48hrs With Milo

20 minutes old, here is in "recovery" after the c-section and before we got back on the ward.

Big sister Ella was very much enamoured of the little guy.

Here she is demonstrating how she could sleep in hospital with me and cuddle him all night.

Grandma was quite taken with him too.

Night time cuddles from Mummy.. still only hours old.. he doesn't look brand new, does he?

Daddy's turn

One day old and POOPED!

Just less than 2 days old and ready to go home.

Slept through his first car journey but was bewildered when he woke up somewhere new.

First bath... not his favourite thing so far

"What was that all about then?"

In his hand-me-down dressing gown from Ella, ready for his first night at home.

He's only been here a minute and I can't remember life without him

Miss BB

Bargain Buggy

We took a trip to York Designer Outlet today where there's a Mamas & Papas store. We went in on the off chance we might see something we liked for cheap, we didnt expect to find the bargain of the century.

You may remember my last pushchair post (if not you can read it here) where I'd pretty much settled on the Sola with the Aton carseat. Well.. low and behold we rock up and M&P's today to find it there at a large discount. The RRP is £275 and there were 4 or 5 different colour options there for £170. Awesome! All of the pushchairs there are ex-display which doesn't bother me at all for that kind of saving. Anyway... I haven't even gotten to the best part yet... While we were there we noticed an even better deal. A buggy we hadn't really looked at before because it was more than I really wanted to spend, The Urbo.

The Urbo retails at £325 full price but not here... here it was £160!!! Even CHEAPER than the Sola! I seriously don't think I'll find a better deal than that. There were two available in black and we're going back next week with my parents to see it (they're forking out the cash) so fingers crossed one of them is still there but worst case scenario there will be some Sola's which I still really like. Lee is absolutely obsessed with the Urbo now because it's all pimped out in chrome and all but I'm not that bothered either way. They're both really nice.

The reason I was planning on getting the Mamas & Papas Aton car seat (£140) was the £50 off deal when you buy together with the pram but as we will now be buying seperately I'm considering the Maxi Cosi (£125). And do I buy a isofix base or is it safe enough to secure it with a seatbelt? Ugh!! So many decisions and so much expense. I bought one last time (3 actually) and now I look back and can't believe what waste of money it was. I had no idea you didn't need one. They prey on weak expectant parents and their desperate need to protect their unborn children and sell an item seperately that costs nearly as much as the carseat itself to connect it to your car... what a con! I don't know how we allowed this to happen but it did, anyway that's for another post. In the meantime I'm excited to revisit the store next week and potentially bring home our baby's bargain buggy. 

Pushchair Pondering

I am currently trying to decide between 2 buggies (prams/pushchairs/strollers) so I thought I'd share with you what I'm looking at and maybe you'd have some opinions. I set out looking for something that could be a chassis alone that could hold a pushchair attachment or a car seat for better portability in the early stages when you have to lug around so much junk it makes you want to never leave the house again. I knew there were such contraptions on the market because I'd seen them but little did I know how many there were to choose from and how huge the difference in price can be.
We went to see some in action last week and I think i have it pinned down to just two. Both very similar and I think I know which I'd prefer but here they are for comparison.

First up is the Sola from Mamas and Papas RRP £275

It can be fully rotated on the chassis to be rear or front facing as well as being a base for several brands of car seat and a carrycot fixture if you so wished. It has 4 wheels, I can tell you from having a go in store that it's VERY easy to manoeuvre and I really like the handle which as well as being very comfortable is extendable for the taller parents among us. It's not cheap as pushchairs go but it's not totally breaking the bank and right now there's 10% off online and a deal where by if you purchase the corresponding Aton car seat there's another £50 to be saved!
The car seat in £135 and can be found here

Next is the Quinny Zapp RRP £149.99

A little rundown on the zapp.. It obviously has a more modern looking 3-wheeled chassis. The pushchair attachment is rigid and you only have the option of front facing. The handles are more handle bars than one comfortable bar to hold and as far as I can tell they don't extend. As with the Sola is manoeuvres nicely and as Ella had a go in it I can account for it's stability with heavier children lol. It also has a carrycot attachment which you can purchase separately and it can also be used with a variety of car seats.

The car seat that is promoted as go-with is the Maxi-Cosi which can be purchased for £99.99 here

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It is obvious which is the more financially appealing of the two but does that necessarily mean it's the one I should choose? I'm tempted to say that Sola would be more durable just because it's Mamas and Papas and I trust that brand to deliver high quality products. I've never had any first hand experience of anything Maxi-Cosi or Quinny but Ellas pram was Mamas and Papas and we literally ran it in to the ground because I didn't drive and therefore walked EVERYWHERE. It got some serious hammer and lasted really well. Both of these buggies are offering what I set out to find but should I plump for the cheaper, better looking Zapp or take a chance on the Sola, more expensive and not bad looking but likely to last longer if we did want to have another baby or pass it on to someone who was.

If any of you have any experience of either of these or just want to share your opinion please leave me a comment below :)