*Baby Corner*

[Nessa 23]

Congrats on the boy Nessa!! Boys are awesome!!

How many weeks are you now? i'm 13 weeks tommorrow and i cant wait to have another ultrasound

16.. when r u gonna find out?

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Congrats Nessa!!!!

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Girls!

Most of you passed through this and some of you are in my same positon. We had very clear with my hubby that I was going to take just 3 months off to be with the baby and then go back to work but now and because of my lovely father in law he has doubts, my FIL is a very old fashion person and thinks that if I have a baby I should stay home as his wife did and as my sisters in law are doing. I know we will fine with my hubby's salary but that is not the point, I like to help in the house and have my own money plus I want to keep the same standard of life that we have right now. We re very lucky that my sister in law is an awesome person, currently an staying at home mom 'cause she had a baby recently and offered to babysit for us for free, she offered since before I got pregnant and we both trust her 1000000%.

What will you do?? and how many of you are planning to go back to work or are currently working?

HELP PLEASE!

Vi

[Eveline 9]

THis is just my opinion but I think mom should stay with the baby for the first year if it is financially doable. Many moms say they are going back to work asap, lots of them end up quitting their job because they can just not imagine giving their babies in other people's care. I'm glad I have the opportunity to see all my babie's 'firsts'. I can still work again later in life.

Just my opinion, I don't want to start a discussion.

[Chrissy25 0]

@Nessa hopefully i'll have a scan in the next four weeks or so....

@Eveline i'm feeling good now, not so tired, and the sickness ended last sunday, i have a few moments of nausea if my belly is stretching, but apart from that i'm fine, hopefully i'll have another ultrasound soon.

[Eveline 9]

I'm telling you....(or my oracle does)...IT"S A GIRL, hehe. Happy pregnancy.

[bmadeline 0]

Hi everyone

I am having a baby in 105 days! Feb 21...So excited, its our first. Not finding out the sex- we want to be suprised, but I feel like its a boy. We're slowly acquiring things, but I don't know what I'll really need and what will just sit around unused. I'm thinking that one of those infant car seats that snaps into a stroller will be more usefull than just a carseat and just a stroller. Also thinking that a crib that converts to a toddler bed would be a wise purchase. Any input? What other things have veteran moms found to be necessary? I'm cloth diapering, but still looking at different systems- not sure if I want to go with prefolds or all in ones.. any cloth diaper mamas want to weigh in on that one?

[BelwinMills 0]

Girls!

Most of you passed through this and some of you are in my same positon. We had very clear with my hubby that I was going to take just 3 months off to be with the baby and then go back to work but now and because of my lovely father in law he has doubts, my FIL is a very old fashion person and thinks that if I have a baby I should stay home as his wife did and as my sisters in law are doing. I know we will fine with my hubby's salary but that is not the point, I like to help in the house and have my own money plus I want to keep the same standard of life that we have right now. We re very lucky that my sister in law is an awesome person, currently an staying at home mom 'cause she had a baby recently and offered to babysit for us for free, she offered since before I got pregnant and we both trust her 1000000%.

What will you do?? and how many of you are planning to go back to work or are currently working?

HELP PLEASE!

Vi

I stayed home for 4 months and went back to work. My sister inlaw offered to babysit for free but I am paying her and I don't pay her for any of my holidays. It gives her some of her own spending cash. I miss Jay but love my own life and know if anything ever happened in the future I could support myself and retirement was a big thing for me. This is just what I did but I have summers off. I always have visions for my future career wise.

Do want makes you happy.

yes this is my own choice not telling people what to do.

[Chrissy25 0]

Its funny Eveline, i have a feeling its a girl, we havent decided on a name yet, but we do like Bella....

[Eveline 9]

Hi everyone

I am having a baby in 105 days! Feb 21...So excited, its our first. Not finding out the sex- we want to be suprised, but I feel like its a boy. We're slowly acquiring things, but I don't know what I'll really need and what will just sit around unused. I'm thinking that one of those infant car seats that snaps into a stroller will be more usefull than just a carseat and just a stroller. Also thinking that a crib that converts to a toddler bed would be a wise purchase. Any input? What other things have veteran moms found to be necessary? I'm cloth diapering, but still looking at different systems- not sure if I want to go with prefolds or all in ones.. any cloth diaper mamas want to weigh in on that one?

Ohh congrats. Try February 20, that is my birthday, hehe. THe bed sounds good and I also have the stroller/carseat system which I found very useful. I started babywearing after a while though and carried my son until he was about 15 months old and I carry my daughter whenever she is awake and crying so I don't really need the stroller anymore. There's also no sidewalks in our area so no 'going for a walk'.

I wouldn't buy a bouncer or a swing etc until baby is there. We found a simple bouncer very useful with our son and finally now our daughter took to it too. Seh wanted to be carried all the time for the first few weeks. Swings, bouncers, exersaucers etc. are all things that you can buy later on when you see what baby likes.

About the cloth diapering. I do the prefold thing most of the times. It is messy and complicated at first but it gets easier the more you do it. I also have 10 All in ones for my son, those are good but they leak more than a prefold with just a cover over it. I have one pair of fittets for my daughter. It was a gift and those are good. They hold a lot but you'll still need a cover for them.

Kudos to you for not wanting to know the gender. I would have gone crazy not knowing, even though I had the right gut feeling with both my babies.

Its funny Eveline, i have a feeling its a girl, we havent decided on a name yet, but we do like Bella....

Ohhh pretty pretty pretty name

[Chrissy25 0]

thanks eveline, though not sure if its spelt with one L or 2

[sara535 15]

about going back to work:

if money is not the deciding factor then really just go with how you feel. Some women are completely happy and fulfilled staying home all the time with an infant and some just arent and there is no reason whatsoever to feel bad or inadequate or guilty or anything else for the choice you make. I've certainly had a couple of girlfriends who were deadset on staying home and 4 or 5 months into it they were miserable - missing the money, socialization or responsibilites of working. I've also known some women who swore they would be back to work when their baby was 6 weeks old and now 4 years and another baby later, still at home .

I dont think anyone can imagine how they will feel about being a mother and having a baby and the profound ways that changes every single aspect of your life until you are there - so IF ITS POSSIBLE I recommend just playing it by ear a little and see how you feel down the road...

(my 2 cents from an old seasoned mom )

[rocks 494]

thanks eveline, though not sure if its spelt with one L or 2

obviously you can spell it however you want but normally i think it has two l's. maybe you will find this site useful. http://www.behindthename.com/name/bella

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

On the issue of going back to work or night...

I will have to completely agree with Sara, I went back to work after 6 weeks and I was without a doubt devastated to leave zaid..BUT....once I saw a difference in the stresss level, I was a different mom. Much more patient and really enjoying the time i did have at home. It worked very well, especially since zaid cried 20 hours a day...He was with me in the morning til lunch time, then with the sitter for 4 hours, then with my husband for a few hours, and then I was home from work. Financially, we had no choice for me not to go to work, but I felt like it worked out very well...

Just my 2 cents

[chnst 6]

@Vi: Ben is 6 months old now and I am at home with him. Icouldn't imagine having someone else watch him when he was only 6 weeks old! He's very mellow and easy going, so if I have a colicky baby next time I might go back to work sooner, Idk.

I will start school next year and he will have a nanny or attend the day care on campus. I do miss work and socializing with adults, who read newspapers a lot! But I definitely prefer being with him and not missing out on all his firsts. We're lucky that we're in a good spot financially, so I can continue my career later.

If money is an issue, maybe you could consider working part-time? Like Sara said, play it by ear if you are flexible. I never thought that I would be a stay at home mommy, but once you're a parent your perspective will change completely. Kudos to all the working moms!

@bmadeline: check out gdiapers.com. I like those, though we kind of keep going back to seventh generation disposables.

We have a convertible carseat right in my car and an infant seat in hubbys car. He outgrew the infant seat within 4 months and it was a pain to get it to snap on and off the stroller (we have a maclaren techno xlr)

With number 2 we will probably get one of those bigger infant seats and stroller, though I absolutely love the Maclaren.

We haven't used our crib so far, because Ben is sleeping in a co-sleeper/ bassinet in our room. Thats something we never considered but we moved when he was born and his room is downstairs. I guess he will go straight to a todddler bed and his crib will go in the attic.