Baby shopping

Last weekend we finally bit the bullet. We went to The Baby Barn just outside Rugby at the recommendation of a friend. My immediate feeling was of being completely overwhelmed. We walked in and all we could see was buggy's and car seats. What I thought I was after was a travel system - I liked the idea of clicking the baby in and out of the car, into the buggy and off. What I went on to find out was that there are strict recommendations about how long the baby should be in a car seat for and that travel systems have a fairly short period of use. 

Having discovered the above I changed my mind and instead we focussed on getting items that would last. After some debate we decided to get a car seat each and went for the new, top of the range, recaro car seat, which can keep baby rear facing until 4 years of age and and has been highly safety tested. 

The buggy was more complicated. It transpired that no buggy will fit in the boot of my Yaris. We ended up looking at a mamas and papas buggy and an oyster one. In the end we opted for the oyster, which again can last from birth until 3 years and got some accessories for it. 

£1200 later we left, still needing to get a cot/ Moses basket and changing table. 

Shop on! 

3 months to go

The countdown has really begun now. My official due date is three months today. My antenatal class this week was cancelled and I'll be missing next week's as we are going on a last pre-baby break to the wedding of friends in Prague. 

I'm clearly now getting quite big. Everybody I see assumes I'm due imminently and I've had two people now ask me if I'm having twins. There's certainly little doubt that I am actually pregnant! 

Baby continues to wriggle around a lot reassuring me about it's presence. 

This week I finally got around to emptying the bulk of boxes from what will be the nursery. At the same time I'm accumulating more and more baby clothes. I'm lucky that a few friends have recently had children and are passing on their baby clothes. Although we'll buy a few things new I'm happy not to be precious about getting a lot of things as nearly new. Ultimately the baby will make anything we put on it dirty in a matter of minutes. I would rather we spent the money on baby once it's old enough to appreciate things. 

Hopefully my pragmatism will endure once baby arrives. 

My first major purchase

Last night I bit the bullet and for the first time invested 3 figures in baby's future. Last week I visited a friend and her nine-month old and saw a demonstration of her sling. 

For us a sling is as important as a pram as our village location and the dog's love of walking through the fields means that it will be needed every day whereas a pram will only be taken in the car. 

The friend I saw last week has a connecta. Not a brand I'd heard of but seeing her demonstrate it it appeared to be easy to use, can be worn on the back or the front and is suitable from newborn to 16kg. They also come in a range of fabrics although we've opted for the tweed for two reasons - first it is the easiest to get hold of as it is stocked by m&s but secondly James has a love affair with tweed and almost wet himself when I told him it was a possibility. 

I get to collect my purchase tomorrow and have been advised to wear it in a bit before little one makes an appearance. I can't wait. All starting to feel that little bit more real. 

Second antenatal class

Last night was my second antenatal yoga class. There were more of us there last time with five of us. Where the first one was blighted by a cold last night's class was disturbed throughout by reflux. Yet another joy of pregnancy. 

Despite that though I had a really good time. We talked more about labour itself and overall I felt beautifully relaxed by the time the class finished. I just managed to avoid dropping off at the end. 

Antenatal class

On Wednesday evening I had my first antenatal class. I've signed up to the Daisy foundation active mum classes. It's essentially antenatal yoga with a focus on breathing and relaxation techniques. There were only three of us at the class although there should have been six. I'm the least far along of us. 

The breathing and relaxation was great. Unfortunately I had difficulty with some of the positions as I'd managed to come down with a stinking cold and was battling a nose like a tap - here was I thinking that if got over the bugs! 

I'm looking forward to the next few weeks though and whenever my nose allows for it I'm going through the breathing techniques at home. 

Our second 20 week scan

At 22+3 we went for our second 20 week scan. At the first one baby had refused to allow the heart vessels to be seen - a fairly vital element of a functioning body. 

Initially it seemed like we weren't going to have any luck. The first scanner sent us out after some fairly brutal attempts to visualise the necessary. I was told to walk about and have a drink and see if baby would uncurl. 

The second scanner also declared that we had a very 'curled up' baby. She however persisted and after tilting the bed so my feet were way up in the air she managed to see what was needed. Everything present and correct. 

It was lovely to see baby wriggling around again although I'm now feeling plenty of movements throughout the day - they're yet to wake me up yet but I'm sure it won't be long. 

I am now very visibly pregnant. Is it wrong that I'm tempted to tell the next stranger that refers to 'my condition' that actually I'm just fat?

Pink or blue

As I stated previously we had every intention of finding out at the scan what we were having and indeed we now know. We've shared the exciting information with those family and friends we regularly see or speak to but for the rest of the world we'll try and keep it under wraps until baby's here. The only difficulty with that is going to be if I inadvertently use the third person pronoun when writing about baby here. It might happen. Let's see if any eagle eyes spot it. 

From our point of view we're both pleased. As James pointed out the only real surprise would be if it had turned out to be a puppy! Personally I've had a hunch from the start and most people have agreed with my hunch. Only a few people thought the other way, James included, so we'll have to wait until next time around to see if he's right with his guess then.