2nd time Moms - how prepared are you??

mjcleve

I hadn't done anything to prepare for this LO until last weekend.  I finally went through DS's first tub of baby clothes and sorted out the gender neutral stuff.  That's as far as I got - it's all in a pile on the bedroom floor.  Also, Tuesday we finally agreed on a couple of girls names but no boys names yet.

Other than that, nothing.  As in, I haven't even considered what I need to do to prepare.  The baby will be in our room for a while but we don't have anything for him/her to sleep in!  Maybe this weekend I need to put a list together.

The thing is - my lack of "readiness" doesn't even have me nervous.  I just keep seeing everyone posting pictures of the nursery, clothes washed and hanging, buying the last thing they need, etc. and keep wondering if I should be doing something?

cateye

I think after the first, you realize how little your new LO really needs.  And worse comes to worse, you have those couple of days in the hospital for DH (or someone else) to pick up the "must haves." 

We were prepared really early this time, though.  I didn't want to worry about dealing with a new baby, a toddler, and getting stuff set up.  And there was a chance I could have delivered early, sooooo..... I just wanted to be prepared.

reemarie81

Well this is my third and I haven't done anything.  Last weekend I went through my sisters clothes bc I sold most of mine in garage sales bc we have a small twh.  DS2 is in the crib which is now a toddler bed so we will be using a pnp.  I don't have the breast pump stuff yet, no diapers, no diaper bag and no lovie.  I think we procrasinate bc we have done this before.  Everything will be fine!!  Let's hope for both our sakes.

butterbeansmama

I haven't sifted through for gender neutral stuff yet. I do have the take home outfits bought, but not washed. I just washed all the bedding from ds's crib (bumper, blankets, cribskirt, etc.), but I haven't thrown it in the dryer. I did bring down the basket that we keep in our room while the baby is in here that we keep the clothes, burp clothes, diapers, etc. in. There is still tons to do, but for me I still have a while to go. Just today when I was washing that stuff, dh asked me why I was washing it so soon. I told him because I didn't want to wind up weeks before I'm due, doing everything at once.

KABKD

I have done NOTHING. Considering this baby may be coming in 4.5 weeks I should pobably be freaking out, but  I am not.

We are also putting a significant addition on our house, which means I currently have no kitchen or play area for DS. The addition is supposed to be done in 5 weeks. Yeah Right.

I am just hoping for a whole lot of help when LO does make his/her arrival. I guess I should at least find and wash the gender neutral clothing and get the car seat ready.

thomas&lynn

I'm only 25wks but I'm not even in the slightest concerned about getting anything done.

I go to Target about once a week and pick up some baby item I find on clearance that I needed anyway (towels, bottles, lovey etc) so I have a little stash but since we actually don't NEED a damn thing even that's ho-hum.

We have the pnp from DD so he'll use that for as long as he can weight wise in our room. Also, we'll keep him with us for as long as it takes for him to sttn before we put him in with DD so we haven't even decorated thier room yet. We are worrying about a crib once the time comes (when he outgrows the pnp) because we want to see if DD will still be using it or not first. I already have the infant seat, Ergo, boobs seem like they're gearing up (lol), glider from DD, plug in swing, bouncey, highchair. It's pretty much just.......done

I did drop about $50 at Marshall's on several Carter's onesies, a new Boppy, and 2 sleepers a month ago but that's it on "big spending".

I'm loving it!

The only thing I WILL be obsessing about is my damn hospital bag this time. I procrastinated so badly last time that we didn't have one ready to go when I went into labor with DD at 39wks MH had to "pack" a bag and I ended up with NOTHING to wear home and no face wash. Seriously, I had to wear paper surgical pants home lol. Oh the memories!!

wannabmommy

I'm the same way! With DC I was so on top of things and had the completely nursery ready to go about where I am now. This time, not a thing ready! I just think it's partially because I'm chasing DC around and don't have all the extra time I did when I was pg the first time and also that I realized that a baby doesn't care if a nursery is completely finished. Maybe we need to have a motivational group to get us going lol!

jknallen

I will be going in for my csection in 8 days and all I have done is packed my diaper bag for LO (we have to bring clothes and diapers and everything for LO).  Other than that, i've done pretty much nothing else.  We moved a month ago from an apt to a house, so we set up the crib from DS.

I think that we just know that we don't need everything all set up for the first little bit and aren't worried about it.  You just need the basics and you will have time to get things done that you will need later on.

Don't feel bad.

NJBride4-8-05

I am as ready as I can be. Room is done, closet is full, bed is made, hospital bag has stuff in it.  Nothing for me to do but wait now.

ILUVChiTown

I haven't done much of anything yet.  I am nesting like crazy (de-cluttering the rest of our place, fixing things that need to be fixed, doing taxes and admin stuff, etc.) but haven't done anything specifically for the baby.  We have a bassinet and I am going to try to get some things done this weekend, like installing the infant car seat, sterilizing the breast pump, packing hospital bags, etc. I have hardly focused on this pregnancy at all this time around and now it is starting to feel very very real!

Asquared

I feel a tiny bit under prepared since we still aren't positive on boy names, but maybe that means it'll be a girl!??  I've been telling people that I realize this time around all I really need is a pack of diapers and my boobs, so hopefully that'll be true this time around too! :-)    It's definitely different this time since we found out the gender w/ dd, but not this time!

balibaby

Nada... I keep waiting for the motivation/nesting to kick in, but there just isn't any so far! I have a vague list that I am sure needs to be expanded on in my head, but beyond that nothing is done. I do way more stuff currently for dd than for this new baby. We are going to use the co-sleeper or bassinette in our room for a while anyway and I need to move the changing table in our room. Just lots of random litttle things. Need to sort through for gender neutral stuff since we are team green.

Asquared

jknallen:

I will be going in for my csection in 8 days and all I have done is packed my diaper bag for LO (we have to bring clothes and diapers and everything for LO).  Other than that, i've done pretty much nothing else.  We moved a month ago from an apt to a house, so we set up the crib from DS.

Your hospital doesn't provide them??  diapers, i mean...  ?

lite-bright

Eh. If I had to bring her home tomorrow (God forbid), DH would install our carseat and she'd have a way home, a place to sleep, and clothes to sleep in. We could pick up some NB diapers on the way home. So we'd pretty much be set.

I already unpacked all of DD1's newborn and some 0-3 month clothes and they're in the nursery. I still want to re-wash them, though.

DH would need to raise the crib mattress back up to the highest level, or we could just set up the PnP in our room until he got a chance to -- which we may do anyway. Then there's stuff like bringing up the swing, bouncy seat, etc. from the basement -- we probably won't do that until the last minute anyway. 

I'm much more laid back this time around.  

sunshyn/dagoon

i feel/felt the same way! i am currently 36wks and my son is 3.5yrs old. keeping up with him is a full time job in its self and omg i feel like i have done just the bare minimal to prepare for this baby! i'm like this poor kid is getting the shaft, down to me taking belly pics and keeping journals and u/s, lol i was sooo excited with my first and this second i am excited but just have soo much going on. you will be fine, like another poster said i think you just realize how unimportant/urgent somethings are and know the difference between a want and a necessity...i have my bags packed, some clother for the baby (b/c my 1st son was born in the summer and this one is a winter baby) and just the essentials, everything will get worked out when needed.

 GL 

xosheenaox

I'm kind of prepared a few weeks ago I went through all the clothes my freinds have passed down to me I thought the poor little guy didn't have any clothing really but now he has 3 tubs full he's set up through 2t. Tomorrow I plan on washing new items I just recently started buying him as well as nb-3 month sizes so I can fold and put away. I don't have bottles or any of the little things yet, the carseat is sitting downstairs will install that sometime soon I have the swing and bouncy seat stored in DD's room eventually plan on putting batteries in. Have yet to set up his crib or order his bedding lol I still have a lot to do and have exactly a month to go I get induced March 4th

CD+AL

This thread makes me feel so much better.  I've been feeling so guilty about not being as ready for DD and not giving her as much preparation as I gave DS, but it's just so tough to do it all while being pg and chasing DS 24/7.  I did finalize her coming home outfit today (minus socks but they'll turn up). 

We need to clear out her room, order her bedding, find nursery decor and buy DS' big boy bed and dresser yet, but honestly, I'm not sure it's going to all happen before she gets here.  I'm not really sure it matters either other than the fact that it will be 3x more difficult to do all of it once I'm caring for and BFing a newborn AND chasing a toddler.  They'll both be sleeping in our room, so if the nursery isn't done, life will go on. 

I'd just like to have it done ahead to help DS' transition and to make sure that DD doesn't look back at pics of her room vs. DS' room and wonder why she didn't get much.  I'd never want her to feel like we weren't excited about her coming.

lep712

The only big thing I've done is we made a huge push to move DD to her big girl room (and bed) about 2 months ago and she did great!  We did a gender friendly nursery, so wanted to make sure she adjusted to that change in plenty of time.   Other than that, I've picked up boy clothes here and there and have sold some of DD's clothes at consignment shops.  And I also bought a double stroller when it was on a great deal around the holidays.  I figure we'll run out and get the other few things we need around 35/36 weeks.  We really don't need much else.

Worcbride

I belong to a mom's group and we're all pg w/our 2nds right now (and all due w/in a few wks of each other); we've all noticed how diff this pregnancy is...we're not reading books like w/the first, getting everything ready is taking longer etc.  It doesnt mean we arent excited about #2 arriving--we actually came to the conclusion that we're exhausted cuz we're chasing #1 around so much (they are all 20-28mos old)/cant get as much done.  I had a nice cushy desk job when pg w/#1 so if I was tired I could shut my office door and veg---cant do that now being a SAHM w/a 21 month old

jknallen

Asquared:

jknallen:

I will be going in for my csection in 8 days and all I have done is packed my diaper bag for LO (we have to bring clothes and diapers and everything for LO).  Other than that, i've done pretty much nothing else.  We moved a month ago from an apt to a house, so we set up the crib from DS.

Your hospital doesn't provide them??  diapers, i mean...  ?

Nope they don't provide anything for your baby.  Just the bed for them to sleep in (with a sheet on it) and formula if you need it.  It sucks but it is nice to have baby in your own things while there.