November 2010 - From Flump to Bump!

[hmmSleep]

This is the new discussion thread .
Stats thread here

Hi Rinny,
i am getting cramps during the night but have found if I drink milk in the evening or have banana that day the cramps arent happening. I think one of the girls on here recommended and i also read can be due to lack of calcium.... its worth a shot! Also when you stretch your calf out point your toes up like standing on your heel... not tip-toe style and this seems to help relieve it.

Wow you guys have been doing a lot of shopping i need to really get cracking!

Like hmmsleep my "success" with bfing was really down to DS. He wouldn't take bottles of either ff or expressed bm. We tried everyday for months. I tried, DH tried, mum tried, MiL tried. He screamed, went purple, bashed the bottle with angry fists... It was awful. I wanted to bf, but just to top up with bottle. Or to be able to leave him for long enough to get my hair cut. But no joy. They gave him formula in NICU, but as soon as he was out he just wanted boobies. This one HAS to take bottles. I can't feed every 45 minutes for 6 months again.

Btw we're calling this one Petroc. And are letting people know now so they have time to get used to it!

Thanks for the tips everyone.

So far I've been buying things on a fairly random basis so I need to formulate a plan of what we actually need.

I won't be buying anything else for a month or so as I took the car to the garage yesterday because one of the warning lights had come on. Turns out it needs $2000 worth of work on it Looks like cute baby stuff will have to wait for a while

I think I'll be getting bottles etc before LO arrives, as we live in the dark ages here so no 24hr supermarkets nearby I'd rather have things in ready in case BF is an absolute disaster as we have no chance of getting emergency supplies at 3am should we need them.

hmmSleep Thanks for the lists, that's really useful. Just a question, can you sterilise bottles in a steam oven? I'm planning to bf, but I'm hoping that once I get to grips with it, I can express a bit so that DH can do the occasional feed if we need. As our oven has a steam function, it would be good to be able to use that rather than clutter up the kitchen even more.

Rinnyx I've been told to take magnesium for the cramps and it does seem to be helping although I had to wake DH up to rub my calf one night because it was so painful.

We had our third hospital tour last night and I think I like this one the best. It's a teaching hospital with a midwifery school attached and quite a few colleagues had their children there or were born there themselves. The lack of audible screaming was also a bonus (still trying to get the noise from the first hospital out of my ears) and I don't mind that the hospital itself is older and has worse food than some of the others - the equipment and care are supposed to be very good.
I've discovered that in Germany they don't do gas and air Shame, I was looking forward to that.

I would think you can sterilise in a steam oven, yes, all the sterilisers do is steam them after all.
There are plenty of threads on here saying you don't actually need to sterilise bottles anyway (apparently it is even recommended not to for premature babies to help their immune system).

If you have a dishwasher they should be plenty clean enough anyway. I won't be getting my steriliser out again I don't think.

Hello all, has anyone else had a shy baby at scan? All well with our LO and he/she definitely has a bottom. Yes, a bottom that he/she wanted to show us over and over again. Well, if we were worried in any way about the parentage, we now know that it's definitely my husband's baby. The whole being difficult thing is clearly hereditary

Happy scans and shopping everyone, I'll be the one buying everything in green and yellow

comtessa, my bub is like yours. legs kept tightly closed. im gonna have to look at beige, green, yellow, whites too.

sigh....

I empathise, Vix7. Do you think a bright aqua is neutral enough? Maybe oranges and reds too. My mum's a speech therapist and she says that red, orange and yellow help babies neurological development more than any other colours.

oh I totally think aqua is neutral. My pram (quinny jobbie) from DD is turquoise / aqua, bought with the intention of not knowing what a second baby would be. pushchair bit is red, I think of that as a girl's colour now but I guess it must be fairly neutral too! Certainly not buying a blue one if it's a boy

Thanks for the info tiany and CardiCorgi
I'm going to see my Dr a week on Monday I think also seeing as I dont get to see my midwife til 28 weeks and I still feel a 3 month gap between apps is to long even if this is my 2nd plus I can get him to sign the HIP form and get that one out the way

Before I knew I was having a boy I bought alot of lovely pale green stuff in babies r us

cardi I would guess so too, my DSis sterilised stuff in my microwave using two ice cream tubs (a smaller one turned upside down inside a bigger one iyswim, to create a steamy atmosphere without it being sealed and blowing up!) All you're doing is killing germs by getting the stuff up to a high enough temp aren't you? I don't know how you could keep stuff sterilised after taking out of the oven though (and does that matter too much?)
comtessa I've been buying in white, cream, yellow and green too as we decided not to find out the baby's sex. I quite like the not knowing though.

Wow no posts since Friday, that must be a record

Anyway hope everyone is doing ok
I finally got round to going swimming today, well more like bob in the water while trying to teach DD to swim, was nice and planning to do it once a week now, also looked in the next sale and got some super cute stuff really cheap, check it out

I'm still here, honest!

Wow Rinny, you're a braver woman than I am, I ventured into the next sale on Saturday, it scared me, so I left quickly and empty handed! Went and bought myself 2 nice jumpers in the jigsaw sale instead.

Bunny, you are putting me to shame, stop it with the forward planning!

I've been suffering from insomnia the past few nights, combination of heartburn, hayfever, needing the loo every 5 minutes and generally not being able to get comfy. I was downstairs browsing mumsnet at 3.30am! Guess it's good training for when the baby arrives . I also keep getting really annoying twitchy legs at night, do you know what I mean? Think it must be a bad circulation thing, maybe I should buy some of those fetching socks you can get .

must admit, with the weather being a bit cooler this weekend i spent more time outdoors than indoors - when it's too hot i spend time inside with my lovely fan to keep me cool!!

Feeling a bit more organised now, we had already ordered a lot of the more practical things like a changing dresser, cot ,mattress, moses basket and rocking stand, buggy/pram system (baby jogger city select which is arriving this week ), musical cot mobile, baby monitor, vibrating bouncy chair, bedding, baby bath and wash stuff, bibs, steriliser and bottles and breast pump as hoping to breast feed but also express sometimes so DP can be involved in feeding (but like bunnygirl i'd also rather be prepared in case i can't feed for any reason, so plan to have a couple of cartons of emergency made up formula in the cupboards just in case!)muslin squares, baby bath/cuddle robes, baby toiletries and so on and so on, but we hadn't really got many clothes....so thanks to the lists various people put on here about what quantities we should aim at, i hit the Asda/Sainsbury/Peacocks/Blooming Marvellous websites last week and ordered a massive selection of short sleeved bodysuits and sleepsuits, different patterns/colours/sizes so bump will be spoilt for choice!

Not got any actual outfits, thinking that for daytime will put him in a bodysuit and a sleepsuit (why are they not called baby grows anymore??) for night time, not sure what they need so that they are not too hot but not too cold.... can do bodysuit and sleepsuit still, but also we have a sleeping bag we've bought, and also cellular blankets, and a very thin quilted type blanket - the obaby b is for bear blanket that comes with the moses basket if anyone knows the type i am on about! Just worried about going to an extreme of baby being too hot or too cold!

still need to get a car seat, and toiletries etc for me, but there seem to be so many types of breast pads i haven't a clue where to start! no idea what type to get or how many of those we need, or maternity pads, and still need to start stocking up on nappies - figure if i buy some each month, it will spread the cost nicely as November and December are expensive enough months already, and won't have as much income after bump arrives, so figure makes sense to try and get ahead of myself now - so also done the same with the clothes - got clothes ordered in a variety of sizes from early baby through to 24 months, won't be enough but at least it's a big dent in it all!

Also wondering whether to get a baby carrier/sling type thing - but again it seems like a minefield, with so many different things on the market, and also conscious that i have big boobs at the best of time, and have always suffered from a bad back and lots of knots in my upper back so not sure if this impacts on what type would suit me best?

hmmSleep I must admit I didn't go in till 6pm as they were open till 8pm
I think I may make a small start on my hospital bag after my 28 week app and also get painting the room in the summer hoils, only really need to pay up for the pram now and get things like bottles I think.
Already planning to take baby swimming once a week after my body gets back to normal

Its Glasgow Fair holiday monday here so I'm off for a swim although its raining so heavily that i could probably wear my cossie to the pool as well as in it!

I've just been filling in my mat leave paperwork to hand to my boss this week - feels like its becoming reality and the count down has begun!

Sounds like lots of sale shopping bargains have been had - I might venture to Next and Mothercare later . . .

Loooopy, wow you're so organised! all i've bought so far is a second hand baby bouncer, playmat, and a huge box of 0-3 and 3-6m baby clothes (assorted sleepsuits, long/short sleeved body suits).

friend is passing me her baby bathtub, change table and some unused baby bottles next month so will be sorted there.

but the pratical stuff like muslins, blankies/fleeces, moses basket, pram, carseat are still pending.

not to mention breastpads, pump, steriliser, baby toiletries etc.

DH wants to know why we have to get baby bath towels/cuddle robes instead of using the existing towels. i didn't have a good reply for him. anyone?

Cause they have a hood to keep their head warm, not so large so wont lose baby in them and are alot softer so kinder to their baby soft skin

I just wrote out my 'to do list'
Main thing will be painting, fitting new carpet and blinds in the soon to be office/bedroom as well as pack up some of our stuff to stick in the roof.
Then baby buy wise think I only really need to get wash cloths, changing bag, crib mattress, bottles/teats/bottle brush, maybe dummies and also pay the pram off.

Hospital bag I'll do a 'to do list' for that when I come to start it at about 28 weeks

As far as i know there is absolutely no reason not to use ordinary towels. I've used both in the past. Only benefit of cuddle robes is the hooded corner keeps their wee head warm. And their cute of course. But basically just another way of getting more money out of us. Not that i'm a cynic or anything.
All these lists remind me i have to hunt out all that stuff! My steriliser has disappeared, as has one half of baby monitor. I found my sling and front carrier the other day, hopefully getting car seat from friend. Moses basket is in loft at parents. Cot is outside in storage, just need a new mattress. I find a lot of the stuff you "need" quickly becomes unneccessary. I have never used a changing table or a baby bath.
Muslins are one thing i have used A LOT! Same for baby sleeping bags, but these can only be used once baby reaches a certain weight.
I have only bought some baby socks, and a couple of bodysuits. will need more as everything i have kept is girls!

PrivetDancer, have you received your Blooming Marvellous order? Mine just came in today.

rinnyx, dairymum, thanks for the reply!

DH wants to use the camping chamois towels we have for the baby as he says 'they are super soft and should be big enough anyway!'

vix7 i can't give any reason as to why we have bough cuddle robes other than the cute factor, and the thought of bump being wrapped up in them with the head snuggly wrapped up....maybe argue that as a winter baby, being warm is essential and that any normal towel wouldn't be quite as snuggly

got ours when we went to kiddicare, can't remember the price but wasn't too bad for a pack of 3 in a cream colour so ideal for boys or girls...if you feel tempted

vix another reason might be that some of them have the hood on a corner, so it's really easy to wrap the baby up in them. I think cuteness is the main factor though!

Loooopy could you go to one of those sling meet things and try a few on? I think I'm going to see if my local NCT has one, because I don't know what kind to get either - I'm going to borrow one from a friend for when the baby is tiny and then see what he likes.

Right, time to keep the November thread giveaways going. I have a pair of new maternity jeans from Blooming Marvellous - size 12 below-the-bump style, quite thin denim and nice for summer. My mum bought them for me in the sale but they are a bit too small for me (although I was 10/12 before pg) - I'm quite tall and they are a bit too low rise. If anyone would like them I am very happy to post - just let me know and we can exchange email addresses to arrange.