The next hurdle...

Well actually, there are two. The first is trying to rearrange the flat into something that will be a bit less cramped once the baby arrives. We've got a few ideas in our head about how to go about this but we'll start experimenting after our trip to Denmark at the end of August. This is most likely when we're going to start buying some of the bigger things that we need as we'll need a bit of time to make sure everything fits.

The other, more time consuming hurdle is my car. The two buggies that Frans mentioned before - Baby Jogger Summit XC and City Elite - are both fairly big. Like Frans said, think 4x4 of the buggy world. This means that there will be no where in my car to put anything other than the car seat and the buggy. Not really ideal. So we're now thinking that I need to get a slightly bigger car. I like my little car and don't want to give it up but we both agree that a bigger boot would be a very good thing. This is a fairly time-consuming issue so it's top of the list to sort out.

I'll be sad to say goodbye to my little girl :(

A nice surprise

My lovely wife said she had a surprise for me on Saturday morning. She wouldn't tell me what it was but just told me to get in the car. In any case, we eventually arrived at Babyworld's showroom and it all became clear; I have been looking at the Baby Jogger Summit XC on the internet (it's a buggy/pram etc thing) while R quite fancied the Bugaboo Cameleon. However, we hadn't been able to track down a retailer where we could try out the Baby Jogger and compare the two. Anyway, R had found that Babyworld stock them both and as the showroom is not too far from us, that is where we went on this Saturday morning.

Our main requirements in a buggy/pram are;

• Must be part of a travel system so we can use it as a pram, i.e. with a carry cot and also with a car seat.
• Must have good suspension to protect the child's back.
• Must be good off-road, as we live in a somewhat rural area and want to be able to easily take the kid for walks in the wood.

We spent over an hour in Babyworld with some superb staff, who took us through everything and were incredibly patient. Thanks to them! It quickly became clear that the Camelon wasn't really the one for us, but R is  a bit concerned about the heft of the Summit XC - it's a bit like having a 4x4. In any case, we ended up also looking at the Baby Jogger City Elite, which is quite similar, but with somewhat smaller wheels. The main differences for us are;

• The Elite has an adjustable handle bar.
• The Elite does not have suspension on the rear wheels.
• The rear wheels on the Elite are 12" instead of 16" so looks a bit less imposing.

The final decision is down to R, but I'm still favoring the Summit XC.


Afterwards we went to Marlow to shop for Maternity clothes. There is only one shop in Marlow that does that at a sensible price, namely Bloomin Marvellous. Unfortunately, they were having a closing down sale as Mothercare has bought the brand and are closing down the shops, so there was nothing left for R. On the plus side, the baby onesies were reduced by 70% or more, so we took the opportunity to buy some of the basic baby clothes at a vastly reduced price. Got to grab these opportunities.

Crib

Rachelle's mum has very kindly lent us the crib that Rachelle and all her siblings used. We put it together yesterday to see if it would fit - and it does so very nicely.

Now just need to give it a lick of paint and buy a new mattress for it. I am digging this!

Crib

Went round to the in-laws today to pick up a crib they had in the loft. Now just need to assemble it and see if it fits in the flat. Apparently it has hooks so we could suspend it from the ceiling if required :)

Shopping fever

We've been quite good at not jumping on the "buy baby stuff now" bandwagon - Rachelle in particular has been quite adament that we didn't get ahead of ourselves.
Until now... After the second scan it's all become rather real and she is finding herself in a mild panic to get everything sorted. So, today we went to Oxford to look for maternity clothes (nope, Oxford is crap for that) and to pop in to Mothercare to look at stuff. We also bought a book 7 Steps to raising a bilingual child, which is okay if not exactly brilliant.

We spent about an hour in Mothercare receiving a lot of information about buggies from a very nice lady. Rachelle is quite keen on the Bugaboo Cameleon while I am quite liking the Baby Jogger Summit XC but no-one near here sells it so we have been unable to try it out.

Still, the rule remains that we won't buy anything other than a few books before the 3rd trimester. Besides, we are getting so many lovely offers from people wanting to give us their stuff, which is extremely nice.

The second scan

Today we had our second scan. This is the scan where they can pick up any anomalies in the baby. Thankful we have a very active little baby with no obvious defects. We saw the spine, all the internal organs, the heart beating and the blood flow around it. We're told that all 10 fingers and toes are there but I couldn't make them out. But everything is good and progressing well :)

Here's a picture for you but I warn you now - it looks like an alien. The picture shows a cross-section of the head so you see the baby's brain, eye sockets, nasal cavity and jaw bone. Really weird!In case you can't make out anything else, have a look at this version:

The baby is screwed up with its arms in front of its face and its feet are together so that its knees stick out to the side. The baby is facing outwards from my tummy - already trying to see the world!

This would usually be the last scan but my placenta is low. I need to go back at 32 weeks for another scan to see if it has moved. Hopefully it will have moved up and out the way - I don't want a C-section. Everyone cross your fingers...

We're so happy! Frans can't stop beaming which is such a wonderful thing to see. Hopefully it'll last through all the sleepless nights we have coming our way :)