Nappy Brands

In one of the free sample packs Claire received whilst still pregnant, there was a free packet of Huggies nappies inside. As we were hoping to use the Bambino Mio nappies mentioned earlier, we didn’t worry about getting too many more, but we did decide take them to the hospital as Nicki, the NCT teacher, advised we do so for the first round of poo to come out of our new-born baby boy, as the first poo is usually black, potent and sticks to the nappy like ____ to a blanket, so to speak.

We started using the Huggies nappies and continued to do so, assuming that nappies were nappies and were all the same, more or less. Or so we thought until we had another free sample of nappies, but this time they were Pampers. Not knowing anything about nappies, we assumed they were the same, until we used them and found them to be a bit useless and seemed a little flimsy. So, we quickly ruled out the Pampers brand and went back to buying Huggies nappies. That was, until my sister called around after seeing my parents and brought back with her a pack of Pampers nappies that my mum had bought for storing at her house, in case we needed to use them. She realised that the nappies are made according to the size and weight of the baby and so the nappies were nearing there ‘expiry-date’, as Jack is getting bigger each week and is already outgrowing some of his clothes.

So, we decided to try the Pampers nappies once more, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Although the two brands differ slightly in the type and quality of sticky-fixers used to keep the nappies together on the child, the Pampers did appear to have redeemed themselves, if not appearing to be the superior of the two. The fixers on the Pampers don’t appear to be as good as those on the Huggies nappies, but despite this, they seem to be really good.

As I said earlier, both nappies are sold according to the size and weight of the baby – we’re still on the newborn range, but each brand number the nappies, starting with ‘1’ for absolute smallest nappies and going up accordingly. I just thought I’d mention this, as the stacks of nappies in supermarkets can make a purchase for a new mum or new dad a bit daunting. And heaven forbid that a certain new dad should go into a supermarket alone and emerge with the wrong size, or wrong brand!!

NCT Class Reunion

Yesterday, Claire, Jack and I went to meet the other new parents from the same National Childbirth Trust (NCT) class that we attended in December 2008, in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

John, Emma and their new son Matthew played host to us and three other couples:

• Chris, Julie and baby George
• Becca, Matt and baby James
• Ben, Clare and baby Evan

Nicky, the NCT teacher, and her two girls also came along, which was really nice as her two girls love being around babies. It was at the end of the NCT classes in December that Nicky helped us to arrange a meet-up, and it was yesterday.

As I said in an earlier blog post, I think that Claire and I would be totally lost without the help of the NCT antenatal classes that we went to, as the NHS classes were a total waste of time, as nothing significant was learnt there at all.

When we first got there, all four of the guest babies were asleep and still pinned into their car seats, which was really weird, but one-by-one they all started to wake up. Chris and I said we should have a quick wager on which of our babies would cry first, but luckily (or should I say unluckily) for me, Jack started first! Great, thanks lad. I was a little worried that they'd all set each other off and room would be filled with crying poo-machines on top volume, but to be fair to them, none of them really cried for much, and there was only really ever one going at once, which was a relief!

It was really weird to see everyone all with their new babies – we had spent quite a bit of time together at the classes before Christmas, but at the time, all the women were carrying a heavy bump in front of them. This time, they are all holding their very own little baby, all aged within weeks of Jack, but connecting the two now seems a little odd, if that makes sense?

As it turned out, all of the babies were boys; the odds of which Matt had worked out as being 1 in 32. I say that, as some of the new parents in the group chose not to know whether they were expecting a boy or a girl, and you would expect at least one couple in five to deviate from the norm.

Emma and John had served up enough food for the British Army to polish off after we had finished, which was really good of them.

We had to leave early, as we made the mistake of only having packed one bottle of 'booby-juice' for Jack and so had to make the dash home before he started to get grumpy about not having it, but before we left, someone suggested a group photo of the babies together. So, we all piled the five babies on the sofa, allowing everyone to take photos of them.

You know that scene in the opening of the movie ‘The Matrix’ where Trinity jumps up in the air and before she kicks the police officer in the chest, the camera pans around her in ‘bullet time’..? Well, I reckon we could easily recreate that style of cinematography, but with some much slow-moving babies...

People I speak to at work are a little dubious about the NCT-style of classes, in that there's the underlying aim in making friends out of your classmates, but I personally don't see the problem with this. People who haven't had children aren't really interested in the gory and the gooey stuff about babies - I know, because up until very recently, that was me. But on the other side of the coin, people who have had children want to tell you about their babies experiences, etc etc. (Pretty much what I'm doing here on this blog really.) But the guys and gals at the NCT class seem to fall into a slightly different category to that in my view, as we all met before our lives 'changed considerably' and we've gone through the same process, albeit slightly different routes, but achieved the same outcome, namely, a sprog. So, I'm glad that we went to the classes and learnt about babies; I'm glad that we have met these people as they're all very interesting people anyway, aside from the whole baby thing; and I'm glad we agreed on meeting up like this, as we've got a significant part of lives in common. If only Chris would arrange a dad's drink...

Antenatal Classes (NCT vs NHS)

As I have mentioned earlier, my experience with babies is almost non-existent. I have not had to look after any friends or families' children that are less than talking age and so having a baby is going to be a big shock, I'm sure.

During the first midwife appointment that Claire had, which I went along too, one of the things that she mentioned was about the National Health Service (NHS) baby classes available to us. The classes are designed for new parents, to explain to them the things you should and should not do, best practises, etc. Great.

Not long after this, one of Claire's friends suggested that we look into the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) classes, as she had attended the classes nearer her and thought they were far more informative than the NHS classes.

• NHS Classes

The NHS classes are free to attend and were being taken from 1500 to 1700 once a week for three weeks, held in the small room to the rear of Chatteris Church, only 2 miles away from us.

The first lesson, I was unable to attend due to work, but Claire had gone by herself. There, along with one other couple and a midwife, they sat in a circle and discussed baby-stuff and tried to stay warm. Claire came home with lots of reading material.

The second session, I was able to attend, as I had a day off work. Again, the same other couple was there, a different midwife but no other couples turned up, despite several more couples being on the paperwork to attend. (By this point, we had already attended 2 or 3 NCT classes.) We sat around, cold, in a circle in the middle of the room, being thrusted hand-outs, leaflets, etc to go away and read. Some of the hand-outs were based on important topics such as breastfeeding and were talked about briefly before being moved onto another topic.

Just over half way through the session, the midwife had already covered everything, due to speaking at break-neck speed and called it an evening. She also thought that we'd had enough information (on paper) to cancel the final session.

• NCT Classes

The NCT classes are a paid service and there's a waiting list to attend. Our nearest classes were based either in Huntingdon or Ely, to which we chose Ely, for one reason or another. The sessions were held in the comfort of the home of an experienced NCT Teacher, where we and four other couples sat in the front-room on sofas and had the meetings. The meetings were 2000 to 2200, twice a week for four weeks and cost £20 a session, paid in advance.

During the eight sessions, we were encouraged to ask questions and speak to the other couples, as there was an emphasis from the outset to encourage us to become friends, starting with the fact that we all had something in common - all of our firstborn children would be born within weeks of each other.

Some of the games and challenges we were set may seem childish if I were to try and explain what we did, but there was always something that made us sit back and realise that we were going to have a baby, and understand that our daily routines will never the be the same again. Something that we all knew, but didn't actually appreciate nor realise; this new baby that everyone was dreaming about will turn our worlds upside down.

Important topics, like breastfeeding, pain relief during pregnancy, trying to calm a baby down, and so on, were exercised through games or discussions and we have even seen DVD videos of women giving birth in different scenarios - home birth, water births and in hospital. Not particularly pleasant in some cases, but if we hadn't had attended the classes, we certainly wouldn't expected half of what happened if we had simply turned up to hospital expecting to have the baby!

The lessons came and went and December (2008) flew by. Literally. Soon, the course was over and the NCT was still encouraging us getting together and meeting up in March (2009) after all the children were born, which I am sure will be great and that'll be upon us in no time. Five new mums looking after five new babies whilst five new dads talk rubbish in the corner.

The two sets of classes (NHS and NCT) could not be further apart from each other. In my opinion, the NHS classes were appalling. Topics were whizzed over and supplemented with a hand out. Whereas the NCT classes, I actually felt like we now stand a fighting chance in doing a decent job looking after our son when he arrives.

I really would encourage more parents-to-be to at least investigate the NCT classes and, if possible, to also attend both the NCT and NHS classes too, as we did, as it seems like we've had as much information as can get in preparation for looking after a small baby.

To be honest, I think I have had more lessons learning to drive a car that we've had in total with regards to baby classes; imagine if someone was let loose with a drivers licence after 2 short lessons of driving! (Somehow, I think the 'test' is going to be different this time around...!)

My badly-put point is, had we have only attended the NHS classes, ignorance would certainly have been bliss. I'm not saying that we will not make mistakes simply because we have attended the NCT classes, we will. But at least we have an idea as to what to expect, thanks to the NCT classes.