Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pre-baby list

So, now that the surgery has a set date and the side effect of not allowing me to get pregnant for a year, the pregnancy thing has surprisingly become more concrete in my mind. I think it's because before it was like, oh, we'll start trying to get pregnant sometime, maybe in six months or a year or two years. Sometime in the future, whenever, you know?

But now it's like, OK, can't get pregnant for a year so does that mean I will try to get pregnant in a year? Probably. So what does that mean? Well, it means OMG WHAT DO YOU WE WANT TO DO PRE-BABY? Because we have a year to do it in. Plus however long it takes to actually get pregnant and, of course, the whole gestational period. But I figure that part will be more about getting ready for the baby and less about oh shit, we haven't gone on that road trip through Italy yet.

So now I am trying to remind myself of the thing that I also reminded myself of when I was getting married, which is that life does not end after the major event. We can still travel after there's a kid, either with the kid or on our own while it stays with one or the other set of grandparents. Things will be different, yes, mostly in a good way. Traveling will be harder and it will have mostly different goals. Many things in life will be that way. But life will still go on.

Still, there are pre-baby things that we'd like to do. And now that we have a bit of a timeline, we've started thinking of more of them.

1. I'd like to lose a good amount of weight. Surgery will help with this, obviously. But it will also be a lot of hard work, and a slow process. I'd like to get as much of it done as possible before getting pregnant.

2. We do want to go on a road trip through Italy. I'm not sure if this will be possible. We keep telling each other that we'll do that on our next trip to Germany, but on this trip to Germany we're not going anywhere, and on the next trip we'll probably also be going to my French host sister's wedding, and then on the trip after that? Well, there might be a baby already, although whether it's inside or outside of my body at that time is yet to be determined.

3. OMG so much house-related stuff. We want to deal with the yard, and do some room painting, and get a ton of furniture, and get a hot tub, and get some art, and do some deliberate decorating. And then, you know, sit around enjoying it.

4. Sleep late. I mean, I already do this when I want to, but I want to keep doing it. Indefinitely. Not like "sleep now because you won't sleep once the baby's here!" but like, OMG LET ME SLEEP. Because I want to sleep. And generally have time to myself.

5. Go to Japan. And Thailand. And Vietnam. And Kenya. And Tanzania. And South Africa. And Hawaii. And Costa Rica. This is totally feasible in a year, right?

6. Save a ton of money. Like, millions of dollars. This should be no problem to do, like, ever, much less in the next year. RIGHT?

7. Well, maybe we should downgrade our expectations somewhat. Like, instead of doing all the stuff we want to do to the house? Let's just shoot for getting everything unpacked.

8. Also in the downgrading expectations arena, instead of saving millions of dollars, how about just being able to, say, buy a crib? Or maybe we should spend our pennies on a stroller and just let the baby sleep in a dresser drawer.

23 comments:

  1. Yeah, John and I recently had a similar realization: if we were to actually travel all the places we want to travel before we have a baby, we would be preparing ourselves for parenthood at about age 50. So now we're trying to focus on traveling to places that would be harder to travel with small children. Compromises, compromises.

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  2. hahahaha! Hilarious!!
    Do what you can, and don't worry about the rest. I have a feeling 5 & 6 may not get accomplished, but 7 sounds good. ;)

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  3. I like your dumbed-down expectations way better. I have a problem with people whose lives are halted when they have children. As if they can never leave their house. Or improve their home. Or travel. Or have a life.

    I grew up in a house where we watched our parents go out by themselves many times a month. Where our parents took (or dragged) us to the museums and theater. Where we traveled to see our grandparents and different parts of the country. Where we even traveled overseas.

    Sure, things change when you have children, but it doesn't mean life stops. So, I say focus on the things you want to do without children (maybe going on wine tours in Italy would be difficult with children) and then figure out a way to do the other things once you have them!

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  4. Simple solution [probably only simple in my head =)]- wait longer for a baby.

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  5. Baby furniture is soooo over-rated! Besides--that's what baby showers are for!

    Just enjoy your time together.

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  6. Your travel plans sound like they might take some finagling, but everything else totally sounds do-able!

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  7. Number 4, oh dear God yes. Do that a lot. And take pictures of it. And write it in a journal. Because there will come a day when you will not ever believe that you used to sleep a lot. Yes, of course, parenthood is wonderful and glorious, but oh do I miss sleep.

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  8. HA! This cracks me up. This is all so, so true.

    Travel post-baby is totally doable, so really no worries there. Need inspiration? Check out Matt Logelin's blog... he's a total pro.

    The one thing I would REALLY recommend is getting the house stuff done. REALLY. Because after the baby is born, there is a LOT of hanging out in the house, and the little things that you haven't gotten done yet will NAG at you until you're basically INSANE.

    And it's hard to get house stuff done with a baby... especially if she wants to be constantly held, like mine did. Laundry is a task, let alone painting & such!

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  9. once i get a house (or, um, you know, a husband, WHATEVER) i think i'd want to get my physical house in order before having teh kiddos.... but i refuse to consider not traveling as a result! nooooo! my parents have been begging for grandkids for so long, i'm sure they'll be delighted to hang onto the progeny while i go traipse around the caribbean, yes?

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  10. Hi! I started reading your blog after finding you on bodies is motivation. I just want to second what it seems like you've already figured out - you can do all of these things after you have a baby. It will be different, but doable. My husband and I just got back from a trip to Thailand with our 8-month old baby. Some of our friends here thought that we were brave, or adventurous, or insane for doing it, but I just kept thinking that they have babies in Thailand, so what's the big deal? And sure, we moved more slowly, spent more time ducking into air conditioning, & ate less street food than we otherwise would have, but the trip was perfect. The baby had as much fun as we did.

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  11. Speaking as someone who is currently knocked up, I am so happy that Brett and I aren't terribly worked up about over preparation. The most important thing is that you want the baby and that you will be a loving and involved parent. The other stuff is what you make of it. Lots of people are successful parents with a lot less.

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  12. Friends of ours had their baby in an laundry basket for the first few weeks. Small and completely portable! :)

    This list will crop up again between Kids 1 and 2, believe it or not. Only it's like 'ah! Gotta travel while we only have ONE KID!' Of course, this time around, our travel is an 8-day moving trip....

    I also planned to lose all this weight before I got pregnant again but alas, no dice. And the worst of it is, regardless of your size, you still have to gain weight! Argh! Maybe THIS time around....

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  13. We think about the whole sleep and money issue when it comes to babies.

    So far we are still prefering sleep and money to babies.

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  14. I never officially made a list but we definitely decided to step up the traveling the year before. Saving money is always a good idea too. I think we actually bought a sensible "mom car" the year before, with the sort-of idea that it would be useful for carting kids around.

    Only because I lived in Infertility Land for quite a while and heard some stories about thyroids and fertility impairment will make me ask the following assy question: have any plans to check out thyroid meds/low thyroid conditions on fertility and pregnancy? Never a bad idea to gather information and get an idea of expectations beforehand, just like you're doing with the surgery.

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  15. i have always heard that if you wait until youre ready to have a child, then youll never have one. makes sense to me.

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  16. The sleep thing is one of the reasons I'm not so sure I ever want a baby. OK, I know that's a silly and selfish reason, but if there's no biological instinct urging me that I DO want a baby, then the minor things like sleep are enough to remind me that I maybe DON'T want a baby.

    Also, your posts are stressing me out lately! You don't have to plan your whole life at once, lady! You're starting to make me feel like... I don't know... I'M supposed to have goals or something, too! :-)

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  17. My fiancee and I are expecting. We're halfway through. I've always wanted to travel but I've never been a saver so I haven't been many places but I know we'll have the opportunity. We're having the first grand kid on both sides so everyone's fighting over baby sitting. I'm actually worried about it being a problem :p I'm gonna make a schedule. The biggest things we've been doing are saving money and buying furniture. Not baby stuff. Just regular, grown up furniture. Like a tv stand so that the hdtv is off the floor. And bookcases that close so we can baby proof them and have slobber free dvds. Slip covers for the couch because they're white and we like them that way. Next is ear plugs for Mike so he's not dead on his feet at work for eight hours. We're totally stoked and I know as long as we keep the right pov and take some us time our bouncing baby boy is only going to enhance our lives :) But we'll see if my tune has changed once the tot has actually arrived :p

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  18. My friend is thinking about pregnancy in about a year and her doctor told her to start taking pre-natal vitamins already.

    You guys have plenty of time to save $1 million. :-)

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  19. Before getting pregnant, I hoped to lose 20 pounds and travel to Europe with my husband. I did both, and got pregnant a few months after our Europe trip!

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  20. I know how you feel. I'm not actually in a relationship right now (teetering on the brink) but I think to myself, I want a baby NOW because I don't want to be an old mom, and then alternatively, I want to have a life so kids must wait!

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  21. Start smaller....small steps add up to giant leaps...

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  22. Man, you're right. Life goes on after you get married, buy a house, have a baby, etc, etc. Sure ... things take more thought, more money perhaps, more planning definitely, but if you tell yourself you won't be able to travel until the kid is in college, you won't. If you tell yourself you still will either by being forever indebted to your parents are taking the kid along with you for a little culture, you will. Everyone is different and some couples never leave the house again and some couples schlep their kid so many places, they have their own frequent flier mileage program.

    There's only ONE thing I wish I had done more of before having Kyle. Enjoying that moment right before you fall asleep when you know you'll be able to sleep until you wake up. I wish I had done more of that. Sure, I sleep now, but there is not a single time since he's been born when I fall asleep absolutely certain I won't be woken up by either him crying or my mother's gut telling me to check on him.

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