Nesting in the Modern Age

By “nesting in the modern age” I mean “I have been buying everything baby-related ever in the world”. Or that is how it feels, at least. And I still have the cloth nappies to go! (more on them later)

I am now the owner of not only all the furniture I bought in the Boxing Day sales (cot, cot mattress, bassinet, changing table, changing mat), but also (a lot of this I got half-price at the Farmer’s sale):

• A Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle stroller (oof this was the most expensive purchase so far – even more than the cot! But worth it – it is pretty amazing. Can one be in love with a stroller?). It has a hella-adjustable handle (way more than the other brands I tried), and is the only one I didn’t kick while testing striding in the shop. So many other positives – still waiting for the fault (other than the fact that it can’t be converted to a double for any hypothetical future children, which my second choice could [the Phil&Ted Sport])
• Bedding (sheets) for Africa (or rather the minimum amount of bedding advised by a conglomerate of websites)
• A sheepie (I had one when I was a baby and GODDAMMIT my child will have one too)
• A lambskin liner for the stroller (good for warmth in winter and dryness in summer – and just general cuddliness)
• An ErgoBaby carrier with newborn insert (this seemed highly recommended across everywhere I looked)
• All of the clothes I will need for at least the first 5-6 months (most of which came from that delightful friend of a friend, but some of which are new [I couldn’t resist])
• A mobile (technically a musical one, but I imagine I will be disabling that feature pretty damn quick)
• Instead of a baby monitor, I am going to try a monitor app first – I have an old iphone with shitty battery life lying around that I can plug in and it can be the baby station, and then my current phone can be the parent station
• The free baby bath I got
• It feels like there is more but maybe I am just looking at the piles of clothes that I now have…

I have also been researching cloth nappies. I won’t go into what I have learned at this point, but I will link to this website, which was the clearest explanation I have found anywhere (and also seems to not be linked to shops etc) on the differences between the types, as well as advice on how to go about buying them and finding what is best for your kid. I am going to do one of her workshops too – they give away several pairs of cloth nappies, as well as other waste-free parenting items to try out.

Currently, I am thinking I will go for fitted nappies with the waterproof cover, as they seem best for comfort, convenience and leak-proofness… It will be expensive at first (maybe $500-600), but my goodness is it super cheaper in the long run versus disposables (apparently disposables go to $2000-2500/year) – plus, according to some sites, they are better at preventing leaks (hmm sure maybe? They must be about the same, at least) and also at preventing nappy rash.

Anyway: buying nappies is on pause until I have been to the workshop, and maybe until the baby is actually here and I can try a sample few on him (the Nappy Lady recommends buying five different types of five different brands and testing them out to see which are best). Plus there will always be the old-fashioned folded types to fall back on if necessary.

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Now, onto the most important thing in the world: ME

I have added magnesium to the iodine and iron tablets, as I was getting quite horrible cramps in my calves and feet (one woke me up at five in the morning, and I had to jump out of bed and walk around a bit while uttering “OW OW OW” to fix it). However, my midwife didn’t tell me the dosage to take – she just said “yep magnesium is fine, just get some from the supermarket” – I looked, and the dosages range from 25 to 400mg, so that was not helpful.

But, after a lot of looking around (and asking at the pharmacy, where they got a naturopath to talk to me UGH), I finally found the World Health Organization guidelines for antenatal care, which included discussion of supplements. So I am following their kind-of recommendation for magnesium (they didn’t have an official one, they just said the dosages in the studies discussed seemed about right). [Edited to add: I am taking 3 tablets of 125mg per day; the studies mentioned in the WHO guidelines used 300-360mg/day in 2-3 divided doses]

Interestingly, from what I understood, they also said that ALL pregnant ladies should be receiving the iron tablets at the dosage I am getting, as a preventative measure, and that if iron levels are really low, this should be even greater. So – it is good I am taking them (and my dosage seems about right, as they aren’t really THAT low for me).

Still getting tired in the afternoons – I had a 1.5-hour nap the other day.

The baby is now kicking quite a lot – sometimes he makes me jump with a big kick out of the blue.

I have stopped watching the videos on the What To Expect app, as they are terrible, terrible things that need to die in a fire.