The New Chair July 28, 2008
Posted by Mommy in Baby Gear.Tags: Getting the house ready
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Well, this is really more about the new house we’re living in. It’s the same structure we moved into a year ago, but it feels like a brand new place. We have a couple of pieces of new furniture: a baby bed that is in pieces, complete with a mattress still in the bag, and an AWESOME new chair that rocks, swivels, and reclines. We may just have to fight over that one…perhaps we should have gotten 2!
We’ve spent the last couple of weeks moving things around and cleaning out what used to be our home office so that we can turn it into the upcoming baby’s new room. Or is it the new baby’s upcoming room? This is all so new to me. I’ve been through it from a distance with so many friends; but it is so different when it is you.
So, the guest room has a new-to-it bookshelf stocked with books that could interest our many guests who will flock to see Baby when she/he comes. The kitchen/den has a desk and a bookshelf in it now, with a whole new arrangement that we actually like better. The basement looks like it’s actually part of the house now with a desk and some shelves and books and things that make us want to spend time down there–epecially cooler temperatures when it is 95 degrees in HOT-lanta.
…I actually started this post almost a month ago and then the internet connection freaked out and I thought it was gone. I just recently found out that it was still here in cyberspace storage. Since writing it, the bed is put together and everything else is out of the room except for ALL the stuff in the closet. Not sure where it will all go yet. The house feels like its getting smaller and smaller…
But we’ll have a new baby girl living in there before you can sing “O Christmas Tree”! Hard to believe. Hope we’re ready. Maybe I should start decorating the house for the holidays now…
Back to the Drawing Board July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in Baby Gear.Tags: car seat, peg perego, stroller
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After we found out we were having a little girl, we headed over to on of the Baby Stores (not to be confused with Baby Place, which is where Baby’s comes from 
). The thought was to buy something pink. While we were there, we decided to take the information we received while on vacation about the non-compatibility of Britax car sats with Maclaren strollers. We have some pretty straight-forward requirements.
- Car seat can’t be ugly
- Needs to fit in the MINI
- LATCH system compliant
- Have side-impact protection
- Work with a stroller
So we have gone away from the idea of buying just the Maclaren XLR and back to the idea of buying a more heavy duty stroller and, possibly an umbrella stroller, if needed. It seems like the Peg Perego infant car seat and Skate stroller perform those features.
So why didn’t we decide to go with the Britax infant car seat and their matching stroller? Apparently, the Britax infant car seat is being replaced in December… after we will have use for it.
20 Week Sonogram July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: baby place, doc, girl, pink elephant, rock star, sonogram, ultrsound, unhappy tech
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Strategically, we placed this visit to the “Baby Place” the day after we got back from vacation–it gave us something to look forward to coming home. As you can see, our child is awfully photogenic. The trip was awfully uneventful. The sonogram tech was in just a wonderful mood–not! Remember the adage about not buying a car made on Monday or Friday? Same goes for sonograms. Oh, she did her job just fine. You could just tell that she was ready to get out of the office and (possibly) start thinking “It’s 5 o’clock, somewhere”.
For the important stuff, Baby is fine. All the measurements are right in 50-54 percentile (the only time in my life when I want my child to be mediocre). Length, heart rate, cranial circumference, and a ton other measurements. Baby is 14 ounces (give or take). That’s about the weight of a can of Coca Cola.
I was particularly amused by this other photo. Now, logic tells us that Baby is getting ready to insert thumb in mouth. But for the life of me, this looks like Baby is about to break out into song! Finally, we have lead singer for our Rock Band group.
But the coup de gras was that this was the trip to the “Baby Place” where we could find out the gender of Baby. We went back and forth about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to know for planning purposes (there’s another post in the offing about how we’ve regressed back into exclusively gender-specific and gender-role specific decorating, but that’s for later). On the other hand, there’s something neat about being surprised “on the day” at the hospital. So, in typical family fashion, we hemmed and hawed about it for the better part of two months.
Finally, we admitted to each other that we would like to know.
So back to the tech that was in a wonderful mood. As she was very clinically going about taking measurements (did I mention how dismissive she was when we were asking questions?), she was frustrated that Baby is butt-down and in a really good diver’s “tuck” position. Who knows, maybe Baby will go to the Olympics! Anyway, we we got down to the “business” parts to determine gender. She was very dismissive. and drool. I was like, “come on, Lady. I’m about to find out if I’m having a little boy or little girl. At least feign excitement.” All she said was, “well, I can’t tell really. Your baby is breech and has its feet over its head. I can’t tell what the gender is (no sorry, no nothing).
Disappointed Peanut.
But then, the doctor came in. She was excited about Baby Place upgrading their technology so that the doc could see the tech do her job from the confines of her office. So she didn’t have to do a second ultrasound (darn). She went over all the important stuff… all the organs are there and normal. And then she asked about gender. We said the tech said she couldn’t tell. Asking if we were interested in her taking a second look, we jumped at the opportunity.
After about 20 seconds, Doc was able to get the right and and point out that, without a doubt, we’re having a little
(wait for it)
girl.
Vacationing With a Pregnant Woman July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: airplane, travel, vacation
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We have mostly adjusted back to being at home and am now in a state where we can reflect on our trip, having gotten over most of the negative effects of jet lag.
I have to say that vacationing with a mid-second trimester woman is not a bad thing, at all. In fact it was quite enjoyable. First of all, there’s the logistics. People treated us a lot nicer. We got upgraded. People were willing to give way to S. That was nice.
The biggest change, though, was that the fact that pregnant women don’t have the energy and stamina of non-pregnant people. We had to slow down. We had to pace ourselves. I thought that this would prove terribly unnerving as I see vacation as something of a competitive event and endurance sport. As a friend puts it, I’m infamous for my “forced death march” of walking tours. But in slowing down this year. We came home not exhausted. We didn’t have to have “slow days” on our vacation because all days were “slow days”. But we also got the chance to experience the culture more.
All in all, it was probably the best vacation we’ve had as a married couple.
Also, after having discovered www.deliciousbaby.com, we’re thinking we might lift the no-travel ban on young children. So more fun, international vacations to come!
Week 18 Doc Visit July 22, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.add a comment
So I thought I’d try out the new wordpress iPhone app and give a little update. A couple of weeks ago, S. went on her regular visit. Mother and child are well. Next stop-ultrasound this Friday.
