In the Company of Pregnant Ladies (No1 Babies Detective Agency pt6)

[nomoremagnolia]

Thought it was time we had a new home, seeing as we've almost outgrown the old one. So in honour to Scorpio, Sybil, BB and toomuch (hope I didn't forget anyone ) here we are - in the company of pregnant (and cheerful) ladies

Sybil - took me 5+ years to conceive ds - and 34 labour was ended with emergency section, so I certain kick the 'long wait, short labour' suggestion into touch. Mind you, he was 10.5 and just got stuck, poor thing. I could tell if it was him crying on the ward from about 30' from the main doorway - there were 5 babies with 'little tiny new baby' cries, and one that went WAAAAAHHHHH! I wonder which one he was . Things haven't changed much!

Right - tell me what this is lacking that the more expensive ones have? Would like red trim rather than blue, but could cope. I know it?s a bit heavy, but all the 3 wheelers are. I?ve seen that some of you don?t like 3-wheelers ? is that why? I?d happily buy a second hand stroller ? but you?ve got to be organized and lucky to get the decent bargains ahead of everyone else that?s looking, and I'd want a new car seat anyway.

Rattling, that is missing a fourth wheel chick ... in all honesty, I am not sure why I don't like the 3-wheelers so much... they don't look as secure perhaps? Daft I am sure.

Gilly, I still find garter stitch a challenge... what hope is there for me

I think it is a good idea to get some things second hand... especially things that have not been used all that much, and then you can pass them on again.

Rattling It's got a fixed front wheel - stay away!! Honestly if you ever see anyone with one of those and a kid older than 1yr in it then have a look at their biceps No swivel wheel means you have to push down on the handle to lift the front wheel to go round any corners. Also the car seat it comes with might be cheap and nasty - I personally wouldn't risk that, but I know I want a maxi-cosi car seat as they are the safest in the which? tests.
Gilly I have no problem getting my hands on books Thanks for the suggestions I'll see what's around. I always have a pile of books by my bed waiting for me to read them - too many books too, little time!

Of course I meant "too many books, too little time"

Rattling - yes, if you want to get something that will last, get one with a swivel front wheel. Will not matter for first year, but even then is easier with a swivel. You really need 2 hands on for a fixed wheel one - a swivel wheel and you can drive one handed, even over bumps (like kerb edges, down at least!).

How heavy is this one?

Its really interesting, but my MB was SOOOO easy to push compared to almost everyone else's buggy that I tried - pushing it over longish grass was about as difficult as most people's buggies on the pavement.

Ready - less secure???? If you've got 4 wheels on uneven surface, only 3 of them will be in contact. If you've got only 3 wheels, all of them will be in contact - therefore, more stable!

LL - I only actually really know about the MB - but had 2.5 yrs use of that. And have seen other people struggling with theirs when MB still being pushed with one hand. I think that the Stoke looks good for early on - gets small children up to a good level. However, imagine lifting a 2yo in and out (and in and out and in and out...) rather than letting them do it themselves.... Its really interesting that I saw the Stoke and the MB both recommended by a shop doing seating for people with problem backs.

Found you! Great new thread title. Well, we had our first referral appointment yesterday and saw the main consultant's sidekick. After being left alone a couple of times in the middle of the appointment (think she kept dashing off to see the consultant whose clinic it was), the doctor basically said there's no point hanging around, and best to refer us for assisted conception (which would be to the Hammersmith if we do it on the NHS).

I need to have day 2-4 blood tests and we both need HIV screens as a prerequisite for referral. She's also going to organise an HSG though she was a bit vague about how long that would take . She got out a diagram to explain how the HSG worked - was able to look quite knowledgeable thanks to Ready's explanation (not sure if it was this thread or the TTC No1 forever one). She assumed that my GP had explained it - decided not to explain the power of Mumsnet so thanks Ready .

Hadn't realised that I was quite so close to the cut-off for IVF referral on the NHS - she said trust policy was before 39 (which is later this year for me ), whereas I'd thought it was up to and including 39. We asked about going private (which fortunately for us is an option) and she mentioned that the ACU at UCH had good results for my age-group.

Had a bit of a chat to DH about IUI vs IVF on the way home. Whilst he's still convinced it will happen naturally, if not, he's keen to do whatever is the most effective, presumably IVF, whereas I think that I'd probably like to try IUI first, as it seems less invasive. As he admitted, I'll be the one that has to go through the various drugs so we'll just have to wait and see what the experts say at the time.

Worst thing is that the next appointment isn't until August although she did say that we could try and get a cancellation once we've got the various tests out of the way. She also said to do research into the different clinics, in case we want to be referred privately so we can come prepared.

Part of me felt a bit down about it not happening naturally last night but had a good chat to DH about it. Even ended up arguing about disposable vs real nappies! Whilst I can't say that the prospect of washing lots of nappies fills me with enthusiasm, I do want to at least consider it as an option from the environmental perspective. He, on the other hand, claims not to be bothered about that but then said he wasn't going to be changing them anyway We shall see....

Right, off to catch up with rest of thread.

Gosh, sorry I didn't realise my post below was so long!

In terms of second hand baby stuff, it might also be worth looking at your local freecycle group, although maybe not for top of the range stuff (particularly something like a car seat where you might want to know its history).Just had a quick look and ours has had a few buggies on it over the last year or two though not proper travel systems - maybe a lightweight alternative to the main one. I've given away a few things over the last year, and whilst some of them were things I wasn't convinced anyone would want (you'd be surprised), some of the stuff on there seems to be in good condition. You obviously don't get the benefit of photos that you get on gumtree.

Londonlottie I'm also in awe of everyone else's buggy knowledge (plus have been quite happy to sit back and let everyone else do the research!) If When it happens, I think I'll start showing an interest in the buggies belonging to various friends / family with children but it's great to have the practical tips from people on here. Have to admit that I'm slightly bemused by the obsession that some people (no one here!) seem to have with owning multiple buggies or changing them from time to time. Seems like a lot of hard work!

Can I just say? I know nothing about buggies? I only want a bug or xplory because I love how they look? I am the Cher (of Clueless, not Sonny and Cher) of buggy decisions

Lottie I hope you are having/have had? a great time time away? plenty of between the sheets (or not) action ? fingers crossed for a holiday conception ? it will spur me on

I can?t seem to work out how to browse freecycle? do you have to become a member before you can have a nosy?

Hobnobs glad I was able to help with the HSG knowledge? giggling at the thought of you sitting in your consultation thinking of me

I am sorry that your appointment isn?t til August, but I would have thought that a cancellation will become available once all tests are done. Fingers crossed for that.
I?d say take as much advice from all sources, and go for whichever treatment you feel most comfortable with (in terms of actually doing it, but also the success rates etc) ? and definitely get your free go on the nhs before you spend any money privately. I hate to sound like my mum, but you?ve paid your taxes? so get what you are due ? your dh sounds like mine, intent on believing it will happen naturally ? oh and we too have debated real vs disposable? my dh doesn?t see the point in real nappies and unfortunately our friends with babies back him up ? so the jury is still out on that.

Ready You do have to join a freecycle group (they're all around the country). See uk.freecycle.org/ and click on the find your group area. It's a yahoo group so you will need a login with yahoo (doesn't need to be a yahoo email address - just a way to login to the group's page) If you do join, it's worth making sure your settings for yahoo groups are set to "no mail" or "Daily digest" (summary of all emails in a day) otherwise you might receive dozens of emails each day/week/month (depending on how active the group is) telling you what people want or are offering. Once you've joined, you can log onto the group's page and search all the messages in an archive. Sorry if this all sounds complicated - it's not, honest!

Ready - lol @ Cher. Love that film.

I'm having lots of BH today; hopefully all pushing Mimi's head down!!

Scorpio Posted Millie's boots this morning
Ready LOL at you being Cher
LL My BF thinks it's hilarious how much I know about buggies! We've been walking round the shops and she's said to me - what's that buggy then? I has a dream the other night about babies and I had a black loola (presumably in my mind thanks to Scorpio) and another time I had a dream about me and her going to London with kids and I had a blue bugaboo! (A lovely powder blue one with dark blue base fabric...) Do you think I might become a buggy addict? I'm telling myself it's all in the name of research so we don't end up swapping buggies all the time.
hobnobs Don't be put off by the wait - I'm sure Gilly got a cancellation, so you might too (Hope that's right)
As for me, well I have a strange pain in the back of my hand - do you think it could be pg symptom???

More buggy knowledge - met up with some mnetters from Harrogate today - one (with youngest child there) had a bug - which she said wasn't that stable, the stand fell over when she lifted the chair bit out, and then the whole thing took up the complete boot of an A4... It did look good though!

Nappies: we went the washable route - a friend had gone washable and gave us lots of info, started out in disposables then 'hired' a mixed bag from the Nappy Lady - lots of different inners and outers so that we could decide what fitted ds best (and please note, different babies, even in the same family, suit different nappies and or wraps better, so its not something you necessarily want to buy before you get the dc...). What surprised us was that we decided that we found prefolds rather good (they are a square that has a thick central section before you start, then you fold them into a rectange which simply lies inside a 'wrap' front to back) - so we had quite a lot of prefolds and some shaped nappies (we tended to use shaped when going out as less likely to have 'issues' if you didn't notice that a change was required quick enough....). We only used disposables for travelling or holidays. You have no idea how smug it makes you feel when you go to the supermarket and other parents with children the same age are half filling their trollies with nappies and you don't have to. Washing is no problem - dry bucket in the bathroom for changing, wash every two days with a special nappy wash added to normal detergent - after nappies have had a rinse through on thier own, just add the rest of the washing. Ds potty trained himself over one weekend at 26mo, and I'm sure that this is partly down to the use of washables. Any further questions, let me know, otherwise I'll stop now before I bore anyone senseless!

Are they bambino mio ones MT? (It's not only buggies I have done my research on )

No, to be honest, we've not been terribly impressed with Bambino Mio - the training pants (most recent experience) are certainly not as good as some of the others available (like the diaperwraps I got from Flame).

The prefolds we used alot we had 2 types - favourite ones Nature Babies - stayed less hard and also stained less.

Also had some terry squares to start with

First 6 months mainly prefolds and terry sq plus a few shaped - a tots bots, one of the pocket ones, a couple of others.... Ready for nursery we got 11 Tots Bots size 2 which were OK for 3 days in nursery, then we had 5 totsbots bamboozles for nights. Favorite wraps were nature babies ones - they were a good shape on ds, and the fact that you could do waist and leg at an appropriate fitting rather than rely on one fixing to sort both. Also love the farics available on Nature Babies... www.naturebabies.co.uk/wraps.html
(for ds we had a denim and a leopard print amongst others!)

MT, you see? this is what I am talking about? I skimmed over the negatives of the bug? and settled nicely on the ?it did look good though? ? Have to say, dh and I looked at the bug yesterday, and I am definitely waivering? We looked at the silver cross system, which again, I like the look of ? dh liked the separate handles. But in all honesty? by the time it becomes something we need to decide on, there will no doubt be lots of other options out there

Hobnobs, thanks for the freecycle info? will check it out

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far?

Weather is lovely here.

Weather here is horrible and grey and raining, the sort of day where you want to go back to bed - which is exactly where I'm off to now (have nasty throat infection and GP said no to ABs unless it develops into tonsilitis - which it may well do as I've had that 6 times in past 2yrs )

Well, it is chuffing raining now. So I spoke too soon. Plenty of rest and fluids chick. Fingers crossed it doesn't develop into anything else.

I'm pretty sure it's tonsilitis now Feel absolutely rotten. Think my body must be really run down as I'm not normally poorly and have had two illnesses in the last couple of weeks. Hope this is the last one - I don't want to have to put off the IVF next month [worried]

It's a good sign... it's your body getting all the bugs out of the way now... so it will be fit and raring to go for the IVF

Plenty of rest now. Make sure dh looks after you.

Gargle salt water.

Hello there!
Please can I come in again? Its been a while since I have posted, but I have looked in on you all reguarly, I've missed you !

I'm now 24+2, and its not all been plain sailing, hence I didn't really know where to post, I felt a bit homeless really, but no I feel a lot more settled and able to come back.

I'm off now to have a read through, big hugs especially for Ready, Nomore, Gilly, Mistlethrush xx

Kensgirl!!!! Soooo lovely to hear from you. I have thought about you lots (and have to confess to searching your posts to see if everything was ok)... Sorry to hear that it hasn't been plain sailing... are you ok now? You are always welcome here (or any thread come to that!) - don't be a stranger!

Nomore - we got the boots yesterday but i could only just get on laptop today; spent most of the afternoon sleeping . They are beautiful and so very tiny - but i know she will be that tiny, just strange to think she will be wearing them soon - i feel like im going to be pg FOREVER!! I'm 38+2 today, hoping she will be here this time next week. Am planning on a live labour theread, lol! Thanks again, they are so lovely.