Baby for Two

These days, perhaps this would be a more appropriate site url 🙂

While in the past this site has been devoted, generally, to our travel adventures and life abroad, it’s become clear over the last few months that we’re transitioning. Our wings have been clipped and we’re now those stereotypical ‘Baby’ people. Most of our free time is spent reading books about what to buy, where to buy it, how to care for Baby, what to expect… and at classes about the same… Baby First Aid, HypnoBirthing (kind of like Lamaze) and NCT (the UK’s leading non-profit for parents).

Of course, we’re still making time to have nice dinners out, picnics in the park, evening walks through the borough, drinks with friends (though my drinks are decidedly boring) and nights at the theatre. It’s just that my travel planning, travel, blogging and Facebook time have now been replaced by baby-prep. And my ‘pleasure reads’ have now taken a turn toward non-fiction babycare (i.e. how not to raise a maniac :)).

Most of folks’ questions seem to center around 5 themes… so to bring you up to speed on what we’ve been up to and how things are going, I’ll address each…

1. Baby (Specifically Names) Baby would seem to be a happy, healthy little one (28 weeks in photo). We’ve had loads of scans and everything seems to be going as it should. He does still have a large head, but the rest of him would seem to catching up these days and he wiggles and nudges loads these days making it all seem way more real. The short of it is that we haven’t a clue of what our little guy will be called (It’s a Boy!) 🙂 We do have a short list of 10ish names and plan to whittle it down to 3ish by the time Baby arrives next month. The plan is to announce Baby’s name once we meet him next month to ensure a good ‘fit’.

2. K: K’s well and has so far gained 20ish pounds (photo from today at 34 weeks 5 days, at left). She recently finished her 3 month agency contract and has returned to working with her small start-up clients independently from home. It’s a double-edged sword, really, as she misses being in a social work environment, but loves life without the rush hour commute into the City. Knock wood, she’s had no swelling, but she has suffered tinges of sciatica and acid reflux/heart burn as Baby’s still sitting very high. This week, she was able to go to the gym more and also had a pregnancy massage (Yay G! It was a Kim Appreciation Day Gift!) which together have provided a reprieve from the sciatica, making it possible for us to go for long-ish walks to the park and otherwise. We’re definitely feeling more ourselves…may the relief live on 🙂

3. The Nursery: Thanks to our parents, it’s coming together. Though we’re unable to paint the walls, we’ve made good progress and found ways of bringing in a bit of colour. The goal is for the room to be functional by the time we reach 36 weeks (t-minus 1 week 2 days). Then, we’ll just be left with the final bits of decorating… namely, making a floor to ceiling curtain to add a bit of colour and disguise the printer cart, finding appropriate artwork to replace that which is currently sitting on the cubby unit, and some sort of a fabric underskirting for Baby’s cot in order to infuse a bit more colour.

4. Due Date & Delivery: Baby’s due 18 May, though we’ve deemed the whole of May to be Baby’s Birth Month… who knows when he’ll decide the time is right. We’ve decided to have a natural birth (both our moms did it) at Whittington Hospital. Though we loved the idea of walking to the Royal Free from our flat, we didn’t love our experience there and decided to make a move. The Whittington’s a 10 minute ride away, the people are LOVELY and cheery (though still very professional) and we just feel more at home there. And, perhaps best of all, provided we’re able to have a natural birth with no complications, G will be able to stay in a private room with K & Baby up until discharge.

5. G: As you would likely expect, he’s beaming from ear to ear these days. We’re both very excited to meet our little guy come May. He has been a model partner, picking up the slack and being uber supportive when its needed most.