Here we are-- 26 weeks and counting. This pregnancy seems all at once to be speeding by and moving incredibly slowly... Mama and baby are still doing good, and parents-t0-be are busy with preparations. The first stumbling block was registering. I quickly became amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that is out there and the amount of information. Every choice seems like a test we can fail. Which mattress pad will be waterproof without off-gassing dangerous chemicals? Which bottle system will offer the most boob-like nipples while reducing painful gas for baby? Which car seat system will work best for our baby and car? Everyone has something to say about it all-- and no one seems to agree. Needless to say, we've made some decisions- some are more confident than others. We ended up registering at Target, Amazon and (begrudgingly) at Babies R Us. The one perk to registering in actual stores is that we now have a few newborn diapers, wipes and bags of formula. Check.
Stumbling block number 2-- childbirth classes. Again-- there are way to many choices out there! There's the Bradley method, Lamaze, hospital run classes (which I like to call the Epidural classes), and even something called Hypnobirthing. Yes-- some people will tell you that through self-hypnosis you can actually convince yourself that labor doesn't hurt. Call me cynical, but I'm not willing to put all of my eggs in that basket. Once we finally figured out what my insurance would cover and decided on a specific Lamaze class at our hospital- we then had the challenge of finding a class time that would jive with both of our schedules. I could go on and on about the subject, but I think we finally have it figured out-- as long as the class hasn't filled already...
So! That's where we're at now. But baby is doing swimmingly. His/her heart is still chugging along in the 150's and my belly is growing right on track. Once there's a noticeable change-- more pictures will be posted!
Being broke made most of our baby choices fairly obvious. In other words, the right seat for our car or the right boppy pillow was the cheapest one neither of us could remember hearing about a recall on.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, these are important choices, but once Baby Boy/Girl Costello is here, you'll probably notice that pretty much everything mass-produced is safe, comfortable, and interchangeable. I remember Rorie got T-Boned in our minivan when she was 9 months pregnant with Sadie, with Eli in the backseat (and the hit was to his side). I have no idea what kind of child-seat he had (the cheap kind), but he was totally nonplussed. There are pretty stringent regulations about what you can put your kid in/on/near.
As for the childbirth thing, all I can tell you is Rorie got a spinal and took more drugs Lindsay Lohan on a movie set. Both - BOTH - of our kids wanted out so badly our OBGYN wasn't even to the hospital yet when they were born, despite inducing labor on a schedule.
Be well.
Leon
The best advice I got was from my 1st OB/GYN and that was that the only thing the baby really needs is the love from his/her parents. Forget all the stuff books and people tell you that you need to buy. Oh, and Blake is still scarred from going to Babies R Us to register when I was pregnant with Sophie and that was 10 years ago! Seriously.
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