Nursery is ready, baby is not

Today we went to the doctor again, for the 38-week appointment -- it seems like we spend all our time there lately -- and met the one doctor we hadn't seen yet. I'm now measuring at about 37 weeks and Claire's heart rate is still great but there's been no progress on the dilation front -- 1/2 cm., if anything, the doctor said. I figured that would be the case since I haven't had any contractions or other signs of labor.

I'm impatient to meet her but another week or so to tie up loose ends with work stuff would be really nice. After that I'll probably start researching DIY induction techniques -- lots of running, lots of sex, maybe a little castor oil a la Melissa.

We finally have at least ordered everything, I think, that we really should have before she arrives. A diaper pail, for example. Some of it might not beat her to our house, but at least it's on its way.

Also, we're probably finished with the nursery. We might add something to the wall over her crib if the mood strikes, but both of us prefer blank walls to walls decorated with things we don't like -- and I'm pretty sure Claire will be cool with whatever.

This is about half of her stuffed-animal collection. The others are in the basket by the crib. My great-aunt Clara made this awesome quilt -- just one of many great blankets people have given us.


I love this for both the sentimental value and the gorgeous frame, which you can't really see in this picture. Terry cross-stitched it for one of the boys in 1981 and she gave it to us at the last shower.


I was kind of ambivalent about whether we should get a glider, and if so which one, but Matt did the research and this one exceeds all expectations. Very, very comfortable.


Baby girl clothes are fun to buy. So I hear. I have yet to buy her a single item of clothing, and now you know why. Not that I'm complaining.


Dresser plus changing pad. All the diapering stuff is in these drawers, and when the diaper pail finally does get here, we'll probably scoot over the dresser to make room.


This dresser holds a ton of miscellaneous stuff -- socks, shoes, various blankets, nursing accessories, etc.


These are pages from some of my favorite children's books. Three of them are obvious (Clifford, the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Dr. Seuss), but if anyone outside of my immediate family can identify what book the page framed at top left is from, I'll be impressed and know we were meant to be friends.


Matt and I couldn't find a memo board we liked so we made this ourselves. It was actually fun and I love how it turned out. Kate, guess which card is Matt's favorite? That's right.




Belly bump picture coming soon, for real this time!

Part 1: Nursery and mystery gift

I guess I have some catching up to do, blog-wise. Here goes:

1. The nursery furniture is finally finished and for that we owe a HUUUUGE THANKS to Terry, aka Nana. She did all the dirty work -- priming, painting, glazing, staining when it turned out to be a much more ... vivid ... green than we had expected, and polying. On top of all that she intended to sneak back in with a drill and install the new handles, but we foiled her plan by coming home from the beach a day earlier than planned. I helped with the (three!) base coats and applying the glaze, but other than that, she did it all. Terry, thank you SO MUCH!

The awesomeness doesn't come through in the pictures. You should come see it for yourself.

Now all we have to do is organize all these piles of clothes and accessories (the girl has more shoes than I do) in the drawers. I'm hanging as much as I can but the closet is filling up fast. I didn't take a picture of that but I should have. It's a little shocking.
We had picked up the crib a week or two ago but it was just sitting in the box because we weren't inspired to put it together and there was no point anyway because we needed the floor space for painting the dresser and chest of drawers. Finally we got around to it Tuesday night, and can I just say thank goodness for a husband who can interpret instruction manuals with vague directions, not-that-helpful diagrams and extra screws.

We don't have a crib skirt yet, but we do have the matress and three fitted sheets -- $6.99-$9.99 at Target, nice! -- and I couldn't resist a trial run. My conclusion is that the total package is very cute. I love the way everything looks together.

2. When we got home from the beach we were really excited to find this package from abbyslane.com waiting for us! In retrospect I probably shouldn't have opened it until this weekend's shower, but I got ahead of myself. All of this is from my registry -- a BumGenius 3.0 one-size-fits-all cloth diaper, a super-cute Planet Wise wet bag for dirty/wet cloth diapers when we're on the go and a reusable wipe.

The only problem is I don't know who it's from so I don't know who to thank! I have a feeling a note or something was supposed to be included in the package, but it wasn't. If the generous gifter happens to read this blog, please identify yourself!
(Read Part 2 here.)

Counting down

Yesterday was the 32-week doctor's appointment and it was, as usual, uneventful. The most excitement came from the fact that we were going to eat at The Villager as soon as it was over. But boring is good when it comes to doctor's appointments.

Claire's heart rate has been in the upper-130s for the last couple of visits, down from the 150s several months ago, but apparently that's good because it's supposed to slow down as the pregnancy progresses. She's already positioned herself bottom-up, which is also good.

It was way early to be bringing this up, but I asked the doctor about the clinic's policy on inducing labor. He thought I was asking how early they would agree to induce me, and he told me 38 or 39 weeks if there were no red flags with the baby. But what I really wanted to know was how overdue I'd be allowed to get, because I'd much prefer to avoid an induction unless it's medically necessary, and he said I could go up to 42 weeks.

I hope and pray I don't go two weeks overdue (my amazing mom endured going THREE weeks overdue -- twice), but I'm glad it doesn't sound like they're going to rush things. I've heard horror stories of people having to fight not to be induced even just a few days after the due date. Which seems stupid since due dates are usually just an educated guess.

The heat of July could usher in a change of heart -- you never know -- but at least in that case it would be my decision, not something they're forcing.

Here's today's 32-week bump picture:In other news, Babies "R" Us called yesterday and said the crib came in, so we're going to pick it up tomorrow. Which means ... Remington Grill!

Coupons!

Thanks to two batches of Babies "R" Us coupons -- one from Terry, one from the mail -- and a very lucky purchase at a consignment store, we made our first baby purchases this weekend.

At Babies "R" Us, we got the crib for a great price because the cashier accidentally gave us 15 percent off twice! We also bought the crib mattress (15 percent off) and the car seat (15 percent off). (Although in general we don't plan to buy much until after the showers are over, we thought it made sense to go ahead and use these coupons to buy the big-ticket items we're sure about since the coupons expire on Thursday.)

Someone had given us a car seat that we'd originally planned to use, but later we decided not to since it's already five years old, which is kind of pushing it, safety-wise. It might be fine for Claire, but we definitely wouldn't use it for future kids. Matt did his research and just Friday decided on this one: The next day we were driving by a local kids' consignment store, Doodlebugs, and saw the matching stroller sitting out front! We stopped and looked and it seemed to be in great shape. Best of all, it was about 40 percent less than it would have been new. It's considered a "full size" stroller, and we'd planned to get a slightly smaller one, but SpringFest with Lauren G. and her two kids last weekend already had me reconsidering.

Lauren's stroller has two separate handles, which makes it hard to steer if one hand is otherwise occupied, and it doesn't have a cup holder so she had to prop her drink in the under-the-seat basket. I'm definitely not buying a stroller based on its cup holder situation, but having one would be very handy since I believe in getting refills to-go. This stroller has a bar, not separate handles, and places for a drink and keys.

This just happens to be the same stroller/car seat combo that Carrie and Jacob have for Riley (but in green), and they gave it rave reviews. Yesterday Carrie went to Doodlebugs with Matt and me to make sure everything worked, and after getting the thumbs-up from her we bought it. We even got another 10 percent off for a stain that I think will come out (and if it doesn't, I'm sure it's just the first of many). Score!

We also ordered our glider this weekend, unfortunately not because of a coupon, but because its expected delivery date is six or eight weeks out, which is already cutting it close to the baby's due date (10 weeks from tomorrow). We thought about splurging on a really nice glider but decided not to. I'm sure it will get some good use, but we already have dozens of other places to sit and hold a baby -- it's not going to be the exclusive nursing spot or anything like that.

Claire

First things first. I think we've settled on Claire as the baby's first name. The middle name is still up in the air but I promise we'll decide before she's born (and probably a lot sooner, like by next week). But it would be OK if you wanted to start getting attached to the idea of an adorable new human named Claire Kirby.

We like Claire because (in our opinion) it's pretty and classic -- I can imagine a grandmother named Claire just as easily as a baby Claire. It's feminine but not girly, simple but not plain. And as the 66th-most-common name of 2008, it's a level of popularity that we like: not weird or unusual -- everyone will recognize it and spell it right -- but she also won't be one of four Claires in her kindergarten class.

Not that Matt (No. 6 for 1978) and I (No. 1 for 1979) have any lingering resentments about that. :)

Saturday we ventured to Babys 'R' Us for the first time and it was, in a word, overwhelming. The average baby probably actually needs less than 10 percent of what is sold in there, but whatever. We didn't plan to buy anything on that trip, we just wanted to start getting an idea of what's out there for the few big-ticketish items we probably are going to buy before she's born: crib, "play yard" (Pack 'n' Play), stroller and glider/rocking chair/recliner.

I think this is the crib we're going to get: It doesn't convert to a toddler bed, which is the current rage, but that's actually our preference because we hope to have a few more kids in fairly quick succession and therefore will probably just keep a nursery set up in our house for the next decade. The kids can all use the same crib and other nursery furniture and after outgrowing the crib they'll probably go straight to a full-size bed.

We were thrilled when Terry told us this weekend that Matt's baby furniture was still around somewhere, and yesterday we found and claimed it. The dresser was in Stephen's guest room and the chest of drawers was in his old room at Ron's house. We brought both of them home and I'm going to beg Terry to help me faux-finish them for the nursery. I want something gender-neutral, maybe a good green. One of these pieces will double as the changing table with a changing table topper similar to this:

OK, that is all ... for now.