present for wife when she becomes mother for the first time

[boro1234]

Hi. Firstly I am a first time dad to be due mid feb and secondly apologies if this is not the right area for this type of question.
My wife and I have taken a long time to get pregnant and finally it has worked through ivf on third go. She has been through a lot to get to this point so when the baby girl is born I want to get my wife a present but something she will really appreciate. I was thinking a new set of clothes to make her feel a bit glamorous again after the pregnancy. I don't want to get her something just because I think she will like it. I would rather know what new mums think instead. Any ideas appreciated. Thank you.

DH got me a rocking chair when DD was born. There was one in the special care unit where I had to go and feed her for a few days when she was first born and he saw I really liked it. About two days after I got home with her the door bell rang, I went to get it and it was the John Lewis delivery van with a rocking chair for me! She;s 18 now and I still have it!

About 3 months after she was born he got me a spa voucher and got the afternoon off so I could go and have a facial and manicure and in the evening he booked a work colleague of his who had had a baby about a year before and who I knew, to come and babysit. She just turned up so I had time to go and lie in the bath while she fed DD some expressed milk and we went out for dinner where he gave me a diamond heart shaped ring which he designed himself.

And all the girls in the office ( we worked for the same company at the time) had seen it and known about it for weeks!!

I slightly beg to differ in the clothes thing. Definitely not a new wardrobe, but maybe a particularly lovely nursing top so she can feel good in the early weeks would be a very thoughtful gesture. DH bought me a pretty nursing top that was lovely amidst all the dull t shirty things and it made me feel so much better wearing it.

Food hamper, and lunches/healthy snacks prepared in the morning so she doesn't have to think about it are also wonderfully appreciated gestures.

Jewellery definitely better than clothes for reasons given above - if due mid Feb consider getting something with an amethyst in as baby's birthstone will be amethyst?

My DP has gone down that route and I love it (the idea that is, no baby just yet but he showed me the bracelet before ordering, clever man).

I was hoping this post was from my DP as I'm going to be a first time mum (and he a first time dad) in about 2 weeks time!

We aren't married and a ring would send me running for the hills but I would love a new piece of original art work. Why not take your DW around a gallery or two and check out her taste in art and then surprise her with something? It will always be hers but it's something the whole family can enjoy for ever as well.

No improvement on any of the suggestions already offered but you are so sweet for thinking ahead like this! Going to leave this open for my hubby and hope he takes the hint!

(Cleaner is a cracking idea by the way though probably not something she would treasure like jewellery)

Good on you boro, I bet you'll be a lovely dad

I'll be happy if my DH can manage a set of clean sheets on the bed and a full fridge (of pate and brie) when we get home from having DC1!

My husband gave me a locket with the date of DS's birth engraved on it.

Personally a locket would have been a better idea for me - even if DH had known what size ring to buy at that point I had puffed up like a balloon and it wouldnt have fitted me. The other thing is you can put a picture of you and the baby in it which would be lovely.

How lovely.

I agree with jewellery. Perhaps a voucher for a nice spa day or massage for a few months down the line when she feels up to it.

Some post partum bath herbs

Lots of comfy pyjamas or lounging clothes

A nice soft warm blanket to cosy up under on the sofa snuggled with the baby.

Lots of help!!

Maybe a year or so down the line a trip to a personal shopper - sounds expensive but it's generally free! I love topshop, I know hey do higher end personal shopping in selfridges or the like.

You're lovely borox

I got:

half eternity ring with dd1
gold bracelet with dd2

with ds (definitely our last) dh asked me what I thought, and I told him I liked the idea of something with our children's birthstones in - I didn't mind what.

he went away (pale and worried ) and brainstormed a bit, and designed a lovely bracelet with the 3 different birthstones in. it means so much more to me that he had input into the design (which I can tell, because he has clearly listened to many of my whinges about various bits of jewellery over the years, and has avoided them all )

pamper wise, when dd2 was born, we got sent a lovely basket of goodies form Beverly Hills Bakery - a pile of bite-size cakes and biscuits, which were fabulous for those never-ending feeds, and middle of the night snacks.

when ds was born, we got sent about a months' worth of food from Chef on Board. really lovely meals, all bunge din the freezer, and then just chuck a couple in the oven and you're good to go. they were a real lifesaver.

congratulations, and good luck

A pashmina or beautiful scarf would be lovely alongside the jewellery.

What a lovely husband!

Art - yes, that's good. My friend had a painting for each baby.

How lovely that your want to treat her .
If she is not a jewellery person maybe a beautiful cashere shawl or something warm and snuggly to throw around her when seeing to you darling baby in the night .
ok maybe not cashmere (baby puke) but something snuggly .
congratulations :)

No eternity ring for me either but dh bought me a Swarovski crystal baby carriage as a little keep sake I love it

My DH got me a lovely Clarins post natal massage. I didn't use it for 6 months, but it was such a nice treat, getting out for the afternoon.

oh, and second the rocking chair too.

A friend made one for me when I had dd1. it is large, and impractical, and doesn't really fit into our house now (had a huge house when dd1 was born), but when we were weighing up the pros and cons of re-homing it, I found i couldn't even talk about it without welling up.

I sat in that chair, night after night, with my little baby (who is a hulking great pre-teen now - how did that happen?!), and rocked her, and fed her, and cuddled and snuggled. and then we had it in her bedroom as the story chair.

and I used it for feeding dd2 as well, and now ds.

it is still far too big, and impractical. but it was made for me, and given with love, and I have spent many an hour snuggling little babies in it, and imagining their futures and wishing health and happiness for them.

I can't see it ever leaving the house, tbh

I'm not a jewellery person at all and wouldn't have thanked my husband for an eternity ring. Make sure it is something your wife would really appreciate before spending all that money on her. As it will be a winter baby in my shoes I would want something warm to put on when getting up for the night feeds, and maybe a heater for the bedroom instead of keeping the central heating on all night.

For the record I didn't expect nor get any presents from my husband except for a bunch of flowers.

I think jewellery is good.

My dh bought me a gorgeous bracelet with our first, and I still wear it every day.

He also got me a voucher to have my hair cut at a swanky London salon with a 'celeb' hairdresser. This was a thoughtful and extravagant gift, but not ideal as I had to leave my ebf baby and then spend an afternoon in ultra glam surroundings, where I looked really out of place with my mad post partum hair and leaky boobs.

I got a rather nice eternity ring which I have worn almost every day since.

Seriously, do your share. Support her. Tell her she's done well. She will have done. Support to breast or bottle feed. Learn to mind read. Congratulations

what about a charm bracelet? maybe with a pretty little pram charm or something? you could add to it for other milestones later.

i'd definitely go with jewellery, something that will stay special forever

Lovely thoughts! Dh bought me an eternity ring when I became a mum, when we had dc2, we weren't very well off, but as a treat since Iwas tired and lumbering around dh bought me a lovely huge slobby leather handbag.

I am very suprised at the reactions of this thread though, and how nice they are.

When I posted re the bag dh had bought me as a treat for dc2 (so not a push present) it turned into a royal bunfight, loads of posters telling me how appauling I had been bought and was proud of getting a push present, how I was being smug etc etc.. then someone started a new thread on the back of it about how they were tired of people being so materialistic!! Then they backtracked loads when I pulled them up on it!! It open my eyes to the nests of vipers that are in mumsnet :-(

Aren't you thoughtful to be asking for advice? How lovely.

My dh bought me a platinum heart-shaped locket when dc1 was born. It is beautiful. I never really wear it and I haven't yet got round to putting photos of our babies in it, but I will one day. It is v treasured in the meantime, not for the cost but for the thought.

2nd time around he bought me a very expensive spa day - for one. The childcare logistics were tricky and I had to use it by a certain deadline. It was too fancy for me and I was lonely. It felt too self-indulgent. And I missed my babies.

For my 40th a few years back he gave me an iPad (sold his 18th bday watch to pay for it - gulp!). We have no gadgets, and it totally transformed my life. I wd have loved one when the babies were little, to help me feel connected.

My dad bought my mum freesias the day their firstborn arrived, a long time ago. Whenever I see any I think of that and I feel glad.

Good luck - and congratulations!