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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Milestones

Sometimes I have a really tough time waiting for things. Like when you’re in school and summer vacation is just around the corner, the last few weeks seem to drag on forever. Or when you are getting ready to move and you want to pack everything right away so that you’re ready when the time comes, but you can only pack so much because you still need certain things to be accessible on a daily basis, so preparing for moving day seems like an endless amount of work.

None of those things compare to waiting for Baby to be born. Partly because it’s such a long time to wait (nine months, and it feels like it’s already been two years), and partly because you don’t know exactly when the end will come. I have my “due date” and all, but of course it’s only an estimate so I can’t exactly count down the days (I do anyways – theoretically 43 days to go!!).

In order to make the countdown not seem so eternal, I have developed my own system of milestones. I find something in the immediate future to look forward to, and then I try to focus all of my anticipation on that event. For a long time, I had Key West to look forward to. Once that vacation came and went, it was all about the opening of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” in theaters. Then it was James and Erin’s wedding. Then the arrival of the Harry Potter book. And so on.

I just passed one of my fun milestones – Chason’s dad and stepmom came to visit this past weekend, something I had been looking forward to for the last few weeks. It was great to see them and spend time catching up, and they were so helpful, especially with shopping for baby items – now I know what some of that stuff is actually used for (like baby pads). It was a great weekend overall. (On a side note, my volleyball team took first place in their tournament on Saturday – way to go, Red Knights!)

So with approximately 6 weeks and 1 day left to go until Baby, I will simply await my next milestone: this Thursday, the season premiere of “The Office” on NBC. Then Saturday’s childbirthing class. Then next Saturday’s baby shower. Then the end of the volleyball season on Oct. 16. Then…

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Top 10 Things I Never Knew About Pregnancy

I saw my friend James this last Saturday evening at our amazing friend Lauren’s Brave New Workshop show (very well done, by the way!). As I recounted my latest pregnancy woes, he commented that he’s learned all sorts of weird facts about pregnancy from me that he didn’t know before. While I would like to pretend this is due to my expert pre-pregnancy knowledge of all things woman, I must confess that I knew none of these strange facts either until they became a direct concern of mine. So, in honor of that, here are the top 10 things I never knew about pregnancy and childbirth until it was too late to avoid them:

Quick note: about half of these are about bodily functions, so if you want to think of me as being more lady-like, you may just want to skip this blog.

1. All the books contradict one another. And then the doctor contradicts the books.

2. It’s the only time in your life that people think that it’s okay to comment on your weight. Granted, I make a lot of comments about it myself, but it’s still strange to hear people say things like, “You’re only 5 months pregnant? My god, you’re huge! Are you sure? You’re going to be bigger than a house by the time this is through! Wow!” Thanks…thanks a lot…

3. Everyone talks about how pregnant women are plagued with constipation for nine months. I never read anywhere about having the opposite problem, but trust me…it’s possible.

4. Two words – carpal tunnel. As if I didn't look stupid enough, now I get to wear braces on both of my wrists for the next 7 weeks. Rock on.

5. Babies don’t just kick your belly – they kick in all directions. Spine, bladder, stomach – no discrimination, just lots of kicking.

6. Time actually goes more slowly when you’re pregnant. I firmly believe this; I cannot believe I’ve only known about this pregnancy for 6 months – it feels like I’ve been pregnant forever.

7. Baby pees inside mom’s body. Yup. Baby takes food in through the umbilical cord and then pees in your uterus. Aww, fer cute.

8. Nothing has worse assembly instructions than baby furniture. I have assembled furniture from IKEA where they only have pictures and the writing is all in Swedish with no problem, but that stupid swing chair almost got thrown out the window before I was done putting it together. Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t they make sure that the baby stuff goes together correctly? I mean, it’s not like you need to be concerned about safety or anything…

9. When your water breaks, it doesn’t necessarily happen like in the movies – big gush, embarrassing mess. Sometimes it’s just a slow trickle. Like you’re forever peeing your pants. Either way, it’ll be awesome if it starts while I’m out teaching a class.

10. Mom has about a 50% chance of doing what during labor? Pooping on the table. Yup. Apparently with all that pushing going on, your body has no control over what does and does not get pushed out, and that includes poo. As if the whole labor thing wasn’t ridiculous enough.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The nursery is full - hope there's room for the baby!

I spent part of this last weekend getting the nursery set up for baby. Somehow I failed to notice just how much stuff baby already has, and she’s not even here yet! To date, I (personally) have purchased the following:

** A crib – bought it used from a garage sale. It’s really nice and it came with a mattress, three sets of fitted sheets, a dust ruffle, a comforter, some toys, a boppy, and a few other miscellaneous baby items. Cost - $100.

** A changing table / dresser. Purchased off craigslist. Has a drawer, a little closet area, and two shelves for baskets, plus a big changing area. Cost - $30.

** A glider and ottoman. Purchased off craigslist. Super nice and comfortable. Cost - $140 (it’s worth it)

** A little bouncy seat. Garage sale. Our friends Joe and Jess have the exact same one and their baby loves it. Cost - $7.

** About 5-6 outfits from a garage sale. They were cute, I couldn’t resist. Cost – about $15.

In summary, I’ve purchased some essential pieces of furniture and a few little clothing items, and I've saved lots of money by buying everything gently used. I’ve also bought some child-size clothing hangers, some soft light bulbs, and a couple of children’s books (though I could argue that those are also for me). Total spent on baby so far: about $300. Not bad, I say.

Now here’s the thing – after setting up the nursery, I suddenly realized – thanks to a bunch of hand-me-downs from friends and family, some awesome gifts from friends (Ellen and Scott, loved the onesie!), and a few excited grandparents-to-be, we have ridiculous amounts of stuff for this baby. Here’s an example – we have six (6!) fleece blankets for the baby. The best part is, baby can’t even sleep with a blanket until she’s older! Hilarious.

There is no more room for furniture (which is fine – I don’t think we need anything else) and we are quickly running out of closet and dresser space for other items – and we haven’t even bought any diapers, bottles, wipes, or any of those day-to-day essentials yet! Plus I have a ton of baby clothes at my dad’s house from when my brother and I were young that I haven’t even picked up yet…

This is going to be one spoiled little baby, I can already tell.