@lewliv I cant say its a must, but I loved the idea of having a place to put little dude down, without having to have a bouncer/swing/or other thing, without putting him on the floor.
**TW Loss/pregnancy mentioned** Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 5/30/16 and MC on 7/6/16 BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17 BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19 BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19 BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2 Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage IVF started Feb 2020 retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal. Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Mommy to a super cute havanesse puppy and baby boy!
@lewliv not a must have- but like @littlebug2010 said it is helpful for having a place to set them down that is not a rock and play or bouncer. I found it very easy to move around and even take over to friends houses opposed to a bouncer or something.
@lewliv my friend (mother of 5) bought me one and told me she liked it because it doesn't take up a lot of space, you can use it for a long time, and it's easy to clean.
@lewliv I also didn't have one for DD1. First time I saw it was at a friend's house when DD1 was a couple months old. I set her in it a few times while there and liked how secure she felt. Said friend let me borrow the lounger and I used it when I could get away with cooking dinner without babywearing or when I needed to use the restroom really quick etc. I agree it probably isn't a must have but I did enjoy the convenience so I purchased one this time around since I have a lot less gear to buy
Ordered a contour double stroller today. I've been driving myself nuts trying to decide on one I finally just did it. Picked a mid priced one with lots of storage.
I have to be the most indecisive person on the planet
DH & I finally discussed sleeping arrangements for LO & the nursery. I thought we'd transition DD (currently 20mos) to a twin bed with a guardrail, but he made a valid point that DD is tiny/petite and loves her crib. It's a 3-in-1 convertible, so we're just going to keep it & get a second crib.
Today we picked a simple crib, along with a bedside bassinet (because even though we have a PNP, the way we have our bedroom arranged currently would make it cumbersome). The crib color is Lagoon & I think it's perfect since I'm doing a boy/girl nursery.
Thank you! DD's crib/changer are white, the nursery walls are beige, and the dresser & curtains are sage green. There's a few pops of pink, but I think the blue crib & some new wall decals will make it gender-neutral perfect!
Does anybody have any experience with Aden & Anais baby clothing? Specifically, does it run big or small? I tend to have petite kids and am still on this hunt for baby boy clothes that I like/a coming-home outfit. Do we have a coming home outfit thread somewhere?
Unfortunately I've fallen in love with the Burberry kid stuff (I mean they have a "Callum" shirt, so I have to buy it even though it is $70 for a newborn t-shirt, right?)... I need to find something cheaper!
I'm also exploring options of what to put on his feet if I try to branch out from footies/socks. Does anybody have any experience with newborn sized moccasin slip-ons? I don't think the smallest Robeez will fit him for a few months.
@donehue I have never used anything aden+anais (fftc?) Also you must be joking about a $70 shirt for a baby. Most of my outfits cost less than that.
Re: socks/shoes, DS was born in June and rarely wore socks. He had chubby ankles and they all cut his circulation off, poor kid had indentions from the sock cuff. I have heard good things about Zutano.
@donehue I havent used any of their clothing, but I have some of their blankets. I also know that if you have a TJMax around you, you should check that out. They have had Aden&Anais clothes at mine before, as well as some other blankets and towels. But $70 for a baby clothing anything seems a bit over priced!
**TW Loss/pregnancy mentioned** Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 5/30/16 and MC on 7/6/16 BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17 BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19 BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19 BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2 Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage IVF started Feb 2020 retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal. Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Mommy to a super cute havanesse puppy and baby boy!
@donehue I don't think we have a coming home outfit thread yet, but I think there should be! I've just started thinking about that myself.
Have you looked secondhand for the Burberry shirt? Because while Burberry baby is so cute, $70 for an infant shirt is in crazy town territory. Poshmark is an online consignment store where people put up some nicer higher end items for relatively good prices. Someone might be selling it on there.
Together: January 2002 Married: May 2008 Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
Thanks for the TJMax suggestion! DH and I went to the Marshalls in Downtown Crossing yesterday during lunch and they had ZERO newborn sized clothing - I will try TJs!
Totally not joking about the $70 shirt. It is just a white t-shirt with a plaid pocket on it. If I remotely had the time/patience to sew a pocket on a shirt I would be all set. I need to find a good etsy shop
@donehue The marshalls in Downtown crossing (and the TJs) are awful! They are always so picked over. Try either the marshalls on Boylston or TJs on Newbury! I live in Somerville, so I go to the Tjs by Assembly row most times.
**TW Loss/pregnancy mentioned** Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 5/30/16 and MC on 7/6/16 BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17 BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19 BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19 BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2 Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage IVF started Feb 2020 retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal. Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Mommy to a super cute havanesse puppy and baby boy!
@donehue you could always try a resale shop...although if you're seriously considering purchasing a $70 shirt for a baby, I'm going to just assume you don't shop secondhand. But honestly, $70 is an insane amount of money for a baby shirt. I could think of so many other financially smart ways to spend that money. A shirt or diapers for several weeks?
Would anyone recommend getting a, extra chest freezer to handle their breast milk storage? I know it might be putting the cart before the horse because I have no way of knowing how breastfeeding/pumping will work out for me, but I'm just thinking of crowded my normal freezer is going to get between frozen meals and pumped milk.
Together: January 2002 Married: May 2008 Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
@mango517, I know of a few people who have bought the extra freezer, but its been more for freezer meals, than milk. DH and I have thought about buying a super small one (we dont have space for a full one), so we can store freezer meals in it, as well as breast milk. I also know that a few of them bought theirs at yard sales, so that if breastfeeding didnt work out, and they didnt need the extra space, they werent out a ton of money.
**TW Loss/pregnancy mentioned** Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 5/30/16 and MC on 7/6/16 BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17 BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19 BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19 BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2 Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage IVF started Feb 2020 retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal. Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Mommy to a super cute havanesse puppy and baby boy!
@littlebug2010 That's precisely what I'm thinking about doing- buying a smaller, second hand (or scratch and dent) freezer to see how well it works out for us.We don't have a huge fridge, so I can just see our freezer becoming a worse jumbled mess than it is now once freezer meals and frozen milk supply are thing we have to contend with. I know some people swear by the large chest freezers for their families but that would be overkill right now.
Together: January 2002 Married: May 2008 Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
Ha, @aehogan90 I totally do shop secondhand! I was on eBay this morning, with no luck. I've bought off poshmark before, but didn't realize they had kid stuff too, so I will check that out. My problem is that I feel like parents who can afford this stuff no problem don't need to be reselling it on eBay etc. (I also fell in love with a Gucci baby blanket on Nordstrom's website for $300, which luckily has sold out, but I was secondhand shopping for that too). With baby #3 we don't need a single big ticket item so I have way too much time to think about nice-to-haves rather than need-to-haves.
@mango517 we got an extra freezer before DD1 and it was super helpful for storing pumped milk. It is in our basement now and used for long term storage of large items like freezer meals.
@Mango517 we have a small one in the basement that my parents got us for Christmas. I like to stock up on meats and freeze them. I'm going to clean out a spot for milk. Definitely beneficial even if you don't use it for milk
@donehue I didn't mean to sound snarky in my original response, I guess it just sounds insane to me to drop that kind of money on an item that your baby will wear a handful of times, will get pooped on, etc. I have found some designer things at our local Kid to Kid for DD, and pretty much only bought secondhand for her and will do the same with DS. I also understand that you don't need big or expensive items this time, but why not put that money into a college fund or vacation fund instead? Just trying to understand your motivation.
@Mango517 Our house happened to have a second refrigerator and freezer in the basement, which was perfect for storing milk. I had a large freezer stash especially the second time around and there's no way it would have fit in our regular freezer with everything else we had in there. It's definitely worth looking into getting.
@Mango517 I vote yes on having extra freezer space for pumped milk and freezer meals, etc. We have two refrigerator/freezers and a deep freeze. The breastmilk took up an entire "basket" in the deep freeze for us. I can't imagine not having that extra space since I had so much pumped. I used empty 12-packs from pop to keep them all organized and upright (after initially freezing them flat).
***TW in Siggy*** Me: 34 / DH: 33 Married: Nov 2011 TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014 TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
@SouthernMama15 thanks but I can't take full credit. It was thanks to Pinterest and two of those boxes worked perfectly for our deep freezer baskets. (the picture above is not mine)
***TW in Siggy*** Me: 34 / DH: 33 Married: Nov 2011 TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014 TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
Edited to state that my motivation is just to enjoy dressing my last child and first little boy, while spending as little money as possible. Thank you all for your advice.
Any STMs use/recommend a hand pump? I ordered the battery option upgrade with my electric pump but had read a few places that the hand pump was nice to have if you were just going out for the day or less and didn't want to bring your bigger breast pump along (for pumping in the car or if the baby is asleep and you're engorged). Then I asked my friend at work whose pregnant with her second and she said the hospital gave her one last time.
@kvh22, I didn't have the battery option last time, and we lost power for 24 hours (I EPed). Ended up going to Wal-Mart and buying the handheld Medala pump. It was cheap enough, and while it was not nearly as effective as my PISA, it did the job. It was also good in a pinch, like you said, if I didn't want to lug my big pump around. I'd say go for it if you can. Better to have it and if you don't use it, you can return it or sell it.
@aehogan90 trying to "explain my motivation" without coming across the wrong way (as in annoying haha). I think I might live in a bit of a northeast/wall street type bubble in regard to finances. The amount we spend on a nanny/private Montessori preschool for my 2 and 5 year old is prob more than family incomes in most of the country, so baby clothes are kind of cheap in comparison. We also max out our annual 529/401k contributions and being employed in investments I can't talk about specific stocks/funds etc., but if it ever comes up here I'm happy to share my personal experiences with managing my family's 529s, dependent savings accounts, nanny taxes, etc.
Just so you know, gloating about your finances is annoying. It's nice to be able to afford nice things, I would never fault you for that, but even so, it seems frivolous to toss around money just because you have it. My inlaws are incredibly well off but are the most generous people I've ever met. DH and his father both work as Financial Advisors in their own brokerage firm but you would never hear them bragging about it. I do understand I asked for your motivation but it feels like it was more important for you to let everyone here know how much money you have. There's a tactful way to say things.
Oh my goodness, I should have just let it drop. Not looking for attention. Looking for somebody to talk to about baby clothes. I will edit my comment.
Edit - Also, I definitely HATE conflict and will always back down quickly. I really appreciate everybody's unique perspective on here. I tried to come back to your first comment in the most tactful way possible and I messed up when prompted a second time. Sorry!
@kvh22 I had a handheld pump. I bought it for back up. I actually ended upkeeping it in my classroom. It was back up incase I forgot my pump (or some part) at home. I live a good 30 minutes from work and as a teacher my lunch is only 30 minutes. I figured at home I had the PISA and the baby. I think I packed it a few times for trips too, but mostly it stayed at school.
Re: Baby Gear Questions and Suggestions
Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17
BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19
BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19
BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2
Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage
IVF started Feb 2020
retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal.
Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
edit: words
I have to be the most indecisive person on the planet
Today we picked a simple crib, along with a bedside bassinet (because even though we have a PNP, the way we have our bedroom arranged currently would make it cumbersome). The crib color is Lagoon & I think it's perfect since I'm doing a boy/girl nursery.
Which bassinet is that? I've been eyeing the Halo, but it's just so pricey I'm struggling to justify it.
I couldn't justify the cost of the Halo either!
#1 - DD: 7/5/12
#2 - DS: 5/21/14
#3 - EDD: 8/25/17
Unfortunately I've fallen in love with the Burberry kid stuff (I mean they have a "Callum" shirt, so I have to buy it even though it is $70 for a newborn t-shirt, right?)... I need to find something cheaper!
I'm also exploring options of what to put on his feet if I try to branch out from footies/socks. Does anybody have any experience with newborn sized moccasin slip-ons? I don't think the smallest Robeez will fit him for a few months.
DD#1: 5/29/12
DD#2: 1/14/15
Baby #3 on the way due 8/19/17
Re: socks/shoes, DS was born in June and rarely wore socks. He had chubby ankles and they all cut his circulation off, poor kid had indentions from the sock cuff. I have heard good things about Zutano.
Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17
BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19
BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19
BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2
Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage
IVF started Feb 2020
retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal.
Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Have you looked secondhand for the Burberry shirt? Because while Burberry baby is so cute, $70 for an infant shirt is in crazy town territory. Poshmark is an online consignment store where people put up some nicer higher end items for relatively good prices. Someone might be selling it on there.
Together: January 2002
Married: May 2008
Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
Totally not joking about the $70 shirt. It is just a white t-shirt with a plaid pocket on it. If I remotely had the time/patience to sew a pocket on a shirt I would be all set. I need to find a good etsy shop
DD#1: 5/29/12
DD#2: 1/14/15
Baby #3 on the way due 8/19/17
Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17
BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19
BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19
BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2
Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage
IVF started Feb 2020
retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal.
Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
5.5.16 | 8.14.17 | 1.30.19
Together: January 2002
Married: May 2008
Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
Married: 7/21/12
BFP: 12/4/16 Due 8/8/17 -- Its a boy! Born 8/14/17
BFP: 5/19/19 and MC on 5/27/19
BFP: 6/24/19, MC on 7/24/19
BFP: 10/24, no heartbeat on 11/27, D&C 12/2
Officially diagnosed with Secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage
IVF started Feb 2020
retrieval and PGT testing: 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 16 fertilized, 9 to blast, 8 PGT normal.
Transfer #1: June 14, 2020
Together: January 2002
Married: May 2008
Baby: August 2017
Clearly we like to rush along at lightning speed...
@mango517 we got an extra freezer before DD1 and it was super helpful for storing pumped milk. It is in our basement now and used for long term storage of large items like freezer meals.
DD#1: 5/29/12
DD#2: 1/14/15
Baby #3 on the way due 8/19/17
5.5.16 | 8.14.17 | 1.30.19
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
DD#1: 5/29/12
DD#2: 1/14/15
Baby #3 on the way due 8/19/17
I didn't have the battery option last time, and we lost power for 24 hours (I EPed). Ended up going to Wal-Mart and buying the handheld Medala pump. It was cheap enough, and while it was not nearly as effective as my PISA, it did the job. It was also good in a pinch, like you said, if I didn't want to lug my big pump around. I'd say go for it if you can. Better to have it and if you don't use it, you can return it or sell it.
5.5.16 | 8.14.17 | 1.30.19
Edit - Also, I definitely HATE conflict and will always back down quickly. I really appreciate everybody's unique perspective on here. I tried to come back to your first comment in the most tactful way possible and I messed up when prompted a second time. Sorry!
DD#1: 5/29/12
DD#2: 1/14/15
Baby #3 on the way due 8/19/17