Now that we know the gender of our baby (and we are thrilled and excited about her!!) I of course have started researching a lot more about preparing a nursery, preparing to have a baby, preparing to be a mom, car seats, the best schools in the area, when to start your daughter on a training bra, how to talk about the birds and the bees, the best universities in North America, and how to help your daughter plan her dream wedding. I'm sort of joking about those last few topics...
As I lay awake last night, feeling her fully-fledged kicks and trying to find a comfortable position to actually get to sleep, so many questions started filling my head:
- Where will the baby sleep?
- Is it out of fashion to have baby in our bed?
- Is that wrong?
- Is that dangerous?
- Will we be bad parents if we double our pram as a basinette?
- When does she start to use the crib?
- What if I can't breastfeed?
- Was disposable diapers the right choice?
- Is it too late for cloth (we have bought a lot of disposables!) - and is it really a good idea with our shoddy washer/dryer?
- What colours do we paint her room to create maximum stimulation and encourage creativity and learning?
- What if she is actually a he?
- He is going to be a very pink he if he isn't really a she...
- And so on.
I don't know what to do! I don't know what we need (and I say need, not want) to have a baby - although I'm sure we'll be okay.
I suppose just seeing her for the second time on the ultrasound - her spine, her arms, her legs, her kidneys... made this all seem more real.
soo beautiful and exciting. Hopefully your daughter isn't like me who needed a training bra at 7.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that you're having a sweet little baby girl!! I think disposable diapers are a good choice. I would have considered cloth if we had a state of the art washing machine, but..we don't even have a washer or dryer.
PS: You should look into co-sleeping. I think that is quite popular now and they have these "barricades" that you can sleep with so that you don't accidently roll onto your baby. We'll have our baby in our room in a bassinet for the first little while.
mm. Yes, kidneys make everything more real.
ReplyDelete:)
The fact that you think of these things shows me you'll be a fab mom.
If you want any answers, you can always ask me!
General answers to your oh so awesomly common questions:
If she is a he you'll love him all the same
There are no colours that will create more stimulation over another, exception - babies under 2 months see mostly black and white and like the look of faces, so anything with those prints will get thier attention better.
You CAN breastfeed with a lot of determination, support and patience. :) everyone can!
It is a little dangerous for baby to be in your bed (suffocation and a higher risk of SIDS) however - a bassinette beside your bed for her to sleep in will make you feel good and close :) Crib - when she's sleeping through the night (that way you arent having to get out of bed to feed 2-3 times at night!) YAY
And you will NEVER be bad parents if what you're doing works, and you love her to death.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Hey Sam!
ReplyDeleteah I love finding out the sex of the baby.. made things SO real for me!! I'll bet your mind is just going a mile a minute!
Just some thoughts to share with you:
(1) it's strongly recommended by health Canada that the baby not sleep in your bed because of danger to the baby (if you roll over, if she falls out, if she gets smothered by blankets, etc) but that said I know people who do it who are great parents and whose babies are thriving
(2)what kind of pram do you have? our stroller (the Uppababy Vista that we got off craigslist) came with a bassinet attachment and we totally used that as Lily and Oli's bassinet. Why buy another THING when you're already spending so much? Saved us the money and space, I say go for it!
(3) if you can't breastfeed, join the club. Everyone can NOT breastfeed, sadly. That's something many people assume and it's not true. I have been able to so far with Oli, but couldnt for too long with Lily because of low supply (after 1 month she was STILL under birth weight). Its not the end of the world. God is sovereign over your body and he'll allow you to breastfeed or not. Try all the tricks if it's difficult of course, but at the end of the day, don't feel guilty if you aren't able to :) Formula may be expensive compared to free milk, but it's nearly as good as milk and is the main course for thousands of babies who are thriving (once we started formula with Lily she started to thrive and the doctors were thrilled!)
(4)it's NEVER too late for cloth! you should definitely consider it if you're having second thoughts. You'll use the diapers you've already bought - we still use Pampers when we're on a road trip, visiting friends or family far away, on any kind of vacation, have a babysitter, etc. Plus we use the newborn diapers for the first month or so. Plus they make a great baby shower gift if you have leftovers you aren't going to use or donation since many womens shelters area in huge need of diapers.
And just so you know, our washer and dryer at our old house was at least 15 years old and not great quality and it was amazing for our diapers. In fact, the new high efficiency washers are LESS IDEAL for cloth diapers because they use less water, and the trick to clean cloth diapers is largely in how much water you use and less so in the detergent (though that's important too). You'd need to spend $300 right out of the gate to get a cloth stash, but consider looking on craigslist too, I always see secondhand diapers there.
Whatever you decide, you are the BEST decision maker for your baby as her mom. No one else can make these choice for you (and the thousand other choices that will come your way!). Trust your instinct, pray and ask God for wisdom, research, ask mom friends, but trust the Spirit God's put in you and the ability he's given you to be a MOM. How amazing :)
xoxo