Baby Stuff

I dreamed last night that the babies came.  They were 29 weeks, and I was 5 cm. dilated before I even realized I was in labor. Somehow they arrived, with no pain, and were at least seven pounds a piece.  I was definitely dreaming!  My greatest concern in my dream was bottles.  I didn't bring any to the hospital and I didn't know what to do with the milk.  Ha!

One of the most frustrating aspects of getting ready for a baby (or two!) is trying to figure out what you need and what is really just fluff.  I consider myself to have more information than the typical first time mom simply because of my job.  However, it is overwhelming, even for me.  It is sort of like planning a wedding. There is all this cool stuff that looks really exciting and purposeful in the magazines, and yet you find out afterwards that none of it really mattered anyway.  Like wedding shoes.  That seemed really, really, important at the time.  There was symbolism.  I was "stepping into" my new life as a wife.  I ordered three pairs from DSW and spent weeks analyzing the exact shade of ivory and heel height.  In reality? No one could even see them under my dress, and I kicked them off about thirty minutes into the reception because I just wanted the comfort of the white flip flops I bought from Walmart.

Anyway, baby stuff is just like that.  My friends at work love to tease me because they know my distaste for "stuff."  I hate junk.  Right now the desk in my office at home is my nemesis.  Why do I have 98 ink pens in there? I feel bad throwing a perfectly good pen away.  But I just don't need more stuff!  

Unfortunately, babies DO need stuff.  And a lot of it. I bought the Baby Bargains book on recommendation from my sister.  I actually thought it was really helpful.  She also helped me register, and she is like the most amazing shopper I know.  She could make a career out of it.  I was in and out of Babies R Us in less than an hour.  There were lots of things she helped me skip over. Some items are easy. A wipes warmer?  NO THANKS, these kids will be high maintenance enough.  But what about car seats?  Is one really safer than the other? And crib mattresses?  And a double stroller that will fit through doorways?  These things require a certain amount of research.

I looked around the house yesterday and realized that we are still missing some pretty major items. Like infant car seats.  I should really pick those out soon and gasp...think about getting them installed.  And then my hormones kicked into overdrive and I thought in a panic...bows.  I don't have any.  Right now it seems really important that little girl have bows to wear in the hospital. This is where practicality and ridiculousness collide in a fit of hormonal nesting.

So far I've done pretty well weeding through all the stuff I don't need.  But there are still things I wonder about now that I have all this free time.  For instance, I have been researching diapers. Especially in our situation, I am not above the cheap generic type. But how do you know a brand works until you try them?  And who has time AFTER the babies come home to research the best deals and coupons?  And swings.  Do I need two?  My instinct says that two would be really useful, but I also know so many babies that hate a swing. Seems like something I maybe shouldn't spend a lot of money on until they are here.  The baby monitor thing is a whole other beast. Do I really need to be able to look at them on a video screen?  I just have no idea.  And every one says you can just "run out" and get what you need when they get here...but I'll be feeding babies.  Every two to three hours.  When does that happen?  

I have a had a lot of people ask me if our house is big enough for twins.  Today I wandered through the hallways, contemplating which closets need to be cleaned out and what things could be donated to goodwill.  And I finally came to a conclusion: OF COURSE our house is big enough!  People live in huts in Africa and somehow make do, so it is crazy for me to think that we might not have enough closet space.  Oh what our culture has done to us! I have always said (prior to kids) that if it doesn't fit in the house then we don't need it!  I hope I can keep that same mindset as we get closer to bringing these kids home.    

Please stop me if you see me in Target buying something useless.

Love,
Juli