I am almost 23 weeks with identical twins. Tons of my friends are preggers too, but with one boo, and they are buying everything under the bloody sun. Am I behind on my game? Should I be spend happy right now? I am thoroughly not entertained by baby stuff shopping and we do not want to find out the sex until birth so getting too crazy seems like it could be a waste. I am having a shower after the boos are here. I got the room remodeled, but am not jumping at cribs, play pens, etc. What should I get? Should I wait longer? How do you get in the mood for baby shopping when you are a walking hippo? Do share tips por favor and must have items before my shower. Dressers and cribs will be done, but what about the other goodies?
Re: Everyone is buying stuff... Should I?
I'd say getting the "essentials" together soon is a good idea, because once you enter the third trimester, things can go from totally normal and taking forever to suddenly being put on bed rest after a normal appointment and having very little control over things like shopping. You can get away without worrying about cribs and play pens, but you might want to consider the more immediate needs. Infant car seats are something you might want to take care of now - you'll need car seats to take your babies home, and the infant seats make life much easier than the convertible seats. You also want some kind of sleeping arrangement for your LOs - at three and a half weeks, we're still able to keep both our boys in the same bassinet together, but some babies don't do well (particularly if they're bigger babies). Some MoMs use Rock n' Plays for each of their babies for those first couple of months. As for clothes, just a few generic, heavy sleepers or gowns is all you really need - imo. We haven't dressed the boys in anything besides sleepers since they came home (well, occasionally we've put them in SnuggleMe blankets while we've done laundry - but that's not really clothing).
Your hospital should be able to provide you with enough diapers/wipes to make it through your first discharge day, so as long as someone can swing by and grab a box before/after they bring you home, no rush there. You can also do a hospital rental on a breast pump if your supply needs help (should be covered by most medical insurance companies at 100% if you are in the states) - most hospitals use the Medela Symphony, and they provide you with the accessories/storage bottles to use with it - but you will want to either ask them for some temporary nipples for those bottles or have someone pick up bottles for you. If you're going to formula feed, most hospitals will give you a small pack of formula to get you through the first day or so, just like the diapers - but have some one pick up more of that, too.
Everything else you can probably buy-as-you-go that first week or two after you get home, but I would have needed those three staples and all of the supplies the hospital gave us just to get through the first 24hrs at home.
**EDIT: I'd also strongly recommend making sure you have a digital thermometer on hand just in case**
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I'd say start earlier rather than later -- I'm a good example of that whole 'things can go from great to not-so in an instant' possibility.
Suffice it to say I'm glad we had everything done so I didn't have to stress about it while on bed rest, in the hospital, or during the girls' long NICU stay.
Another vote for getting the essentials and getting familiar with the gear. My friend had a singleton when I was 2 months pregnant with DD. I went with her the first time she took him out without her DH. Because he had been the one putting LO in the carrier and car each time, when it was time to come home, she couldn't figure out how to latch the seat. No lie, she almost freaked out.
I live by the phrase "Better safe than sorry" .
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I plan on having the major stuff pre-shower. (cribs, dressers, car seats, some nb diapers...) things that literally are necessary in the first few weeks.
Then after they come, I will be getting more stuff since I'm team green
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