26 Weeks – Nursery
Restraint
This last week or so, I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to not go overboard when eating. I still rarely feel full and want to eat everything in sight, but I’m trying to get my body to realize that HEY, if I have just finished a bowl of cereal, I probably do not need three more bowls. It’s going okay so far. I’m hoping that I can keep this up (rather than indulging every fake hunger whim) so that my weight at my next appointment in a few weeks won’t be quite so shocking.
Learning to Wrap
I recently purchased a Moby-style wrap to tote Baby around in and spent an evening figuring out how to tie it. I was confused at first how you manage to get the baby in and out without dropping it on its head, but with some YouTube videos and instructions, I think my trusty stuffed robot sidekick and I figured it out.
I’m vaguely planning on using wraps/slings versus a stroller for most situations, since I HATE pushing shopping carts and I think a stroller would be just as bad. There’s just something about having the thing you’re pushing so far out in front of you that I really don’t like. Maybe it’s because I’m short? Whatever the reason, I’m very happy with my wrap so far and am looking into different carriers/slings so I can have a variety to choose from.
Baby’s Space
In terms of the “nursery” or “how we are preparing for Baby” I’ve got nothing. Here are two photos which illustrate just that:
Here we have the carseat (Chicco Keyfit 30 in “Miro”) and the Bumbo seat, along with the two Boppy pillows I found at Goodwill, stuffed in a corner of the living room that acts as our office. In theory we could install the carseat already (or at least the base), but we just haven’t done it yet.
Here we have some cubbies in our living room that I am desperate to replace because I hate them. Baby’s cubby is the top right one and it’s filled with various sizes of diaper covers, a wet pail bag, Snappis, some baby pants, jammies, and a few onesies. The top left cubby is the overflow and contains a tiny pair of jeans and overalls as well as a striped onesie.
THIS IS OUR NURSERY. WELCOME TO IT.
Grah. First order of business (which I just completed, YAY!) is to order the Co-Sleeper crib we want so that Baby has somewhere to sleep. We’ll have to rearrange the bedroom a bit but this is what will work best for now. There’s no way we’d fit a full-size crib in there.
(Seriously though, for how small babies are, cribs are gigantic. Daniel took a look at a couple of IKEA ones and asked me why babies need an Olympic swimming pool sized bed. I told him I had no idea but they are awfully large. )
Second order of business is to replace those horrible white cubbies with the shorter version of the nice tall bookshelves we have right next to them. We made a fruitless trip to IKEA yesterday to purchase them but they were out of stock. 
Daniel is going to try again today to see if they’re available.
Third order of business is to figure out where Baby’s clothes will live. This might be in the as-yet-unpurchased bookshelf, or it might be in an as-yet-unpurchased dresser that may end up living in our bedroom closet. I did a bunch of bedroom measuring and we’re still trying to figure out the best configuration that will allow us each a dresser, plus the bed, nightstand, crib, and possibly hampers.
Our bedroom is about 9×12′ and our queen-size bed takes up 5×7′ of that space, and then there are windows and closet doors to deal with as well. It’s hard to work with but we’ll make things fit.
Mah Belleh
Here’s me at 26 weeks:
Ahoy Baby! I look very pregnant. I am getting some stretch marks like I knew I would, but they’re not scary looking. The worst one is from my now-empty bellybutton piercing spot – I took the barbell out around 15 weeks or so because it wasn’t tall enough. I’m just glad I have (had?) an innie bellybutton so my shirt is still flat in front! I will say that it is very weird to suddenly have the inside of your bellybutton be able to sense things though – I told Daniel it’s like when your fingernails have been long for a long time and you cut them, and all of a sudden bits of your skin that never felt things before are feeling things and it’s not really painful but it’s very weird.
Also! Great news: My hip/pelvis pain has improved in the last couple of weeks. (!!!) I didn’t want to mention anything for fear of jinxing it but I can roll over onto my side again! I do have to be in just the right position so it doesn’t hurt and a pillow is almost always involved, but I can lay on my side for short periods of time! I am still mostly sleeping on my back with a zillion pillows but this gives me a tiny bit of variety.
Overall, I have very little to complain about. I mean sure, my feet swell up sometimes and my back hurts after I walk for a while, but I’ve had no weird bleeding or cramps or anything scary and for the most part I feel fine. Yay!
12 Comments
My belly button never popped out and I was so glad of that! I don’t know why, but this is one of the things I really worried about! Now if that’s all I had to worry about… Haha.
I cannot believe how pregnant you look. I wasn’t even that big at 38 weeks when I had Andrew!
I just remembered I got a sling for my shower and haven’t even tried it out yet. I need to do that. That Moby one looks neat.
You can look up the items you want on the IKEA website and check the stock per store. I live in the Willamette Valley so I always plan my IKEA runs carefully.
You need to pass along your stroller theories to parents that take their children to Disneyland. I haaaaate strollers. I’m all about the wrap – well I will be when it’s mommy time for me, haha.
Melissa, that cracks me up that you weren’t even this big at 38 weeks! I just keep thinking about having 3-ish more months and OMG how much larger am I going to get?!?
Audrey – YES, and I ALWAYS check before I go. I totally would have with this trip except that product isn’t on their website anywhere. The taller bookshelves are but the shorter ones aren’t. They were back in stock when Daniel went today though so he snatched one up!
Cristina – I don’t hate strollers for other people, just myself. I guess unless they are grossly in my way or something, like if no one is paying attention to where they park the thing.
Oh belly! I try not to get all squishy/googly looking at pregnant bellies, it is so hard not to!
I love love the Ergo carrier. It seems expensive, but I’ve never purchased any carrier so what do I know? I do know that I can carry around a 26 pound 2.5 year old in an Ergo that her parents have used since she was a wee one and not feel like my back is going to be permanently damaged. The other family has a Bjorn which I couldn’t use after the baby was like 9 months, it hurt so bad. They also have a Moby which was okay (confusing like no other), Zorina liked it when she was less mobile.
Wow, time is flying by so fast!
I remember your announcement and now you have that FABULOUSLY huge baby bump. Love your heart, it must be because you’re not very tall (Baby doesn’t have much vertical room, so the only way is outwards) – I think all the women in my family had the same trouble! (Average female height in my family is 4’7-4’11- at 5’2, I’m deemed “tall” – it’s ridiculous!)
I have a bit of a question RE: slings. Can you sit down with Baby/Robot still attached? I could never use a buggy/stroller (for obvious reasons!) and always wondered what I’d do if I ever had a baby. Short of swaddling it in a blanket and then duct taping it to my lap, I have NO CLUE.
BreAnna – That’s funny, I was JUST JUST looking at the Ergo. I’ve heard good things about it so I put it on our registry list just in case a generous family member wants to gift us with one.
Claire – OMG, I know, it all goes straight forward. Oddly, I don’t feel that huge yet, which is GREAT because I know I’ll just get bigger and if I felt big already, well… ack.
Yep, you can sit down just fine. Baby’s bottom shouldn’t go much lower than your bellybutton area and most carriers tie/buckle around the hip area (where your pants sit, basically) so I think you’d be fine.
It might be a bit of a struggle to tie something like a Moby wrap while sitting (I get kind of tangled while standing) but a simple sling should work. Of course, I say that now, not having actually TRIED it but I can report back once I know for sure.
(Also, aren’t those Lily & Serena slings GORGEOUS? Love them.)
Oh I love it! I wish I could hang out and feel Baby again! That was so awesome. Your place will be fine and will be Baby friendly for a long time. I love the way you have it set up. I think that they have IKEA in Seattle, maybe I’ll have to take a road trip.
Oh wow, I can’t believe that you’re at 26 weeks already! It seems like you’d just told everyone you were pregnant a few weeks ago!
I really like the idea of the wraps instead of stroller as well, although strollers seem handy for storage.
I never really thought of baby to crib ratio before! It’s probably just so you can use the same crib until baby is big enough for a proper bed.
I love the color of that little bumbo seat. I’m not sure why but neon green is probably a secret favorite of mine.
After watching the movie with John Krazinski (Up Up And Away I think?) where his sister (Maggie Gyllenhal) had a belief that using a stroller was like pushing your baby away from you.. Now I have to laugh whenever I see a stroller since I think that the mom is just pushing their kid away.
Although I’m fine with shopping carts ;). I only dislike ’em when people do not understand that the rules of the road apply in groceries stores. Stick to the right side in aisles–not the middle, or the left side..
I’m glad it’s going so well! And that your hip pain has been lessening, hurrah!
Let me know if you want to go for pedicures at any point; I’d love to see you!
Wow, you’re so well prepared! Good luck with everything, and I’m sure your child will love to find out so much about your feelings and preparations in years to come!