MSE Pregnancy Club 25

hngrymummy

Hi everyone.

I'm really sorry I haven't been around. I found that juggling part-time work and a toddler was quite time consuming and didn't leave many spare hours for housework, let alone keeping in touch! Work is now finished, and my son in at the childminder today, so I'm going to catch up with everything that's slipped over the past year (sleep, housework, sleep, sleep, etc)

I can't believe I'm due on Thursday :eek:

I hope you're all doing your pelvic floor exercises.

Congratulations to all the new babies :T

Rups - I hope the jaundice clears up soon. My son was jaundiced for months. All the tests came back fine and they put it down to breast feeding. They said that they have to do tests just in case he was the 1 in a 1,000 where the jaundice was a problem.

Elisabeth, I'll just comment on a few things if that's ok.

Clothes - don't take the labels out of everything just yet. It means you can return things if you need to.

Sleeping - fleece blankets can cause baby to sweat, as they're synthetic, so try and avoid them for night-time. They're best for tucking round them when you're out during the day. They wash and dry quickly, so if baby's sick on them you can probably get them washed and dry by the next day.

Bathing - we're still on our first bottle of baby shampoo, and only just on to our second bottle of baby bath and he's nearly 2!! But don't worry if you've got too much, you can always use any spare toiletries to make up a nice basket of things for a friend who's expecting.

Changing - same with the clothes. Don't take the nappies out of the packets until you need them, that way you may be able to exchange them. Different babies prefer different brands. We didn't get on with Huggies at all. Every single one leaked Same with the wipes - some babies have reactions to wipes, so try and leave them in their packets until you need them. I am somewhat jealous of your wipe stash though

Feeding - I'm still on my first tube of Lansinoh. I breast fed for just over a year, and had 7 bouts of mastitis so I used the cream a lot. I suspect the tube will last for this baby too. I would take your second tube back and get something nice and pampering for you.

Extras - Mothercare do maternity pads with Aloe. Very soothing

Still to get - most of these I would just get as and when you need them. You may even be given stuff by friends (we were lent 2 sterilizers, which we never used, and 2 breast pumps)
Baby oil isn't recommended. We were advised just to use a light vegetable oil.
Sling - see if you can borrow one from a friend to try out first. There are so many different types. My son hated all of them!
Sterilizer - we used a plastic tub and Milton.
Breast pump - get feeding established first and see how you get on. If you do get a pump, look at getting some breast milk bags so you can store it in the freezer. Just remember to leave a note on the freezer reminding OH to shut the door properly, otherwise you'll have to chuck out all your defrosted breast milk :mad:

Tee Hee. That was a long post considering I haven't posted in ages.

HM x

martafdz

Yes, I second the above.post.
My Lo hated huggies wipes because they have a lot of moisture and felt too wet/ cold, she is ok with pampers sensitive ones.
I saw.somewhere that Medela hires pumps, so you can always hire one around your due date, see if you need it / like it / want it before buying it. I didn't know that was an option and by the time I found out, I had already bought one.
All the midwives, doctors and health visitors recommended light olive oil or sunflower oil for massage and moisturizing. Just a tiny bit on your plans, spread over the hands and use this on baby skin.

dizziblonde

I um... have lots and lots more newborn sized clothes than you!

In my defence my first was in newborn for a helluva long time (we're talking 2-3 months in tiny baby and newborn clothes), plus I have an absolute mountain of hand-me-downs from other people so I've got a lot of outfit type stuff that way (and yes, it ALL got worn last time around - at a bit of an effort... but we had quite bad day-night confusion after the time in hospital so I made an effort from the start to have day and night clothes). I tend to err on buying a lot of vests as I'd rather they get wrecked with a nappy explosion than outer clothes.

The one that caught me out last time was the weather and snowsuits. We were due end-May and I thought I wouldn't need a snowsuit, of course she came early April instead and the weather was utterly effing horrific - and all the stores had stopped selling them - by the time we tracked one down on the sale rail in Mothercare it had finally brightened up and it never did get worn... as for coats - we survived for weeks on one fur lined cardigan from Mothercare as it was all that would flipping fit!

We had to buy baby oil - just to remove the remaining adhesive from where her nose tube had been stuck on - I've never used it for anything since then.

Don't get too attached to Huggies nappies - they're stopping selling them in the UK if you haven't heard already. I'll buy a couple of packs of Tesco newborn (ok I'm biased in that they're doing donations to Bliss) and see where we go from there - last time it was a good month before we were even IN newborn. I think that if you joined the Pampers club they sent you two five packs of Pampers and some wipes for your hospital bag (yes I know hospitals frown on wipes - I used them on occasions when they weren't looking) - although they sent 'em so late last time my bag was long-since packed and ready!

Bibs - I had a dribbler (in hindsight another glaring indicator of the tongue tie they missed) so could easily get through 2-3 a feed when at her worst... these days I use disposable ones in my changing bag for out and about (my mum gets 'em from the poundshop) as I hate lugging soggy bibs home. I've bought about 10 plain ones in a pack from Asda for this baby as the ones my girl's using aren't fit to be seen in public anymore since she started solids. I'll buy a few more cutesy ones when I'm somewhere like Primark next... oh and do up the velcro before you stick them in the wash or your discover the new alternative to a Rubiks cube when they all come out of the wash stuck to tights and everything!

Bouncy chairs and what-not tend to vary whether babies love them or hate them - we borrowed a swinging chair and bouncy one - she hated the swing, loved the bouncer - the direct reverse of the owner of the stuff who'd loved one and loathed the other!

With sudocreme - I was in hospital for a while and kept on acquiring all the abandoned pots people had used once from their Bounty packs and left in the changing bay in the ward - I think those lasted me 6 months in all... I still use the stuff, but I tend to use metanium if she's looking at all sore - has so far worked and she's got a bottom my mother marvels at how well-kept it is (oh the things you slum it talking about...)

As for the PJ thing - we switched to them very early - about 3-6 months with my daughter - because her flipping legs grew so fast she was hitting the bottom of babygros in weeks (and being pregnant again I didn't want to chop the feet outta them) - I personally preferred them for nighttime nappies as I usually screwed up matching up babygro poppers ten times in a sleep-deprived haze, but I probably wouldn't switch any earlier than that to be honest. It was just what worked for us with a child that's destined to be very very tall (6 foot 7 daddy).

Sterilisers - if you buy a microwave one - check it's going to fit IN your microwave - particularly remembering it'll be full of really hot water when you take it out... we've used our Avent one twice I think as it just does not fit safely in our microwave at all (you have to take the glass plate out to get it in anyway and it's pretty much a jam it in job to fit it) and I keep meaning to chuck it up on Freecycle as it's been serving service as a fruitbowl in our kitchen for months.

Mrshaworth2b

Got period pains again, just rang the midwife and she said to keep an eye on it. worried!

Queen_B_3

[STRIKE]Morning[/STRIKE]Afternoon everyone

Thanks for posting your list on here Elisabeth, it's been really useful to see and read other people's comments on them. My task for today is to look at my list and arrange it into sections plus add on all the stuff I've been mad crazy buying over the past week

Happy 31 weeks mrshaworth!

Saffagal - you post about shopping made me chuckle, reminds me of the couple if times I've taken DH baby shopping, he tries to look enthusiastic bless him but its very forced especially when every other minute I'm cooing 'aww isn't that cute?!' Its very exciting ordering the furniture, did you go for a matching set? We did, it was a bit of a splurge but bought when it was at its lowest price so as MSE as we could be.

Morocha - I normally put weight on quite easily but hasn't been the case this pregnancy. Must not eat chocolate today, I was a bit disgusted with myself last night

Queen_B_3

Mrshaworth2b wrote: »

Got period pains again, just rang the midwife and she said to keep an eye on it. worried!

How often are you getting them? I've started getting them on and off over the past week but they never last longer than a minute and there is no pattern to them. In fact the first time I had one it was a shock as I'd almost forgotten what period pain felt like.

Mrshaworth2b

It started last night and I had it for about four hours but went to sleep and felt fine this morning. It's come back now and is constant but im just trying to cope. The midwife said to keep an eye on any blood and whether baby is moving. It's not painful it's just really achy and annoying

helen4891

Thanks for the lovely welcomes .

Last pregnancy my son had severe shoulder dysteria so haven't got to go full term this time, I'm having a growth scan at 36 weeks then will have to decided which way to give birth!
This pregnancy has been ok I suppose I felt sick and was sick a few times at the beginning , had high risk on downs test , so had cvs test, everything came back fine though thank god! I've been getting braxton hicks a lot sometimes up to 5/6 times aday , the consultant thinks this is to early to get them? But reading bits on here and web it not!! Other than that it's been fine, apart from the odd stomach ache, heartburn and a few spots.
My other two preganay were the same, never had one symptom, felt great for the whole 9 months, really thought I was having a girl this time as is so different but I've seen the proof it defo a boy lol.


I've brought a few odd bits but nothing much yet! I'm not going to mad this time round, plus people always buy you lovely little cute outfits when baby comes along, and most of the time they are wearing sleep suits.
The amonth of stuff that I brought with ds1 and never really used was mental x

Mrshawwortj2b hope your ok and not worring to much? Have you had braxton hicks before, you may be getting them?

Bamama

How many weeks are you Mrsh2b?

Dewi got weighed by the HV this morning...11oz gain in the 3 days we've been home!

missbunbury

elisabeth - I would add witch hazel gel to the list, was a god send for me after episiotomy, I put it all over the pads for the first two weeks or so, and in that time I got through 3 small tubes from Tesco.