now that you know..

[Rhiannon]

... what to expect when having a baby, what would you do for number two?

what essentials would you buy?

would you set a routine earlier?

xxx

 

[lozzy21]

Id pack my hospital bag earlier

 

[rockys-mumma]

Id pack my hospital bag earlier

Same, and I went 6 days overdue

 

[KittyVentura]

I'd take much less to the hospital, stay in longer & eat better.

I'd try BF again but I'd not put as much pressure on myself about it.

I'd have an epidural in BIG writing at the top of my birth plan... actually that might be the only thing on my birth plan.

Everything else I'd do the same... can't have done much too wrong as I have a very happy, content baby who STTN etc xx

 

[sjminimac]

i'd baby wear from birth. I'd go to a hospital instead of a birthing centre due to complications i had. I'd put the baby in their cot earlier (but still in my room) x

 

[OmarsMum]

I will buy nothing I have loads of everything: bibs, baby gros, sleep suits, muslin, outfits, baby shoes, etc. for 0-12 months & most of them are uni-sex

Things I will do differently next time:

- Moving LO to his/her room at 6-8 months
- Wean off the dummy once LO starts sleeping through as Omar is really dependant on his dummy those days & it's a nightmare
- Hopefully BFing
- Elective CS

ETA: Controlling my diet during pregnancy, as I added loads during my pregnancy

 

[Rhiannon]

id follow my own advice instead of listening to the HV.

id make up milk for 24 hrs in advance instead of stressing about cooled boiled water.

id buy dr brown bottles straight away instead of messing about with others.

i would put LO straight into a cot - moses basket didnt last 6 weeks with rhys.

babywear for a majority of the time.

make LOADS of meals up in advance for us to eat in the first few weeks

not wean till 6 months and then do BLW.

use comfort formula straight away.

 

[rockys-mumma]

Oh i'd buy less clothes too because i really enjoy going out and getting stuff for him but he had soooo many clothes I felt guilty going and buying more!

 

[dollych]

I would sleep LOADS the week before baby is due instead of cleaning the house 100 times a day!!!!........ I got the nesting instinct BAD
I wouldn't need hardly anything next time as i have loads of clothes, bibs, feeding utensils e.t.c we got loads of pressies for my Lo so i still have clothes in the packets.
The only thing i would buy is lots of pink stuff if it's a girl next time!!!.
I agree with you, i would use the Dr browns bottles straightaway instead of 4 weeks after babs is born to avoid the bad wind problems!!.

 

[Torz]

I'd pack more in my hospital bag. I was planning a home birth & didnt actually belive i'd end up going to the hospital which i did. I didnt have enough baby grows & vests.

I'd introduce EBM in a bottle earlier, Alfie wont take a bottle & while i love BF it would be nice for both me & OH if he could feed him once in a while.

I'd Tell my MIL that i dont want her comming up to the house every day, she did my nut in for two weeks & didnt have the guts to say anything.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I think I would buy less 'stuff'!

 

[pandacub]

I think I'd also want home water birth... I hated being in hospital after the birth.
And I'd worry less and go out more! Only felt confident taking him out when he was about 4 weeks.

 

[GingerNut]

Worry less! But I think that's inevitable anyway; now that we've done it once, it could never be quite as terrifying again!

Learn to drive before my maternity leave starts. 6 months of being stuck in a very small village with no transport did NOT help my PND.

Pack way less for the hospital, I didn't use 90% of the stuff I'd been told was indispensible.

Refuse the gel to start the induction process. All it did for me was give me an extra night in hospital with no sleep whatsoever (I don't think it's necessary after the first time anyway).

Lose a load of weight before getting pregnant!

Try to avoid the only-sleeping-on-mama-during-the-day thing. That really was a pain.

 

[aob1013]

Would pack my hospital bag at like, 25 weeks :haha

And that's all really ........ what i am doing now i have done from the beginning, so i wouldn't change anything really.

 

[LankyDoodle]

I'd stay in hospital longer. I was rushing to get home and although I got on better with B/F once I was home, I actually needed the rest as I hadn't slept much at all during the 3 days of my labour and hadn't eaten at all. I needed that time to recover properly.

I'd put my foot right down about visitors. I tried this time but was too weak to see it through!

I wouldn't bother with the moses basket - we coslept a lot and had a mini cot from 3 months as she was too big for the basket even despite being a light baby.

I wouldn't buy so many clothes.

I won't find out the sex.

I won't bother with a changing bag. I am going to sell mine and won't be replacing it. We use a rucksack most of the time!

If I didn't have a pram already then I wouldn't be looking to get a pram for the next baby. We babywear a lot.

Be a bit more flexible in my birth plan. I would still refuse induction for going overdue and only have it on medical grounds, but I'd have more confidence to refuse it on medical grounds unless they are valid. For eg, I was induced because my waters broke at 39+3 and I contracted every 10 minutes for ages but didn't go into established labour, so after 40 hours I had a pessary and within 30 minutes was in established labour. They gave me a drip because I only went from 3-5cm in 4 hours, but for someone who started with a bishop's score of 3 (they say not to induce below 8!!) and who had not gone into natural labour on her own and who was having her first baby, stuck to a bed being monitored because they said monitoring every 5 mins was not an option (grrr) 2cm in 4 hours is not too bad. The drip caused problems with the baby, the worry and feeling disheartened about slow progress, meant I tensed up and stopped progressing and stuck at 5cm for hours even on the drip!! That should have told them they drip was not necessary - my baby was just taking her time and I'd have got there in the end! But the registrar couldn't agree with the MW that I was doing OK without it. Next time I will stay home until I start established labour; in fact I might not even ring them to say they have broken if they do break - you can see if they are stained with meconium and I'd ask my community midwife to come and check me over!

Leading on from that, I will try not to allow myself to get disheartened as that is when I lost my resolve and the pain started to overcome me. The TENS was fantastic but the minute I started doubting myself I started to be overcome with the pain!

 

[elephant29]

I'd eat better during pregnancy. I ate like a bloody pig and am paying for it now. I hate the way I look and am living in leggings cause all my size 10's go no where near me. Even a big winter coat I bought before I fell pregnant wont even zip over my belly

I'd buy a carrier and wear from birth!

I' set a routine early on. Aria is magic at sleeping (dreaded 4 mth hitting us soon though!) but we could have had a routine up and running well before 8 weeks.

Think thats it.

xxx

 

[aliss]

Hand visitors a mop and broom and expect my house to be cleaned by them as payment if they want any entertainment from me in those first few weeks!

Hold the baby... wash the kitchen

Cuddle the baby... do my laundry

Walk the baby around the block... oh that'll cost you - do the dishes AND the laundry

 

[ayh78]

Give LO EBM more often so he doesn't forget how to use a bottle.
Buy a crib instead of a moses basket for our room. DS is long and we've had to move the furniture around to get his cot into our room, hopefully a crib would last longer without taking up as much space.

 

[Koobie1982]

Id stay in hospital longer, I was itching to get home after having B, but looking back I needed the rest.
Id also rest more towards the end of pregnancy, I was so tired from trying to get everything ready.

 

[Seity]

Honestly, now that I know, we're not having another.
I really wouldn't change anything. I'm very happy with our baby led everything and I didn't buy anything unless we needed it.