What would you do?

We went out this morning to another local furniture store, Hornung's Rock A Bye Baby, to check out nursery furniture. This store is a small family-owned business, and they offer well-known, quality brands of nursery furniture, like Munire, Westwood Design and Childcraft. In comparison, Babies'R'Us (BRU, from now on) also offers quality furniture, but the lines that appeal to us are exclusive to BRU.

The three collections we're considering (two from Rock a Bye, one from BRU) all come to within $70 of each other at first glance for a crib, changing table/dresser combo and armoire. However, BRU offers 15 percent off any three pieces or more. But they charge for shipping, which I'm not sure we'd need, while Rock A Bye ships and moves the furniture into your nursery for free. Only other difference is negligable, but BRU charges $5 more for assembly of the crib.

After taking into consideration the discount, shipping charge, assembly fees and sales tax, the two Rock A Bye collections come out to around $1,700 each, while the BRU collection is just under $1,500.

As far as our preference, the BRU and one Rock a Bye collection are pretty much neck-and-neck. I LOVE the fluted post detail and the elegant lines on the BRU furniture, but reviews say the doors on the armoire don't open as far as they could for maximum access. I LOVE the Rock A Bye crib headboard and swing-out drawers on the combo, but the wood details aren't as appealing as BRU's. (The first image shows the color we like, but the armoire is missing. Second picture shows the armoire. And we're not interested in the hutch above the combo.)

And for what it's worth, the BRU furniture is made out of solid mahogany, while the Rock a Bye furniture is made out of solid pine.

So here's the dilemma: Do we go for the cheaper price, buy from the international chain conglomerate and put money into the pockets of corporate executives who likely live nowhere near here and are already filthy rich, OR do we support the local business, based on principal because they offer the convenience of shipping/set up at no additional cost and knowing the old woman (owner) and daughter who helped us today will benefit directly from the sale?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Acetaminophen S.U.C.K.S.

It's the only pain killer I'm allowed to take while pregnant, so naturally it does NOTHING to relieve pregnancy headaches.

An Apple? Really?

Apparently that's how big this baby is right now. I actually have an apple with me, and I'm looking at it. I've never thought an apple looked so big, as when I'm now imagining it in my abdomen. Now I'm confused as to how my pants still fit. I sure couldn't shove an apple between my stomach and waistband before I got pregnant, so how did this apple make room for itself?

The mysteries of nature.

Crazy? Maybe, but we'll be richer for it.

Or at least a little less poor.

We're seriously considering cloth diapering. "CD," that is, in baby-speak. OK, I'm seriously considering it, and Brian doesn't like the idea. Yet. Because he believes (really, get this) that somehow he'll be exposed to less poop if we use disposables. He's terrified of poop.

So I'm waiting to hear back from a local mom who is a CD supporter and merchant, and I'm hoping the info she has will sell him on the benefits.

First, it ends up saving LOTS of money, as compared to using disposables. It's a considerable up-front investment, but I'm talking a savings of a couple grand, even if you use them for just one child and don't try to sell them. If you use them for multiple kids and sell them afterward, we're talking multiple THOUSANDS of dollars. That speaks to the cheapskate in me.

Second, they're much better for the environment, since they don't require tons of non-biodegradable material to be buried in landfills. Literally, tons. Just for one kid over the course of a couple years. That speaks to the tree-hugger in me.

And finally, there are a number of arguments that they are better for the baby: the lack of chemicals (which are abundant in disposables) leads to much fewer cases of diaper rash, CD toddlers are faster and easier to potty train, etc. That speaks to the mom-to-be in me.

Now this is not the cloth diapering of my parents' time. No hankerchief-looking squares, no pins and no washing services. These things are pre-formed, pre-sized, scientifically advanced with ultra-absorbant natural (sometimes organic) materials, easy to use and CUTE!

It's too early to make any definitive decisions now, but I'm pretty much sold on the idea, from the little research I've done. Yes, it will mean more laundry, and yes, at some point there will be poop scraping into the toilet. But come on, considering the benefits and too-cute product names like Bum Genius, how could you NOT consider CD?

So, like I said, I'm waiting to hear back from a local expert. We'll likely get a consultation from her, and any family/friends who may be involved in the child care process are welcome to attend. And if Michelle is out there somewhere reading (or to those of you who see/talk to her regularly, let her know), more than one mom-to-be would be welcome as well. Just lemme know if you'd be interested in learning more.

By the way, when I told Brian about the consultation "party," his response was, "Oh great. So this is like Pampered Chef, but for baby sh!t?"

Giggle.

OK, this made me a little excited

I found a Web site that let's you diagram and plan a nursery for FREE! So of course I spent about half an hour measuring every wall, window, heat vent, etc. in our second bedroom, and plugged the measurements into the schematic.

Now these measurements would mean nothing, of course, unless we actually had some idea of the size of furniture we'll need for the nursery. Well, we're a lot closer on that front than we were when we woke up this morning. I drug Brian to Babies'R'Us this afternoon (his first trip) to start to get a feel for the price/quality of cribs and furniture. I think we lucked out on our first trip, because we both really like this. In fact, we not only like the solid wood furniture, but the bedding in the picture would work in our green nursery, too. No, we're not putting any wallpaper border or anything up, but the lion/zebra/giraffe/monkey theme is kinda cute. Not making any decisions on bedding or theme, yet, but this one is a contender.

Soooo, once I brought home the Baby Cache brochure and realized it included dimensions for the crib, armoire and changing table/dresser, I started plugging them into this handy-dandy room planning tool, too.

So here are our first three tries at nursery design! Our first and favorite design, our second try (if there isn't enough room between the changer and crib in the first) and a third design, which puts my glider in between the two windows.

I just did one more, even though Brian's not a fan of the floating crib in the middle of the room.

What a cool tool!

Today's appointment

I dropped off pee, got weighed (lost a half-pound since Jan. 6) and heard the heartbeat through doppler. In and out in less than 10 minutes, save of course the time in the waiting room. Only thing I was expecting that didn't happen was a measurement of my belly, from breast bone to below the belly button. I guess it's still to early for that, yet.

CRNP Amy isn't concerned at all about the weight. She says any gain between zero and 10 pounds through week 20 is OK with her, as long as I feel OK and no other issues arise. She did laugh when she saw my shoes and said I'd probably opt for a more comfy, non-stiletto style if/when my back starts hurting.

She was also eager to make a guess about the sex, but she said she just didn't have enough info on which to base anything. In her experience, faster hearbeats and mom's weight gain in the face and hips are tell-tale signs a little girl is on the way. On the flip side, if all mom's weight is carried up front in the bump, it's a boy. Amy said the heartbeat was a little fast (darn if I didn't ask the rate), but she just didn't have enough to go on for a guess. She did say dreams are also telling predictors, but I haven't had any baby dreams. So we'll just have to wait until Feb. 24.

14 weeks

Definitely a change from 12 weeks. Although my work pants fit fine today, so maybe I was just really bloated early this morning.

Squirt is now about 3.5 inches long, it's developing the baby equivalent to down (fine hair all over) and it's peeing all over the amniotic sac! It may also be sucking its thumb, but we won't have another ultrasound for a month, so we can't see that.

Thursday morning I have a regular OB appointment, but I hear they're not all that exciting.

To address the most commonly asked question of late: No, we haven't decided on names. I have a list, and Brian is working on a list, but we really dislike most of each other's favorite names. So we're taking a break until we find out if it's a girl or boy, so then at least our arguing is more pointed.