no computer access. Lovely holiday though

Have had a lovely day with my lovely little girl who was 2 today. Went up to the London Aquarium, then lunch at Giraffe - all a huge success!

I'm seconding the vote that 20 maternity pads prob won't be enough - my waters broke 48hrs before I gave birth and I leaked waters (sorry if tmi!) solidly until I had dd, so had gone through at least that many before I even had her! I had followed tips from on here and bought the thin nighttime pads, but did actually (and weirdly) find the maternity pads better - can't remember why now? More padding on my poor bruised, sore bits, maybe?!

Lansinoh breast pads were fab and for me a must until about seven months iirc. All a bit of a blur to be honest. I don remember thinking that it was nature's sick joke that you spend several weeks with stuff leaking from all your erogenous zones - soooooooo sexy!!!!

Caitni - your DH is funny (for an american)... IWCAS - rub down with maternity towel, yuk! Each to their own. Will you bring your ducks with you to the birthing pool so that the baby can get to play with them straight away?

Swings - going against the flow, hahaha, took me a while to get it...

I wonder if I could stick a nappy in big ugly knickers?

Remember the snow storm back in Feb? We were on our way to Heathrow that morning. Stuck on M25 for like 3 hours. I was desperate for a wee! Got a nappy from changing bag, put it down my pants..... and wee'd in it! Oh and we actually made our flight as it was delayed a few hours.

Pixie - no nuts, are you nuts? (But I'm not the allergic type so I don't worry about stuff like that.) DH has forbidden me to give DD peanutbutter though, just in case... until she's older I think.

Manda - I'm disappointed in you, surely you can think of something exciting (or not so exciting) to tell us...?

Continuing on the subject of buying things... When DD was born she was so small, well smaller than I had thought anyway (7 lb), none of the 0-3 months clothes we had bought fit her. Even some of the few newborn things we had were too big, we ended up buying a couple of early baby outfits. This time I'm not sure whether to buy more small stuff as it could be a bigger baby who will also feed well and get big very quickly! So I think we'll wait and see... now that I've been told shops will still be open after my baby is born, I thought it would be at least a week's national holiday!

Hi Minicooper - sounds like you had a great time, happy birthday to your DD! Yes being a new mum is very sexy... NOT!

Hi all
I'm ill [sob] and have been since Thursday, thought I'd get away with it so we went to Dorset as planned for the weekend and then promptly spent most of it in bed at our lovely friends' house. Dragged myself to see Eddie Izzard on sunday but he only made me smile a bit so I must be ill!!!!
But I am now home and near my own bed which is what I need I think. Shame though when you have a nice wknd planned and it all goes belly up! DD now has what I have except of course her pelvic floor is in better condition than mine and even if it wasn't she's still in nappies. I've actually had to resort to padding it up, I'm going through so many pairs of trousers but I CAN'T stop the coughing/sneezing attacks.
DH is lovely he's ordered pizza which has just arrived so more in a minute - I have plenty to say on slings/mat towels etc etc etc

hi Ladies
Feeling fine now, thanks for all your thoughts! I think was low blood pressure, as ate a snickers in the car when I started feeling odd, and it had no effect on the dizziness..

Why would someone need to avoid chips in pregnancy? ICWAS mentioned it and so did one of my residents today.. Ive been munching them and peanut butter for nearly 6 months..(not together).

Showing my ignorance (and first pregnant woman in friend circle status) but I didnt even think about bleeding after the birth.. will toddle back to Sainsburys and study the maternity pads.

While we are on consumables, has anyone used washable nappies on their children? How did you get on? Me and my idealistic husband have been reading up etc and not only does the money saving aspect appeal but it fits in with our mostly hypocritical green views.. (ie only when we remember!) I understand it could be a total pain but if you've never used disposables, you'd have nothing to compare with so you wouldnt know! Any Opinions? I think the green arguement goes along the lines of that the energy used in washing them compares to the energy used in making disposables, but a) you arent contributing to landfill and b) you arent using more plastics and chemicals. But Im not a flag waving green person, so Im still weighing this up..

BPM yey on house news!
Annamama lol at nappy story..

thread title ? I may be pregnant and its xmas, but I am not a taxi service...
or I am being moody?

Hi All,

Just wanted to drop by and say hi as a newbie to this forum. I'm a soon to be first time mum due in March too and am in South London.

I hope you are all well and look forward to hearing/sharing all your stories.

Sal. x

x post with MummyElk... hope youre feeling better soon

MummyElk - hope you feel better soon! Why are you called Elk by the way? I like Elks. In fact DD is sort of named after them, me and DH were trying for ages to see one in Sweden but we never did (I've seen them before though). Then he said what about Ellie it sounds exactly like Elk in swedish, so that's what we named DD.

Siamese - I like that thread title, haha! Good to see suggestions coming in. The toes one might not be so original but it's still good and seems popular. My mind is blank so far.

Uh yeah cloth nappies. My best baby friend was using them for a few months before giving up. They are quite bulky so her little boy was wearing sleep suits with the crotch open etc. But maybe there's better ones. Why don't you give it a try and then if you give up at least you've tried! About saving money, there's always special offers and money off coupons on nappies so it's not that expensive. I'm not campaigning for Pampers Babydry here but they do keep my girl really dry, we've never had to use nappy creams ever.

3 days until my DH comes home! I will give him a kiss and then hand DD over to him and ESCAPE!

Hi Sleepysunday and welcome! At the moment our stories are not too interesting, maybe you have something more exciting to add than what maternity towels you prefer...

Hey shroomer thanks for saying thanks... I thought no one had noticed and what is the point in this threasd if not to put useful stuff on here from time to time?

hello again [waddles back in full of carbs and snot]
welcome to sleepysunday congrats!
siamese firstly you reminded me, I completely did the Supermarket Swoon in my first pg and had forgotten about it. I think it's a low BP thing, and interestingly I did it quite a lot after the birth too, needed to remember to eat and drink!! My friend also did it in a supermarket - embarrassing isn't it?! Poor you - keep some snacks on you.
Washables - we've had a happy medium using both. Disposables at night and washables in the day most of the time. I have no guilt about using the odd disposable, i'm not going to break my back using washables all the time, and equally, I don't find washables extra work or a PITA. I would recommend talking to someone experty about it - here in Bristol we have the excellent boocoo but I know there are others out there.

slings i had the babybjorn, lovely for the first couple of months but then not so lovely on the back. Swapped to a KariMe and never looked back. I've lent it to a friend recently and regretted it, there are times when DD at 21 months could STILL use it....Looking forward to getting it back and wrapping LO up from the very start

annanmamma i'm so pleased you told that story I've been contemplating that for too long some time and now feel liberated that it's a definite emergency option!!!

maternity towels I went through a pack of 48 before I even left hospital. half of those were before baby. Nuff said.

and we've been using the ikea highchair from the start, can't recommend it enough. However - not sure if i missed the point (had a lot to catch up on this thread) are the people asking about it first timers?? Cos I didn't even think about highchairs for the first 4/5 months?? So don't take up extra space till you have to - is my opinion, wanted or not

right have to go, this is tiring. hope everyone well, and I hope I haven't missed a completely big clanger in whizzing through the last few pages of this thread.

p.s. I like the Xmas and I'm not a taxi thread title!! sooooo true

Hope you feel better soon, MummyElk. It is just not fair to be pregnant AND ill.

Hello, Sleepysunday, and welcome .

Re weeing in nappies: ROFL, annamama, but how ingenious, I am quite impressed.
I remember a trip to Manchester airport (from Scotland) where I seriously thought I would pass out from the discomfort of an overfull bladder. This was before I was married and had had children, and my pelvic floor was still intact . I would have been grateful for a nappy!!

I once tried to wring a dispoable nappy out to get a urine specimen (don't ask ) and they are spookily absorbant. Impossible to get anything out. I am quite sure reuasable nappies are better for the planet, but just cannot bring myself to try .
I think there is a whole "cloth users" bit on MN, it there not?

Hi annamama...I'm not sure my stories are that interesting either...just the usual pregnancy woes I am sure we are all going through.

We did have our scan recently though and were dying to know the sex of the baby. At first we were told it may be a girl but the sonographer wasn't sure so she said she'd do the organ checks then look again. When it came to it the little rascal had it's legs firmly crossed for the remainder of the time. The poor woman did everything she could to find out and then said she maybe thought it was a boy! Grrr! So we are none the wiser, are choosing male and female names, and are sticking to 'neutrals' in the nursery (or shall I say box room).

So that's my lot!

I like the Xmas I'm not a taxi thread title too!
Lots going on here but I'm going to skip straight to the bit that I've got an opinion on!
DH suggested real nappies to me when I was pg with DD and I said I would be far too busy to be bothering with washing nappies but our compromise was the nature eco nappies. Then when DD was about 6m I realised that I was on top of things and started experimenting with some cloth nappies, the friend I'd made at the local family centre had used reusables since the beginning so was able to offer advice. Anyway to cut a long story short the modern nappies you get are nothing like the old terry nappies some of us were put in and it really isn't that much of a PITA to use washables. My friend and I are now setting up our own business being real nappy advisors and selling them online but our site isn't active just quite yet.
I am not a hardcore real nappy addict. I still use a disposable at night and for holidays but definitely worth considering.
The local landfill isn't too far away from us and although we can't smell it from home as soon as you've gone a few miles down the motorway you get a whiff and that is piles of stinking nappies taking 500 years to decompose (along with a lot of other sh!te)
Right steps off soap box now
Never tried Lasinoh breastpads, bought Tommee Tippee but thought they were v expensive so then bought Boots own brand (slim) Tesco's own were rubbish.
Maternity pads - didn't use many switched to always night time pads pretty quick, didn't realise you weren't supposed to.
Definitely second the cheap big pants, paper pants seem pointless.
How long is the Sainsbury's offer on for? Our nearest is about 25 miles away - could combine with some Xmas shopping if I can summon up the energy. Feel so big, lethargic and fed up these days
annamama you are going to become our resident top tips girl - I love the tip about getting your text back when DC have deleted your post and I can honestly say I have never ever considered peeing in a nappy but what a great idea ! I look forward to logging in tomorrow and reading your next one!
Hope those who are poorly are on the mend soon. I still feel crap but less crap than this time last week - sorry I feel like a right moanie minnie these days.

ICWAS ahh i see! So the other comment I got today about chips was just an old lady being a witch! Im giving myself a break while pg about diet - I generally eat really healthily anyway but my main cravings have been steak and chips (and real ale).. its actually really liberating Ive found, being pg - Ill eat what I like for a change(except those forbidden foods..) Ive put on about 8kg so far (no idea about lbs and ozs..) but I dont feel particularly large except in the bump area..

Ive bought the ingredients to make lavender bath bombs as presents - just need to find the time and energy..

Smac wow on the business - and thanks for the advice - a balance between the two does seem appealing,
Think Sainsburys offer on till wednesday 25th but I might have mis-read it in my low bp fog..

pacific good lord, I hope that was a rare nappy wringing occurance.. I didnt want to ask on the nappy section of MN because I can imagine it may be full of real nappy evangelists

right - back to defleaing those pesky siameses.. found a bite on the bump this morning - a step too far!!