Week 25: Summer Reading and a Plethora of Baffling Gear

I survived the heat of last week fairly well considering it was over 90 degrees. The a/c in the bedroom definitely came to the rescue and our heat absorbing shades did absorb a lot of the light which I can only think kept us cooler than being unshaded. Now it’s more of the normal Seattle summer with highs below 80 and just a bit of nice sunshine. If it could stay this way for the next six weeks I’d be grateful.

In the midst of our steamy summer days I made a good dent in my summer reading – that is, the four books I’ve bought so far on all things baby. (There are actually five but one of them is Johann’s “Daddy” book so I don’t suppose I’ll be reading that one although out of curiosity, I just might. :P) I’m learning a lot and, at the same time, being pulled in one philosophical direction and then another. It reminds me a lot of when I was in psych classes in college and there were all the different schools of thought on which approach was “best” to understand and deal with human behavior.

Back then I became a hybrid thinker – part Skinnerian behaviorist, part Maslowian humanist. I think it’s going to be the same with parenting. It’s already obvious to me that no one person has it all figured out now matter how many letters they have behind their name or how many years of experience they have with babies. A hybrid approach is likely just as necessary for sanity and success in this scenario as it was back in school. The stakes now just seem higher and, nowadays, there isn’t a professor waiting in the wings to compliment me on the brilliance of my line of thinking and approach. I guess it’s true what they say: parenting can be wonderful but admittedly, sometimes unrewarding. Nobody’s going to put an “A+” at the top of my paper if I figure it out, are they?

As if educating one’s self in the full gamut of parenting styles were not enough, there’s also the ridiculous amount of gear required. As I mentioned before, I got quite an education from my professional mom shopping outing with Dawn so, as Johann and I sat down to try to put together a baby registry, I felt, I realize naively now, totally prepared. That was until we’d spent an hour and a half just going over everything Dawn told me and I STILL wasn’t ready to commit to one brand or other for each essential item. It’s so rare for me to spend any amount of time mulling over my options. I almost always go immediately with my gut instinct on things and I’m usually right on the money. But this time, there’s such a learning curve and I think I may be placing too much emphasis on getting the “right” item instead of just getting something that will suffice. I don’t know. After finding that the crib I insist upon having is not being made any more and being in a huff over that, I realize I may be pickier about this whole process than I’d like to admit.

So, we’re headed out to the stores on Sunday to survey our options and try to commit to the “right” stuff. Not knowing what all is going to go in the nursery is holding us back from finishing the décor so it really is essential go get this all figured out so we can move on to more important things (like the half dozen more parenting books I want to buy/read and the birthing classes that are coming up starting August 2nd). Hopefully by the end of Sunday we’ll be moving out of this holding pattern and decisions will get made. And hopefully this doesn’t mean that I’m turning into an indecisive person. Ugh!

Baby, as always, is kicking away which Johann got to feel in full force this week. I guess I never realized how hard a baby could kick at this stage and likely, neither did Johann judging from the size of his eyes the other night when baby was really kicking hard under his hand. Hey, at least he believes me that there’s really a baby in there now. I know it can be pretty surreal for dads to imagine that there’s a baby coming when they’re not the one carrying it. Johann is however, now, officially, a believer.

Baby also seems to be finding its way further and further up my torso. From what I understand, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball at this point which is a semi-horrifying thought and yet, somehow, I can see it because I feel little feet kicking higher and higher. So far, it’s still cute and amusing and even tickles sometimes, like when I lay on my side. But, as my doctor pointed out at my last check up, “It’s only cute until you start getting kicked in the ribs,” and I’m sure she’s very right about that.

Thank God, again, for being long-waisted. I think I’m going to need all the room I can get in there. Johann talked with his mother over the weekend and found out that he weighed 9 lbs when he was born. Yes, you read that right. NINE POUNDS. I, to the other end of the spectrum, weighed just 6 lbs 6 oz and was the smallest baby in the hospital nursery. While I’d like to wish for a reasonable compromise between the two – maybe 7 lbs? – I think I can already see the handwriting on the wall. Baby is going to be big. Perhaps I should just accept this now, have a good laugh and do a lot of squatting yoga poses to help get my pelvis ready for the shock of pushing out such a robust little pot roast. If nothing else that plan of mine to get an epidural is sure starting to sound like genius… :P

Not much else to report this week. I’ve had a small amount of back pain that was probably due more to standing too long than anything directly related to baby. The ankles swell and the ankles unswell, depending on temperature and their elevation. All else is boring and good and just how I hope for it to be. Three weeks till the third trimester. Then we’ll really be off to the races.

J.