Weight: Gained about one pound, total gain of five pounds for the pregnancy.
Maternity Clothes: Yep!
Boy or Girl: Boy!
Belly Button In or Out: Flattening out more and more every day but still an innie!
Wedding Ring On or Off: On--still no swelling so far.
Cravings: Gummy worms. We went to a movie Friday night and someone around us was eating gummy worms or sour patch kids or something and the next day I was still thinking about how good them smelled, lol.
Aversions: Still avoiding anything really spicy, tomato-based sauces, and garlic, and anything greasy/fried, mainly to avoid heartburn.
Exercise: Mixture of Lindsey Brin's second trimester workout and some Tracy Anderson.
Symptoms: Definitely having to be careful not to bend over at the waist too much. I've developed this little plie-type squat that I do at work instead of bending. I feel like I look goofy, but it saves me getting crampy and sore in the abdomen. I still get a few Braxton-Hicks contractions, usually in the evenings. The heartburn improved a little since I've been more careful not to overeat. In general I'm just starting to feel a lot bigger and more aware of my belly. It really does feel like I have a soccer ball in there (I read somewhere that my uterus is now the size of soccer ball.)
Baby's Movement: I'm noticing a lot fewer kicks that I can actually feel or see from outside and more gentle movements. It also feels like most of the time he's aiming his kicks down and towards my back, which is kind of weird. I miss seeing those little kicks on my abdomen, but maybe we'll get more of those as time goes on.
Anything Noteworthy: Got our registries done!! It was a lot of work because I did a lot of research as I went along, trying to pick out good products and including everything we would need without adding in a lot of stuff we don't really need.
What to Look Forward to Next Week: Glucose tolerance test. :( Hoping it goes well and the results are good!
Baby Registry Tips
I thought it might be fun to start adding some other features to these updates and this week I'm starting with some tips about putting a baby registry together.Tip #1: Don't feel like you have to stick to one store.
Most of my friends registered at two local stores (Target and Babies R Us) and so that's what I did too. I definitely feel like this was a good choice, because it gave us a much wider range of choices. In addition to Target and Babies R Us, stores like Walmart and Kohl's also offer registries, and you can also do online registries through Amazon or Babylist. (I actually have an Amazon registry as well, but I'm only using it a few items that I couldn't find anywhere else and we didn't put that information on our shower invitations.)
Tip #2: Do your research.
I researched some items, like car seats, strollers, high chairs, and playards ahead of time. This helped me narrow down my choices before I even got to the store. My husband and I made a trip to the store to look at car seat/strollers combinations specifically so that he could have a say in this choice, since it's one of the few he probably really cares about. I did more research after I had been to each store and scanned items by reading reviews and comparing specific options. (See tips 4 & 5 below.) In addition to reading lots of user reviews on the store websites, I also read recommendations on various mommy blogs. I particularly found Lucie's List and Car Seat Blog to be helpful with some of the bigger choices.
Tip #3: Take a checklist.
I found a couple of printable lists online and took them with me. I didn't follow them strictly, but they helped me to avoid forgetting any major areas or items. The ones I used were from here and here.
Tip #6: Pick out items at a wide range of price points.
I've never put together a baby registry before but I've sure shopped from a lot. It's nice to go into the store and be able to pick from a wide range of price points and types of items. Sometimes I'm in the mood to buy several lower-priced items and put them in a fun basket and other times I just want to pick out one medium-priced item. And for family members or people wanting to go in together on a gift, it's nice to have the option of buying a pricier item. Based on my experiences I tried hard to make sure to pick out items at each price point. And the nice thing with the big ticket items is that even if no one else purchases them for you, most stores offer you a completion discount or coupon closer to your due date that you can use to purchase the items yourself.
Tip #6: Don't register for a lot of clothes/toys.
These are things people will pick out and buy for you anyway so don't waste a lot of space on your registry on them. I picked out a few layette items and a few toys that had specifically been recommended to me, but that's it. I know from experience buying for other people that even if there are no clothes on a registry, nine times out of ten I will purchase something off their list and then go pick out a cute outfit or stuffed animal anyway.
Tip #4: Remember you can make more than one trip.
I shopped a bit at both stores before actually signing up for my registries so that I had an idea what to look for at each store. Then I went back and went around with the scanner actually picking things out. I ended up having to go back to BRU a second time because I just got too tired to finish getting around the store the first time. And I will totally go back again if I need to. The stores don't limit you on how many times you can do this, so pace yourself.
Tip #5: Manage your registries online.
I purposely scanned a lot more stuff than I actually wanted when I went through the stores. Then I came home, looked up the items and compared the reviews and the prices between stores to make informed choices. I added and deleted a lot of items from the comfort of my own home. It gave me time to really think about what we need/want avoid duplicating a lot of stuff between stores or forgetting to add something important.
If you're new to the baby registry world, I hope these tips help you out! Anybody else have any tips they want to share?
No comments:
Post a Comment