{GRFB} Overdue… Full Term +2
In case you were wondering about my current state of pregnant-ness, I’ve written a post on Everything Eatherton with an update. Instead of copying everything here, I just figure I’d share the link.
I really, really hope my next post is about the arrival of our little bundle. And that he comes the “right” way 
Stay tuned…
{GRFB} Almost Done; Playing Catch Up
Hey Mamas!
I have not been very good at keeping up with my {Getting Ready For Baby} posts these last few weeks because, well, I’ve been too busy getting ready for baby! And managing the business of life as a work-from-home Mom with a new job and a 3-and-a-half-year old that gives me a run for my money daily. There has just been so much to do, and it’s been a totally different preparation process this time around, that’s for sure.
I think back to the end of my pregnancy with Brady and wish I would have enjoyed the 4 weeks off I had BEFORE he arrived (yes, you read that correctly!) more. I couldn’t have imagined it at the time, but that was really the dreamiest part of my “Mom life”. I slept in every day. I ate breakfast, blogged and watched TV. I cleaned and nested. I read. I folded cute little baby clothes over and over and rearranged all his little drawers. I impatiently watched the minutes, hours, days, then weeks pass, hoping he would come soon. I imagined how wonderful life as a Mom would be. I went out for lunch and dinners with my husband. I shopped in silence. I ate an UNGODLY amount of Christmas cookies. Yep, that was the life!
That’s not exactly how these last few weeks have been going for me here. Instead of sleeping in I’m up at 6:30 am every day to get B ready for summer camp. I eat breakfast standing up, while packing snacks and applying sunscreen. As you can see, there is far less (or no) blogging going on. Sure, I still get to clean plenty, but there is far less “nesting” going on. Instead of impatiently watching the clock for this baby to arrive, I’m praying that I get one more day of him staying tucked inside so that I can get his laundry finished and his room set up. And you can forget about dreaming about how wonderful Mom-hood is going to be… these days I’m trying not to panic every time I think about caring for a newborn AND a 3-and-a-half year old who has the iron will of a tiger (and the mouth of a sailor!)
I also have the added stress of securing care for Brady while we’re in labor/at the hospital, which obviously was not a concern the first time around. It doesn’t help that we up and moved 2,000+ miles from family and have to rely on our new friends for that. We are very blessed that we have found wonderful people out here who have agreed to watch B, but it is still a very hard “favor” to ask. I have no idea how we’ll ever repay them.
So what exactly have I been up to since my last {GRFB} post?? Good question.
Well, if you recall, I threw this party for Brady. Aaaannndd…
I’m happy to report that we have finally gotten the nursery painted, the crib put back together, and after much, much debate, settled on this crib bedding from Land of Nod. I do not, I repeat, do NOT like the construction theme, but I love the colors of the stripes. I purchased the skirt, the curtains, sheets and blanket for this set (no bumper), and I figure that when we convert the crib to the toddler bed in 2 years, he can use the construction bedding at that time. Because we have a white ceramic elephant lamp from Brady’s nursery to reuse, I incorporated a few more elephant elements to go with stripes, which gives it more of a childish feel. I’m semi-satisfied with the progress we’re making (if only it were 3 months ago!) and am anxious to share photos of the room as soon as it’s complete.
I went through the 4 HUGE boxes of baby stuff that my Mom sent me from our storage unit in Chicago. That took forever! Luckily, I discovered that we have most of the necessary items for baby and need minimal “new stuff”. I did create a small registry on buybuy Baby for the few remaining items we need, like a new bathtub, bottle drying rack, and thermometer, as well as the Baby Jogger City Select stroller that we decided on. (Oh, and since I never got around to writing the second part of that last post, I decided on the Lillebaby Nordic carrier and the Keekaroo Height Right High Chair & Tray.) I was a little uncomfortable registering for baby #2, but I’ve read that it’s much more “acceptable” now… plus you get the added benefit of getting 10% off all the items that remain after that baby is born. That was enough to convince me right there!
We continue to try to prepare Brady for life as a big brother. He’s old enough to understand that there’s going to be a little baby hanging around here an awful lot pretty soon, but I don’t know if he really “gets” that our lives are not going to revolve around just him anymore. We found two great books on Amazon that we’ve been reading to him (I’m A Big Brother and I’m A New Big Brother) that are perfect for his age/comprehension level, and he’s really into them. After, we ask him if he has any questions he would like to ask. Matt and I about died laughing when we got on the topic of the baby drinking milk and I said to him, “you know Brady, the baby can’t drink cows milk like you and I do right away, so you can’t share your milk with him” and he responded with, “yeah I know. He only drinks soy milk.” What?! Where did that come from. And how does he know about soy milk?! Crazy kid. He’s going to be wonderful.
Have I mentioned yet that we don’t have a name picked out? We’ve been (affectionately) calling the baby “Fitzgibbons” since about month 5 (yes, that’s a real name, from a baby book), but we never really intended to name him that. Well, B has latched onto that name pretty tightly and if Matt and I cannot agree on something soon, it just might end up being his name for realz. Yikes! Believe me, we have tried several different methods/approaches to try and come to some sort of decision, but that’s a blog post in and of itself. If I don’t go into labor soon, I’ll tell you all about that hot mess….
Last, and probably least, I’ve been trying to solve our baby/child monitoring situation. Yes, I know that the baby will literally be sleeping right next to me for the first 3 months… aaaand… I have a 3-and-a-half year old that doesn’t really need to be “monitored” anymore. But we’re sleep-with-the-doors-closed kind of people around here and in even in our shrinky-dink house I cannot hear B when he calls out for us in the middle of the night. And if you’ve even been woken up by a small person staring at you directly in the face, well then you know that’s not something you would like to happen on a regular basis! Anyway, after much research (ie., reading lots of Mommy Blogs), I have decided to give the Summer Sleek & Secure Multiview Color Video Monitor a try. Well, at least I plan to give it a try in about 3 months.
** ON A SIDE NOTE: We currently have the Summer Day & Night Handheld Video Monitor (circa 2008) that works perfectly well. If anyone knows of a way to add on another video camera and just use our current monitor, I’m all ears. And if you know how to make my monitor stop “crackling” from my WIFI, please, please tell me. I would be forever in debt to you. I mean it.
Other than that, we’re just trying to survive the terrible 3s soak up the last few weeks of being parents to only one child. Things are about to change for the better, of course, but it’s about to get all kinds of cray-cray up in here with 2 screaming children and family coming in-and-out of town for the following 3-4 weeks (not that we mind because frankly, I’m sure we couldn’t make it without them!)
What have you been up to this summer? Anyone else Getting Ready for Baby have anything they’d like to share? Hopefully the next post I have is the announcement of Fitz’ arrival. 39 weeks on Sunday!! Stay tuned…
{GRFB} Strollers & Carriers & Highchairs, Oh My! (Part 1)
As we’re getting into the final stretch of the pregnancy, my mind is all a flutter about… stuff. All that “baby stuff” that accumulated in Brady’s nursery several weeks before he was born, that we don’t seem to have a trace of around here for baby #2. Diapers, clothes, blankets, bottles, Boppies. We could barely walk into Brady’s room because it was so full of stuff. So, where is it all?!
Long story short… we left all our “baby stuff” in storage in Chicago, assuming we’d return before we had another baby. Since that’s not the case, we needed to have everything shipped out here. Nine months is a long time to live among boxes, so I put it off. And put it off. And put it off. Until recently when I was like, “holy crap, I need all the stuff!!” I should be nesting– washing, organizing, taking inventory. I can barely remember what we had/have, so I have no clue what to borrow/buy and the clock is ticking. Yikes!
While we waited for the boxes to arrive (they came today, yay!), I began to focus on the things that I knew we didn’t have and/or needed to get. Like a double stroller, for starters, and a new baby carrier (because I never had one that really worked). And probably a new highchair. I knew from being active in the baby blogging community that these products have really evolved since I was pregnant with B and therefore would take some time to research, so I started on those 3 items several weeks ago. Here is a quick peek into my nightmare…
Double Strollers
The biggest dilemma I had when it came to choosing a double stroller was… did I really need one? Brady would be three-and-a-half when the baby was born, so how much longer would he really be in one? But if I didn’t get one, what would I do for the first few months that I did need one? I have a Baby Trend Snap & Go, so I was covered for the baby, but where did that leave Brady? The post-Snap & Go single stroller that I had with B absolutely sucked (sorry for anyone else who has one and liked it, but I was NOT a fan of the Peg Perego Pliko at all!), so I knew that I would be in the market for some kind of stroller anyway. And because we haven’t yet ruled out having baby #3 someday, it just didn’t make sense to buy another new single stroller.
So, after much debate and research, I narrowed my choices down to two different options– the Joovy Ergo Caboose and the Baby Jogger City Select Single (side by side strollers were never a consideration; I knew I wanted a stroller that allowed me some flexibility for my changing needs.) Prices were similar, though the Joovy stroller was slightly cheaper, and I liked that it had an easier sit/stand-and-go-type feature that would appeal to Brady in the coming year.
For the City Select, I was going to start with the (cheaper) basic Single model with a car seat adapter, because I would probably never need both seats at the same time (unless, of course, we have baby #3). I could add on a footboard later, but it wasn’t nearly as spacious as the Caboose and it was an additional cost. Money, money, money. The scales were tipping in the Caboose’s favor.
Well, it took one trip to the store for me to make my choice. The Joovy Caboose was extremely heavy and I knew there was no way that I could lift it in and out of my car. I looked at the lighter (and cheaper!) Caboose Ultralight Tandem Stroller, but it just looked and felt cheap (and it was still $270!) The City Select was simple to use and when you removed the seats, the frame was easy to collapse and lift. I have two good friends who have the City Select and they really like it, so the Hubs and I decided then and there that that was the one. Well, not really “then & there” as the stroller is still not in our possession, but that’s the one we are going to get… just as soon as we can afford it (or as soon as someone buys it for us– hint, hint!)
For those of you who are cooking up baby #2, have you opted to buy a new double stroller? Which did you look at and what did you decide on? Anyone have the Joovy Caboose that wants to talk me out of getting the City Select?? Is there another stroller I should consider before making my purchase? Any and all stroller advice is welcome.
In Part 2 of this {GRFB} post, I will talk about baby carriers & highchairs, so stay tuned…
{GRFB} 6 Weeks To Go (and counting…)
I’ve been slacking on my {GRFB} posts the last few weeks. I’d apologize, but we’ve been really flippin’ busy!! The first week I missed because we were in Chicago on our “summer tour”. Too much to do, no time to blog 
The next week we were recovering from said “summer tour” and laundry was the name of my game. The following week we were up to our eyeballs in IKEA boxes and tiny little Swedish screwdrivers (if you can even call them that), putting together Brady’s new big boy furniture. Thanks to the holiday weekend, we were able to make a huge dent in getting his room ready for the big move and I’m happy to report that he (should be) sleeping in his new room tonight!!
I am super pleased with how cute it turned out (without breaking the bank!) and I’m anxious to post pictures to the blog. I’m still adding the last few details and then I’ll be ready. It’s very unconventional in terms of color, but because the furniture is only meant to get us through the next 2 years, we decided to make it a “totally (little) big boy” room. I have never seen Brady smile so big as he did when he saw his room for the first time. It was priceless!
In other news… during all the IKEA business, I’m 99% sure baby boy flipped into breech position. Ugh. I started getting terrible pains “down south” and was feeling tremendous pressure and pain in my hips (a combo of natural pelvis widening and him actually kicking me). Thankfully, he seemed to flip back a few days later and I was relieved to feel his feet back up in my ribs again (never thought I’d say something like that!) It was a rough couple of days though, let me tell you. I couldn’t sit, stand or sleep, my hips were going out and my legs would collapse right under me, and I couldn’t work out (aka, “walk at 2.5 on the treadmill”). I hope he doesn’t try to do any more acrobatics between now and D-Day!
I had my breastfeeding class last Wed. and I’m still as clueless as ever! Unfortunately, the instructor said that because I had oversupply the first time around I’ll likely have it again this time (damn “muscle memory”), but I’m trying to be optimistic. One reassuring thing is that the instructor was extremely supportive; I feel much better knowing that resources are much more readily available to me here than then they were with Brady. I’m just planning to approach everything in a much more relaxed manner and not get so caught up in the clock and the chart. Fingers crossed we have success!!
We still do not have any nursery bedding/decor or a name for this little guy yet. Not sure which one gives me more nightmares…
Lastly, I had my 34 week appointment today and all is well. Baby is measuring right on point, his head is down, and his heartbeat sounds dreamy! My next appointment is at 36 weeks (where I pray I will get a final ultrasound to confirm that he is in fact head down) and then I’ll be hitting those oh-so-fun once a week appointments. Seems like just yesterday that I was waiting for the first trimester to end, and now we’re almost at the end of the road. Truly bittersweet.
Sorry– no belly photo this week. I hope to have one next week, when I’ll be posting about strollers, carriers and registries, oh my!
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{GRFB} The Big 3-0! (and some random Yard Sale advice)
How awesome would it be if I was actually talking about my age and not baby’s gestation? Sadly, I can’t even see 30 in my rearview mirror anymore. In just a few short months I’ll actually be halfway to 40. Holy. Crap. Anyway, I digress…
30 weeks pregnant– this is crazy! It seems like just yesterday I was 10 weeks and creeping along. Then, almost overnight, I’m in “the 30s” and getting those oh-my-god-this-baby-is-coming-soon-and-I’m-not-even-close-to-being-ready feelings. Thankfully we have all the major newborn necessities taken care of (thanks to big brother B!), but I still have a running list of “baby to-dos” that has been growing by the day. I have not felt pressured at all to start marking them off… until now. It’s officially go time.
First item on the list– Make room for baby. Sounds easy enough, right? Unless you don’t have the space.
If I haven’t written about this before, we are literally renting a shoebox of a house. It’s a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home, with the 3rd “bedroom” being a converted one-car garage. I use the word “bedroom” very lightly, because while it has drywall and carpet, it’s not very suitable for living in. For the last 2 years it’s been an office/storage unit/dumping ground that we barely go into. When people come over, we close the door and skip it on “the tour”. But with a new addition on the way, we’re forced to take matters into our own hands and upgrade its status, because we need to make room for baby!
Without getting into a ton of details, here’s a breakdown of how we’re doing it– Fix up 3rd “bedroom” to make it functional and comfortable; this space will become a new bedroom for Brady. Get rid of all office furniture/decor and find a new storage solution. Keep B’s really nice furniture in his current room (convert his toddler bed back into a crib) and this becomes the baby’s nursery. Buy Brady new furniture that will get us through the next 2 years (read: IKEA). Have a yard sale and sell everything that isn’t absolutely needed. And I mean everything.
{Here’s when I transition into Yard Sale tips… very smooth…}
At first, I was really excited about having my very first yard sale. Sorting, cleaning, organizing, using fun different colored stickers… right up my alley. Then I started prepping for it and it became a nightmare. How can I part with all this stuff? How do I price everything? Is anyone really going to buy my stuff? What if I end up giving it away for next to nothing? What do I do with everything that doesn’t sell?
To ground myself, I actually did a search online for “how to have a yard sale” and found a ton of links. Some tips made a ton of sense (“decide immediately if you’re having the yard sale to get rid of clutter or to make money “) and some were not practical at all (“provide music, food and drink to attract customers”). I mean, c’mon. Seriously? Am I having a yard sale or hosting a mixer?!
Being a yard sale pro now, and with Summertime just around the corner, I thought I would share some pearls of wisdom from my personal experience last weekend:
1. As I shared above– before you do anything, decide if you’re having the yard sale strictly to get rid of all your clutter or if you’re looking to make money. This will put you in the right frame of mind when you’re pricing your items.
2. Expect to get about about $.50 less on smaller items and $5.00 less on larger items than what you have priced. Yard sale shoppers love to get a deal and will haggle like crazy. So if you want $3.00 for your candlestick set, price it at $3.50 and be willing to negotiate down to your bottom line.
3. Decide on what that “bottom line” is ahead of time (this will depend on your decision in #1). If you really just want to get rid of your stuff, then take any reasonable offer because once a customer walks away, another one may not take their place. If you have nicer items and your goal is to make some good money back on your investments, stick to your guns. But have a back up plan of what to do to sell the items in case you don’t get a buyer at the sale (ie., Craigslist).
4. Clean your stuff. Believe me, it makes a difference.
5. Organize your items by space/use (kitchen stuff, electronics, decor, baby stuff, etc.) and place them up on tables, if possible. I only had one folding table and that stuff sold like hot cakes. I had to put a lot of other smaller items on a blanket on the ground and no one wanted to bend over/squat to look at them, so they walked right past.
6. Place items with good curb appeal close to the uh, curb. That way people doing “yard sale drive bys” get intrigued and park.
7. But also place hot items like kids’ toys near the garage, so people have to walk all the way through your sale to get the goods.
8. Check your city’s community website to see if they are hosting any city-wide sales and plan to host yours on this day, if possible, to take advantage of free advertising and traffic from neighbors’ sales.
9. Post details of your sale on Craigslist a few days in advance with a list of desirable items for sale that will draw a crowd. I did this and actually sold a couple of things in ADVANCE of the sale. Driving up demand also helped me get higher prices!!
10. Never underestimate the power of old school marketing– On the first day, we went almost 2 hours with very little traffic (after the first morning rush). We made some quick “Yard Sale This Way (arrow)” signs and posted them on nearby busy streets. Within minutes, we were flooded!
We didn’t sell everything we needed to, but we got the room cleared out and we’re finished with the repairs… so I’d call that success. We’re already two steps closer. Next week, we’re getting B’s new furniture and then it’s time for the big move. We’ll finally have a room for baby, with (hopefully) 7 weeks to spare!
What are you doing to get ready for baby? Do you have any additional Yard Sale advice to share? We’re all ears!
{GRFB} Back To School!
{I’m afraid this photo has nothing to do with my post, but we forgot to take “the” 29 Week profile shot, so this will have to do instead. Plus, isn’t my kid a cutie?! Read on…}
Nothing says “You’re Having A Baby” like signing up for all the prenatal courses! And that’s what we’re working on today… Getting Ready for Baby, 29 Weeks.
The first class on my list is the breastfeeding class. I took one in Chicago before Brady was born, and I breastfed him for approx. 8 weeks, but things went south for us very fast. We had all the holds and the latching down pat, but unfortunately, I had an oversupply issue (which basically means I made too much milk). While this article states that it’s “fairly easy to resolve”, that was not the case with us. For me: I had frequent and painful let down and if I couldn’t feed Brady immediately (ie., he just ate 30 mins prior), I would become extremely engorged. Pumping to relieve the pressure resulted in me producing, you got it, more milk. One day, I pumped both breasts at the same time for approx. 3 mins and made almost 2 8oz. bottles. I kid you not. I had multiple blocked ducts and ended up soaking my milk-makers in epson salt every night. I followed this up by sleeping with cabbage leaves in my bra to help slow the production, but it never seemed to work. For Brady: The forceful flow of the milk would cause him to get very irritable during feedings, and even choke at times. He would cry and clamp down on my nipple to stop it, or detach and literally bang his head against my boob in frustration. He had terrible tummy troubles and we had one weekend of non-stop screaming where we were sure he was colic. Let’s just say we never had any of those lovey-dovey mom & son breastfeeding moments they make Hallmark cards about (oh, they don’t make cards about that? My bad.)
Feeding time became such a source of anxiety for both of us. While counter-intuitive, I had a lactose consultant advise me to pump, then feed, then pump again after every feeding to help 1) regulate my production and 2) get past the forceful part before Brady latched on. I honestly felt like a milking machine. I spent the better part of my first 2 months postpartum with my boobs attached to either the pump or my son’s lips.
It was a very tough decision to ween off breastfeeding onto formula, but once we were settled into the new routine, we were ALL much happier and Brady is a very healthy little boy. Could I have worked harder, longer to get past the oversupply issue? Absolutely. At what cost? I don’t know. (I say that now, 3 and a half years later, pain-free with a full night’s sleep.) But I’m excited to be giving it a go again. Knowing in advance that I might have to deal with the oversupply issue with this baby as well, I am making every effort to learn about the “condition” and am making plans for how to offset it before I’m in the moment (ie., uber-emotional). I know what specific questions to ask at this class and I’m looking forward to having a much better breastfeeding experience with #2 (if only you could guarantee success with extensive training, right?!)
Next on the list… a course in Infant/Child CPR. Matt and I took a class before Brady was born, but I hardly remember what we learned now. This is a class that will benefit BOTH our children and we’re hoping to taking refresher courses once a year from here on out. You can never be too safe!!
After that, a Childbirth Preparation class. Not the whole full-day “what to expect” class (we obviously know what to do when the baby arrives), but because we had a scheduled c-section with Brady, we never went through a single moment of labor. Because we’re planning for a VBAC, this is a “must attend” in my book. Thankfully, my hospital offers a short Childbirth Prep class for non-first-time parents, so we can relive the glorious manual instruction and (if we’re lucky) that video of the redheaded woman from 1982 who labors for close to what feels like 3 days without an epidural. Think I can bring popcorn this time?!
Last, but certainly not least on the list, is a New Sibling class for Brady. We’ve been talking about the baby in great detail at home and he’s at an age where he almost gets it. I say almost because he thinks his baby brother is going to come out of the womb ready for Puffs and trucks. A class that teaches how to help care for baby and explains that Mommy & Daddy will have their hands full with the new arrival will be good for him. Kids always listen to other people better than us anyway!
So if you need to reach me in June, you can find me at the hospital almost every weekend attending baby-prep school! What classes are you taking to Get Ready for Baby? Is there anything else you would recommend for us/Brady? Also, if you dealt with oversupply when breastfeeding and have any words of wisdom, please, please share (you can email me at heather@mamadish.com if you’d like to discuss them privately). Any and all help is much appreciated!!
About Mama Dish
With all that you have on your plate, do you feel like you have Mama ADD, OCD and PMS all at the same time?
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