u/HazelNewt_2523

First time parents. We’re just about 30 weeks and found out at around 25 weeks that our baby has VSD and will need surgery after they’re born. This baby has been particularly hard to image as every time we go in for a scan they have their hands over their chest or are in a complicated position, so our plan right now is to do an echo once they are born to determine the severity and when to schedule their surgery. The drs do know based on the location and size that it will require surgery (I know not all VSD requires surgery), but until they can get more exact details on if baby’s VSD includes aortic override or TOF they want to wait to make a surgery schedule.

I know VSD is decently common and many babies tolerate the surgery well and go on to live happy healthy lives. I think for me right now I’m most stressed about the time between birth and the surgery, and keeping baby safe during peak cold/flu/RSV season (due mid/late Sept). We’ve already told family they have to be up to date on vaccines, not showing any sickness symptoms etc. to be around baby. And I know VSD babies tend to struggle to put weight on pre-surgery which makes me nervous about breastfeeding.

I’m just looking for positive experiences and any encouragement from other VSD parents. What your surgery timeline looked like, how life pre-surgery was, how recovery went etc. Just trying to get a picture of what newborn season will look like for us.

Regardless we are so thrilled to have the sweet baby and to care for them no matter what the season looks like, they are a very strong kicker and let me know multiple times a day they are doing just fine in utero haha

For context I’m 29 weeks pregnant with our first and getting the nursery together.

We did inherit a horizontal dresser that is too short to use as a changing table as I’m almost 6ft. And I don’t want to put the dresser on lifts, or put a riser on top of it as I don’t like how that looks, so we are putting it in the closet as a sort of mock built in.

We’ve been looking at changing tables but I’m wondering if I could just get another (taller) horizontal dresser, or a hutch or something instead. Most changing tables I’m seeing are only as wide as the changing pad which doesn’t make sense because where would I put a diaper caddy and the necessary diaper changing items I want on hand? Or I just don’t like the quality or style as much as regular furniture.

Did you go with an actual “changing table” or an alternative piece of furniture for this use? I know baby can also be easily changed on the floor etc, but I would like a taller surface for ease.

Edit/update: we already have the skip hop changing pad which would go on top of whatever furniture we choose. It looks like we’ll be going with the taller dresser option. I prefer drawers for storage and having more surface area on top for the caddy versus having to reach under to get things. Plus as many of you mentioned the dresser can seamlessly live on in the kid’s room once it’s no longer needed for changing diapers. Thank you all!

23w pregnant with our first, and I feel like most diaper bags I’m seeing are huge. My husband and I are both pretty minimal people, and ideally we don’t want to be carrying around our entire nursery every time we leave the house.

But since this is our first baby, I’m wondering if I’m missing something logistically — do you actually end up needing a really large diaper bag, especially for the newborn stage?

Right now we’re looking at the Huhu bags, and the Roam Crossbody seems like it might be enough for us, but I wanted to get advice.

Would love advice and/or recommendations, especially from people who prefer a more minimal setup. We’re looking for something:

• more functional than cute
• gender neutral/minimal
• not luxury-priced unless there’s a real functional benefit