So I wasn't going to buy much but now panicing......

[davidtennantsmistress]

am 30 weeks.... and panicing as we don't seem to have anything ready in relation to waht I had with DS.

we have:-

draw full of clothes & some hanging up NB & 0-3 vests & sleep suits mostly cardi's being knitted by the dozen by the MIL.

boob pump i'm buying from a friend with reusable nappies.

steriliser, bottles am going to feed but was hlaf price so have a couple of bottles for DP.

obv the pram/cot are at the shop still all paid up.

cot bedding in shop paid up, as is the mobile.

cradle (family one) with mum still but have matress & sheets ready for iot to come over prob this weekend so the dogs can get used to it being there.

erm..... 2 packs of disposable nappies.
1 packet of pads.
changing bag.
4 muslins
mobi wrap (2nd hand NCT, but figured may have another if we get on with it)
3 baby towels of sorts
monitors erm.... lol.

I'm thinking left on my list is:-

changing mat. (not having a station as no room)
play gym thingy (personal choice to have one
bouncer
foot muff (could hang off until the winter I guess thou)
washing up bowl (don't see the point in the baby bath's)
nipple sheilds/cream/pads.
big knickers
top & tail bowl.

I'm positive there's stuff i've missed off so help me out. will prob seem more real once we've got it all set out in the bedroom (no space for his own nursery yet :() and i've thought about packing my hospital bag which i'm yet to do, again with DS everything was ready by 6 months incl the bag. this time the clothes' haven't even been washed yet let alone ironed!

oh and finally treated myself to a proper pillow for feeding this time.

Bloody hell, you are organised! I'm 37 weeks and don't have half that. I live in London though so anything I don't have I will send DP out for.

I don't think most of those items on your second list are very essential, bar the nipple stuff and the knickers, maybe.

You might want some more muslins.

Have you got enough breastfeeding tops and have you booked to get yr nursing bras fitted?

Have you set up supermarket shop list/ regular delivery?

Made a list of foods to put in freezer?

THink of some nice snacks you can get for yourself for bfing.

All childcare arranged for DC1?

Order it all online now from boots/mothercare/tesco. And you really dont need a top and tail bowl. And I would get a bath support rather than a bowl, lasts longer. (unless you dont have a bath of course)

Leave the footmuff til autumn.

Give the clothes a quick wash if they've been sitting around, but not really necessary.

Racking my brain but I really can't think of anything else you might need. Want is a different matter of course.

I second more muslins!!!

Other than that I think you've pretty much nailed it :)

I reckon once everything that is paid up but elsewhereis actually with you in your home it will look like you have everything iykwim?

pas - tbh we do but it's very deep so I wanted the bowl for start us off, DS used his until about 9 weeks, then one of us can get in with him/I will have recovered enough to lean over and hold onto him in the bath.

cherry - yes that's waht i'm hoping for tbh, althou we won't have room for the cot & the cradle yet so we'll have to keep the cot with mum until we're ready to use it.

tif - no feeding tops per se again didn't have any with DS, have a couple that can be used for it. bra's i'll get I think around 37-38 ish weeks? yes child care for DS sorted, my freezer's that full atm I can't put ready meals in as it were, however mum's 2 mintues away so can always be meals on wheels if needed. :)

rid - i'm also thinking a lot of stuff if it's forgotten after (ie pads/creams etc I can send DP out for)

We used two old takeaway containers as top and tail bowls (put a "F"ace and "B"um on them to avoid confusion!). We did find that having a thermos flask by the changing table was great as we could fill it up with boiling water as and when and then we had hot water as required.

I'd wash the clothes, but ironing them is non-essential (although I do remember ironing all of DD1's socks before she was born - oh the luxury of being on maternity leave before your first is born! :)).

I used baggy tops for breastfeeding - I found there was too much boob to be mucking around with tops going here and there and everywhere, but then I was a 32F before pregnancy and it only wen up from there...

I went to JL before DD was born to try and get feeding bras but they only had one bra in what they thought would be the right size. Once DD was here it was no-where near fitting. I ordered a load of things from figleaves once DD was born such that they arrived about the time my milk came in, out of 4 styles in 2 or 3 sizes each I think I wound up with 2 bras that fitted and sent the rest back (much to DH's relief :o). I'll do the same again rather than play "guess the final bra size" before the baby's born.

For big knickers I got the cheapest I could find from Peacocks - they were cheap and have just about survived two pregnancies. Think I might splash out on some more for DC3, though!

We just put DD in the bath - usually at the same time as me (although that did rely on DH being around to take slippery baby).

Lansinoh was fantastic, as were nipple pads - but I never needed nipple shields. If you've a mothercare or somewhere else you could get them quickly if needed, maybe leave them for now?

More muslins!

Get in a LOT of maternity sanitary pads and breast pads, because even if you have a lovely DH who doesn't mind emergency runs for those things, it's better to have them on hand.

Don't bother about a top and tail bowl. Load of nonsense. Surely you have bouncer/baby gym/etc from DS if you're into those things? Anyway you won't need them immediately so don't worry about them.

Ah ok then, fair enough. Have you looked at those Tummy Tubs then? They seem to get a good reception.

tortoise no he's 5.5 when I moved & split from XH I got rid of everything apart from a handful of clothes and toys which i'm washing & reusing.

tangle - yes I think I was measured with DS at 38 weeks, and again at about 2 weeks old. mine grew 2 sizes! and yes I also recall the ironing all his little bits and peices. knickers i'll do the same as you say - peacocks/pirmarni specials.

yes we have a local mother care so will drag DP up there for the day as i've been getting stuff while he's away but now he's back wanting to involve him more.

pas - not sure I could justify that cost tbh though.

Innocent question - isn't the Tummy Tub just an expensive bucket? As in, if I spent £2 at Wilkos for a bucket, wouldn't it do the same thing? (Or am I missing something?)

Msc - yes that's why I was thinking a £2 washing up bowl. have many many pics of DS in his one (blue of course. )

Oh good, so it's not just me then

With my 3 week old DS, I've just hung to dry "his" wash made up of 24 hours of wear, which included 10 muslins (with another 10 in use/to hand around the house) 5x vests and 5x babygros plus half a dozen bibs. We didn't think we needed bibs but turns out LO is a sicky baby and both the muslins and bibs are saving us changing clothes and sheets quite as often as we might otherwise need to.

I second Tortoise on getting in plenty of pads etc, I had stitches so had to change frequently and got through about a pack a day in the first week - not something you want to run out of in the middle of the night. I also learned (though you will probably remember this from your first) that the mat pads aren't so much just for the blood as to help catch wee as one's pelvic floor erm, regenerates .

changing mat. (not having a station as no room) WE USED A TOWEL
play gym thingy (personal choice to have one HE WON'T LOOK AT IT BEFORE 3 WKS OLD, SO CAN WAIT UNTIL WHENEVER
bouncer CHAIR? THAT i WOULD RATE WORTH GETTING
foot muff (could hang off until the winter I guess thou) DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS
washing up bowl (don't see the point in the baby bath's) SPONGE BATH ON TOWEL CAN SUB
nipple sheilds/cream/pads. WHY?
big knickers blush DISPOSABLES, YOU MEAN, JUST GET 'EM CHEAP
top & tail bowl. WHY? WE USED ANY BOWL-SHAPED CONTAINER, OLD-HUMUS POT WILL DO, METHINKS

Oh, and I saw disposable knickers were £2.50 for 5 in Boots but so were cotton mix pants in Primark so I got the latter. However been wearing/washing them for just about a month and some are starting to fray... will try Peacocks if there is a next time as they sound much more robust!

Just to clarify my "big knicker" experience (not a sentence I ever thought to type!)

IIRC I had some proper maternity knickers from someone like EmmaJane that I used in the last stages of pregnancy. I then got a pack of ultra cheap BIG KNICKERS in Peacocks as an alternative for after the birth (something that had a hope of surviving the wash and was a bit more comfortable to the tasteful disposable paper or mesh things). They did OK with DD1 for the first week or so, by which time I wasn't feeling too uncontrollably messy anymore and went back to normal briefs. I didn't have a CS, but remember that "big knicker" feeling as being quite comforting while my abdominal muscles felt like they'd been run over.

When DD2 was due it all turned into a bit of a rush and I dug them out and used them, but I bled for longer and by the end of that they were pretty knackered. Total use probably

Wow. Don't panic. You have PLENTY of time and you're already 99% there. Seriously, all baby needs is a place to sleep, some food (sorted if you're going to breastfeed), some nappies, enough clothes to last a week, and something to wipe the puke with.

If it's any consolation I'm 39 weeks and I don't have any of the following yet:
swing (hardly going to kill baby if it doesn't have one straight away)
foot muff (it's SUMMER!)
nipple shields (will wait to see if I need one, I'm told they are best avoided anyway)
Bath - you're not really supposed to give them a bath the first few weeks so there's time....
top and tail - SIL insists we don't need one, she never used hers once
big knickers - I've had to buy larger knickers from M&S to fit my bump for the last trimester anyway (7 pairs for £10 I think) so I'll just continue to wear these as I don't mind if they get ruined... won't fit me once I get my figure back anyway.
and we're not bothering with the whole freezer meal thing.

so breathe... it's all going to be ok!!!!

I would definitely buy/borrow a baby chair, I found it essential especially with my second ds as I really didnt like leaving him in his moses basket with a 4 year old bouncing around like they do!....My bouncy chair lay virtually flat at first, wouldnt be without it, I wouldnt worry too much about the other stuff!....

m1 - yes I used one with DS from 5 days when we came home - i'm after one sharpish as I have dogs so don't want the baby anywhere near the floor & not always in the cradle in the bedroom.

trans - yes I know it will all come together in the end, think it's just it's finally having that light bulb oh shite moment. :o

tangle. :o hey don't knock big knickers lol. I got the cheapo ones with DS much better than disposable ones, (same price as well) they were basically binned after one wear in a nappy sack as I bled very heavily. so shall do the same again I think - as you say much comfier.

freshly home form an NCT session though and OMG it's scared the hell outta me - labour the next panic station. lol.