Things no one told me....

[bunnyrabbit]

Thought I'd pop my head back in to this board and pass on just a few things that might be useful..

Once you bundle has arrived you will be washing your hands constantly so stock up on antibacterial mosturising hand wash. Also buy some industrial strength hand cream and leave tubes of it everywhere as your hands will look like a fisherwives for the first few weeks.

Muslins are a girls best friend. They are well worth the money.

Velcro bibs are much easier than ties, but noisy when trying to remove from a sleeping baby. Pull over bibs are a b**y nightmare.

Buy yourself shoes that you can put on and take off when you have a hand full of baby.

Invest in a wirelss and handsfree phone and remember to take it with you when you change the baby!! The phone always rings half way through.

If you have a boy, never look away when he has his nappy off. He will wee even if he's just been!!

If you sleep naked, invest in some night clothes that you are able to put on with the light off. You'll need them for night feeds when baby is in his/her own room and for when the postman knocks in the morning.

and something I was told but ignored...

SLEEP WHEN BABY SLEEPS!! S*D THE HOUSE WORK/WASHING/WASHING UP ETC. IT'LL STILL BE THERE IN 3 MONTHS TIME.

And it still is...

More later...

BR (Mother of adorable DS now 17 weeks)

If it's your first pregnancy and you've no other liitle darlings to run round after:

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SLEEP AND LIE-IN'S!!!!!!!!!

When the baby arrives you will realise what a precious thing sleep is!

And make the most of your last few months alone with dh/dp.

Give away your pre-pregnancy clothes now cos it'll be another decade by the time you fit back into them

If you breastfeed your breasts may spurt milk when sexually aroused - very disconcerting indeed.

some people find pregnancy harder and more depressing than having a new baby - I get most of my hormonal crying fits in pregnancy, not after the birth.

don't stock up on lots of baby lotions etc I have never worked out what you do with that stuff it's all still in the cupboard.

Have to disagree with HMC, if you buy the washable nappies now it's easier to just start using them and keep going, mine are about to be used for the 3rd baby and we've saved a fortune.

Sexually aroused when still b/f? Does not compute...

Message withdrawn

Oh yes, breastfeeding can ruin your sex drive and thus cause problems in your relationship. as well as hurting like hell and also after it your breasts will be sad saggy shadows of their former self and you may at that point wish you hadn't bothered.

I think the spurting thing must have been rare cos agree no sex urges usually when breastfeeding.

LOl Bunnyrabbit - thought you wrote "Muslims are a girls best friend"!!!

MY contribution begins with "P "and ends in "iles"

You know.. When I started this thread, I thought I was trying to help all the first time mums-to-be out there.. but realistically, looking back, I think I just wanted a good whinge!!!

How about you lot???

BR

Don't bother with proper outfits for the first few months - sleepsuits and bodysuits are all you'll need to spend money on.

And yes, little boys' willies are dangerous weapons when unleashed to the fresh air. Mine weed in his face twice. Had to laugh...

That i would turn into a bitter women who spat at men

That you don't always get the baby you dreamed of.

That no matter what your baby will be the most precious thing in the world and you would lay down your life without hesitation.

That it just keeps on getting better and better.

Agree with Thomcat, whinges about breastfeeding and body fat aside, I think it gets better and better from just after the birth onwards and am choosing to do it again for the 3rd time with enthusiasm.
(and your body does go back eventually, just years after you hoped...)

Thanks Demented for the advice on selling my unwanted nappies...

Well not MY nappies strictly speaking, but dd's!

JELLY-BELLY!! No one warned me! It was the hardest thing to get used to for me, after the birth. In fact, including the birth! Really wierd wobbly sensation from my newly emptied midriff every time I moved too quickly. I found it so strange that I crept everywhere for the first few days in an effort to not make it wobble .
Oh yeah, and that, that confidence trick of imagining you are in a room full of naked strangers won't work any more, every time I think it, ME naked in a room full of strangers comes to the forefront of my mind......Oh the shame!

How you can want something so much and when it arrives think Oh my god what have I done!!!!

(only occasionally of course)

And how much you can love something so small and sweet.

That having a baby in the SCBU is not the worst thing in the world. At least you get to sleep.

I am currently using my two year old baby lotion as makeup remover...and have come out in a big crop of boil-type spots. Don't buy it!! (or baby oil).

My sleep deprivation didn't actually kick in until about 8 weeks - I was on such a high with love and excitement. It was hideous after that though.

Boobs - NEVER the same again
Tummy - NEVER the same again

But you know what - I don't care. Motherwood is the most tiring, exhausting but wonderful, enchanting journey I have ever been on.

When you tell anyone you are pg for the 3rd time, they never say congrats and assume it was a mistake and sympathise - esp if its the 3rd in 4 yrs.

Any recommendations for good moisturising antibacterial hand wash - as some say moisturising but I'm sure they don't.

udar - I have been through the mill with all sorts of different handwashes. The only one I've have found NOT to bring me out in cracked skin as I seem to be washing my hands all the time is Sanex. It comes in a blue and white squity soap thingy. It has a dermo protector, whatever that maybe, but it is also anti-bacterial and I find it works well and doesn't dry your skin out. I usually get it at Sainsburys.

Use small packets of frozen peas for stitches, they are great!!!

Get spray lotion for your skin, especially when you feel you can not bend down to reach your feet after childbirth.

Hmmm, having a child over in SCBU is not the nicest thing, esp. when not even the specialist know the reason your baby turns blue.

Treasure all the special moments because they grow up too quickly and are full of surprises, mine is 7 months but think she is 70.

Oh, nobody told me that I would be bleeding forever, at least it seemed like that, 3 weeks after.

aloha - babyoil is good for getting a nice shine apparently on stainless steel cooker (so my cleaner tells me )