i. am. overwhlemed.

Now that we know the sex of the baby, I feel like planning has kicked into high gear. I've registered us for birthing classes at Swedish. They have many classes most of which I'm sure I don't need to take, but the doc recommended the birth preparation and infant cpr at a minimum. The first is about $100, the latter $35. Then I saw a breast feeding class. I hear there are techniques to help the baby latch on well and I've also heard of a lot of people having a hard time with this. So I added that to my list -- $40. Newborn Care includes how to bathe, soothe, swaddle and diaper the baby. That sounds pretty necessary, especially for Brian! $45.

I'm now at a grand total of $220.

My friend Rae told me about the Welcome Baby Package that Swedish offers for $250. It includes all the classes above plus 7 more! Welcome package it is.

We are definitely not taking all the classes offered in the package, but it's a much better deal so I signed up. The crappy thing about the package is that it isn't just purchase it and you're set. You still have to register for each class offered in the package individually. I guess this is a good thing in terms of scheduling since it gives you the flexibility to pick and choose when you take each class. But it sure is a pain in the ass. The schedules aren't even up yet for most of them, so I have to keep checking the website to make sure I don't get waitlisted.

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Then there's the nursery. We're turning our "office" upstairs into the baby room. But that means we have to move everything in that room into the other extra room. Both rooms look like a tornado has hit them and are filled with crap. I need to start clearing out the extra room so that there's space to even move the stuff from the office in there. I think we also need to buy one of those organizer shelf thingys so the room doesn't look like an utter disaster. Kinda like this...but not. I envision one with cubby holes, sort of. Finding the right piece of storage furniture may be a challenge:



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THEN, there's baby stuff! At some point we need to register but I can't register until I know what I want. I have no clue what I need or want. Do you know how many brands of strollers and car seats are out there? Rae was telling me I should get a BOB Revolution stroller so we can go running after our babies are born. I had no idea what BOB was:



Apparently, it's a really good brand for this type of stroller. But will I actually go running with the baby? And even if I get this stroller, don't I need a regular one for everyday use? I do not want to be walking around the mall pushing this running stroller...I'd look like an idiot. And that's only two items! There's the crib, and bottles and boppys and who the heck else knows what else! I think I need to go to a boutique-like baby store and browse a bit. I figure those types of stores have employees who know their stuff. Unlike Babies R Us (the place we'll actually register, I'm sure) where I'd get the 18-year-old stock boy who doesn't know a binky from a booty.

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Oh! I haven't even gotten to baby names! I bought this book of 100,000 baby names. Bad move. Most of these names are weird foreign names in every language imaginable. I'd say only 20,000 are actual names I'd even consider, which means there's only 10,000 BOY names to browse. And then when we find names we like, we realize we either know someone with that name or someone we know has named their kid that particular name. This is the problem with having children after all your friends and relatives. People steal all the good names.

But, I'm soldiering on. I've decided today's the day to start clearing out the extra room. On my way upstairs now...