Thursday, March 19, 2009

Baby Stuff



Yesterday, I met a friend for lunch and a trip to the Pentagon City Mall. She had kindly agreed to make the dreaded trip across the river with me because I wanted to get these hard candies that supposedly help with morning sickness. They are called Preggie Pops--actually, the ones I got are Preggie Pop Drops. (I am sucking one now. I suppose the nausea I felt before sitting down at the computer has eased, but that could just be because I sat down and stopped paying attention to Dean packing his lunch.)

Anyway, they sell the drops/pops at Motherhood Maternity. When we went in, I was immediately overwhelmed at the maternity clothes, but my friend Laura was enchanted. She started looking through the clothes and pulling things out for me to try one.

"Well, I guess I could try on a pair of jeans...," I said. Over an hour and at least 20 garments later, I had a pile of really cute clothes that I wanted to buy. After adding up the prices, I decided I couldn't get them all, but I ended up with a short, lightweight jean skirt, a dress, a pair of very soft cargo pants, and a few tops. Interestingly, the pants and skirts all fit NOW, which is only half-surprising, since my regular jeans have started to feel pretty tight around the waist. I actually didn't buy a pair of jeans, since the ones that had were all made from very heavy denim, and it gets so hot here in the summer that I really want to find some lightweight ones. I only plan on having one pair. Laura has kindly offered to go with me tomorrow to Old Navy to see what they have. I figure if I don't do it over spring break, it won't get done till summer (unless I get the rumored 2nd-trimester-manic energy that I am wholly hoping to get VERY SOON).

It was great to have Laura there. If I hadn't gone with a friend, I probably would have bought the candies and walked out, possibly in tears. But she is an excellent shopper and found great stuff! It's funny, I hadn't expected to have a friend here in DC that would be able to help me with these kind of things. I have known Laura a while but she and were originally "school friends." I nervously told her about the pregnancy a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure how she would react since she herself is pretty far away from wanting to start a family, but I had to tell her something, since, as my friend, she had noticed that I was not myself, to put it mildly. (I think she was starting to think I had mono or cancer or something.) Anyway, I was afraid she would think that by having a baby I was making a huge mistake and ruining my chances at being a poet. I most likely was just projecting some of my own reservations, though, because she was super-excited and super-supportive. When I told her, she got all teary and hugged me across the table and was just generally very happy, even saying, all on her own, that this was a great time for Dean and I to have a baby. It was great, very reassuring.

So! Three cheers for Laura! To get back to the shopping story, I tried on a lot of the stuff with the fake baby bump/ strap-on pillow thing in the dressing room. It was alarming. I hope my real baby isn't so lumpy. After leaving Motherhood Maternity, we went to Pea in the Pod and stayed there exactly 23 seconds, which was long enough to see that all their cute T-shirts were $85 or more. The one pair of jeans I looked at was $118. Honestly, I don't pay that much for regular jeans that I can wear a long time! No Pea in the Pod for me.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, which is remarkable, because I usually get a headache in the mall. I didn't feel sick all afternoon!

FYI, in case anyone's interested, while writing this post, I finished the first Preggie Pop Drop (lemon) and got another (apple). They ARE soothing.

The other picture above, the one that isn't clothes, is a collection of baby stuff we have so far. My friend Corrie sent the cow rattle (note the udders), my mom sent the socks (see how the sneaker socks have laces?), and the bottle was part of a free gift from the maternity clothes shopping. It freaks me out a little, honestly, but it added nicely to the picture.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hurray for good shopping days. I often go shopping for something in particular (yesterday, a pair of shoes to go with this beautiful dress I'm wearing to a wedding this weekend), and I'm either indecisive, can't find what I'm looking for, or can't afford what I find. I get so depressed!

The baby is definitely NOT lumpy -- it's very firm, and you have to use tons of lotion because your belly gets so itchy. And try Gap Maternity for clothes, too. They're usually not as cheap as Old Navy (unless they're on sale, which they often are), and I got great lightweight jeans and more there. Loose dresses were the best for me when I got really big and it was summer.

Have fun shopping with Laura!

Anonymous said...

Hello! Reading this makes me miss you more! I'm glad you found some clothes- I almost lived in shorts and loose shirts the LONG summer that I was pregnant with Claire (I had this thing about not want my legs to touch..dresses were out...hot sticky pregnant thighs..ugh..) There was a great Motherhood outlet at Myrtle Beach that I hit one Saturday and found a ton of stuff. I love the baby bump- I never really thought you and Heather looked a lot alike until I saw that pic-something about your face made me think of her. By the way, the lemon drops from Mast General Store are really good.