Pre-baby Bucket List

[RebeccaCloud9]

Or... things you wish you had done more before baby was born!

DP and I are trying to make the most of our last few pre-baby weeks. We are trying to go out for dinner and to the cinema a few times and were wondering what other things would be good to do now that will be much harder later - any ideas?

I think I would have one last hurrah at knowing what is going on in the world, and being up to date with news and culture and politics and technology.

Solitude!

Oh, yes babyfedleaning, solitude!!! On the rate occasions when I have no dc in the house I am torn between sleeping and that feeling like a waste of time when I could be sitting still drinking in the silence!

Going to the toilet on your own. No really - seriously underrated IMO!

To be fair, we have managed to keep things mostly the same since our kids were born (we are lucky to have very willing and capable grandparents who are always desperate to babysit and also DH is far more determined than I am that things shouldn't change too much so DS and now DD have often come along with us on various things).

However the two things I would say to do now are
Go to the cinema - unless it is a film that you reeeeeaaaaallllly want to see, a cinema trip doesn't really warrant a trip to grandparents for babysitting, but obviously you can't bring them along.
And
Lots of lovely lie ins (including sex!)

Uninterrupted sleep, meals, chats. Lie ins, nights out. Long showers, long baths, time to out your make up on and do your hair.

But, they are worth it.... Mostly ;)

Is it too late for a six-month journey around south America? Guess so.

Silence.

Enjoy spontaneity. Just being able to decide to do something on the spur of the moment and then just DOING IT is a luxury I miss so much. Anything that you do in the evening e.g. as a pp said, deciding you can't be arsed to cook and just going to the pub instead - you will miss that when you have a bedtime routine to stick to!

Things I miss most are meals out (we have been out 3 times in 10 months) lazy weekends and time for me. Time to look after myself etc. I struggled to get time to even cut my nails/wash my hair during the newborn phase as I was so tired that any time DS was asleep I was comatose/in a state of shock on the sofa!

Oh and watching films. Can't remember the last time I watched a film all the way through without falling asleep/losing track of the plot/breaking off halfway through to do something more important like make bottles etc

Oh god yes, wear your hair down! And enjoy it being clean!!

Next time you are in a supermarket savour how you can walk slowly or quickly or stop or ponder and choose to buy stuff or put it back...

When I get to the supermarket alone now I wonder how it was ever a trial BC. Shopping with small baby always a bit smash and grab and with toddlers, well sometimes lovely (child has own small trolley and picture list) but usually a trial. Worst bit is people tutting. Once my DCs managed to overturn trolley with toddler in, preschooler underneath and small child on top. We quit. Left the trolley. Went to chippy.

They are bigger now and usually good but still pester for treats or elaborate cooking ideas (sushi kit etc) but they don't collapse if I say no!

Sorry very long. Just enjoy the easy autonomy in everyday tasks. Long car journeys, putting petrol in car, putting out washing, using phone, eating without someone's hands in your food, not having fromage frais on your shoulders and trouser legs LOL

This sounds bleak. I LOVED it when they were tiny. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and enjoy your baby too. It all goes so quickly.

Good thread for some inspiration!!

I'm 18 weeks, enjoying meals out (relatively cheap now we aren't getting through 2/3 bottles of wine!!) cinema, trips into central London.

Planning a visit to seaside in a couple of weeks, we went to Spain for four days recently, it was great.

Football matches, we are both fans, theatre, I am going to the spa by myself tomorrow, no sauna or steam room, but can have a facial, head massage, and a swim.

I also love our local flower market and food markets at weekend.

Relaxing, quiet time, having no time restrictions or routines to think about.

We have a 4yr old n due number 2.

We have gone out for meals still since he was 5 days out we went at lunchtime or go at 5/6ish so can still keep to a slightly later bedtime routine

We still go away for weekend little one loves it he has a later bedtime n we earlier - all go at 8.30/9 n then we get a lie in as he sleeps later.

Life changes as much as u want it to we have been out together twice since having first when my mum has stayed however we waited to have children until we were ready for changes n a family

Go to the pub in the evening, go to the cinema ditto, sleep in in the morning.

We hired the nanny before the baby was born as I only took 2 weeks off work before going back full time,. That worked very well.

I think the main issue is a new parent has no idea little time they will have after, that even time to dress or urinate is hard to find. That is difficult to explain to people before the baby arrives. Also how much mess babies make - that you might go through 5 sets of clothes for them in a day - all that leaking and sick and poo.

I would prioritise things like childcare in advance (nannies, nurseries all looked into ) and perhaps even schools if you are going the private route and will want a nursery school around age 2 - 3.

I'm reading this with twins coming up to their first birthday and wishing I could just have a day to pop down to Regent Street with a friend and go out for a classy lunch, get a manicure, and pick out a fashion-forward autumn wardrobe. Honestly, though, most of the things being mentioned can still be done with the help of babysitters or in-laws; I primarily just miss having the energy to go out and do all of those bucket list things!!

I would enjoy having the energy to lead an exciting life, because once you have kids the most exciting holiday you can think of will probably involve dropping the children off with their grandparents and spending a few days in a posh hotel doing absolutely nothing well, not completely nothing.

All the stuff you guys mention we can never do anyway because we never have the time or money. Our last holiday abroad was eight or nine years go and we got stuck up a mountain for several days with no food after a severe storm and lost a stone each by the time we got home. DH never lays in, I think he's allergic to rest and we've only eaten out twice since moving here a year ago and my inlaws act like we're rolling in money because of it. So I'm reassured we won't be missing things, but very concerned our baby will be dressed in rags! Oh and sex life! Ha, what sex life? After seven miscarriages and a suture fitting at 14 weeks we've not had sex since I got pregnant anyway. I think we'll have forgotten where it's supposed to go when we get the go ahead.

I completely agree with having afternoon tea/pub lunches etc. My DD1 is almost 8 months and I would love to have a long bath and read a book, nap in the afternoon, watch my favourite films and read the newspaper.

We're PREGNANT!!!! Went on our 1st holiday abroad to Tenerife, had the fertility clinic the day after we came back (15sep2014) to start on hormone tablets but I was gettin pain in my tummy thinking, here we go again, no baby this month, but I hadn't started bleeding just getting usual pains, every time I went to loo I was expecting to see blood. Started looking on net if u cud be pregnant but still get pains etc, sis was taking us to hospital or app, she brought a test to my mums, I dipped it in, I'm a div it never worked , next thing my man dips it in and I start to see the pink moving up, I think nothing of it nxt fing Jamie tells me were pregnant with tears in his eyes, I started crying to and mum and sis were so excited, but we calmed down and didn't wanna get our hopes up because we double dipped. I was shaking like a leaf and in tears, hospital was running late told Jamie he would have to talk cause I was o upset, next fing I do pee, nurse asks if trainee wants to do test, I'm squeezing Jamie so hard, they are conferring with either but I see the trainee turn and smile nxt fing they confirm were pregnant ..... Well I just broke down into the most dramatic tears ever, snoggers and everything elated at the news. She wanted to do scan cause I was gettin pains, my whole body still shaking with joy, then I lean over to Jamie asking, are we really having a baby, I can't believe after trying for 2 years and about to start on or one tablets after hols, my sis says, you couldn't write it and it so true. Jamie and I couldn't b any happier, the day b4 we left Tenerife we we're it sitting saying, imagine if we found out we were pregnant wen we got bk b the icing on the cake and it happened. I went to see if tubes were blocked on my birthday in march they weren't, the flush out must have don't the trick just like people said, gid I'm gonna greet, we're having a baby it's growing inside me right now, just wow, choked wi cold though and still getting sum pains in tummy but Jamieis taking care of his to baby's, I love our love story xxx