Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Now, where'd I leave my brain?

It could be somewhere in the first trimester. Or maybe in the second trimester, where I left my coordination and balance?

I used to be a reasonably intelligent person. I could understand simple, and some complex, concepts. I could focus my attention and complete a task without blanking out and finding myself on the couch watching judge shows, not sure exactly how I got there. (But pretty happy about it nevertheless.)

The problem has continued to get worse throughout this pregnancy, and now I am held hostage to a full-blown case of Pregnancy Brain.

This is most obvious to me as I struggle to prepare Bean's layette. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, a layette is the collection of clothes and accessories for a newborn baby. Sounds relatively simple, right?

Not to me. I first realized my deficiency in understanding and securing a layette when we registered at BRU in the fall. DH and I wandered through the endless aisles of assorted tiny outfits. Newborn size, 0-3 month size, front snaps, side snaps, butt snaps, short-sleeved onesies, short-sleeved shirts, long-sleeved onesies, long-sleeved shirts... to get every combination would cost roughly $3,000. We started scanning what we thought was reasonable, but gave up in disgust and cheated our way to the end by simply scanning the page of suggested UPCs in the "registering shortcuts" guide from BRU. So now our layette resembles something that a monkey would select if he was let loose in the store after hours.

I was hoping that it would eventually become clear to me what this little guy needs in his layette. Unfortunately, it's only gotten more foggy with the deterioration of my thinking abilities. Yesterday I washed all the adorable clothes we were given at our baby shower. I can't wait to dress him up like a ducky, complete with tail and fuzzy slippers. But we are lacking those basic outfits for when he first comes home. A few of the questions I can't wrap my mind around:

- How many items should I purchase in newborn size? These are for babies 5 to 8 lbs. I was 8 lbs 4 oz at birth, and DH was 9 lbs 3 oz. Since I'm anticipating a chunker with this kid, I don't want to waste money on clothes that only fit him in the womb.

- Related to this, how do I know what size baby clothes to bring the hospital when I deliver? He'll be getting his first picture taken, which will be posted on the hospital's web site of newborns. Seeing as our friends and family are all out of state and will only have pictures, his first impression here is especially important. I do have a yellow onesie that could work size-wise, but what if he's more of a manly baby and looks better in blue? Do I need more options?

- I read somewhere to get a variety of styles of onesies and t-shirts, as Bean will have his preferences. Is this really a common problem? The newborn gets angry about his clothing options? I wonder how many infants are diagnosed with colic, but really he just hates the side-snapping long-sleeved onesies that mom always puts him in.

- Do babies wear pants? Judging by the contents of Bean's closet so far, I don't think mine will.

- Many of his socks don't match any of the outfits. This isn't a question, I know, but I'm concerned that he'll get teased by the other kids in daycare. Maybe it'll be good if he's large.

So as of now, Bean is in some serious trouble with his layette. And if my brain power does not regenerate shortly after the birth, we're in for more trouble than we know.

A few other updates:

We had our day-long CPR course on Saturday. It was traumatizing, both for the stories of dead babies meant to drive home the importance of the maneuvers and the incredibly odd people in our class (25% of which failed the course altogether; and one of whom tried to trick me into giving her answers to the test). On Sunday we had our first birthing class. I was expecting some good blog material to come from the experience, but it was overall pretty uneventful. Fingers crossed for next week.

Yesterday I went to see the OB. All continues to look good, from the outside at least. I now start weekly appointments. It seems like there must be some mistake, as weekly appointments are for women who are near delivery.... crap, I guess that's me. We also scheduled my final ultrasound for next Thursday, so they can estimate his weight, give or take 4 lbs. The best news of all is that I had only gained 2 lbs since my last appointment 3 weeks ago. Yippee!! I was guessing more like 10 lbs from the looks of things. *cringe* So DH took me to Cold Stone for some ice cream to celebrate.

A lot of people ask me how I am liking Seattle at this point. I do want to come back to that topic, but as this post is already long enough, I'll just say that it's a really neat city, and other than the usual adjustments (they don't sell Count Chocula cereal here, do you believe that?), I'm enjoying the area.

UPDATE: I just got a call from the baby furniture store... IT HAS SHIPPED! The crib and dresser/changing table will be here early next week. Awwwww yeah.

6 comments:

SMiLeD said...

As usual, you crack me up!! Here's a few things I learned the hard way. Buy a pack of Gerber "Just Born" onesies and don't open them. If you have a 10 pound baby you can take them back, but if you have a 6 or 7 pounder, Bean will live in them. I think Drew (who was almost 7 pounds at birth) wore them for 6 weeks, then newborn for 6 more weeks. Then he chunked up and went right to 3-6 month! I would bring a newborn outfit to the hospital, if he is massively huge (which I hope not for your sake), you can have someone bring you a 0-3 before you come home. And yes, babies do wear pants, and socks, and no the socks don't have to match the outfit!!

And no, your brain will not come back after you give birth, I think mine is gone forever!!!

And you are so so so close, I can't believe it, I can't wait to "meet" him!!!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Daughter,
You have once again made me laugh! Thank you. I'm glad your new friends can help you with Bean's clothes. I can't remember that far back...

I do have one piece of advice. Don't let your dad dress Bean. Remember the outfit he put you in to see the Easter Bunny? Goodness!

I vaguely remember that I once had a brain before pregnancy. Never got it back. Since children get their inteligence from the mother I figured it was normal. I just passed mine along to you and your brother. Lucky for me I didn't have more kids. What would be left?

Have fun setting up the baby's room!

Dave and Pam said...

Christine,

I love, love, love reading your blog! You are such a great writer (yeah NW!) and your stories are so funny.

I agree with the last ladies--wave your brain goodbye after kids. Maybe that is why they are so embarrassed by their parents!

My experience with newborn clothing was that when I opened newborn disposable diapers before he was born, I told my husband that no way could a full term baby be that small. Mine was a horse also (8lb2oz) and he swam in his newborn diapers! Go figure.

Bean is a lucky little boy--you and Andy will make exceptional parents.

Love, Pam Burke

Lisa said...

Ah Christine, your blog always has me laughing! I am also paranoid about Zach's amount or lack of size approproate clothing. I'm an overpacker and I think that's translating into overBUYING. Or maybe not, who knows? I like Mary's idea (which I think I will steal). Go buy a couple packs at Target of basic onesies/sleepers/pants in NB and 0-3 and if you need them, open them. If not, return them!

Cant believe its time for you to start weekly appointments too! We will both have new men in our lives very soon!

Hollyween said...

I would buy maybe one or two newborn outfits and that's IT. Mostly for picture purposes. They grow so fast. The newborn outfits will either not fit at ALL or only a couple weeks MAX. It's hard to believe when they're so small and you seriously believe that they will stay that small forever. They won't.

Oh, get a lot of onesies and plenty of socks that ACTUALLY STAY ON. Old Navy is a good place for socks. I bought those kimono style tees (only like one or two) for when you bring the baby home. A onesie isn't practical because they still have the umbilical cord.
And your baby will wear pants!!! Get those soft jammie ones. Blue will go with everything.

The story about the lady cheating on your paper? So funny!!!

If you need more ideas for clothes and baby items, e-mail me:
hollye@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

My advice, do not buy too much now!!! We made that mistake. You can always make a run to BRU after the baby is born and pick up a few things as you need them. You will not be as trapped in the house as you may expect and may appreciate a little outing. In our case, the doctor was way off on our daughter's projected weight. We bought too large of items based on our family history (8lbs, 9lbs, 10lbs)...which in the end meant nothing. Get a few things to get you through the first week and then you can better gauge Bean's growth rate etc and make another shopping run. Woo hoo!! Our daughter still fit outfits besides being over the suggested weight, yet my nephew outgrew everything in the torso even though he had tiny legs.