Friday, May 15, 2009

Week 27 tummy

I know this is still a headless torso - more than just belly but less than whole human - but I really liked the little gremlin face in the bottom corner of the picture.

The fact is that when we started doing these tummy shots, Nick was all opposed to having what he considered half-naked pictures of me on the Internet.

I was all, "But I'm pregnant!"

And now when I look back on the first tummy pic, I realize how NOT-pregnant I looked at 12 weeks. Even though I felt enormous.

And now there's no mistaking it for a pregnant belly.

But we always take them first thing in the morning, when I'm still all squinty-eyed and confused, pre-coffee - but more importantly, pre-makeup. So no face included. Maybe I'll get it together one of these weeks.

This week we realized we have exactly three months until my due date. And about a month till my shower. And this threw me into a frothing frenzy.

What to get? How to make the right choice? What if I do the wrong thing?

I am always terrified of doing the wrong thing. Years of training in childhood.

Much like picking a college, or a career, I really just wanted someone to take me by the hand and say, "This is what you want. This will make you happy. This is the right one."

But of course, people are all so different. There isn't one right car seat or play mat or stroller. Or anything, for that matter.

I did get a lot of excellent suggestions - and continue to get them, and this is awesome. I really, really thank you.

One incredible thing your input did was to lower my stress level immediately. And now I have a list of concrete suggestions to work from. It's fantastic.

When we registered for our wedding, Nick was totally uninvolved. He wanted a waffle maker. And that was it. End of interest.

So I pretty much picked everything. He was all, sure, sure, sure, to everything I suggested.

Basically, with one gift after another that we received, he was all, "What a thoughtful gift! Such a nice surprise!"

Only to have me be all, "We registered for this, dork ass."

I think he assumed he could do the same with all the baby stuff. Like, a stroller, car seat, crib, and other baby items would magically appear.

And he could be all, "Oh, look! Something to put the kid in!"

Not this time, my friend.

14 comments:

  1. Perhaps one criteria for the registry is that Nick must agree to (1) carrying it, and (2) assembling/disassembling when necessary.

    Although, when you think about it, 85% of what you buy is "something to put the kid in".

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  2. Hooray and congratulations for reaching the third trimester!! You look fabulous, as always. I'm glad you're not stressing too much anymore about the registry. Really, it's not worth the stress. In my case, most people gave us baby clothes and blankets anyway. So when you have to pay for all the rest of the essentials yourself, you find out quickly what you need and what you don't!

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  3. I like Dagny's idea. But you're right... he's gonna have to help out with this one. The wedding may be about the bride... but the kid?

    That's on BOTH of you. :-)

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  4. "Not this time, my friend." HA! listen - even though it seems mind boggling -- all the baby "stuff" that is out there, i do think parents have gotten entirely too precious about the "things" that go with child rearing. really, a baby just needs to be fed, clean, dry, held, and dressed appropriately for the weather. jr. could actually just sleep in a drawer, like a bad 30's movie, seeings how we're sliding into a depression and all.

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  5. I agree with the previous commenter -- there is altogether too much pressure on parents to accumulate the right "stuff." Seriously, they are tiny little people. Their needs are very basic. They don't give a shit what color the nursery is or what brand of diaper bag you're carrying. You and Nick are highly intelligent and competent, and whatever you decide on, Dumpling will be fine.

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  6. I immediately noticed the figure at the bottom of the pic but it was a pipe of some kind. Knowing it's a gremlin is somehow gratifying.

    I laughed out loud reading about yours and Nick's very different wedding registry experiences. "Something to put the kid in" - priceless.

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  7. Love your blog and congrats on...er...the belly? lol.

    You've been a big help to me. I'm smack dab in the middle of a fight between my intellect and my uterus for deciding whether or not it's time to take the plunge and put the ole' baby-maker to work.

    Reading your blog is giving me a taste of what I might expect (should my uterus win the war).

    Also, HOORAY FOR FRIDAY, right?

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  8. What's funny about the belly pics is that now they're from further back, in order to capture the whole belly. I love the gremlin touch.

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  9. hopefully he'll find some really cool things that he's excited to receive... maybe the nasal aspirator, that's a fun one : )

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  10. Does he know he gets to play with the scanning gun while regeistering? I think that is the only reason Jason came with. Just be careful at the beginning because he will try to scan EVERYTHING. "No dear, we do not need 58 strollers."

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  11. You look so healthy! I realize how dorky that sounds, but really, you look like a very healthy pregnant woman.

    Now, can you get Nick to do a half naked tummy pic next week? I promise on behalf of all your readers (even Betty) that we'll be very gentle with him. Extra nice, even.

    P.S. When it comes to kids there's really so much that you can't go wrong with. It's like a multiple choice question and three of the four answers from which to choose are correct.

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  12. I think your weekly baby belly pictures are just about the sweetest thing ever.

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  13. Wow! Three months to go!!! How exciting!

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  14. I'm glad I was able to be helpful with your wedding registry, because here? I am very much all. "Oh look! Something to put the kid in!"

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