Sometime in the past month I finally started showing enough that people take notice. Of course, I noticed before that, but who’s really gonna be tactless enough to approach a woman with a large belly and say “when are you due?”. OK, there are definitely people who will do that. In fact, I remember a man asking me that years ago when I was not at all pregnant, but wearing a shirt that flared out at the belly. I do understand the hesitation to bring it up for fear of being wrong, but it was really exciting when Dave and I met a woman touring our condo complex who asked, “you are expecting, right?”.
The critter has been kicking a lot, which is reassuring and still fun to feel, but I do find myself noticing the little movements less. Guess I must be getting used to them. Dave is finally able to feel them from the outside too. The first time he felt it was when he got kicked in the face. I’m assuming that will be the only time he’ll be so excited about someone giving him a boot to the head.
I am getting a little nervous about entering the third trimester, which happens next week at 28 weeks. Everyone makes the second trimester sound so great and I keep hearing that the third will bring me backaches, I’ll gain a ton of weight, I’ll have trouble sleeping, and I’ll experience the joy of hemorrhoids. (In fact, my doctor said they are the most common ailment in pregnancy, so much so that it’s rare NOT to have them.) I’m just hoping I won’t be nearly as miserable as I was during that last month of the first trimester. That was when I was wondering if I’d ever be able to get myself to do this a second time.
I’m also getting stressed about making sure we have everything ready in time. I tend to get gung ho about things in the beginning and then wait to finish up and then have to rush in the end. So based on past experience I’m a little worried about waiting on things. Dave doesn’t want to fill our house with stuff before we need to, but I don’t want to be stressed and do it at the last minute, especially if I’m feeling crappy and having a harder time moving around. I think I’ve convinced him that three months is not too much time to have some extra things around the house and the feeling of being prepared (or slightly more prepared) will be worth it.
Now we just have to figure out what the heck we need! Is there anything you couldn’t live without during that first month or so after the birth? Anything you regretted not having?
A little bit of wisdom 
Woohoo! You’re lookin’ great 😀
One of the things we actually really liked having was a whiteboard. Seriously. We were so out of it the first few days/weeks that it was nice knowing when the llama was last fed/changed, what we needed to get when we ran errands, what we wanted to ask the doc at her next appointment (or mine)… It was silly, but really quite useful.
The other things we developed serious love for came later — like the “Mommy Necklace” for when she’s teething like a fiend, and the Tilty Cup sippy.
When they’re really wee, it’s amazing how they actually need very little crap (gear wise). What we found, though, was that my friend Kara turned out to be the wise one: we’d forgotten that the month or so after the birth, mom and dad are the ones who need crap, gear wise. Caffeine and carbs. Stash ’em. 😀 I was also grateful I had a plan in place for visitors. I turned out to have a really really bad case of baby blues, and I was glad we were prepared for that possibility (stock wise and “help” wise!), just in case!
Sweatpants/cotton stretch pants for baby. Everyone buys you outfits, jeans, pants, sweaters, dresses and they’re all hard and stiff…you’ll need onesies and stretchy, easy-access pants. The kid will go through like 14 diapers a day in the beginning so pants that snap will make you very frustrated. Plus, not sure if you’re using any cloth diapers, but they’re roomier for that purpose, too. Burp rags. Hylands colic tabs or some type of gripe water (or you can go out in the middle of the night and buy it like we did). And, remember to drink lots of water if you’re nursing! Good luck; you’ve got some serious craziness ahead!
Katie, you’re preggers!!! I still can’t believe it. Can’t wait to meet the little bugger so I can put all sorts of rebellious ideas in his/her head 😉
In all seriousness, hope your third trimester goes smoothly, you stay healthy, and it is that one rare case where you do NOT get hemorrhoids!
LRay
Hemorrhoids are treatable during pregnancy with acupuncture. Also, are you having anyone help out postpartum? Besides Dave, of course.
Whoa. Shit just got real. And you look great!
Funny that you mention hemorrhoids. I managed to avoid them entirely with pregnancies 1 and 2 but just got my first one at 15 weeks with #3. Kinda freaked out because it’s so early until I read somewhere that it’s pretty normal at this stage because the baby’s putting a ton of pressure on the bladder and rectum because it hasn’t gotten out of the pelvis much yet, but that will happen within the next couple weeks, and then the pressure will come back in the third trimester.
As for critical things, I’ve had Minnesota March babies, so some things won’t be the same, but having a giant mug of water always in reaching distance is good. Set up a station of everything you might need in the most comfortable place so you don’t have to wander around the house to grab something to eat and change the baby at 1 week postpartum. I’m a big sling fan — love having two hands free while holding the baby. For a late spring/summer baby I’d probably get a Moby Wrap, although a light weight pouch sling would be easier. You really don’t need any toys for about the first 3 months. It takes that long before they’d rather reach for a crinkly book than eat their bib. You’ll have to give me tips on dressing a newborn in the summer.
I think your child needs a home video game system. Perhaps a SNES? You should get it now, before the birth, so that he/she can start learning the basics early.
Maybe a little tmi…
All we needed:
A baby
A bin for the baby to sleep in
blankets and burp cloths
clothes (optional – she was just in a diaper most of the first week I think, but maybe we’re mean)
Not sure when we started using it – but the sling has been really good for calming her down and keeping her cozy
Diapers and wipes
Some kind of plan for baby nail care – they are freaking sharp. I used the little scissors from my swiss army knife first and have used clippers once, a little unnerving but so sharp!
For you: nursing pads – I used soothies from Lansinoh (howver it is spelled) for the first two weeks or so and didn’t have any problems then switched to disposable for a while and am not using cotton ones (which are a little more leaky)
regular pads, yay
nursing bras – I would see if the hospital has an affiliated nursing supply store kind of thing and see if they can do a fitting for you, best thing I did
My internship doesn’t start til July, so I’m happy to come over and help out during June– let me know if you’re interested and let’s try to work something out. 🙂
1.) Make s/he part of the routine right away.
2.) butt cream. that stuff that comes out in the first days sticks like tar. you will rub the poor tikes skin raw getting it off
3.) if it is a boy, a cloth to put over the exposed thingy when changing diaper. Never failed, diaper comes off, cold air hits it, fountain starts.
4.) a simple water proof pad and a small container of wipes for an on the move chaning station – whether just in the livingroom or for when you are on the go.
5.) make noise – vaccuum while s/he sleeps. Get them used noise now.
6.) if breast feeding, you always do that. Dave always gives bottle. Introduce early
Hey. You’ve gotten lots of good advice here. Here comes a long, awkward sentence. I ain’t never had a baby myself :), but my friend Ellen said the most important thing for her right off the bat was to have a station with everything she needed set up in the most comfy place in the house for breastfeeding. One of your friends said this. Ellen said she couldn’t believe how thirsty she was. She had a metal water bottle always with her filled with cold water. The baby was born when it was hot.
Also, the noise thing as mentioned by Tamara– Ellen and her hub brought that little boy with them everywhere from bowling alleys to baseball games…the exposure asap to sound in general and noisy place specifically was really great, because that kid could zonk out anywhere…that way they could still go out with friends and not get totally bogged down by his needs.
Rebecca – thanks! We’ll welcome that help. Even though at least one of our moms will be around, I think having someone who has incentive to know the area, might be very useful.
@ Tanya, Yup, my mom will be here for two weeks and then Dave’s mom is coming for two weeks after that. I’ll definitely give the acupuncture a shot if I have a problem.
@ Rebecca, Thanks! We probably won’t be turning down offers for help. 😉
Thanks for all the ideas everyone!