Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Updates and Thanksgiving

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind and helpful comments and emails about the last post. It's not that I thought y'all were the type to poop on a person about something like that, it's just...I worry. (But don't YOU worry, MFA Mama -- I promise I will still have more than enough angst when the Bean is here. Limitless supply, I tell you what.) Starhillgirl, I can't believe you'd even suggest cooking a placenta. You're just going to turn all the life-giving nutrients into toxic free-radicals that way, you know. SMH.

All this Actual Baby business is seeming suddenly very, very close. As of a week ago Monday -- 34 weeks on the nose, by my OB's count (which I've reconciled myself to, because these days I don't need time speeding up) -- I suddenly understand why people get tired of being pregnant. Though I am in basically good shape, all things considered, a lot of things do suddenly hurt and I have definitely entered the "waddling" stage. I've learned the hard way that my days of walking to and from the hippie coop are over, and I think I'd get much more comfortable rest if I could only figure out how to sleep sitting on the giant sitting ball (which I feel silly calling a birth ball, since we've had it for years and years as a desk chair). Poor Sugar is liable to be suffocated in our bed, as I have lately supplemented my beloved down body pillow with a throw pillow jammed against my back and have laid my father's old down jacket down in an attempt to get my hips to hush up for five or ten minutes at a time. Lucky for her, my snoring keeps her from sleeping deeply enough to succumb.

Despite her trials and tribulations, she has found energy to work a miracle in the second bedroom/office/music room/junk room/black hole: we now have a nursery! Like all good nurseries, it features a piano, several huge bookcases of non-children's books, a jankety metal cabinet with painting supplies (Mental Note: Remove prior to home study), and a filing cabinet. Filing promotes early literacy, fine motor coordination, and attention to detail. I can't believe Baby Einstein hasn't gotten in on this. We don't have a mattress for the crib -- your suggestions happily accepted -- but I'm sure babies do better just on the slats, right? Better ventilation and all that.

Bean's Room

We've copied Shelli's excellent trofast changing table/storage juggernaut. Here's a closer view of the fabric covering the plywood top (which will ultimately have a changing pad or at least some strong fly paper):

Building the Trofast


The cats are very happy with their new room, especially the chaise.

Michaela And Her Boppy
Michaela can't believe it's taken us this long to get her a boppy.


We're Having a WHAT???
Orson during the "little brother/sister" talk. "We're having a WHAT??"


Some very nice friends threw a little baby shower for us, during which no one played any humiliating or poop-themed games. I KNOW: sometimes it's like we're not even Americans at all. People gave us some very cute socks, nice books (I'm particularly partial to this one), and that all-important baby staple, a fleece viking hat with horns and yellow braids.

All this activity is very cheering and a good distraction from the "HOLY SHIT" moments that do beset a person. Not that the outside observer would notice much anxiety, I'm afraid, since I mostly sit around looking like this:

Around The House at 34 Weeks Or So

9 comments:

  1. I'm going to hold you to that :)

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  2. I can't believe how neglected your cats have been, with no chaise and no boppy until now. It's amazing how you need to be having a human baby to take proper care of the animals. Totally unrelated, I have that same wood file cabinet! I stole it from my mom.

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  3. ha! we found ours on the street. sugar refinished it.

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  4. My dog totally took over the Snoogle after S was born, and the cat was quite fond of the Boppy.

    Do you have a Snoogle? If mine weren't covered in dog hair, I'd still be tempted to sleep with it.

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  5. Ooh, I love that storage idea...I may have to drag Q. to IKEA sometime soon.

    With mattresses, we're going with the Natura Classic Crib Mattress, on the advice of a biologist friend who said it is actually better than most organic mattresses at not having nasty things in it or off-gassing, etc. But I am a bit twitchy about this, having thought about just how much time baby will spend in said crib. I'm sure there are lots of other good options.

    Didn't manage to comment on your last post (have been in a bit of a pre-third trimester mind melt over here), but what I keep reminding myself is no matter how I want my birth and labour to go, that is no guarantee as to how it will go, and no one should judge me for the decisions I make if they are the best decisions to make at that time. The priority is keeping you safe and getting that baby out healthy.

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  6. Man oh man (excuse the phallocentric exclamation, I can hardly wait to see this baby and to learn from your experiences. That nursery is just lovely. I am particularly into your rug--AWESOME! And side B of your quilt, which is so soothing and beautiful. (Um, not that there's anything wrong with Side A, I'm just a suckah for purple and green, and batik-y lookin' fabrics with intriguing animals!)

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  7. I shall steal your chaise. And the cats. And the baby quilt. They are all FAR TOO COVETABLE (you can keep the boppy).

    How did you get to 34+ weeks? You were only just telling us you were pregnant at all three minutes ago.

    (OK, neither of those were helpful remarks. Unhelpful Person is Unhelpful).

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  8. Your nursery turned out great! Our cats, too, have adopted all baby furniture and accessories we've purchased so far. We may ever get one of those horrible crib tents to keep the monsters out-- C has a semi-real fear they'll suffocate the baby. Love the changing table setup-- some people are too clever for words. Sugar is free to come decorate/organize my house anytime.

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  9. I love the nursery! Listen, baby isn't going to care about filing cabinets until she's old enough to injure herself with them. :)

    My cats have taken to sleeping in the baby drawers (since they are out of the actual dresser for sanding and painting) and I don't know what they'll do when I take back the baby clothes.

    I love the drawing of you!!! Beautiful!!!

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