Showered with Love

Over the past two weeks, I have been extremely fortunate to have TWO baby showers, with yet another one being planned for after Baby Haylett's arrival.  I am so thankful to have such great family and friends around, supporting us as life starts to change.  We've made out like bandits and have gotten so many great gifts and items for the babe to be.  My parents got us a travel system that we are so far pretty happy with.  The car seat is a snug fit into the back of the Prius but we just need to shorten our legs and all will be fine!  :)  We've gotten THE cutest Whale bathtub with matching wash cloths, some great snuggling blankets, sleepers, clothing, bottles, breast pump accessories, classic books that were my favorites when I was little, and cute and cuddly aminals.  This week, we are starting to wash all of the items and make a list of those items we think we may still need, as we are down to 50 days and counting.  YIKES!  That's scary to see in print but I'm excited to be getting ever closer....

Life, changing.

Ben and I took a Childbirth class this weekend.  We learned some interesting information about pain management, practice some hee hee hee breathing and are starting to realize how much our lives are about to change.  We've decided to attempt a med-free labor & delivery and use as much natural pain management as possible.  This is the plan, however, I fully understand that my plans my change!  We also got our stroller and car seat.  Nothing like putting these things together to make anyone feel stupid.  We have yet to get the crib and put it together.  These next few weeks will be challenging.  I have 9 weeks until my official due date, a crib to put together and several projects for school to finish up before it's too late, in addition to making plans for coverage at work.  I have a feeling that time is going to fly!

In the midst of it all, a good friend called with some sad news.  She and her husband had miscarried their first child.  Having gone through a similar situation, I know how she is feeling and how devastated she must be.  I realized how incredibly lucky we are and how much I wish that we could help our friends with their loss and our other friends with their fertility challenges.  I want them both to know that I'm thinking about them and wishing them healing to their hearts.  It's hard for me to write and post about our adventures knowing that it may cause pain and frustration in the hearts of my friends.  At the same time, we are very excited about our future and want to share our challenges and excitement with friends and family.  Each day I think about what I may be posting and how it may effect others who are struggling with so many emotions.  Wishing each of our friends healing to their hearts and luck in their womb's.  Love you!

So many choices..

There are decidedly too many choices and decisions to make in preparing for a child.  Should we buy a dresser?  Do you think these storage cubes are good enough?  Should we just hang their clothes?  What about diapers...cloth, disposable?  You mean there are more than 1 kind of cloth diaper?  What should this kid come home in?  How do I dress a newborn?  What if they don't fit in the "coming home" outfit?  Do you think this outfit would be warm enough in December?
How in the heck do people make these decisions?  So far, here's what we've decided.  We did get a dresser, as we would need one most likely in the future and the closet is getting quite small already!  We're going with cloth diapers, the pocket kind.  We've gotten some pointers on washing these bad boys and I really hope it's as simple as we've been told.  Sounds like we should buy two sizes of coming home outfits, in case our kiddo is small...or big.  Apparently sometimes you aren't able to put your child in a snow suit or warm blanket/gown.  So instead, do we dress our kid in a super warm outfit?  At this point, I'm planning on a long sleeved onesie and an outfit with long sleeves and pants or a jumper.  Plus, it was suggested to have a hat and socks/booties.
I guess at this point I'm soliciting "advice" or help from my experienced friends and family members.  What did you do?  How did you decide?  Thanks in advance for all of the suggestions.  I look forward to the life lessons, suggestions and advice that everyone has experienced along the way!