Baby Shopping While TTC

bluestrawberryrice

My husband and I have only been TTC for about 6 weeks but he and I are getting so excited we have already started shopping. So far we bought a stroller, a Moses basket, breast pump (it was on sale!!), baby food making kit, and random cute baby stuff. It is still too early to tell because I have not missed my period yet and we already make an Amazon Baby Wish List. Are we the only couple who does this sort of thing?

CRLSMC2011

I know you're excited and you are probably not the only one, but be careful not to overdo it because you don't know how long it will take to suceed and then what could happen.  It would be more painful to see all that stuff sitting around and not be able to use it than to wait.

We are 27.5 weeks and have not bought a single thing.  There will be plenty of time for shopping.  I have my shower this weekend and will go from there.

It took us almost a year to get pregnant and that was with no medical complications. 

huskymomma94

I dont know what kind of pump you bought, but Medela's warranty covers the pump one year from date of purchase (annoying, but it is what it is). So, even if you get pregnant right away, if your motor goes out after just 4 months of pumping, you're screwed. A pump is one of the last things I would buy. Just something to think about.

bluestrawberryrice

I live in Japan and there are 2 major brands Combi and Pigeon. They have Medella in hospitals but they are so expensive here they are very difficult to get your hands on here. Everybody in my town recommends the Pigeon Manual Pump. I went to the baby store to look at cute stuff and it happened to be on sale because they had an overstock of them so I bought one. The warranty is good for a year also. If it breaks it is no big deal, I can easily replace it. 

Shayliz

Put your money into a savings account and stop buying baby things.

biomaj5

Don't do it. You're setting yourself up for disappointment if you don't get KU right away. It can take a healthy couple up to a year with good timing.

bluestrawberryrice

We have a nice healthy well fed savings account!

ASmallWonder

bluestrawberryrice:

I live in Japan and there are 2 major brands Combi and Pigeon. They have Medella in hospitals but they are so expensive here they are very difficult to get your hands on here. Everybody in my town recommends the Pigeon Manual Pump. I went to the baby store to look at cute stuff and it happened to be on sale because they had an overstock of them so I bought one. The warranty is good for a year also. If it breaks it is no big deal, I can easily replace it. 

Her point was that you may not even start using it for a year or more and in that case, you would NOT be able to have it replaced by the company.  I'd really hold off on gear.  Clothes are one thing but gear gets updated/recalled/improved constantly and some things (like car seats) have expiration dates from the date of manufacture so you don't want those just sitting around wasting time.  I also think that you need to give yourself time to thing through what you'd really want/need out of each item.  Right now it's exciting to just see "OMG, a thing I think I will want/need is on sale."  My money is on you wishing you had waited once the time comes that you start learning about what you REALLY want/need. 

Shayliz

bluestrawberryrice:

We have a nice healthy well fed savings account! :

So feed it more.

bluestrawberryrice

I was not talking about replacing it with the warranty. I meant that it was not that expensive and if it breaks I will just buy a new one. I am sure the novelty of buying baby stuff will wear off soon enough. I did something similar before we moved. I stated buying things for the house months before we even knew what area we wanted to live in. After about a few weeks of buying random kitchen gadgets etc. the excitement started to taper off and I held off till after we moved. This is probably similar to that. 

gogadgetgo

The pp are wise. It's great that you're excited but they are trying to give you perspective. It's not their first rodeo.

KdgTeacher

So basically, you're going to keep buying no matter what rational and well-thought out advice people offer. OP--I bought 2 things (a boy/girl onsie to use to tell MH I was pregnant). Those items sat in my spare bedroom for 2.5 years. I can not imagine having to store a pump, stroller, etc for that long. Why again did you ask?

OttersBite

biomaj5:

Don't do it. You're setting yourself up for disappointment if you don't get KU right away. It can take a healthy couple up to a year with good timing.

This, seriously. 

OP, I was so over-the-moon excited (and blissfully ignorant) when I got pregnant the first time that I just couldn't wait to work on the nursery.  Of course I found the cutest crib ever and bought it when I was only seven weeks along.  Let me tell you, it's a real kick in the face to have stuff like that around if things don't go your way hun.  I wish I had known better at the time.  

I don't mean to be a downer but you really should take the advice being given here, it certainly can't hurt and might save you some heartache.  GL 

staycee

manual pump?   Does that mean you have to sit there and do the actual pumping?   (no clue how those work, I only had electric)

 

easjer05

I picked up a few things while ttc.  I remember putting them out of sight when we had to put ttc on hold.  I remember pulling them out with excitement when we got pregnant, and the devestation of having those items around when that pregnancy ended. One of the things we bought was a crib - it was the kind I wanted, it was on sale, etc.

I cannot begin to tell you how exceedingly painful it was to have those crib pieces in my house when my son died.  When pregnant with my son, we bought any number of things after first tri.  I can tell you that it was agony to put them away.  We bought tons of clothes in the two days before he was born prematurely.  It hurt so much, and it hurt just as much to pull them back out for my daughter and it still stings to see her in some of the outfits we bought for her brother.

And on a completely practical note - things that I bought or wanted while ttc were completely eclipsed by the time we actually had our kid.   The swing we bought with our son?  An ancient model.  I wish we had the one we bought for my mom's house - it plugged in rather than eating batteries, and was a lot more comfortable for the baby.  We had to trade in the stroller because it broke and was outside of warranty, even though it wasn't used for two years.

 Bottom line - it may seem fun and exciting, but it's not worth it if things go wrong.  There will ALWAYS be a sale or a coupon or whatever.  Admire, but wait.  What's the worst that happens?  You get to window-shop, and you get the thrill of buying things for your actual baby, rather than the pressure and depression of things for your phantom baby or the baby-that-wasn't.  And really, why take the joy out of those things while pregnant?  Pregnancy is long, hard, and boring.  You might as well enjoy what you can of it without borrowing against it.

kelle017

I get th wxcitement as welI, but there will still be good deals when you are actually pregnant and needling the stuff.

 

GTown08

OP - I get what you are saying.  My DH and I are TTC, and I am so frustrated that I cannot control the timing that I want to buy all sorts of stuff, since I can control THAT.  But, I am not.  I did allow myself to repaint what WILL BE the nursery, assuming I get pregnant.  And I am shopping on Craigslist for a chest of drawers I can use as a chainging table.  But both of those things would have been done/needed regardless of the baby situation.  So basically, what I am telling you is, in my experience, it makes more sense to only do the stuff that you need EVEN IF you don't get pregnant.  That way, you still feel like you are moving forward, but you aren't left with the heartbreak expressed by some of the PP if things don't work out. 

Just my two cents.

robinsokj

Manual pumping sounds like my version of hell

weelass24

I'm not sure but TTC while shopping might get you arrested.

bugandbibs

weelass24:

I'm not sure but TTC while shopping might get you arrested.

Rip Bibs, Wee killed her.

Sto71

Oh wow

delwynne

absolute LOL at the the comment about ttcing while shopping might get you arrested...clever, i like your sense of humour haha. And in all seriousness buy little things not big, warrenties etc dont last forever, took me and my hubby 6-ish months both times to get pregnant and we have no health issues...but on the other hand if you are trying often enough to be trying while shopping, then it may happen rather quickly for u good luck

mabjcb19

KdgTeacher:

So basically, you're going to keep buying no matter what rational and wellthought out advice people offer. OPI bought 2 things a boy/girl onsie to use to tell MH I was pregnant. Those items sat in my spare bedroom for 2.5 years. I can not imagine having to store a pump, stroller, etc for that long.

Why again did you ask?

This x 1,000,000

PunkyBooster

Um....
an outfit is one thing but I think you're going way overboard.

I bought bedding when I was about 10 weeks pregnant. It made me really nervous but at least I was actually pregnant. Which you aren't. Yet.

kalemi

You're not the only couple. One of my friends has been very excited about starting a family. It has gotten to the point where she has her crib, mattress, enough boy AND girl NB clothes for who knows how many babies (the spare closet is full and she has 2 dressers stuffed to the brim), 2 car seats, about 60 handmade bows, etc. She started out small and now it's taking over everything. They got pregnant and she M/C a few days later. They've been trying for almost 2 years now since that M/C and still...nothing. And yet she still continues to buy things. Not to mention the crazy amount of debt they're in. Calm down and put the card away. You have no idea how fast it could happen, or how fast it could be taken away. Like other pp's said...it may end up just being a painful reminder. 

greeneyed_bride

Even assuming that you get pregnant this cycle and give birth to a healthy baby nine months later, I still think you're going overboard. Just looking at your list, I will say this: before DS was born, I had every intention of making all of his baby food. The child was never going to eat from a jar if my life depended on it. And then by the time he was starting to eat baby food, we were in the process of moving into a new house, I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding, and my son was waking up literally every hour all night long, so I was unbelievably sleep deprived. And I realized that, hey, babies have been eating jarred baby food for years, they sell organic jarred baby food if it made me feel better, and I just did not have the time or energy to make baby food. So I didn't. And if I had bought a baby food making kit, it would have been a waste of money AND it would've been sitting in my cupboard, taunting me with the reminder of the gigantic difference between *planning* how to take care of a baby and *actually* taking care of a baby.