Archives for February 2011

baby on the go

February 25, 2011

Around 9:30pm last night I got the urge to start researching car seats and strollers. Three hours later I narrowed my car seat options down to the Chicco KeyFit 30 (based on Consumer Reports and Babble reviews) and the Britax Chaperone (I think Bethenny uses the Cowmooflage version), but I’m still unsure what type of stroller I need. Traditional? Lightweight? Jogger?

So I started thinking: How often will we really use a stroller, and what will we use it for? It’s not like we live a big city that requires us to do a lot of walking and use mass transportation. I don’t run outside now; will I really feel the urge to jog while pushing a stroller? And isn’t it best to get the lightest weight stroller if you will be maneuvering it in and out of a car trunk?

Too many choices!

The Chicco KeyFit 30 would work seamlessly with the Chicco Cortina stroller, but the stroller looks so bulky and plastic-y. I prefer the sleek and modern-looking UPPAbaby VISTA stroller, which includes an interchangeable bassinet and seat and has an available adapter to for the Chicco KeyFit infant car seat. Of course, UPPAbaby VISTA costs about $500 more than the Chicoo Cortina, so I would really need to be able to justify the price difference.

Britax has its own selection of stylish strollers, but they also cost more than the typical Babies R Us or Target find.

How did you choose a car seat and a stroller, and what do you recommend?

camera teething toy

February 22, 2011

When I told JB that I wanted our child to only play with simple wooden toys in order to foster his or her imagination, he laughed.

Still, the photographer and wannabe-hippie in me loves this wooden teething camera.

{via Odeedoh}

scary dreams about delivery

February 10, 2011

I recently had a dream about having the baby.

This wasn’t my first delivery dream. Early in my first trimester, I dreamt I gave birth to a baby girl with enormous anime eyes and black pigtails in a room full of other women giving birth on metal tables. It was like something out of a science fiction movie.

My latest dream wasn’t any more comforting. This time I was in a private room with a doctor, nurses and JB present, but it was February, and I was trying to tell the medical staff that my baby was due until July. They laughed and said my due date must have been wrong. “No, that’s impossible!” I cried. “It’s too early!”

I delivered a baby girl (yes, another girl) who weighed 14lbs and was 10 inches long. I didn’t get to see her because they whisked her away immediately for some standard tests, but I could only imagine that, with those measurements, she resembled a bowling ball.

JB had to return to work right away but called the nurses’ station shortly after with concerns about the baby’s size. The nurse informed him that he would have to call the 800-number on the baby’s hospital band; an outside party handled all of the records for the hospital and she no longer had access to them.

The staff never brought the baby back to my room, which was probably a good thing, because when my family arrived more chaos ensued. They wheeled me down in my hospital gown to the hospital’s indoor swimming pool and immediately began complaining about the humidity and the heat. “But it’s an indoor pool!” I cried. “What do you expect?”

I was devastated because nobody seemed to be concerned that I just gave birth to a bowling ball. It was all about them, them, them when I was expecting it to be all about me, me, me.

When I retold my dream to a friend, she laughed at its obvious meaning. It didn’t take a dream analyst to pinpoint two of my biggest fears: One, that something is going to be wrong with the baby. And two, that having my extended family in Omaha when the baby is born is going to be stressful.

the bella band

February 4, 2011

My pants are definitely starting to get tighter. I can still button most of my pre-pregnancy jeans, but when I sit, the button presses against me uncomfortably. When I mentioned this to a friend who had her first baby in November, she brought down two Bella Bands from a plastic bin of maternity clothing she no longer needed.

What a life-saver! Now I can wear my pants unbuttoned without worrying that they will fall down. And I kind of like how I can pull the Bella Band up over my bulge because it smooths me out, sort of like Spanx.

The only annoying part is that is sometimes rides up the back when I bend over or get up from a seated position. I frequently have to readjust it. Still, for financial reasons, it’s better than having to buy maternity clothes right now, especially since I don’t really think I’m big enough for them yet.

When did you transition to maternity clothing?

{image via Ingrid & Isabel}