P r e g n a n c y

By the way,I have only given birth to one little girl by now, so there won't be much on this page without your help!

found a link you might like:
Olen Interactive Pregnancy Calendar
The Interactive Pregnancy Calendar will build a day-by-day customized calendar detailing the development of a baby from before conception to birth

Name Analyzer
That's a good place for those who still look for a name for the baby!

answering machine:
if you don't have one by now, go and get one! As soon as your baby is born you might not be able or willing to answer the phone, even when you're at home. Bathing your baby, breastfeeding or taking a little nap yourself you might be willing to answer to this call later.

Babyphone:
We know two kinds of babyphones so far. One, where you plug both in, the receiver and the transmitter. You better try out if it works, before you buy one, because with old houses not all of your rooms get electricity from the same circuit.
With the other system you plug the transmitter in and carry the receiver with you. A nice way to become acquainted with all the other babies and parents around, which radio on the same frequency...
And some of those are said to cause cancer - so read some tests before you buy one.

"Bellysleeper"
Mothers-to-be that are used to lay on their bellies when they sleep might have sleepless nights when the belly gets bigger. I found a long "sleeproll" very helpful. I used to put one leg, arms and head on it, so I could sleep.

heartburn:
Try a tablespoon full of canned milk/tinned milk. I know it sounds disgusting, but helps immediately and won't harm your baby.

midwife:
I don't know what it's like abroad, but if you can choose to have your own midwife for birthpreparation and the birth itself, then I want to recommend this to you. I found it very nice to know her for weeks and weeks before she helped me to give birth to my daughter.

photo:
don't forget taking a photo of your belly with the baby inside! It's a nice souvenir. unlike photos of before being pregnant...
Put a black-and-white-film into "daddy's"camera if he wants to take photos of the birth - believe me in those hours you look much better in black-and-white and it is nicer for "not-yet-parents" to admire your baby if they don't have to fight a certain feeling in their stomachs because of all the blood and slime...
As soon as the photos of the birth are ready, take them and let them pass your censorship, before "daddy" has shown them to all your friends and relatives!!! Some fathers are so proud and excited about the newborn that they might not even notice that there is a naked women on the photos. I'm not prudish, but believe me, you might not like all the photos - most women make "funny faces" in painful moments...

Pram

• after 6 weeks my daughter got very bored in her pram as she couldn't look outside - luckily we hadn't bought a new one, but got it second hand (4 baby) from my sister
• in the shops they show you how easy it is to push a pram with 8 small wheels - but it's kind of punishment to push those over cobblestonepavements!
• the higher the handle is, the easier it is to push the pram.

Shopping:
well, the following is my personal opinion and it might be totally wrong for you...
don't waste too much money on clothing in the smallest sizes
most babies are born taller then the smallest size is - and they grow so quickly!
the first weeks and months they don't move so much, so they won't mind if the clothing fits a bit loose

As for the underwear I recommend onesies.
One great thing about them is that you don't need to pull them over babies head, but start at the feeds. and you can always be sure the babies back is warm enough
Buy those with press-studs at the bottom - makes changing of the nappies a lot easier - you don't need to undress the upper part of the body and fear that your baby catches a cold.
don't you ever buy clothing with lots of little buttons (you get enough of those from friends and relatives) - time is not money in the first months, it's sleep...
dont't buy clothing with loose applications and loops. those things tend to look "sad" after the washing and you might rather play with the little one or sleep instead of ironing baby-clothing for hours
clothing with huge white collars is not a good idea either. They look nice in the shop, but mostly babies look rather neckless in it - and white collars are crying for carrot-stains (wash normal, let dry in the sun and carrot stains are gone!)
always have a good look on the washability of baby clothing - handwash is time you should spend with your husband and a candlelight dinner instead!!! You will surely get enough of those "workintensive" clothes from friends and relatives, don't buy them yourself!
Don't buy too babyish clothing in big sizes - one day you look at the little one and know it's no baby anymore and can't imagine to dress it in a rabbit-suit
They offer baby-car-seats with a lot extras - you don't need the extras! The first seat is for 6 months only - good idea to buy it second-hand and then sell it again. I couldn't carry my baby for long in this Maxi-Cosi-thing - too heavy, so I used to leave it in the car and put my daughter in, when I got into the car. So she was dressed for whatever the weather was like - no need for an extra wintersack. To protect the baby from the sun it's better to put a gauze nappy (diaper) at the window. (gauze nappies are great for a million of things!!! we use it instead of bibs, as they are bigger and easier to wash e.g.)

suitcase for the hospital:
besides all the usual stuff pack in a gameboy (no, not for the baby...), walkman, good books and something to eat and drink for your husband. They look after you in the hospital, but not after the dadda-to-be and he shall not miss his babies arrival only because he tried to find some food...