Raising a healthy, safe, well adjusted baby. Where do you make your stand?

So, yes it's been a while. Work and school have kept me super busy, and really I haven't wanted to spend any of my additional free time writing. I've been doing a lot of that for my Writing and Research class. So please forgive the lack of updates lately.

So, what's new you ask? Not a ton actually. Things are going well on the baby front. She is kicking a lot more now my wife says, but she's not big enough to feel it yet. Soon hopefully. I'm actually pretty excited to feel her kick. As the pregnancy progresses, we have been wondering more and more what she's going to be like. It's almost an intangible thought that she is actually going to be a real live person. Someone with her own thoughts, feelings, ideas, likes, dislikes, etc. I'm very excited for it, but I also get a little worried. Am I going to be a good role model? Can I suppress the qualities that I dislike about myself when I'm around her so she turns out better than me? How do I even do that?

Aside from worrying about if we'll be good parents, we did finally manage to go do our baby registry. I think I stress out about shopping for the baby more than other things though. I want to make sure we're getting quality products, that are both safe, and what's best for her. Trying to balance out making sure as many things as possible are organic, natural, BPA, PVC, and Pthalate free and so on. However, trying to then balance that with the best products otherwise, in terms of development for the baby, ease of use for us as busy parents, etc. It's not always easy to have to give in one way or the other. How and where do you draw those lines? I know that we can only do so much, but as a parent it's my job to make those decisions, and it's not easy. I realize that people in my generation grew up in houses that may have still had lead paint, we didn't have to wear helmets or pads when we rode a bike, and smoking was still prevalent. I'm sure the plastics I chewed on as a kid possibly had BPA and god knows what else in them. I look at the health issues I had growing up too. Asthma, allergies, chronic ear infections. If I can ensure that the products our child is exposed to doesn't play a part in those or other issues, than I know I'm doing my job. There are other things I'm worried about too as she gets older. Even though since I've been back in school I've relied on the occasional Taco Bell trip or a stop at Wendy's for dinner, and my wife could only eat Arby's roast beef for the first trimester, I really want to avoid fast food completely once she's born. How does that even jive with all the advertising and peer pressure to go to McDonald's that she's going to have to deal with? I mean, I had a birthday party at McDonald's when I was kid. How will I explain to my child that her father hasn't eating there in years( I did break my McDonald's ban for a Shamrock shake with my wife a few weeks back) and has no plans on ever going there.

Are there answers to these questions? How does everyone else deal with stuff like this?

It's a healthy baby...

What, you thought I'd start off with the sex of the baby first? No.  The check up was great.  Everything was there where it was supposed to be, and the doctor said our baby get's an A for it's first full look via ultrasound.

But, I'm going to have to buy a shotgun.  Because it's a GIRL!!!!!

I need to start preparing for the teenage years now...

Boy or Girl?

So, we're getting awfully close to our next ultrasound where we hopefully find out if we're having a boy or a girl.   As I've previously stated, I really don't have a preference, just as long as it is healthy.  However, finding out what we're having will be a good thing for planning accordingly for what we need, what we want, how we want to decorate, etc.

First, we can pick a name. Without giving things away, we know there are a few girls names that we like, and that we basically have one that we really like. My wife is starting to second guess it, as she found out it's been a more popular name recently.  We'll see how that goes.  On the otherhand, I really hate most boy's names that come up, usually for one of two reasons.  The first being that I know someone with the name that she suggests, and that person wasn't nice to me or my friends, or was just an idiot all around.  The second reason being that the names I don't know someone with that namesake all sound like rich frat boy dude names that 15 years ago would have worn a white hat and wanted to kick my ass for having my hair dyed.   We've slowly been making headway on that front though.  Maybe I'll get there. I don't know. 

Second, we can really hone in on colors for the nursery (of which, by calling it a nursery, I was chastised by a friend.  Even though the definition fits, he still insists it should just be called a bedroom, and that calling it a nursery makes me some sort douche. So, NURSERY).  We know the base color, and the furniture is on order, so it's really just the accents and the bedding.  I found some awesome sheets and bedding if it's a boy, and if it's a girl, there are a lot of choices also.  I've contemplated adding chair rail and molding the NURSERY, but we'll see if I get that ambitious and/or want to spend the extra money for something aesthetic that the baby could care less about. 

We've also decided that once we know the sex, we'd finally go register for baby stuff.  People have been giving us a little grief already, but we're only halfway there!  There is plenty of time people!  I have been thinking about starting to stockpile diapers though.  The unfortunate thing is that Costco doesn't seem to carry any of the organic or natural diapers in bulk. Natural wipes though, so I guess that's a start.  My sister has brought up the fact many times we should start buying a pack once a week when we make a Target run. Not a bad idea at all. 

As a final thought, I'm thinking of trying to convince my wife to just let us announce the sex of the baby on this blog next week.  Yes, it's a push at self promotion and sort of self serving, but I really envisioned this blog as being more of a focal point for our baby story, just told from my point of view.  But obviously, since I link this from my personal facebook page, many comments and such end up there. I'd really like to get more dialog going on this page, and I think this may be the way to do it. At least for a day or so.

What do you think?  Leave your comments here? 

Also, I'd like to know what you all think about the sex of the baby. Boy or girl?