un-clandestine baby buying

This baby thing appears more and more real to me. Perhaps it is not just an illusion? Maybe? I’m still reticent about it all, but am formulating some plans.

Namely: bringing tangible infant supplies into my home.

Yesterday, for the first time, I didn’t panic when I entered a baby store. I went to Once Upon a Child (a store that sells secondhand baby stuff) and bought the following items on the cheap: 2 sleepers, a heavier blanket for use in the carseat, a swaddling blanket (with velcro tabs to keep the babe secure), an unused Boppy, and a hardcover picture book by Jon Scieszka (of Stinky Cheese Man fame).

Oh, and two little Gymboree caps: one pink one and one blue one. Everything I’ve bought so far has been gender neutral, and so I thought it wouldn’t be too wasteful to buy 2 caps of ‘gender-specific’ (*rolls eyes*) colours, since they were only $1.50 each. I’ll give away whatever I don’t use to the local pregnancy crisis centre. I do think that Ninja is a boy – hence my continual reference to the baby as ‘him’ – but of course we don’t know for sure. I wish I knew the sex, though: I would’ve probably bought his/her first year’s wardrobe at that place! They had great used clothes for really reasonable prices. But baby clothes are so very gender-specific in colour and design, unfortunately – even the neutral items look like they’re really for boys – so I left it for another time. DH does not want to know the sex, and I decided to honour that request, even though I don’t understand it.

I did buy something for myself, too, even though it was a necessity in our climate, anyway: a beautiful wool Gap maternity sweater (eight bucks!). Dh thought it was pretty, too, and he doesn’t normally comment on my attire. There was great stuff at that place: Vera Wang, Gap, Calvin Klein. I wish I’d known that I could have bought most of my work wear at baby item consignment stores. Would’ve saved me a few hundred bucks.

At a department store, I also purchased a secure nursing cover, since breastfeeding is really still just coming back into vogue in our area, and bf’ing moms face some scrutiny. I plan to bf publicly – much to DH’s worry – but my compromise is to cover up. I’m worried that a blanket will just slide off and that I wouldn’t notice – I’m notorious for not being able to multi-task – and so I decided that it was in my best interest to procure an official cover with a fastener. It’s cute: brown with turquoise swirls.

Bought another nursing bra, since I realized that one won’t be enough. Was wondering how sizing worked, so I decided that I’d go a size up. I think that will be fine, since even though the bras do fit right now, they have considerable room for ‘expansion.’ But maaaaan, they are hideous contraptions! They look like military gear, and they come in three colours: black, white, and beige. Calvin Klein should design a purple nursing bra.

Also got a stack of 20 cotton washcloths, since I want to use those instead of disposable wipes. I need to find a recipe for wipe solution.

And what else? I bought a diaper bag. This was my big splurge, since I’m not buying most ‘big ticket’ baby items that other western moms get. I had no desire to cart around a pink or blue bag – never mind a Disney-embroidered monstrosity – and I’ve never, for some bizarre reason, owned a real grown-up purse, and so I decided that my one big splash-out would be a beautiful purse that will double as Ninja’s carry-all. My dear friend S helped me pick out a purse a few weekends ago – a pretty Nygard bag that goes with everything I wear – and I love it, but realized that it wouldn’t be big enough. And so on the weekend I found a beautiful bag: aqua leather exterior, vinyl interior for easy clean-up, roomy, and lots of pockets. It was 40% off, plus I had a 15% off coupon, so hurray!

I showed my haul to DH after we got home from our trip, and he smiled. He doesn’t care about the actual things; he just commented: “You’re finally having some fun with this, eh?” And I nodded. Hope I’m not raining jinxes on my head.

Next purchase: diapers. I learned that a city to which I must fly later this month features a cloth diaper factory that sells seconds (e.g., diapers for which the wrong colour thread was used, or a snap is missing, etc.) – but you have to go there in person to buy them– and so I will head there to pick up our stash. (Yeah, I’m cheap, in case you couldn’t tell by now.) I wish I could just sew them myself, but I’m not astute enough on the sewing machine to make fitted diapers.