Ever since my husband and I found out we were having a baby in May we’ve been bombarded with magazines, brochures, advice, coupons and a whole new set of junk mail. If one more person comments on how much sleep we will be losing I think I’ll puke! I admit that having a baby will change our lives but I refuse to believe it’s going to turn our worlds upside down. I’d like to address 3 points: gender, information overload and shopping for stuff.

We decided not to find out the gender just because there are very few surprises left in life. I thought it would be cool not to know for purely selfish reasons. I think it will be fun to be surprised with that anticipation building up. Also I believe it will help us cope with those last few unbearable weeks. Another reason is I hate gender coding. Walk into any baby store and the store is clearly divided into a pink side and a blue side. How frustrating! Ok – there’s one table of yellow, white and green stuff in the middle and that’s it. It’s amazing how many people expressed a mild form of anger when we told them we decided not to find out. “But what am I supposed to buy the baby? How will I shop? How will you get the baby’s room ready?” Gasp! I comment with: “A baby can have red, orange, green, blue, basically any color except pink.” Actually the “pink” issue is a different subject. I get a response that red and orange aren’t baby colors. People have also argued that you can’t bond properly with a baby if you don’t know the gender. I think that’s crazy!

Doctors, nurses, co-workers, friends, family, strangers, classes, magazines, brochures, the internet, books, pamphlets, mail, the TLC channel- I can’t even begin to express how much information I have access to about pregnancy, giving birth and caring for a newborn. This is actually great but can it be too much? I must admit I’ve had at least 2 minor nervous breakdowns as to how I would be able to handle everything. Am I getting enough exercise, am I eating enough vitamin C (but not too much), am I sleeping enough, am I talking to my baby in the right tone, should I play Mozart or read poetry? I think I stood in front of the microwave this morning! I have to breastfeed my baby every 2 hours for 1 year or I’ll be a failure as a parent! Women have been giving birth since the beginning of time and the human race has survived! There are woman in Mexico who work on farms all day long right up until labor. They give birth, pick right up and got out to the fields again. I found that the doctors and nurses are also paranoid. One day I had really bad heartburn. They had me rush to labor and delivery and put me on the monitor for 4 hours. Then they gave me Zantac and I was fine. I think it’s partly because they don’t want to be liable for anything. But severe heartburn? There were women in actual labor in the rooms next door.

Our good friends are throwing us a baby shower and we were told the best thing to do was register for gifts. That way we won’t get a lot of duplicates or stuff we don’t want. So one day we’re passing by Babies R Us and decide to go in and register. We were completely overwhelmed by how much stuff a baby could need or have. We ended up spending 3 hours in the store! Does anyone know what a baby wipes warmer is? Will my baby need that for survival? A car bottle warmer? Crib, bottles, pacifiers, burp clothes, changing pads, portable changing pads, car seat, car seat base, stroller, swing, bouncer, bathtub, changing table, thermometer, video baby monitor, humidifier, diaper bags, diapers, clothes, towels, receiving blankets, baby gym. Oh and don’t forget batteries! We decided our baby is going to be a minimalist so chose only the most essential things and tried to pick them as genderless as possible. Why does my son need to wear a onesy with a baseball on it or my daughter pajamas with a princess on it? Our baby will be ultra neutral modern for sure.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts. Maybe the world will turn upside down when he / she finally gets here!