I’m ready! Or am I?

This week we went to the gynaecologist to have a look at baby-boy. His estimated weight is just above 1 kg and he is already lying with his head down, as if to say “OK! I’m ready!”

Believe me baby-boy, mommy is ready too!

Well sort of. We still need to get a few things and wash all his big brother’s old clothes. When is a good time to start doing that? Too soon and you risk to have to wash everything again because it gets dusty. Too late and you may be in a rush or stressed out before birth or worse, not even getting to it.

I guess soon would be appropriate yet unspecific. Silas came 12 days too early, so I am expecting baby-boy to do the same. This means he will arrive in approximately 10 weeks. I therefore think now is a good time.

So, here is my to-do list before birth:

• Wash all the old clothes and decide if we need new ones – we probably do! We didn’t think Silas would be such a small baby, I am Scandinavian after all and we make big babies. I therefore didn’t think it was necessary to buy much in the smaller sizes. I was wrong! Silas turned out to be quite small, probably taking after his Belgian father more and in turn, spent the first month of his life in clothes that was way too big for him. Lets be better prepared this time.

• Bedside crib. For those of you who don’t know what a bedside crib is, it’s a small bed that you attach to the parents bed, so it seems like he is sleeping with us, but he has his own mattress and duvet.
  We do have a crib, but not one you can open and attach to the big bed. When we used it with Silas it was annoying to get out of bed, pick him up, put him in bed to feed and back. I therefore left him in the big bed most of the time out of convenience. However, I was constantly afraid to squash him or that he would be too warm. At some point I also noticed that we were waking each other up. I thought he wanted to feed, but actually he was just dreaming. As this made no sense to either of us, he then moved into his own room and we both slept much better.
  This time we will try a bedside crib, where I hopefully won’t have to worry about squashing him or that he would be too warm in our bed. I have heard though that some babies will crawl back into the big bed to cuddle and then we would be back to square one. Lets hope it works out for us!

• Infant insert for my Ergobaby. I have the actual carrier, but am missing the infant insert, which is an extra pillow to protect the newborn.
  I didn’t carry Silas much, mainly because I was so tired of carrying him around through pregnancy. I thought I had done my duty by carrying him for 9 months!
  This time though, I think it may be different as I will also be running after a 2 year-old and it may therefore be smarter to keep baby-boy in carrier. But who knows, it may not turn out this way. I still need the infant insert though!

• Newborn nappies, although it would look funny to put baby-boy in a size 5 nappy, but probably only for a moment…

• A baby swing or bouncer; somewhere to place baby-boy when we eat. After Silas was born it was hard to find a way to sit down with my baby-daddy and eat at the same time, while the meal was still hot. Someone always had to hold Silas or he asked to be fed at the exact moment dinner was ready. By the time I had found out about swings and bouncers, it was too late and we didn’t need it anymore. This time we will be a little smarter.

• I want a new stroller! This is a big topic and could fill a whole blog by its self. Anyone who has ever ventured the impossible to go stroller shopping can tell you how daunting this task is.
  I have been back and forth many times between (a) reusing the one we have (Quinny Speedi), which I think is way too big and clumsy, (b) getting a twin stroller that would fit in our tiny elevator (mission impossible!) or (c) getting the Bugaboo Cameleon (but only second hand, as it’s too expensive considering we already have one).
  My very short conclusion is that I want the Bugaboo Cameleon! And as it turns out, our best friends have one they are looking to sell – yay for me!

• Take pregnancy photos. I haven’t taken any photos of my belly this time. Last time I did regularly and made a scrapbook. This time I couldn’t be bothered. However, I do think we should do “something” and that “something” should be to take professional photos of the belly and family before birth. Maybe also adding photos of baby-boy after birth.

There it is, 7 things we absolutely need before birth. Now, I know what to do the coming weeks 🙂 Am I missing anything?

By the way, I was also weighed and measured at the gynaecologist appointment. I was quite pleased with myself to find out that I had only gained 1 kg since last appointment and my blood pressure is fine – 80/120. Yay me! I do think I should watch my diet more than I am at the moment. I eat too much sugar and not enough vegetables – but who can’t relate to that?