Woah! (Factory Moments)

[ellenmillion]

Woah. So that's what a Braxton-Hicks contraction feels like! As advertised, it isn't painful, and it doesn't last long, but what a weird sensation. I thought it was just Guppy putting a foot against a nerve at first, but it was sort of... broad numbness? and when I poked my stomach, it was like I was in the middle of doing a crunch, all bunched up hard.

Later:

Guppy was giving a particularly vigorous squirm, and I'm looking at my stomach in awe. "I think there was like an inch of elevation difference, just then," I said to Jake.

Jake made a scoffing noise, then she did it again. "Woah!" O.O (<- with a face just like that.)

Me: "I told you!"

Jake (feigning nonchalance): "I didn't see anything..."



Not exactly feeling ready for things right now... about to start researching carseats, since that's a fairly important thing to have at the beginning.

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

The most popular carseat brand, as far as we've learned, is the Graco Snugride. It comes in various levels of plushness, but what's really a deciding factor is weight limit.

We got the lowest weight limit, I think the Snugride22, which means it goes to 22 pounds. We figured that once the baby was 22 pounds, she'd probably be around a year and old enough for a convertible car seat, and besides, do you really want to lug around more than 22 pounds of baby plus car seat weight? That strategy worked nicely for us--E is 15 months, and just hit 21 pounds last week.

However, we have friends whose seven month old daughter is already 22 pounds, and has outgrown her Snugride22. So it's a gamble, either way.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Another concern that may come up is the length of the baby. Manufacturer's recommendations are to stop using the car seat once the strap slots are below the baby's shoulders. Ours was at 23.5" at last measurement, and she's just about outgrown the 22. We're most definitely going to hit the length restriction before we hit the weight one.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Ooo... I hadn't thought of that. And given OUR builds, Guppy is quite likely to max out a height before weight. (I was top ten percentile in length and bottom tenth in weight for most of my life.)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Oo! Thank you for the recommendation! I shall look into this!

[jake67jake]

You make me miss being pregnant!!! :)

Yes, the guppy can and will be doing acrobatics, and getting much more ... "vocal"... about the lack of space as she grows.

An inch is just the beginning! Also, I remember when my mother was pregnant with my sister (I was 9) and my dad put the ashtray on mom's belly. Little sis kicked it across the room! I laughed and told them it was her way of telling them to quit smoking!!! LMAO

And from your post earlier (this week?)... yeah, you will become more and more uncomfortable as the time approaches. I think it's Mother Nature's way of making sure you don't ever decide to *want* to stay pregnant.

Good luck!

[alchemist.livejournal.com]

What penmage said. We had one of the Snugride+Stroller combo travel systems and it was worth every penny.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Another vote for same. (which we're still using, up to the last possible moment! Damn it, child, you're not supposed to elongate quite this fast!)

[bkwrrm-tx.livejournal.com]

Aren't things like that cool?!? I remember the first time my oldest one poked out a knee/elbow/butt and went walkabout across my belly. :-)

[selinafenech.livejournal.com]

David wouldn't believe me either when I said I could SEE the baby moving. By the end of prengany though he was playing "high 5" games with baby in the belly.

[allykat.livejournal.com]

I assume it hasn't made its appearance yet but just checking in- any sign of the wrap yet?

I have the Maxi Cosi stroller/carseat combo. While I don't think you'll find maxi cosi there, I'm just speaking up in a general way in support of a combo unit (as long as the stroller converts to a big girl stroller.) I almost never use mine unless I'm exercising, but it's really convenient and would be yet more so if I actually had a car.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

No wrap yet! Christmas shipping being what it is, I'm not worried yet.

[jenny_evergreen]

I'm about to buck the trend; I HATE those car seats that you carry. They are MURDER on your back. There is no way to hold them that isn't bad for you AND awkward. I tried it. I stopped. (I always carried the baby in the sling, which was MILES better for my back AND less bulky AND more comfy for both of us AND made it easier to comfort him as I did things.) We went with a convertible, that went from rear facing to front facing, and could be used right up till booster seat time, though we switched over to a convertible from high back to booster once he was out of the harness, because it was lighter and easier to move from car to car (we only had one car seat for two cars for a long time).

FYI, the latest thing on car seats you'll hear from doctors is that they should really be rear-facing till 2 or "as long as possible". I flipped my kids around at 1, because OMG rear-facing is a PITA. Basically, it's probably always safer for them to be rear-facing, but it's just not practical in many ways, including the fact that cars aren't made for it.

Do keep her in a five point harness as long as you can and DON'T teach her how to unbuckle herself, or she will do it while you are driving and give you a heart attack. (Will figured out how to do it himself before he was two. Fortunately, Finn has yet to figure it out! ;))

[jake67jake]

Back when I was birthing my babies, removable carry with you carseats were just coming out and extremely expensive.

We bought a infant/toddler convertible (and less than 2 years later, bought a second for the new baby). The only thing I really didn't like about it was that rear-facing it still held the baby too vertically, it didn't recline enough. We wedged a 2x4 board under the front (against the back of the seat) and that forced it to recline more. I think they have solved that problem (it was because the vehicle seat naturally declined for the comfort of the sitter, and the carseat didn't account for that).

So, I never lugged a carseat around (altho I did usually carry a "carry" seat--part of the swing that removed, but it was POUNDS lighter than any carseat!).

The boychild wasn't adventurous as far as removing the buckles, girlchild was another story. LOL.

J

[puffbird.livejournal.com]

We have a car seat/stroller system, and I only carried the car seat far enough to hook it onto the stroller. Too much weight, and too awkward to carry on its own! Most of the time, I just left it in the car and carried my babies.

[pers1stence.livejournal.com]

Carrying car seats IS pretty much awkward, no matter what.....