Which one?

I'm having a really hard time choosing a paint color for the nursery.  The pale yellow currently the wall just doesn't seem to fit the room.  There's clearly a theme of primary colors, so I want a rich color, but I'm a little worried about it being too dark.  The furniture, trim, and floors are all light colors, so that might not be the problem I think it is, but it's hard to know until the whole room is painted.

Here are the colors in the room right now:

We tried another brand in a color similar to Dahlia (top left) first, along with a Billiard Green, but the yellow was too much, and still not enough of a contrast, and the green was too dark.  Then I got samples of Iolite (top middle) and Balsam (top right), and I love both the colors, but I'm worried about them being too dark in a whole room.  Perhaps something like Sea Breeze (bottom left) or Island Blue (bottom middle)?  I tried Pail (bottom right) also, but it wasn't enough different than Iolite to make a difference.

Help!

Update: I couldn't sleep last night and had paint samples going through my brain.  I think, in my not-sleep, I decided that Sea Breeze would look good, and sure enough I like both it and Island Blue very much.  Just have to decide between the two!

Out of Town Daddy

Wes left today around noon for his residency retreat in Michigan. He's definitely a bit ancy about being almost two hours away so close to my due date. He's called twice in the last hour just to check in and then to let me know his pager doesn't work out where he is. Were I not pregnant, I doubt we would even talk for the 36 hours he's out of town. In truth, Wes has been particuarly vigilant and a bit on edge the past few days. Last night, I went into the bathroom, turned on the faucet in the tub, and let out a yelp when the shower head sprayed down on me unexpectedly (someone forgot to push the plunger down after his shower). Wes ran into the bathroom at top speed to find out what had happened.

Needless to say, we're both watching and waiting. There's tons of pressure down low, and the kicks have moved down from ribs to the side of my belly. There's still enough movement to know he's doing okay, but it's slowing a bit. Wes put down chux (the blue, waterproof pads they use in the hospital) under the sheets on my side of the bed yesterday -- just in case, I suppose (we do love our mattress). While I'm glad the mattress is protected, it is a bit odd hearing the crinkling when I, with great effort, roll over at night.

The weather here is turning cooler -- 50s and 60s for the past few days, low 70s forecasted for the next several. It's making me run to the baby's dresser to recheck our 0-3 month stash -- all short-sleeved onesies! I guess he'll have to stay wrapped as a baby burrito until he starts fitting into some 3-6 month sweatpants. Fortunately, I have an impressive stash of warm baby blankets for any outings in the car seat or stroller.

Final touches

Wes and I are putting the final touches on the baby's room, including a few things on the wall. I got this cute cable art system from which we can hang wall cards or photographs. Right now it's displaying some tools (drill, hammer, vice), some "science nerd" cards (positive correlation, y chromosome, neuron, uvula), and some animal cards (cow, giraffe, ladybug). We will ultimately replace some of those with photographs of family members. The lovely green chenille rug we ordered is still on backorder, so it might not arrive before baby, which is fine since it won't get used a lot right away (by the baby anyway -- Lucy clearly will use it immediately). We still have two pictures to put up that are in the same series as the Jane Goodall one, but one of them is stored in the way back corner of the storage locker and will require some energy to get out (and by that, I mean Wes has to do it). The dresser, as you can see, is in place and fully stocked. Even the diaper pail sits at the ready. Now all I have to do is read the camera manual some more to work out the white balance in the room so all our baby pictures don't turn out bright yellow.

Practice run

We got our stroller the other day and, 'twixt the two of us, managed to assemble the thing and install the infant carseat adapter. Wes strolled down the hallway to ensure the tracking wasn't off. Monkey really enjoyed his ride.

You know the school year's started when...

the blog posts slow down. Teachers have been back for two weeks now, and classes finally start on Monday, which actually means a little more down time for me as I only teach in the mornings (in expectation of a part-time schedule after the baby arrives).

Baby preparations have been coming along quite well. The dresser finally arrived yesterday, just in time for Wes to help me get it upstairs before heading off to work. After unwrapping it from layers of protective cardboard and bubble wrap, we were really pleased with what we found. It's well made and coordinates beautifully with other pieces in the room. I stayed up unreasonably late last night washing all the clothes and blankets and folding them away into the drawers. Suffice it to say we don't need any more stuff for the baby, primarily because there's no room for anything else!

My 36 week appointment was on Monday. Unfortunately, the "delivery talk" that I was anticipating got moved to the next appointment, so Wes attended only to witness the usual pee-weight-blood pressure-belly measure-heartbeat check ritual. In true ER doc fashion, Wes commented on how ridiculous it is for healthy people to be seen by physicians (or midwives) this often and offered to simply check these things at home. I have to go weekly now, and while I'm completely satisfied to be just such a healthy person -- especially while pregnant -- it is a nuisance to get up to the hospital from school every week just to hear, "You're doing great!" I did gain 2 lbs. at this appointment, which puts me at +5 from my pre-pregnancy weight. This was the first midwife to comment on the minimal weight gain, but since I'm healthy and the baby looks healthy and the right size for his gestation, there's really not much to say. If this is the only time in my life I don't gain much extra weight, I'll take it.

It seems my body, too, is getting ready for d-day -- though it may be as many as 6 weeks away still. I've been having increasing contractions over the last 10 days. Last Tuesday I had about 5 hours of contractions 10-15 minutes apart. It was strange to have them come on. At first I was nervous -- those kinds of uncomfortable sensations can indicate something wrong earlier in pregnancy -- but then I realized what it was and got kind of excited. I know the stages of labor, so I wasn't worried I was actually in labor, but it still is an indication of time passing and getting closer to the real thing. I've had them on and off since then, usually when I've overexerted.

And if five pregnant women at my school wasn't enough, another non-teaching staff member announced last week that she, too, is pregnant --6 weeks -- and with twins. That means that by the end of the school year, if all goes well, there will be 7 babies born to faculty/staff at our school -- and there are only about 40 of those! -- and 5 of us will be first-time moms. What else can expect from an all-girls' school?

Safe and sound

We are now officially ready for baby, not because we have everything we need, but because we have the one thing we can't leave the hospital without -- a car seat. A family vote swayed me to the Graco Safeseat Deco (mom went for the more elegant blue, Laura and Wes for the polka dots, and I was undecided), which will coordinate nicely with our stroller when we need to use them together.

I heard it can be tricky getting a baby in there the first time (though I suppose I've had some practice at that already), so I found the closest thing to a newborn in the apartment. And yes, he is wearing a diaper. It kind of freaks me out that it fits him.

The finished product

I really like the way it looks -- the yellow is truer in this picture, but again not quite what you see in person. The A to Z crib sheet (thanks, Lauren!) looks really cute against the simple crib, yellow walls, and wooden floors. Wes says he prefers the crib without a crib skirt (which I had been considering buying to add some other color to the room), and it wouldn't even show once we drop the mattress anyway. He does want a different color for the changing station. This from the man who is color blind :)

Assembling

One Oeuf crib, one petrified (no pun intended) dog.

Painting

It's impressive what my husband can do with a kitchen table, a stepladder, and a long roller brush. The highest wall in the room is probably 15', and we managed to do a really nice job (I was responsible for tasks low to the ground, like taping and removing the electrical outlets). The pictures sort of show the multiplicity of the paint -- it comes off more or less bold and bright depending on the surrounding light and the point of view to the room. It's bolder and brighter if you see if from the living room -- softer and livelier from within. None of these pictures really captures the way it looks in person.

Ready or not(?)

Today we took an important step towards readying ourselves for baby in the material sense -- we bought the crib and changing station, a mattress, mattress pad, and covers for the changing station mattress. It won't all be delivered for another week or two, in time for us to empty out the office and possibly paint the walls. We were going to get the rocking chair and rug this month, too, but it'll wait until next month and some extra summer school pay. We're buying the big stuff first, assuming that the baby shower in late July is more likely to yield very-needed diapers, blankets, and -- oh, yes -- more baby clothes (no newborn, please!) than, as my father would call them, "big ticket items."

It's not so much spending the money as it is ordering a whole piece of furniture that is cementing the reality that baby is coming, and sooner than later (though three months, fewer than 100 days --did you see?! -- still seems like a while off). It makes me nervous, too. Like now that we've bought something we can't hide in back of the storage locker, something will inevitably go wrong. I keep looking at my belly and saying, "Okay, this means you've really got to show up in September. No turning back now." For us, either, I suppose.

On the flip side of the "getting ready" checklist, I also pre-registered at the hospital. How this makes the checking in process any easier I'm not sure since all I did was give them my medical record number and the names of my midwife and pediatrician (whom we won't meet until the baby is born). But it's a small, maneagable step towards having all the items checked off between now and September, when -- and hopefully not before -- we will meet the owner of this fabulous new crib set.

Second Hand

I was out with a friend yesterday afternoon, perusing shops around Armitage, when we found a second-hand children's clothing store. Most of the clothes looked unworn, and almost all the clothes were from the stores where I tend to shop thus far -- Baby Gap, Gymboree, etc. We searched the racks to look for some must-haves and found these four items -- a sleep sack (Brook said I couldn't call it a "gown" if it was for a boy) covered with airplanes, a coverall and an overall, both in fleecy material, and a set of adorable brown overalls with little puppy dogs embroidered on them. The total for all four pieces was under $20, which is cheaper than Target even. The store isn't exactly around where we live, but it's not a difficult El ride away. I definitely think future kid clothing needs will be met in this store.

Paint!

Wes and I have decided to paint a couple walls in the nursery. We're renting, and only for another year, and we'll have to paint it back to white before we leave, but there's just something cozy and warm about a nursery with color on the walls. Heck, it's our first baby. Why not. Plus it's a small (if tall) room, so it'll only be a few hours labor for months of enjoyment.

Since the furniture in the room is pretty light and we have light wood floors, I want something with some presence, but not anything overwhelming or that will be hard to paint over. Plus the room has no natural light (save from over the transom in our "soft loft"), so it can't be too dark. For those who want to check it out, here are our color picks. Just click on the name and a sample will pop up. I know it's hard to imagine not in the room, etc., but if you see something you really like, let me know. Blue is perhaps cliched for a little boy's room, but honestly I just like blue on the wall. I probably would have done blue even if it were a girl (but perhaps one more purply or green). We didn't see any greens we liked. Anything light enough to was too pastel.


For blue:
Celestial
Cancun Blue
Billowing Clouds
Enchantment
Blue Silk

For yellow:
Jonquil
Uplifting

For brown:
Bonjour Beige

Clothes for baby

Anyone who knows me knows that I've been collecting baby clothes for the past few years. It is a secret I did not keep very well. Until recently, the dozen or so items were stores in our storage locker. Last week we got them out to take stock and see what we needed. After my first baby shower on Thursday, I'd like to report the following clothes store:

For 0-3 months (according to Baby Gap and Gymboree) -- September through December

• 10 short-sleeved onesies, 1 long-sleeved
• 1 t-shirt
• 2 coveralls (one with feet, one without)
• 1 hat

Need: Some kimono tops or t-shirt for pre-umbilical heal and some pants and socks for as it gets cold.

For 3-6 months -- December through February

• 4 long-sleeved onesies
• 1 coverall with feet, 1 overall
• 1 sleeper set
• 1 sweater
• 1 hat

For 6-12 months -- February through September

• 1 t-shirt
• 1 sweatshirt

For anytime

• 1 hooded towel

This is all to say that if you are among those, like me, who love to buy cute baby clothes as gifts, we could really use bigger versus smaller, and we could really use some warm stuff (like sweatshirts and pants and socks) for the winter. I know you can just swaddle when they're small, but our apartment can get chilly in winter, so we're going to need some warm stuff (plus some blankets!) for when he starts moving around more.

Childbirth Classes

Wes and I are at the point in the process now when we're looking (I'm looking) for childbirth classes. Our midwife gave us a bunch of pamphlets and printouts at the last appointment for courses and services offered in Chicago -- Bradley, Birthing from Within, Hypnobirthing, and more. I spent a lot of time looking online at the websites for these classes, and while some are pretty informative, none of the sites seemed to provide comprehensive information -- the dates of upcoming courses, a description of the course, and the cost. So I've sent our emails to about half a dozen people asking for the missing information. And six days later, no response. I find it surprising that these businesses -- for ultimately that's what they are -- don't have better information.

The challenge to picking one of these classes, beyond finding out the where, what, and how much, is to decide "how" we want to deliver. I know that we're going to try for a drug-free delivery, but there seem to be so many versions of this. Is the father a "coach" or an active participant with his own needs? Is it better to embrace the pain, manage the pain, or block the pain out altogether? Should you squat or kneel? Should you cry out or be quiet? Here's a tip, folks -- I've never given birth. I have no idea. I think Wes and I find this difficult because not only do we -- more me than him -- not know what to really expect, but we also don't want to be indoctrinated with one way of birthing if it's ultimately not for us. Does someone offer a sampler?

I know, much like with our wedding, that it's the final product that matters. As long as we get a baby in the end, it doesn't really matter how it comes out. At the same time, I am a planner, and I am enjoying my first pregnancy and all the learning that goes with it. I love the pregnancy books, the breastfeeding books, and the prenatal yoga. I know we won't go through all this with subsequent pregnancies, both because we won't need to as much and we won't necessarily have the kind of time we do now. But while I know I can't prepare 100% for what awaits me, I don't see any reason not to prepare as much as I can. If only I could figure out how to do that without taking 5 $300 childbirth classes...

Wrapping

I went to a Sling Class at Be By Baby today to learn about the different kinds of slings and wraps and make sure I had some idea of what I want. Wes and I went to the store several weeks ago (partly because they carry cloth diapers), and one of the sales clerks wowed me with a wrap, which I was previously wary of. With no car, bus riding, and frequent walks (thank you, Lucy), I knew I needed some way to carry the baby that was comfortable for me and him and would grow with him. I've used the Baby Bjorn, but I'm just not in love with it.

So I went to the class today to see the different slings and wraps and try out the wraps since they have a learning curve. There were only four of us there -- one couple expecting twins, two new moms (both with babies under 3 weeks, one of whom was there -- I don't think Wes and I will get a 6 1/2 lb. baby like this lady did, but he sure was a cute little sucker!), and me.

While the pouch sling and ring sling have obvious benefits, I'm pretty set on this wrap deal. There's a bunch of different ways you can wrap the baby depending on what he likes and what you're doing (sitting on an airplane or doing the laundry) and how big he is, and it seems more secure -- when tied correctly -- than anything else. I wouldn't worry as much about him slipping out somehow. Plus, some women manage to nurse with the baby in this thing -- and pretty discreetly!

Wish List

I've added some linked lists to the right side of the blog. It is a wish list in multiple senses of the word. I wish we had an unlimited budget to dress up my fantasy nursery with some of the things on this list -- just for fun, understand, and not because I believe it will enhance the experience of motherhood --, but we won't spend the money on most of the pricier items. So if you feel the need to scold me after you see the price tags on some of these things, don't worry -- I already know better.

It is a wish list in the sense that any baby registry is a wish list. We wish people who want to buy us gifts would help us out with the things we most need -- like diapers at $17 a piece. And I've had so much fun shopping online for the past 15 weeks (let's be honest, few years), it would be fun to see a few of these items show up in the mail or at a baby shower.

It is not a wish list, though, for a few core items that we'll be buying ourselves sooner -- say, June -- rather than later. The crib, stroller, and car seat I'm pretty confident will come from this list, so it's fun to show people what we think will inhabit our baby's room. We've talked about what we'll spend a little more on, in the hopes that we can enjoy some things we like over multiple children, and we're pretty comfortable with our choices.

As with our list of names, I'm happy to share because I don't mind the criticism if others don't have similar taste. So link away.