September 26, 2007
9 weeks to go!
I keep saying that I think I will go early, and I think I need to let go of that expectation, because I’m excited about the fact that I am now in single digit weeks; but it is completely possible that I will go over. Despite the fact that I am hoping hoping hoping for a specific birthday for The Jelly, the fact of the matter is that I will only elect for a C-section on that day if it is medically necessary. If everything is going fine and The Jelly is healthy and safe and in position, then I will simply let her be born when she wants to be born, like we did with The Girlie. So, we’ll see. But, we’re getting closer, that is for sure!
In less than 2 months I will be on Maternity Leave. I am so exhausted these days that I think I am just going to take off on November 1, rather than trying to work until the 16th. If my boss allows me to go part-time for that last month-month and a half, then I think I will make it to the 16th; but I don’t know if that is going to be an option, so we’ll just still have to see.
And I don’t know what I’m so excited about. It is clear that Jesse and I are obviously going to be horrible parents and CPS will likely be waiting for me to give birth at the hospital so that they can whisk The Jelly away and take her to a home where she will be raised properly.
My feelings for this are based on our excursion last weekend. I went to Reno this past weekend for a scrapbooking event. I went with my mother and my friend MB. This is the friend who has been gently guiding me to realize the err of my ways and that I must must must have a baby shower.
Jesse and I had been discussing it more and more and then being tag-teamed by MB and my mom on Saturday caused me to break down and call my Aunt of the Non-Dramatic Variety and ask her if she would “throw” my shower. I just want something low-key, at my own house, that is convenient for ME, rather than those who are planning it and my aunt was ALL over it.
I presented it to her in the light that I would even do all the work, and if she and my cousin would just be the hostesses, then that would work for me. But she declined that part of the offer, being very excited to help me out in any way, and really do the whole thing. So, I ordered the invitations on Monday and emailed MB (”You’ll be very excited to know that I just ordered BABY SHOWER INVITATIONS.” Her: “YAY!!!!”) and then Jesse and I actually took that step that has me convinced that we are going to be horrendous parents and that we have no idea what we’re doing.
We actually created a registry.
Okay, so we actually created four, because the other part of my problem with having a baby shower was the fact that so much of what we wanted to get this time around appeared to only be available online. This went as far as our desired carseat. Sure, the other stores have the brand we want, but not the pattern, so we thought we were going to be stuck registering for it online only.
We’ve since come to realize that we were wrong. It was just a matter of figuring out the proper store at which to register. By the time we’d registered at a sports store (for our stroller) and the Big Box Baby Store and you know, the standard favourite store of mine, I finally thought to check the Big Expensive Baby Store here in the Sacramento area, and what did I find? Wow. A ton of the stuff that we couldn’t find in any of the other stores and so had only “registered” for via the online merchants were actually available at the Big Expensive Baby Store.
And imagine my surprise when not only was all of this stuff available, but it’s actually either the same price or less than the prices we were seeing online. Our desired carseat, specifically, is $30.00 cheaper at this store than it was online. (Of course, I’ve only checked the Big Expensive Baby Store online, rather than in person due to distance issues, but hopefully they will stock the same stuff in store. We will probably take a trip over there this weekend.)
So! Again, the reason we are horrible parents-to-be was brought up when I was glancing through the “Registry Guide” from the Big Box Baby Store last night. We clearly, clearly don’t know what we’re doing. To whit:
Nursery “MUST HAVE” list:
Crib and mattress; bassinet, cradle or portable crib; crib bedding set; sleep positioner; waterproof crib pad; crib sheet saver; glider with ottoman; chest, armoire or chifforobe; hutch; changing table; diaper disposal system; monitor; wall hanging; lamp; night-light; window treatment and rug.
Really?? A wall hanging, window treatment and rug are “MUST HAVES” for a nursery?
Incidentally, we don’t even have a nursery. We have registered for one thing on that list. Two, if you count the co-sleeper. It’s portable, so I guess that counts. We’ve been giving a sleep positioner, but I’m not sure we’ll use it.
So far, we’re 2.5 for 17.
I shake my head at the Room Accessories “MUST HAVE” list, which is basically saying “Redecorate your bathroom!”, and has some nursery organizer stuff on it. We’re 0 for 14 on those items. I just don’t want to talk about it.
There were two “baby gear” Must Have lists, of which we only hit 4 of the 16 things.
And even though I’m totally committing to nursing this time around, I wonder if I will fail simply because we have only planned for 1 of their 11 nursing “Must Haves” items!
And, of course, we should be prepared for the fact that breastfeeding might not work, but I guess we better just hope that it does, because of their Bottlefeeding “Must Have” list, we only have 2 of the 12 items because they were already given to us.
When we created our registry at the Big Box Baby Store, we were told that 12 items had been added to our list because it’s National Baby Safety Week. I promptly went home and deleted all 12 of them. That’s right! The number one reason CPS will be on our doorstep is because of the Healthcare Essentials “Must Have” list, we have exactly ZERO! Zero!! What are we thinking?
(Okay, technically, we have some of them, as they are typical first aid/medicine type things that we just have in the house already. ie: thermometer, cotton swabs, antibiotic ointment, etc etc.)
Anyway, you get the idea, there are also Changing Table, Bathtime, Apparel, Safety and Toys “MUST HAVE” lists. Of which, we hit 19 out of 73 things. And again, a lot of that is because of things that have already been given to us (apparel) or things that we already have (bathtime/safety).
It’s amazing how much stuff the Powers That Be are telling new parents they absolutely MUST HAVE. Again. Seriously. Wall hangings? Freakin’ window treatments??? This is must have stuff to have a healthy and happy baby?
No, it’s not and it pretty much shows why I resisted the registry/baby shower thing in the first place. Sure, there are things that we want and they’re cute and I am sure that someone even more minimalist than me could look at our registries and delete more things that we aren’t actually required; but we are heavily leaning toward “A Boob, A Drawer and some Diapers” mindset. That’s basically what newborns need to thrive.
We’ll worry about the rest of that stuff later.
(Our final score was 29 out of 155 items. Whew!)