I've been torn when it comes to getting the baby's room ready. On the one hand, it would be nice to have it done and ready when we are matched so that we don't have to deal with it on top of everything else that will be going on. Besides, as Mur.phy's Law would have it, I'm sure we'll get matched when both S and I are slammed with work. Isn't that how it goes? So, I keep leaning toward working on the room now. It needs some serious help. At some point soon after the house was built the room was converted from a bedroom into a dining room. Since I have no desire to live in the basement of my house we're converting it back into a bedroom and reclaimed the original dining room space. This means replacing the closets, replacing a door frame with a wall and addressing some, uh, interesting electrical issues. Seriously, who puts an outlet at switch height? lazy-asses. But I digress. We haven't started yet.
I don't want to.
I look at cribs online all the time, I browse bedding sets, I screw around with my BRU registry about once a month (mostly to advance the EDD), I buy little baby things here and there, yet something keeps holding me back from actually doing anything big.
Weird.
When we were first approved and placed on the list, I did some work to get the room ready. I got all the office stuff out and cleaned it up (fortunately we didn't need major remodeling) and decorated it with the colors of the nursery, but I kept it as a guest room. At the beginning, everything I bought for the future baby was kept in boxes and packed away, but over time, as I have become more comfortable with the idea, I have brought more of it out. I still don't have the crib set up, so it's not a shrine to future baby (IMHO that would be depressing, at least at the beginning of the wait), but you can tell it is a kid room. My nieces and nephews and my friends' kids love to play in it.
ReplyDeleteI found it fun to do the big-picture decorating (pick out the colors/theme, which I think is easiest if you start with bedding), because it made it all seem more real. After all, there is a baby at the end of this road :) Maybe in your case it would inspire you to begin the renovation phase?
I also found it helpful to do research on what products I would need on day one and go ahead and get those (carseat, place to sleep - I got a pack-n-play with bassinet, a few onesies and gowns, and some diapers and wipes), so I felt ready to go on a moment's notice. I am not a last-minute person and I didn't want to be at the mercy of what was available at the store, when I would rather have a different brand/style/etc. But that's me as a control-freak, and YMMV.
I also made a spreadsheet of the rest of the things I would need/want, broken out by month I would need them, to help me decide whether to get them myself or wait for a shower to be held by friends and family after the baby arrives. As the wait got longer, I bought more stuff, so much that now I am having to force myself to leave things un-purchased because my friends and family still want to buy me gifts! I think the registry is a good idea, where you can make some tentative decisions, play with stuff and think it over, without having to buy it now (and store it). I found the BRU registry a little more annoying because their stock changes rather quickly. I have been happier with my Amazon registry, which BTW can be made private. I especially like reading the product reviews and listmania suggestions.
My last suggestion is that if you do look into something and like it, consider how long it might be around, and if it might be a limited-edition item go ahead and get it. I love the bedding I bought, and I am so glad I bought it when I did because it was later discontinued. Anyway, sorry for the length of the post but wanted to pass along what I've learned so far.
That's such a hard call. We dedicated one of our two rooms to a nursery in our tiny condo. It was nice to have that reminder that eventually a baby would be there. However, we never ended up using it and then moved. I didn't set one up at the new house and of course, Nora came shortly thereafter and the nursery is still not really put together. It's such a hard call on what to do. I'm still not sure what I'd do if I had to do it all over again. I guess one thing I can say is that if a cute, decorated nursery is something that is important to you or that you'd like it might be good to have a head start. Ironically, our dining room is serving as the nursery at the moment due to it's proximity to everything. Looks like you have a head start on us there:). I'll look forward to reading what you decide. It's a hard call.
ReplyDeletePopping in from the crème de la crème list.
ReplyDeleteI don't find it weird. The actual need for a nursery has eluded you all that time, it takes time before it sinks in that this time you will need it.