August 25, 2009

• 8 weeks along! (Originally written July 15)

  Well I'm still pregnant as far as I can tell. I'm 2/3 of the way through the first trimester! I can't believe I'm already done with 2 of 9 months!

  Most of the nausea is completely gone. What a blessing! I feel fine most of the day, with just small bouts of nausea here and there. (I did have a really close call yesterday but as I was clinging to the toilet it mysteriously went away.) I'm still feeling totally exhausted most of the time. I stay in bed napping and dozing most of the day, only getting up to make a quick snack or take a potty break.

  Let's talk about my boobs, shall we? They hurt. All the time. And they're getting bigger. All the time. It's like I'm going up a bra size hourly. Even the shape is getting better. I thought they looked pretty dang good after my plastic surgery (reduction) but geez, they look even better! But they're so dang tender. Sorry Jeremy. I just hope they don't get as big as they were before the surgery.

  One symptom I've been surprised by is "pregnant brain." I honestly thought this was just something women made up as an excuse for their air-headed tendencies. I feel bad about that now. I am so forgetful! And I just can't keep my head on right most days. I have messed up the checking account twice (which I've never done before) and I often go to a room or grab something and forget why I'm there.

  For example, a few days ago I was crazy hungry, and decided on a bowl of Rice Krispies with milk and banana slices. I got the bowl and cereal out of the cabinets, poured the cereal in the bowl, and went to the refrigerator for...wait, what? What was I there for? I totally couldn't remember! I stared at the contents of the fridge, tried to remember a reason for sitting there, and when I couldn't come up with one, I closed the fridge and went back to the bed to lay down. As I lay there, my stomach grumbled, reminding me that I was making cereal. Milk! That's why I was in the refrigerator. So I trekked back to the fridge, grabbed the milk, poured it over my cereal with a Snap! Krackle! Pop! and returned it to the fridge. I turned to the kitchen and started scanning the countertops. A minute later I'm still scanning with no idea why I'm doing it. I kept thinking, "What the crap?! What am I looking for?" I gave up, and turned around to head back to bed. But before I got there, I saw my bowl of cereal getting soggy on the table. Oh yeah! A banana for my cereal. So finally I grabbed the banana, quickly sliced it up into the bowl, and ate my cereal before I forgot why I was there in the first place. Or forgot how to eat or use a spoon for that matter.

  So to all the women everywhere that I thought were just being silly, I'm sorry. Pregnant brain is real!

  Now that I've made my peace with the ladies of the world, let's talk shopping! I've kinda been looking forward to the baby registry/shopping/baby shower aspect of pregnancy for a very long time. I've always thought that designing a nursery, choosing baby gear, and buying itty bitty baby clothes would be the best shopping adventure ever! I've had to adjust my plans since my nursery is now home to a 13-year-old boy, and I don't think he wants his room transformed into a cutesy baby space. So the baby crib will be in me and Jer's room. Which means no nursery. But I'm not discouraged! Since we won't be painting walls, buying baby furniture, or hanging baby decorations, we can spend that money on baby gadgets, bottles, clothes, shoes, and a really sweet travel system.

  I decided to go ahead and register for everything we will need in the first year. So no potty training supplies, but I went ahead and registered for items the baby will need once he starts eating solid foods, crawling, standing, etc.

  I've already been scouring the internet for the perfect baby necessities. I've read literally hundreds of product reviews and consumer ratings online. (I have a lot of laptop time while in bed between naps!) I've registered on Walmart.com, Amazon.com, and Babies "R" Us. There's so much to choose from, but I've found it surprisingly easy to make choices. I don't want anything pink, blue, green, yellow, with cartoon characters, frogs, ducks, teddy bears, etc, and definitely no jungle prints. I want my baby gear to be classy, timeless, and gender neutral. That pretty much eliminates EVERYTHING. But I did find one set of gear from Graco called "Rittenhouse" that I really love. It's been discontinued so I can only get it on Walmart.com or Amazon.com. I'm only getting the high chair and play yard though. You can't get the baby swing ANYWHERE and the stroller and carseat are a little cheap feeling. So we're going with a very similar pattern from Bertini for the travel system, and it's actually $40 cheaper! So that's nice. It's way better quality so I can't imagine why it's cheaper. All the items have been rated 4 or 5 stars by parents who bought them though.

  Here's pictures of the gear:

  

  I love this high chair! It folds totally flat which will be really nice for our small space.

  

  This is a great play yard. I haven't decided yet whether we will be getting a crib. If we do get a crib, it will be a mini crib I found at Walmart. It's considerably smaller than a regular crib, but larger than a bassinet and will fit the child until they are ready for a toddler bed. But if we can't afford or don't have room for the mini crib, the baby will just sleep in this until we move somewhere larger. And that's fine because this play yard is very versatile. It has a mobile, a changing station, places to stash wipes and diapers, plus music and soothing vibration! I also like that it has wheels so we can move it around the house as needed.

  And here's a close up pic of the fabric from the Graco Rittenhouse set:

  

  I love it!

  

  This is the Bertini Valencia travel system. Jeremy and I tried it out at Babies "R" Us and we love it! It's very heavy duty in every way. The wheels, the frame, the fabric, the features, the crash test safety standards, and the quality of the folding shades are much higher quality than the Graco system that matches the high chair and play yard. And like I said, it's considerably cheaper! So I'm 99% sure this is the set we'll end up with. Unless, of course, something cuter comes out in the next seven months! But I doubt it. This is brand new.

  And here's a pic of the mini crib since I talked about it so much:

  

  

  And this is the last piece of major equipment I'd like to have. This compact swing would fit perfectly under our living room window. Since the Rittenhouse collection is discontinued, the matching swing is impossible to find. Not even on ebay! But that's alright. This Graco Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center is more space efficient, and has many more features. It mimics the movements that a mother would make when swaying with a child. It also plays your iPod! Jeremy likes that feature. Haha. It plays classical music, soothing nature sounds, and can swing three ways by adjusting the seat. The seat is also removable. I can remember my little sisters using an old Graco swing set, (I think maybe it wound up by hand?) and they seemed to love it. So I definitely want one of these! It would also blend in well with the decor of our living room. It doesn't scream "BABY EQUIPMENT!" in bright colors or pastel animals. I appreciate that.

  Well that's all for now! If any of you moms out there have any advice for me about these items, what you loved or hated, what you wish you had or didn't need, etc, please let me know!

  • 3:35 am
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