Sunday, March 29, 2009

Old Wives' Tales and How to Carry a Baby

Since I am a wonderful procrastinator when it comes to homework, I am going to make one more post for today and then start working on my long list of things that should be done before tomorrow.
I believe that one of my pregnancy symptoms has being increasing impatience, at least when it comes to figuring out the sex of our baby. Let me go ahead and mention that I have not yet even gone to my first OB visit, no blood work has been taken, no ultrasounds ran, or anything. I have peed on two sticks and quickly both said "pregnant." For about 9 days straight I had terrible morning sickness (that I went to the doctor for and was diagnosed with the stomach
virus--more about this later) and after I thought I was in the clear with no more morning blues, I started to feel like I haven't slept in months. Something is obviously going on.
My first doctor's visit is on April 22, by this time I am assuming that I will be around 10-11 weeks. I don't have much to base this off of, but I feel like this may be a little late to see the doctor. A lot can happen in 11 weeks, based on the web info I have been reading, my baby should have already started to develop muscles and fingernails. I just think that I should have a "do" and "do not do" list.
I have already said that I am clueless about babies, well...intimidated is a better description. And then intimidated is an understatement as to how I feel about raising a little girl. I grew up as a little tomboy, expect for the random dancing and modeling--my mother's ideas. Now I feel more drawn to boyish things; like when we're shopping for toys for our nieces, I always end up playing with the boy toys and wanting to get them dinosaurs and tool belts. It's not just toys, boys just seem a little easier in several r
egards (at least for me).
Dave and I are on the same page as to what gender we are hoping this baby to be. We don't like saying it out loud, thinking we're lowering our chances of that possibility. I had heard about the old wives' tale that says that you're going to have your babies in the same order that your mother had her babies. My mother's mother had a girl first, and then my mother had me first, and this was true for just about everyone I could think of. This made me a little paranoid. To my rescue, Dave's friend Krystal called yesterday, and she told him about the gender test of hanging a needle from a thread tied to a pencil over the mom-to-be's hand. If the needle swings back and forth, it's a boy, and if the needles swings in a circular motion, it's a girl. She said this was true for both of her pregnancies. We tried this as soon as we got home. This test worked in my favor. YAY!
disclaimer: Although I am cl
ueless, I wouldn't consider myself stupid. I do know these tests were just for fun, and I will love this baby equally, whether girl or boy, or anything in between.

Since finding out about my pregnancy, I have been browsing the internet to find what it takes to take care of a child. I know it needs a place to sleep, some blankets and bibs, bottles, diapers, clothes, milk, and love, but what about the other stuff? I have found a world of neat things that I never knew existed. Some of these things I realize wouldn't be as useful as they claim, and some I am not so sure what to think. One of these things is a baby sling
. I like the idea of this, it looks useful and less cumbersome than hauling a stroller around for short trips out into the world. This one from RaspberryBaby on Etsy has caught my attention. It appears to be holding that toddler just fine and it says that it easily fits into a diaper bag when not in use. Does anyone have experience with one of these? I haven't ever seen one of these in use and that makes me wonder if they are as practical as they appear.
FYI: I love Etsy and love buying handmade.

1 comment:

  1. I have lots of friends who used baby slings like that and love, love, loved them. I always used the Baby Bjorn and was very happy with the way it spreads out the weight across the strongest part of your lumbar.

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