2015 MARCH-MALLOWS... Due in March 2015!! Come join us!

[mummy_smurf2b]

Iv not thought about prams yet

 

[madtowngirl]

I'm too scared to think about buying anything yet, I'm afraid it will jinx me or something.

 

[Laska5]

oh, those icandy's look to be WAAY out of our budget! I'm actually hoping to beg & borrow for most of our baby stuff. It seems as those so many people spend a ton of stuff on baby gear just to sell it in a garage sale later anyways.

Anyone else here ever taken Dave Ramsey's financial peace class? We have too much debt right now & I want my child to know the freedom of living debt free so we are getting on the ball & should be completely debt free (house & all) by the time our child is 3 & then plan on taking him/her on a HUGE Disney World vacation once we are debt free! Soo no expensive baby stuff for us for now! Will probably buy most everything used or borrowed!

Now the one thing I will not sacrifice in our tight budget is professional photography - these moments are too precious to not document & the images captured will last forever (unlike most baby accessories that get sold!)!! I'm already planning a trip to Florida in January for a beach maternity session with my favorite photographer- I can not WAIT!!! Fortunately most of this trip will be paid for by hubby's job so we won't have much out of pocket besides the photosession!

 

[dan-o]

I'll be using the car seat on top of our Phil and teds (navigator) and toddler seat below, when required. At all other times it will most likely be my trusty old ergo carrier.
I may treat myself to a moby wrap for the early days this time too, seeing as I don't need to buy anything else

 

[Teilana]

We are looking at the Britax B-Agile stroller and the B-safe carseat. I can get the seat with points collected with my visa (its a rewards card that earns points for every dollar spent) so all we are going to need is the stroller

I am looking at doing some baby wearing as well in the first few months but we will see what happens...

 

[Mya209]

oh, those icandy's look to be WAAY out of our budget! I'm actually hoping to beg & borrow for most of our baby stuff. It seems as those so many people spend a ton of stuff on baby gear just to sell it in a garage sale later anyways.

Anyone else here ever taken Dave Ramsey's financial peace class? We have too much debt right now & I want my child to know the freedom of living debt free so we are getting on the ball & should be completely debt free (house & all) by the time our child is 3 & then plan on taking him/her on a HUGE Disney World vacation once we are debt free! Soo no expensive baby stuff for us for now! Will probably buy most everything used or borrowed!

Now the one thing I will not sacrifice in our tight budget is professional photography - these moments are too precious to not document & the images captured will last forever (unlike most baby accessories that get sold!)!! I'm already planning a trip to Florida in January for a beach maternity session with my favorite photographer- I can not WAIT!!! Fortunately most of this trip will be paid for by hubby's job so we won't have much out of pocket besides the photosession!

We got our icandy second hand for £200. Previous owner had 2 kids in it and we are about to have our second and it's still as good as new (if a bit grubby!)

 

[IluvRedskins]

Anyone else here ever taken Dave Ramsey's financial peace class? We have too much debt right now & I want my child to know the freedom of living debt free so we are getting on the ball & should be completely debt free (house & all) by the time our child is 3 & then plan on taking him/her on a HUGE Disney World vacation once we are debt free! Soo no expensive baby stuff for us for now! Will probably buy most everything used or borrowed!:

We haven't done the FPU but we have done his Total Money Makeover. Other than our house, we currently just have my hubby's truck (hoping by the end of the year to be paid for) & my student loans (trying to get them forgiven since I'm a teacher)! It has really made a difference in our life!

 

[Loozle]

I'm also thinking about getting an icandy, but if we do it will be 2nd hand, I don't think I can justify the money for a brand new one when you can get such bargains from ebay, gumtree or Facebook selling groups.

Those who have previously worn their babies, what carriers/wraps would you recommend? I'd really like to try baby wearing this time. I'm hoping that if my hands are free to play with ds2, hopefully he won't suffer with jealousy too much. (ds1 is mostly at school and will be 9.5 by the time baby is here so I'm not worrying about jealousy from him!)

Ds2 will be 3.5, and I know that it's not a small age gap by any standards, but I had a 6 year age gap last time and this is unknown territory again for me! He's also a huge mummy's boy so I really am concerned about jealousy from him..

 

[babytots]

Welcome to the new ladies congrats on your bfp's.

On the subject of children my girls are good as gold, ds1 has behavioural issues so can be a nightmare at times and ds2 is a little cheeky monkey and when together they are thick as thieves. I'm hoping it's another girl as don't think my sanity could cope with another boy lol.

Pram wise if money were no object then for a girl I'd buy a silver cross sleepover in the limited edition pink colour and for a boy a bugaboo. But in reality I'll probably buy either a mamas and papas sola or a silver cross wayfarer. X

 

[babytots]

Oh and I shall definately be babywearing too with this baby x

 

[Menelly]

I like a stretchy wrap for a newborn. Moby/Boba/make your own. You can prewrap what's called a "front wrap cross carry" and pop baby in and out as needed without untying. (It's also pretty good for nursing in if you intend to.)

After they're about 3 months old, a stretchy wrap won't really cut it anymore. They're useless after about 15 lbs. (This is why I always recommend getting a used stretchy. They cost a lot less and they aren't used that long.) I used a Mei Tai for my daughter that I bought for about $20 on Ebay.

When she hit 9/10 months old and I wanted to do more back carries, I went for a "soft structured carrier" or SSC. I personally have a Lillebaby. Lillebaby claims they can go from newborn to 35 lbs or so, but I'm not comfy with a newborn. I'm just weird. But a good SSC will allow you to front carry, hip carry, and back carry. I got my Lillebaby off Zulilly for $70 or so, but a good SSC will generally run you $100 or so.

Another great option that works from newborn to toddler is a plain wrap. They are generally woven linens that can be tied in a multitude of ways from newborn to toddler age. They allow for front, hip, and back carries too. You can get relatively inexpensive ones (Little Frog tends to be an inexpensive yet quality one) all the way up to several hundred dollars for some of the more brand names. But a wrap is a very versatile way to carry baby.

Avoid things like Infantino and Bjorn. They're called "crotch danglers" and can be dangerous for a baby's hips if your baby is prone to hip dysplagia. It's generally not a good idea to face baby outward. It's awkward for your back, baby's back, and baby can get overwhelmed quickly. If baby wants to look out, a hip carry is usually best.

If you want to hip carry, you can get a ring sling. These go over one shoulder and under baby butt/hips. They're great for toddlers that want up/down/up/down/up/down and drive you bonkers if you have to reclip/retye/whatever.

That said, babywearing can easily be like cloth diapering. There are bargain and budget options that work very well in almost all cases (be careful on SSC's, the buckles on cheap options can be bad) but you can also find yourself spending hundreds of dollars on beautiful wraps and SSC's. Depends on what you want.

So, for me, I went stretchy to Mei Tai, to SSC. We still use our SSC for things like hiking and she's a 28lb 2 year old. Totally worth it, IMO.

 

[kittykat7210]

i'd love to be able to wear my baby, but with my acute lordosis the pregnancy will be hard enough on it!! so sad i cant join with this xx

 

[DrMum]

If it helps anyone at all, the icandy inserts, liners, foot muffs etc all wash up brilliantly. Ours was new but within a few newborn pukes and then toddler crumbs and spills they soon need a freshen up! The only thing is don't tumble them as the logos melt if they touch the hot bits of the dryer.
You can also easily get spares etc on ebay if that helps too.
One of the things I love is that you can parent face both the pram bit and the stroller/buggy bit so your little baby can see your face, then as they get bigger and want to see the world you can face them out. I have the maxi-cosi car seat which clips into the chassis as well which works great.

 

[Laska5]

ahh- why do I not feel reassured!?!?!

Today completely unexpectedly- I got an ultrasound scan! My husband works at an ER & one of the doctors there use to be an OBGYN & just out of being a really great guy & friend- he did an ultrasound for us!

Well he found the heartbeat but kept saying 'I think that is the heartbeat' & my husband said he saw the little flicker on the screen - but I was laying down flat & couldn't see much. (he had the US machine at the foot of the bed). He also said the fluid & placenta looked good for 7 weeks.

What had me worried was that he kept saying 'I think' & then when he tried to find the heart rate with the doppler so we could hear it- he couldn't find it & just kept saying it's still so early- baby is so small & he never got a rate either with the US machine.

He said he would do another one for us in 2 weeks- but kept saying congratulations & was so happy for us. So I guess I should feel relieved? But I still feel so anxious!
What is wrong with me?? lol!

For everyone who has had a scan did they get the heartbeat via doppler or just by visually seeing it on the US machine? This was just an abdominal scan so maybe it's the vaginal ones this early that are more reliable??

 

[DrMum]

Scanning early is really difficult and if it's not something he does every day and it was a transabdominal it could have been quite technically difficult for him. I think that sounds really reassuring congratulations!!

 

[Laska5]

Scanning early is really difficult and if it's not something he does every day and it was a transabdominal it could have been quite technically difficult for him. I think that sounds really reassuring congratulations!!

that is true- I'm sure he is very out of practice!! Thank you! I wish we would have gotten a video- but that was the last thing on my mind! hah!

 

[Mya209]

I don't think it's usual to hear the heartbeat with a Doppler until about 16 weeks some people hear it earlier.

 

[missfrick]

I don't think it's usual to hear the heartbeat with a Doppler until about 16 weeks some people hear it earlier.

I thought 9 weeks for doppler?

 

[Bookity]

Doppler starts getting used at my obs office at 12 weeks.

I'd say especially if the US was abdominal what he COULD find was impressive! Don't be worried Hun!!

My first US with dd1 was around 8 weeks. We saw the heartbeat, but didn't get audio. With dd2 it was close to 10 weeks and we were able to see and hear HB with transvag ultrasound.

 

[claudinator]

ahh- why do I not feel reassured!?!?!

Today completely unexpectedly- I got an ultrasound scan! My husband works at an ER & one of the doctors there use to be an OBGYN & just out of being a really great guy & friend- he did an ultrasound for us!

Well he found the heartbeat but kept saying 'I think that is the heartbeat' & my husband said he saw the little flicker on the screen - but I was laying down flat & couldn't see much. (he had the US machine at the foot of the bed). He also said the fluid & placenta looked good for 7 weeks.

What had me worried was that he kept saying 'I think' & then when he tried to find the heart rate with the doppler so we could hear it- he couldn't find it & just kept saying it's still so early- baby is so small & he never got a rate either with the US machine.

He said he would do another one for us in 2 weeks- but kept saying congratulations & was so happy for us. So I guess I should feel relieved? But I still feel so anxious!
What is wrong with me?? lol!

For everyone who has had a scan did they get the heartbeat via doppler or just by visually seeing it on the US machine? This was just an abdominal scan so maybe it's the vaginal ones this early that are more reliable??

I got scanned from 6weeks in my first pregnancy, they always had to use an inter vaginal scan as it's too hard to find a heartbeat at that stage on the abdomen.