Deal of the Century

It's early to be buying major baby stuff. I realize this.

While doing a bit of Craigslist searching for a glider (rocking motion is good for gestating babies, yo), I came across what I thought must be a mistyped listing. The owners were selling their glider with ottoman, crib, mattress & cover, changing table and pad, and dresser. For $250. That's it. The photo showed very nice, solid wood furniture. I still wasn't sure. We decided to go check it out, just to see what exactly was wrong with it to make it worth $250 for the whole lot. Afterall, I wasn't planning to buy until 20+ weeks. We've got time.

The family has just potty trained their fourth and final (adorable) child. As a reward for her newfound skill, we were told that she got a brand new princess bed. Whohoo! She was thrilled. So was I. This meant that they really were selling it all...for that price...and just wanted to get it out of their entryway! The furniture is in amazing condition, having only been used for 3 years. A few nicks in the wood that can be easily filled. That's really it. Pretty sweet. And the parents were just awesome. Double plus!

We'll likely replace the mattress and cover with an organic one - something we'd planned to buy anyway. Plus, I'm pretty psyched that we're able to reuse someone else's ever-so-gently-used things. I'm a big fan of the whole not-buying-everything-brand-new idea. Saves a bit of waste. Hell, my wedding dress was worn previously by a now happily married woman.

So, now I have all of this extra furniture. In my living room. Thankfully, the crib is disassembled. We've got to get rid of our entire guest bedroom set to make room. Craigslist will be called upon, once again. I love it. It's great for when you decide to purge half of your belongings but just can't fathom tossing them to the curb. This is important because it means that if you plan to come stay with us, you'll now be forced to sleep on a futon. Thankfully, Jordan makes house-calls and will treat you for a small fee ;-)

Dude, I have baby furniture. In my house. It smacks me in the face every morning when I walk passed it to get to the kitchen. Me. Baby furniture. Holy crap.

Once we can actually get it set up in it's rightful place, I'll get some photos up. Until then, please don't picture something you'd find in a back alley. It's freaking sweet.

Decisions are hard, yo

I've decided that this child will be named pizza.

It's what I want constantly. Don't fret, I'm not eating it constantly, but I still want it. This isn't much different from my pre-pregnancy self, so I'm not necessarily calling this a pregnancy craving. I would have been a blimp 6 years ago if I'd given in to this whenever it came up. I just really like the stuff. But now, it's like my ridiculous cravings have the volume turned up. This could be dangerous.

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We're currently trying to decide who will be our midwife. Option #1 has her own practice. She only does homebirths and shares our opinions and philosophy on birth and general health. Because she's the main provider, she'd be who I'd see throughout the entire pregnancy. Plus, she's awesome and has a lot of tools in her arsenal. I really like that.  I instantly felt comfortable with her when we met with her.  

Option #2 is a practice of 4-6 midwives at a birth-center. By the time of the birth, I will (hopefully) have met all of the midwives through prenatal visits, though I will not know who will be there at the time of my birth until it actually happens. The only room I'd be comfortable with using there (for size and my own personal strangeness) is the larger birthing-suite. The great thing about this place is the tubs. They're big. And I'd love to be able to take advantage of the tub for laboring and maybe the actual birth.

The tub at my house is small. This could be the deciding factor for me.  I'm almost completely sold on the homebirth midwife...except for that nagging feeling that I might want a damn tub.  Listing pros and cons is getting us nowhere. I think I may just end up being one of those people that gives birth in the last stall of the ladies room at a restaurant because I just couldn't make up my mind.

*******

We're currently in the market for a saddle for Brodie. For years, Jordan and Lucy have been "riding Brodie" while singing "Tryin to catch me ridin' Brodie." You may recognize that line better as "Tryin to catch me ridin' dirty," ala everyone's favorite ghetto tune, Ridin' by Chamillionaire. Don't even pretend that the thought of this isn't funny. It's also a little sad that this is what we consider entertainment.

So, if you can help us find a saddle that would fit Brodie and work for a chihuahua and a baby, alike, that'd be great.

Gettin down to bidness

When you tell people that you are planning a homebirth, you have to be ready for their reactions. Some people look at you like you have an arm growing out of your forehead, some think you've been brainwashed, some nod and smile while doing a mental calculation of the distance between your house and the nearest hospital. And others just completely expect it from you.

Since we began talking about having a family so long ago, we've planned to have a midwife in place of an OB, home or birth-center birth in place of a hospital birth, and with no drugs. It fits our lifestyle and our philosophy.

While telling our closest loved ones our big news, these topics came up. Some expressed a bit of concern. Some are just not well-versed in how midwives work. Before we could even talk about birth plan, my best friend automatically said, "This will be my first homebirth!" Comfort with our choice is something we'd like all of our loved ones to have. It's better for them and it's much better for us and our growing spawn.

A wonderful, caring professor that we had in our time at Parker introduced us to a film as it was first being screened to the public. Although the information in the film wasn't necessarily new to us, the message helped us feel more confident in our future birth plans. If you haven't had a chance to see it, I'd highly recommend checking it out. It's called The Business of Being Born. Some libraries will likely have it available and Netflix has it available to be added to your queue or for Watch it Now.

If you get squeamish, maybe skip the pasta with red sauce while you watch it. I tend to get a little teary-eyed watching some parts. Mostly the awesome births. Jordan tends to get a little teary-eyed when he sees Ricky Lake naked.

In the beginning...

I always said that when got I pregnant, I'd blog to keep the folks up to date with the goings-on of our growing spawn. Surprisingly, this came about much sooner than anticipated!

I'm not exactly sure how many tests I took, but suffice to say, my mind didn't believe what my eyes were seeing. Jordan apparently felt the same way, as he decided to take one himself...just to make sure we didn't get a defective batch, I suppose. You'll all be very pleased to know that Jordan is not pregnant. He was certainly relieved. I, on the other hand, am very much pregnant.

Oh, I was so smug for the first week and a half after we found out. So smug. I had zero nausea and inwardly was so proud of myself for being one of those women who feels wonderful during the time that so many others are suffering with morning sickness.

I'm not feeling very smug anymore.

I don't think I'd ever be able leave the comfort of my living room couch if it wasn't for these super-stylish babies. Oh, I know you're jealous. You're thinking, "How can something so functional look so great?" Well simmer down, kids. Rest assured, you can get yourself a set of these lovely, goes-with-everything-in-your-wardrobe-wrist-bands too. $10 at your local drug store and Wham! You're an instant fashion icon.

I kid about the Sea-Bands only because they really are possibly the most hideous things I've worn. Ever. Or at least since high school. I look like I'm constantly on my way to the gym. Or that I have an intense sweat problem that can only be controlled by wrist sweat bands. But I'll take the odd stares from passersby. They really do take the edge off the ridiculous nausea that's been plaguing me. But damn, they're ugly.