The Roaming Rosie Blog

I was a little surprised to see a segment on the news the other day about a recall of over 2 million Stork Craft cribs.  Since we’re not in a house yet, I’ve been putting off ordering baby furniture, but that didn’t stop me from picking out the brand, model and color I wanted.  Actually, I even registered for it – to make sure I wouldn’t forget which ones I liked, even though we intend to purchase the furniture ourselves.

Anyway, I read all about the recall at the website for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.  I saw that the recall is for drop-side cribs, and I suddenly realized I didn’t know whether or not the crib I picked out was a drop-side crib.  Quite frankly, the dropping side seemed unnecessary to me.  It turned out I had picked a drop-side crib, and when I viewed it on the store’s website (just after seeing the news segment) the product was already unavailable.  Luckily, Stork Craft also makes a fixed-side crib in the same style I like.

When I showed my husband all the information, he said he wouldn’t have wanted a drop-side crib anyhow.  The fixed-side cribs are sturdier, he said.

I was relieved I hadn’t already purchased the crib.  I read that the company was offering repair kits so that parents could fix the cribs, but it turns out all the kits do is turn a drop-side crib into a fixed-side crib.  Hmm.  Turns out to be a good thing that we have to wait until almost the last minute to buy our nursery furniture.  Who knew?

These too cute pillow cases designate the On Duty / Off Duty responsibilities for middle-of-the-night feedings. I wonder, though, how effective they would be for us, seeing as how my husband could easily sleep through the St. Patty’s Day parade.

Since the baby is still months away from needing any feedings that don’t include the umbilical cord, I can still find myself saying that I don’t mind being the On Duty person most of the time, especially because I’d like to breastfeed.

I wonder how long those feelings will last…

I’ve been debating whether or not to invest in wall decals for the nursery.  The tough part is that we don’t have a house yet or, thus, a nursery to decorate.  But, since the baby is due in March, I’d like to be as prepared as possible so that I can set up the nursery quickly once we finally get to move into our new home.

I know the theme and bedding set I’d like to go with:  a soft, pastel jungle theme.  I also know I’d like to hang real photos of animals in the room to accent the more cartoon-ish toys and stuffed animals that will fill the room.  But would I like more decorations to fill the walls?  My friend painted a beautiful but elaborate jungle mural over all four walls of her son’s room, but I just don’t have the time for something like that.  Decals are easy:  peel and stick.  Done.

The main problem is that when I started researching the decals, or wall stickers, I found that many were quite pricey.  I’d find animal or nature decals that were fifty or sixty dollars a sheet or even upwards of a hundred dollars for a single, larger decal.  But does my baby really need these designer products?  As neat as they are, I still find myself searching for something a little more playful.

Luckily, today I found a wide variety of animal and nature wall decals that range in prices from about $10 to $25.  Cute AND affordable – can’t beat that!  I intend to get the decals that best match the bedding I’ve chosen, but I couldn’t help sharing all of these, because they’re just all so cool… now I just have to resist buying them all! :)

Pregnancy is a strange creature.  There are many aspects of the pregnancy that I anticipated, but not always in the way the symptoms actually manifest themselves.  I knew I’d be tired, so when I spent most of my first trimester just working and sleeping and halfway comatose on the couch, I was frustrated but not surprised.  Lack of energy is typical in the first trimester.  But here I am, many weeks into my second trimester, and I still haven’t experienced that sudden burst of energy I keep hearing about.  Sure, I have energy, but very little.

Is it because of my allergies?  Is it because I’ve got a lot on my mind and I’m not sleeping well?  Or just my body’s reaction to growing a little person?  Why, yesterday, did I get shaky and feel like I’d collapse when I was folding one load of laundry from the dryer, putting another load in, breading a pork loin and constructing twice-baked potatoes for dinner?  Was it just the heat in the kitchen and laundry room?  Had I not been drinking enough water?  I’m not sure.  But after making a salad and veggie side dish and setting the table and helping to clean up afterwards, I couldn’t seem to do much except sit on the couch and watch TV all night.  I felt weak, so much so that I didn’t even have the energy to pull out my laptop to write in my journal.  Even the thought of doing that exhausted me.

There are many other things that surprised me as well.  It’s a joyful experience to feel the baby kicking me, but I’ve found that I also worry much more than I thought I would.  Why don’t I feel her moving more often?  Well, I know it’s because of the placement of my placenta and how it cushions her movements so that she must kick pretty hard for me to feel it.  My husband, in fact, has only felt her once, even though he’s sat there with his hand on my stomach while I feel movement.  So I still wonder.  It surprises me that I can be so happy and so worried at the same time.

And none of my bras fit.  Even the ones I bought a few weeks ago at Victoria’s Secret that were on sale and a cup size bigger are now a little awkward.  Does that mean I’ve gone up two cup sizes?  When will it stop?  I’ve already noticed one stretch mark, which freaked me out, and so I make sure to apply cocoa butter every night now to both my boobs and tummy.  I know I’m genetically prone to stretch marks anyway, but it’s worth a try.  I’m a little surprised the growing rack is not as exciting as I’d hoped.  It just produces more questions:  how many more bras will I have to buy?  Will my boobs keep growing?  And what size will they be after the birth and breastfeeding?  Will I have to buy all new shirts?  Will I care at all once I’m holding my little baby girl in my arms?

I guess the worrying and the questions are normal.  I never realized the acne and pimples of a 16-year-old would also be normal, but, in a weird way, I think I like the surprises.  After all, this is a completely new journey in life, and one that I’ve always looked forward to.  I look forward to more surprises (and less pimples) as time goes by, because really, how many times in life do we get to experience something so new and incredible?  Something that plays out much the way we though it would, but also completely exceeds every expectation?

Today was my third ultrasound and it was confirmed:  we’re having a girl!  Yea!  :)

Really, we’d expected it, and the first few people I talked to on the phone after the appointment responded with, “I knew it!” or “I told you!”  Why did we think it was a girl?  Was it because of the fast heartbeat, which my old neighbor assured me was a definite sign of a girl?  Or because of the Chinese birth charts?  Or how I was carrying?  Or what I was craving?

The thing is, I didn’t fit neatly into any old wives’ tales distinctions of boy vs. girl.  I had signs of both.  I was craving sugar, but I was craving protein more.  I’m carrying wide, but low.  Even with those contradicting indications, I certainly had some other signs of carrying a girl, like all the pimples and the morning sickness and how both my age and the year of conception are odd numbers…

But even though all that guessing was fun, if somewhat silly, what was most certainly our first sure tip that we were having a girl was when we had our last ultrasound at 16 1/2 weeks.  The radiologist insisted it was too early to tell and then hesitated when he said, “well, I don’t see a penis – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a boy,” making sure to stress that last part.  That pretty much sealed the deal for the women in my family who were in the medical field:  “Oh, it’s a girl.  It’s definitely a girl.”

When we left the doctor’s office today we went right to the store to pick up some pink clothes!  It’s been agonizing not knowing for sure if our baby would be dressed in pink or blue and not being able to really pick out a name and not really being able to match up a possible face with the baby growing inside of me.  I feel more connected now, like the pregnancy and the baby are suddenly real on a whole new level.

I become all smiles when I look over and see that cute, little, pink onesie sleeper hanging from the closet door and I remember that our little baby girl will be wearing that in a few months!  It’s almost unbelievable, and completely amazing.  I can’t wait!

We’ve been living in Florida for about a week and a half now, and since today I was taking a break from all the running around and crossing things off my endless list of errands, I took some time to sunbathe.

That’s right, two days before Halloween, when it’s still in the 50s back in Maryland (warmer than it was when we left), it’s 90 here in Florida and the sun is bright and the sky is blue.  *happy sigh*

Since we’ve been living in Maryland for a year and a half and in Germany for three years before that, I’ve been depriving myself of anything resembling a healthy dose of Vitamin D for years.  And since my parents have invested in a hammock since the last time I visited, I found that I could actually sun on both my back and stomach for short periods without any discomfort for myself or the baby.  This is, however, the first time I’ve ever had to try sunbathing on my side.  Strange, surely, but effective.

It was like feeling the sun for the first time.  The heat was heavy on the lungs and sharp on the skin, and feeling the thick layer of sweat instantly develop and then cling to every pore, soaking me in a cushion of warm liquid, was like discovering the sensation with virgin-like awe.

It’s been far too long.

And for the first time in, well, years – I have tan lines!  I was careful not to spend any more than a half hour in the sun, but the tan already shows.  I’m delighted by my barely-discernable tan lines and the color faintly adorning my no-longer-Casper-white skin.

I will continue to soak up the Florida sun, but I’ve also discovered that if I intend to sunbathe in public, it would probably be wise to purchase a larger bathing suit.  At five months pregnant, it seems that not only do I now have a tummy and my boobs have grown multiple cup sizes, but my hips and bum seem to have expanded as well.

Hmm.

Luckily for me, pregnancy has also brought with it the acceptance of my body, and so I usually don’t care who happens to see a little more of it than they maybe should, but I also don’t want to shock any of the senior citizens at the beach.

Thus, Mission:  shopping!  Find suitable bikini and enhance and retain beautiful tan.  Roger Wilco.