So, who lived to tell the tale of their baby shower?
markhamgurl
member
I know a lot of March moms just had (or are having) their baby showers, seeing as we're in the last stretch of our pregnancies! So, what stuck with you about your shower? Any surprises? Things you didn't expect? Favourite/least favourite gifts?
This was the first baby shower I'd ever been to and did NOT know what to expect. Receiving and opening presents in front of an audience makes me very uncomfortable so I stressed about it allllll week. In the end, it was all for nothing because the 20 or so ladies in attendance were all so easygoing and quick to laugh at my stupid jokes and comments. Phew! My SILs did such a great job of hosting and were utter sweetness and light all afternoon.
I came to learn that people don't really like to shop off of registries (only 5 of the 20 referred to our list for big things like high chair, car seat, playpen, monitor, and structured carrier). Nor do they like to buy things like diapers (we were registered for cloth and were hoping someone would appreciate how practical a gift that would be!). However, they do looooove buying bath items (we got five or six hooded towels and/or bath sets).
I wish I'd communicated to my SILs that I'm partial to owls before they picked-out the invites. The day ended up having a jungle theme, and as you can imagine, we received a LOT of jungle-themed stuff because that's just what people assumed our theme for the nursery was after they saw the invite.
Only two people included gift receipts! So anything that we decided wasn't really "us" (or we got duplicates of a particular item), I think we're going to stockpile and use to regift when friends start having babies.
The best gift we got was a little baby driving 'suit', hat, bib, and plush rattle (in the shape of a steering wheel!) by Subaru from the mom of friends of ours since DH is very involved in cars. She obviously had to special order it, and it just meant so much that she went to all that trouble. All I could muster when I saw it was, "OMG, DH is going to DIE when he sees this!". She also made an effort to tell me twice that she was so honoured to have been invited to the shower, which was so sweet.
Oh, and the picture taken of me cutting the cake my SIL baked makes me look SO pregnant. Like, massive. I didn't think I looked quite so huge! That was a surprise. Also, everyone had a healthy respect for personal boundaries because nobody touched my belly! Not once.
Also - slightly amusing for me (though not her daughter-in-law who was also in attendance) - the mother of a good friend of DH's made a point to tell me - several times - that DH and I's "job" was to "inspire" her son and daughter-in-law to have a baby too, because she was "more than ready" to be a grandmother. Egads!
Re: So, who lived to tell the tale of their baby shower?
I second the pp, most stores will give you a store credit and you can get the stuff you really need.
I had a shower this weekend too. I was a little disappointed with my husbands families turn out, but have sense got excuses that there was family drama (which in my opinion is totally ridiculous because I go to every one of their and their kids things but whatever)
Also we got a ton of washcloth sets and hooded towels. We didn't get any diapers and I was surprised at that. We did get a ton of baby boy clothes and I was surprised at that too. They are super cute too. I am glad that the shower was this weekend because my blood pressure shot up yesterday and now I am on full blown bed rest for the duration of this pregnancy.
The big things we still have to get is a new car seat because I assumed we would be in the same financial situation as we were when we had dd and I stupidly bought a girly hot pink car seat. Buy gender neutral if you can!
Dh lost his job last week and we really cant afford a new one like we had planned. DS wont know.... but I am struggling with it.
I had mine a few weeks ago and survived just fine. The hardest part was really opening all the gifts. People we so generous and it seemed like every gift was a 3 or 4 parter. I felt I needed a break 1/2 way through, but trucked on. And it wasn't as uncomfortable as I feared because many of the guests were chatting it up while I was opening, so I didn't feel like the spotlight was 100% on me.
We were lucky, as I would say that the vast majority of people bought things off our registry, there were only a few that didn't. I don't really have a least favorite gift, and we are only returning 2 items (an exact duplicate of a wub a nub, and a lamp that is missing a part). It is hard to pick a favorite too. . . all the clothes are so adorable. Maybe the sleep sheep thing might be my favorite if it really helps little guy sleep. It is so cute! Overall though, we are so thankful; people got nearly all the "big stuff" off of our registries.
It's nice to be able to compare my experience to that of other Bumpies
I'm glad everyone had a good time for the most part!
As for the returns, I suppose I could try taking the more common items to Walmart to see if they'll give us a store credit? I know one of the items (car seat) was an online purchase, and per Walmart's policy, they require a name, email address, order number, etc. to process the return of an online purchase in-store. Although maybe that's if someone wants a full refund instead of a store credit?
We still have a list of things we need to pick-up, and I don't like the idea of keeping certain things when we have lots of that particular item already. It seems wasteful somehow. And I've been on such a purge lately, trying to make room for baby's stuff, and sticking to the "less is more" rule. Yeah, I think we'll bundle those few items up and try to return for store credit.
I have a Daughter born 2/26/2013. She is pretty much amazing!
BFP #2 - 7/1/12 - Met my lucky charm Alexandra on 3-16-13!!!
I barely survived mine! I was released from the hospital the night before my last one, and was put on bed rest. So, I was allowed to attend, but had to take it easy. Easier said than done when everyone is asking how you are doing.
Gift wise. I take what I am given. Weird thing is... I didn't get a single blanket or anything; so I'm feverishly working to finish making one for LO, so I'll have something to put over and keep him warm in his carseat.
Diaper cakes are cute and all... but it took me and hour or so to dismantle mine. Not to mention that LO is now 7lbs; so he may not be wearing many newborn diapers.
I had my shower this weekend and it was wonderful. The highlight of it was that all of my sorority sisters that pledged with me were in attendance, including one that none of us had seen in 10 years.
Although I am really grateful for everything we received (family purchased all of our big ticket items except the car seat), I too received a lot of clothes. This wouldn't be a problem if pretty much all of them weren't newborn or 0-3 months. Some outfits we received in triplicate and of course only one person included a gift receipt. LOL.
I had my shower this weekend and it went really well too! I was so surprised that all of the big items on my registry were purchased. We had about 25 people and it was perfect. It was funny because I did not get any little things, which I was certain I would get a ton of.
The only weird thing that happened was that my MIL gave me tucks pads and preperation H in front of everyone. It was a little strange, and everyone stopped talking when this happened, but I recovered lol!
I enjoyed our baby shower. We had a Cardinals baseball theme which I made sure my SIL knew what I wanted. I am a control freak graphic designer so I designed my own Cardinal baseball ticket style invites. lol. other than that I stayed out of the way. All of our guest wore cardinal team gear.
The best gift we received was his & her carseats with a stroller that I really wanted.
The most thoughtful gift we received a personalized baby Cardinals jersey.
Everyone was genuinely open to making sure they got us exactly what we wanted & needed. We received a few giftcards and I have been able to make successful returns on duplicate items.
All in all I think it was successful.
My shower is in a week and a half and is being thrown by my MIL. I'm very appreciative but it's not at all what I would've wanted had I been asked what I would've wanted. It's only women - which is fine, but DH and I have a lot of joint friends and I wanted to invite all of them and have DH there. Also, I had to write out all of the invitations . . . how that happened I have no idea. And then my MIL decided she wanted to send them out 2 weeks earlier than we had discussed so I was rushed and constantly bothered until I got them done. Also, she hasn't taken the theme for the nursery into account at all (we decided on Minnie Mouse) and told me she's throwing the kind of shower she wants to throw, theme and all. And now she's constantly calling DH telling him that I need to put x, y and z on my registry and take off any clothing or lotion/bath stuff I have listed because she's already bought all the clothes the LO will need. Thankfully he realizes how pushy she is being and defaults to what I want right now.
I guess I don't sound very appreciative after all . . .