anyone else done nothing to prepare for baby yet??

[lcaitlin]

dh thinks I'm outing myself as the worst-mommy-to-be here, but I'm hoping we're not alone. we have done essentially nothing to prepare for this baby yet.

I do have some pretty good excuses -- bed-ridden with hg for many months, a serious personal tragedy to cope with, dog run over by car who now needs lots of attention and care, and working a demanding full-time job through all this.

but still... we own one adorable baby hat my godmother sent me and one cute pair of baby socks I purchased recently. and that's about all the planning we've done!

I do have a midwife, and she did get insurance approval for our birth already. and we had our ultrasound and baby looked great. I enjoy checking this site once or twice each day. but reading any pregnancy/birth/parenting books? childbirth classes? prenatal yoga? planning for maternity/paternity leave? starting the house renovations that should be done before baby joins us? nesting of any kind??? researching/acquiring baby essentials (cloth diapers, gear, etc.)? nope, not yet!! not a bit!

and I'm about to spend the next month traveling for business and vacation, so nothing much is going to happen until July.

anyone else with me, or are we the least prepared parents in the september ddc?

[emski4379]

I have definitely started preparing for this baby, but I am no where near as prepared as I was last time by this point.

Given everything you're dealing with, I don't blame you one bit. Starting in July still gives you plenty of time!

[neshamamama]

Baby really doesn't need much anyway... and with the internet you can do all of your shopping from home... and baby won't notice what you don't have...

I have not bought a single thing this time around...though I am sure that will change

[janasmama]

For our first birth we were checking out some MW's (I was a bit apprehensive about HB in the beginning) and they showed us a HB video. The video started out with all of this "baby stuff" for a good minute.

They said to us, "You don't need all that. All a baby needs is a blanket, a breast, and loving arms to hold him."

I'm due the beginning of Oct. and I did buy some CD's already because I found a really great deal that I coudln't pass up....otherwise we wouldn't have bought them yet. Maybe you'll end up with a bunch of gifts anyway.

[dimibella]

Ugh I wish I wasn't, but for some reason I am completely and totally freaking out about not being well enough prepared for when this baby comes. Mostly about clothes and diapers and the perfect sling. I have been so much more of a crazy lady with this baby than my other two and I have no idea why. It's like being pg with #1 again!

[Charmie981]

I've bought a ton of clothes and that's about it. It's like I buy clothes instead of thinking of anything else that needs to be done/bought/planned. I have hopes of making all baby's diapers, but buying diaper fabric totally overwhelms me and my snap press doesn't work and I figure I have the offer of some prefolds from a friend...

So yeah, I've done *something,* but not really the things that *need* to be done.

[Logan's mommy]

We're going to be pretty much remodling our house this summer, repainting every room and re doing the floors in every room.... I have a stroller that we got from dh's cousin a few weeks ago (that won't be used a whole lot because it won't fit in my car ) and I bought a couple of outfits Thursday, I think most of the stuff we'll need (infant car seats, maybe a swing) we'll be getting second hand. I think my friends are planning on throwing me a baby shower at some point, so I'm not going to worry too much about things until after then. I'm sure that regardless of how little we've planned we'll all end up with everything we'll ever need and then some. No worries, you are not the least prepared in the Sept. DDC

[winginit]

This is #3 for us...and I've done absolutely nothing. I know I've got cloth diapers (somewhere), and I've got clothes (somewhere), but I'm pretty sure I can't get to that somewhere on my own (lots of moving stuff). Everyone tells me I should do it now, while I still can!! But seriously...what do I really need for a baby...not even clothes for the first week! So...I guess I better find the diapers!! You know with the first I didn't even buy clothes or anything until a month before the baby was due (I was also waiting to see what I would get from a baby shower).

[honeybee]

I wouldn't worry about the "stuff" at all, yet. You will get lots of things for gifts, and you don't really need much at all. I don't think I had done much at this stage of my first pg. I had a doc, read some stuff on the particular stage of pg I was in, and decided not to get a routine u/s, but that was about it. I hadn't started reading up on actual birth, I didn't take any particular exercise class or anything. And I definitely hadn't bought anything yet. You have plenty of time!

This is my third, and I haven't really done much. I've re-read some of my favorite birth books and gone to mw appointments. That's about it.

[cellarstella]

I got no nesting feelings whatsoever with #1. I guess it just wasn't very "real," to me. I had to force myself to have the clothes/diapers washed before baby arrived. I did buy a Moby wrap, thank goodness. She slept with me from the beginning and nursed exclusively, and it was a hot summer so we didn't need much anyway. A lot of stuff we ended up getting her later, we wouldn't have known we wanted until then anyway. It's not that hard to go get stuff with a baby in tow! Plus hanging around the house in babyland gets old after a few days... I mean, you want to keep your baby with you, but going anywhere is a great reprieve from the constant feed/change/rock schedule. I'm actually glad I had things I had to get after she was born! Plus, buying new baby clothes with your baby's personality and cuteness right there is lots of fun.

Now I'm already getting into nesting mode! Scrubbing tub grout, replacing appliances, replacing bad child locks, knitting a newborn sweater. I organized all DD's clothes by size and have them all in labeled boxes. My registry is complete and I'm planning my baby shower for family and mama blessing for friends.

[KryptoAlley]

I haven't done anything yet besides to send in my pre-registration form to the hospital. I probably won't either until about a month before. I really don't need to buy much anyway since this is child #2, I don't even plan on buying a whole new wardrobe just cause it's a girl this time around. I'll buy a few outfits for her to wear out in public and that'll be it. The only thing I'm worried about is getting my son to start sleeping in his bed we recently bought for him. He's still sleeping in his crib even with his bed in the same room. I need to use the crib for his sister when she's born!

[odilemarie]

I'm due in 2 weeks, and I haven't done anything much at all, and I'm not the least bit worried. It's not like you can'tfind anything you want, anytime, anywhere in this country.

I'll buy a carseat this week, and someone gave me some diapers and hand-me-downs. Oh yeah, a friend gave me a sling. If I need stuff, I'll buy it.

I'm sure I prepared more for baby #1, but this is my 3rd. It's been a while though and I don't have anything left from the big kids. It's just more that I don't like a lot of stuff, and I'd rather wait and see what I need or want.

[Baby_Cakes]

Other than having settled on my midwife as my care provider and having my homebirth decided, Chris and I haven't done much. We have SO MUCH to do on our house before this little booger arrives, and we have NO MOTIVATION to do any of it. I've been cleaning out the upstairs little by little, but haven't even started thinking about the baby's room. I don't even think I've got nesting juice me, and if I do, it certainly isn't flowing yet.

[PassionateWriter]

dont feel alone...you will get there...probably just your mind's way of dealing with the other things in your life at the moment. plus, you will be gone for a month....if you do it all now, what will you do when you get back?

you'll be fine.

[purpleheather79]

Haven't done a thing here... But mostly because I'm scared to get excited for fear that something will go wrong. I did grab some matching outfits at a consignment sale recently and I have things left over from my other children. But the big things I need-a quad stroller, 2 carseats, diapers, etc.) are not yet bought.

[lcaitlin]

some good reassurance here ladies, thank you. though it does still seem like we are pretty behind the ball here! I think I'm actually much more concerned about getting RID of stuff than I am about acquiring any new baby stuff. dh was trying to be proactive and suggested we do some web-surfing for "things" and after 5 minutes I was like "umm, this is nice, but can I go spend this time cleaning out my closet and giving away every piece of non-maternity clothing I own instead??" so maybe that is the first sign of nesting?

the real question here though is....

a QUAD STROLLER?? having never seen such a thing I did a quick google search for a pic, and all I can say is wow.

[Alcyone]

We have a handful of onesies that my ILs have bought us. I don't even want onesies, but I want less to talk about my ILs about what I want, so I just took them. That's about it. Aside from normal baby stuff, we really need to finish some improvements in the living room and bathroom, but… ugh.

[amitymama]

I dont' plan to do anything in the way of gathering actual baby items until July either. I have started reading a birth skills book and will begin drinking RRL tea this week but other than that, nope!

[cellarstella]

Just digging up this thread to say that I spent my EDD (today!) buying some cool weather newborn clothes and a carseat!

I have some newborn clothes from DD, but she was a summer baby, so some warmer clothes were needed. We went to our fave resale shop and came out with like 10 outfits for $44! Feeling a lot better about that, now.

The carseat is installed now... sort of. DH is going to go buy some straps to hold it in better. Our car is a 1989 Jetta and doesn't have all the carseat supports and hooks like newer cars do. We were able to rig DD's carseat in by putting her in the middle, but now with two carseats we need to rethink the whole thing. We have enough straps already for one carseat, so if I have to transfer to the hospital we won't be completely SOL.

[lcaitlin]

guess what? I'm on my way right now to buy my carseat too! and I've spent the last two days sorting and washing the baby clothes I finally acquired recently.

birth kit and pool arrived last week. bought a new (used) car yesterday. new couch arriving tomorrow (finally somewhere to sit), and glider on the way too.

I've been a nesting machine and actually feel pretty good about the shape we're in now. I'll never be totally prepared, but I have the essentials in place (I think) and could sit back and enjoy my baby without stressing or having to run out to the store if he/she decides to come today.