The Fragmented Nursery

We're coming along on baby preparation. We didn't actually plan to spend almost the entire weekend on baby-related tasks, but that's what we ended up doing. It was fun, and I feel calmer every time I can mark something off my list.

First, we took our hospital tour last week. As we waited for the tour, I was feeling a little anxious, wishing I had gone with the birthing center. However, as I told Dean, if I'd gone with the birthing center, I'd be nervous not to be at a hospital. If all goes as planned, the baby will be born at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. It gets great reviews, maternity center-wise, and has one of the most advanced NICUs in the ares--which hopefully we will not need to use, but reassuring nonetheless.

During the tour, which was very informative, we were in one of the waiting areas when a dad, still in scrubs, appeared, beaming. His family ran toward him laughing and shouting, and his mom grabbed him in a hug, crying and saying, "My son has his first son!" It was a wonderful huge dramatic scene. I felt it was a good sign for the hospital.

Also, last week I washed all the Bumgenius diapers last week. Here they are, ready to go:



They're in the top section of the changing table/dresser. It still smells faintly of baby powder, but I'm at a loss as to getting rid of the smell. Dean says it's mostly gone, so maybe it's just my pregnant nose. We got a changing pad this weekend, and put up a mirror for the baby to look in while she is changed (or after, anyway--we're not sure she'll be able to see in it while she is lying flat on the table).



Suki very much enjoys the changing pad. She slept on it all night. It's the only piece of baby furniture she can really access, but I think it's fine since we won't be leaving the baby alone on the changing table.

Momentously, we have turned the crib from a baby item storage unit into something a baby could sleep in. This took a lot of cleaning out of other parts of the house. We put a sheet on the crib, and Dean arranged the stuffed animals inside to await the baby's arrival. We also hung Luli's beautiful wall hanging above the crib.






And I moved all of the baby's books from my desk upstairs to their own shelf on a downstairs bookshelf:



All of these things are in different parts of the house. The crib is in the hallway at the top of the stairs, and the changing table is in our bedroom, where we'll also keep a bassinet for the first few months. We decided it was better to keep a spare room for any company that might come to visit than to turn the only really extra space we have into a nursery, especially since it will be quite a while till the baby knows whether she has her own room or not.

We also made a run to Babies-R-Us on Saturday to return a few things and looks of a couple of things. We came home not only with our changing pad but also a pack and play, which we had decided against getting before, but upon further consideration decided would be useful to go ahead and have.


On Sunday, we went to Eastern Market and two art museums looking for a few more pictures for the walls. We wanted either black and white or something very colorful. After walking around for almost 4 hours, we didn't see anything we loved, so we came home and Dean ordered these prints: a Kandinsky and a Klee. I'm not sure what you call this kind of art--color theory? Abstract expressionist? Anyway, these seemed cheerful and engaging. We might get an Ansel Adams print too--black and white.

Whew! I still have to figure out the breast pump--luckily, Caroline has the same kind and is going to help me. Every time I look at that breast pump with all of its tubes and plastic pieces I get very anxious and grouchy. And, we still need to install the car seat. Otherwise, my list is coming along nicely!