30 Weeks, Thereabouts
August 05, 2008
BUT FIRST
Thank you for your very important feedback. I have compiled the results (you know, for WORK. and SCIENCE.) and it turns out most of you move the potty seat or would move the potty seat, were you to be confronted with the potty seat. Also, a surprisingly high percentage of you were slightly mortified by the mere suggestion of NOT moving the potty seat. With the window of innocence shrinking every day here on the Internet, I'm always pleased when I manage to lob something through and gross y'all out.
That said, I'd LOVE to cross-reference these results with what percentage of you dainty dainty princesses are also seat-hoverers and/or foot-flushers in public restrooms (and who then, of course, refuse to wipe up the seat afterwards lest your hand possibly come in contact -- even through seven feet of balled-up toilet paper -- with a single drop of urine that IS NOT YOURS OMG). Because...yeah, I don't move the seat most of the time.
We have two of them -- one in "Noah's" bathroom upstairs and then one in our sole community bathroom on the first floor, and I used to move it, but...eh. I keep disinfecting wipes handy and Noah knows how to -- ahem -- aim straight down. Although really, getting grossed out by my own toddler's pee seems like a luxury I gave up a long time ago, around the time I learned exactly why you should always change newborn boy diapers with YOUR MOUTH CLOSED. And don't even get me started about our couch. You probably don't ever want to sit on our couch.
(Apologies to anyone who has ever sat on our couch.)
For now, Noah refuses to pee standing up, or on a little potty on the floor, or on the big potty sans THAT PARTICULAR BRAND AND SHAPE OF SEAT. (Baby Bjorn. Incredibly sturdy and devoid of any pinchable areas, and the splash guard is not nearly as prominently pointy as the photo suggested.) His long and inflexible list of potty requirements have led to a quiet desperation on my part -- this feeling like SOMEONE in this house needs to not give so much of a shit (figuratively speaking) about the State of Their Porcelain Throne. Plus, I'm pregnant. I don't get much lead time, you know?
Plus plus, pregnancy is gross, and makes you do all kinds of gross things, be it putting your butt on a plastic toddler seat or eating black olive and peanut-butter-filled pretzel salad for lunch.
SPEAKING OF PREGNANCY, OH YES, THAT 
We've moved furniture, hung curtains, reorganized closets. We have new towel racks. The crib is set up. I bought new changing pad covers and found a second swing off Craigslist so I won't have to lug one up and down the million and two flights of stairs that are part of life out here in 70's-era suburban townhouse floorplan land. I still have to buy an Ergo carrier and a stroller (have reversed position completely, will likely be purchasing side-by-side Maclaren after all, turns out I cannot lift the Phil & Ted's stroller more than a foot off the ground for I am puny weakling) and we still don't really know where the baby will sleep at first -- turns out our plan to buy a king-sized bed and co-sleep was rooted in COMPLETE IGNORANCE as to how fucking expensive a king-sized mattress is, holy number-with-commas Batman. But at least I finally organized Noah's shoes and got rid of all his two-sizes-too-small socks.
So that's something.
Nine-ish weeks left to go. Hopefully enough time to redraft the will, set up college funds, rearrange the dining room furniture, wash 400 loads of baby clothes, and get a pedicure.
(Here are photos in the same outfit from two weeks ago for easy, jaw-dropping reference.)
Love the profile of the outtie belly button, so cute! You look amazing!
I hate those hover queens!
It became such a problem in my office (sitting on a wet seat that is) that a whole company email went out from our (male) office manager to please, pretty please, just sit down so he'd stop getting complaints everyday from those tired of a wet bum.
And then there was a backlash from the hoverers and there were wet floors to deal with. Yeah. WET FLOORS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PROFESSIONAL MIDDLE AGED WOMEN HERE. OH THE DRAMA.
Now we have those canisters of Clorox wipes in every stall...so you can do a pre-pee clean.
And you're so dang cute it hurts.
You look fabulous. But your to-do list is exhausting.
Wow, that was kind of jaw-dropping. What is also draw-dropping is that your arms are FAR skinnier than mine and I have zero babies. So there's that.
Holy popping belly button, Amy, you've popped!
Pretzel salad? Hm, I must try this. Sounds all sort of salty goodness. Can it be made with chocolate instead of peanut butter?
I need maternity jeans that do not fall down. What brand are the ones your wearing. How do you like them. They look like actual denim. Oh, please tell me it's actual denim!
Oh, you've POPPED! I love the outtie belly button too. And only your belly looks preggers, the rest of you is so cute! NOT FAIR!
I reserve the right to sit on the toddler seat if I am a) too tired or b) too drunk to give a shit (pun intended). Otherwise, I use our non-toddler invaded bathroom (unless the Mr. is in there having what we lovingly refer to as his "Daily Constitutional.")
P.S. I, too, have the toddler pee initiated sofa... but it's getting traded out tomorrow, so my apologies to anyone that sat on the old one!
Definitely get a pedicure - and get a really good one like at Elizabeth Arden. We have the same potty seat and I love it. My almost 3 year old DD tends to lean back a little while going "tee-tee" which tends to make her urine overshoot the rim. The potty seat makes her lean forward a little, which is great. Oh - you may also want to keep him sitting down on the potty for a while - particularly if he can manage it himself. As many things as they can do by themselves (with supervision, natch) leaves your arms for the baby. It is an AWESOME, fun ride. No doubt about that.
Must. Stop. Looking. Your belly photos? They depress me. Greatly. I just realized I can no longer see my feet while standing up. Big Daddy has already been enlisted to assist with pruning the shrubberies for our upcoming beach trip, because it's either that or submit myself to a first waxing of the offending area and I'm not sure I can handle the emotional trauma.
Your belly? Is small and cute and I adore you, but am trying desperately to quell my hate right now. Forgive me? I'll just owe you a conciliatory smoothie or something, because I really can't have this harshing up my karma.
Moving the seat seems pointless to me. Maaaaybe if it was someone else's kid's seat...but it seems less sanitary to actually touch the thing than it is to sit on it. God forbid you get exposed to a germ or two!...although I almost always use a seat cover ('sept when I'm drunk!) and always flush with my foot!
Way too much justification. Eff what the internet, including me, thinks about where and how you pee.
Now, I *would* like to hear all the hovering seat-pissers' justifications..
*picking jaw up off floor
Just visited my sister this past weekend & toddler their toilet seat is emblazoned with Dora the Explorer all over it. Simply cannot get myself to sit on Dora.
I'm a mover, but not a hoverer.
Arm's Reach Co-sleeper:
http://www.armsreach.com/
We got the very basic mini co-sleeper from Target, and it was perfect! She was right there for me to stare at and check for breathing, but far enough away to keep me from, you know, literally being on top of her. It even worked great for travel. It was also small enough that by the time she was getting too big it was about time for all of us to have her moved to her crib at night already.
Oh baby belly, how cute! My nephew is being potty trained and everytime I go over there I have the same debate (because my brother has the same toddler potty seat) and basically I just sit. But I am a rebel.
P.S. Personally, I always wipe off the seat and sit on it. Life's too short too hover. Anyway, I have an 11-month old baby, sitting is a luxury I always take advantage of no matter where I am. Also, if I had answered yesterday I think I would have said: leave it for number 1, move it for number 2.
You are an adorbale pregnant woman. You make me look pudgy with my 9 -ish weeks and 30 to go. :)
Also, love jeans, please tell me where you got them, who makes them and how much they are.
I really love your jeans but I want to know if you think they are comfortable at the top? I bought 2 pairs from the Gap that have the full belly-cover-elastic-thingy which is comfy for a couple hours and then it starts to itch, but anything (I mean anything) I wear down low starts feeling like it is performing it's own c-section within 20 minutes. Am I just a big baby or are these jeans a great secret? Please share!
Also, your belly is adorable and I feel like I am nearly that size already at 18 weeks. How exciting to only have nine-some weeks left! Am totally jealous.
I wish I had been that small with that little time left..wow! Anyway, you will love the Maclaren side-by-side. It's worth every penny and so easy to push and turn that you can truly use one hand! It's the best stroller ever.
Cute tummy!! Hi little guy!
If we had a potty seat like that, I'd just sit on it. I might break it, but hey, I'd learn to hover next time, or go to another bathroom. I do tend to flush public toilets with my foot though, but I don't typically wipe the seat first unless it's obviously wet, and that's usually because of a crazy overactive flush not someone's direct pee.
You're doing great mama.... enjoy that last little burst of nesting energy, such as it is, while it lasts!
We have the Graco Travel Lite in our bedroom for now. Very much like the Arm's Reach, but without the price tag, and you can use it as a regular pack n play after the baby's done sleeping in your room.
I'd shop around though, because all I'm seeing on their web site is color fugly.
http://www.gracobaby.com/products/subcategory.asp?N=43+10417+564&act=A20
They have great, plain green ones as well. Craigslist!!
Hmmmmm, my nesting so far has included - um....... hmmmm. I've only got two weeks to go, I better start getting maternal.
I've noticed the nesting started a lot earlier with this pregnancy. Not really convenient when you don't have a lot of extra time and it's HOT so freaking HOT outside.
Oooh, looks like you're cooking another big one. My sister's first was 9lbs11oz and the second weighted in at TWO full pounds heavier. To the ounce. I wouldn't have shared that if you weren't doing the whole C-section thing already! Wise woman.
Sitting is good. My advise is to not encourage Noah to pee standing up until he has mastered the pooping. Once my son started peeing standing up, he regressed with the pooping and it took months and months and months to recover. What do you do when you are out in public? I had one of those fold up inserts that I kept in a bag in my purse that we used for public restrooms.
I didn't comment on the toilet seat thing before, so I'm going to be a pain and do it here...I'd move it if we had them (my kids just use the big potty...they seem to like to balance) with the exception being during pregnancy, when I wouldn't have enough time, and pee so often that I don't CARE anymore, bring it on. And I'm not a hoverer (is that a word?), ever. I wipe the seat if I have to, then sit. I never got the hang of the hovering thing.
Oh, and I'm purposefully teaching my boys to sit on the potty for both 1 and 2. I'm expecting full, written-out thank-yous from their future wives.
Finally- CUTE baby belly!
If I could fit my big white ass onto one of those toddler seats - you bet your SKINNY ENOUGH TO SIT ON A TODDLER SEAT ASS, I would leave it.
I figure, I'm just glad its remote butt to butt contact. That's a step up from ass to face I usually wake up to.
Cheerios.in.toilet. It solved (some) of the potty issues with my 2yo boy..and it turned going #1 or #2 into a game. Not just one Cheerio either...a small handful. It helps to elimante the toddler seat by telling him if he wants to try to hit the cheerios, he HAS to lift the seat up :) I even let my little guy put them in the toilet himself! :)
You look AMAZING :) It makes me wish I was preggo...but then again, I wouldn't look half as cute as you do!!!
9 weeks to go!! Right on! The home stretch!
I hate a toilet hoverer myself. But the women I hate the most are the ones who use the paper seat cover thing, and then don't check to make sure it flushed, so the next person gets treated to a nasty wet paper seat with someone else's butt print on it.
King-sized beds are ridiculously expensive, aren't they? I only felt justified when we bought one recently to replace our queen that we'd paid plenty for just a few years ago because we desperately needed a guest room bed, and were going to keep the queen and use it for that. Also we hope to have a billion kids, so king-sized bed is a true necessity rather than an indulgence for us.
As for plan B about where to put the new baby, you don't need to buy a co-sleeper! We had one and never used it because our daughter as a newborn demanded human contact to sleep, and by the time she was willing to sleep somewhere other than our bed, she was too big for the co-sleeper. We graduated her to a crib-sidecar, which I originally read about on Moxie. Just take the crib you already have, put it together without one of the sides, then strap the frame of the crib to the frame of your bed with luggage straps. Use something safe (like tightly rolled blankets) to put between the crib mattress and the crib's still-present side to push the mattress right up against yours with no gap! Voila! Built-in extended sleeping surface. Frankly, the co-sleepers are okay but I liked the crib-sidecar a lot better. When our next baby is born in six months, we're totally just using the sidecar from the very beginning and forgoing the co-sleeper entirely.
Actually, I'd give our co-sleeper to you in a heartbeat, but I think the shipping costs would be prohibitive.
Happy thirty weeks!
I have to confess, I hover/foot flush but I would have no problem using the toddler seat. I blame my mother, she used to make us put down 3 (THREE!) seat protectors in public restrooms. I was lazy so I would hover, but I always clean up after myself.
Are you sure you need to change your will? Ours says something like, "Children E1, and E2, and any subsequent children." Possibly not the exact wording, but it covers any future children (E3, who is now four yrs).
Aw, I should post belly photos more, because you guys are always so nice with the compliments. I do not FEEL VERY CUTE RIGHT NOW. I feel very grunt-y and ache-y.
The jeans are by Lucky Brand and I got them at Pea in the Pod. I LOVE the real waistband -- I carry so high that the stretch bands never fit right and the fabric underneath it just poofs out. My only complaint is that the denim has a LOT of stretch in it, so they stretch out and look saggy and baggy really easily, so I have to wash them and throw them in the dryer more often than I'd like to regain their shape. I should have bought a size smaller than usual to account for the stretching.
As for the co-sleepers...yeah, we've looked at every. Single. Blessed. One. But we have a weird, super-low bed from Ikea (with no boxspring either) and ALL of them are too high for our bed by a good five inches. Even the lowest mattress setting on our crib is too high to make it a nice even co-sleeper.
You'd think with the popularity of platform beds there'd be a good compatible-height co-sleeper, but I haven't found one yet. Or at least one in a realistic price range for something we only plan to use for three months or so.
Unless the public toilet is absolutely, positively nasty I sit. I don't have any open sores on my butt, so I'm not too concerned about sharing a seat.
Hover over a toilet seat? Oh, no way. I'm a "remove previous person's hover pee, tear the paper, place it neatly on the seat, and sit down" kind of gal.
I am going to get the side by side Peg Perego. I am also 30 weekish and have commented before. I am obsessed with strollers. DOes the Mclauren have the leg thing.. where it stretches out? I guess I am asking why did you pick the mclauren over the peg Perego?
Also I was going to but the Ergo, but then a friend told me abot the Mai tie wrap. More comfortable i think.
Oh and one other thing, about the co-sleeping have you seen the arms reach co-sleeper? They rock for putting next to the bed. check it out. You can get the mini at baby's r us!
mojavi - We had a Peg Perego as our first stroller last time. We hated it. I don't think you could possibly hate a stroller more than we hated that effing thing. Terrible steering and traction, required two hands to fold it, was bulky and the frame got bent up within a month of use. (We had the Aria, but some lightweight model that I believe has been discontinued.) (PROBABLY BECAUSE IT SUCKED.)
We now have a Maclaren Triumph and love it to DEATH. I would spoon it at night, if our bed weren't so small. And once I actually got out there and practiced steering and folding and lifting all the double strollers out there, I realized that I would probably hate them all and wish I'd gone with the lightweight, easy to fold, steer-with-one-hand Maclaren Twin Triumph.
(I think someone even commented to that effect on the post I had about strollers and slings a few months back -- if you're a Maclaren person, you just aren't going to like anything else as much as another Maclaren.)
(My word, I have so much to say about strollers. I could seriously talk about them all day. Shut up, self.)
And oh, yes. I know the Twin Triumph is for 3 months and up, but between the pouch carrier (Hotsling) and Ergo and Snap-n-Go I'm confident we won't really be using a double stroller in the first three months anyway. (No wraps or ring slings for me, after test-driving those. I couldn't get the hang of them. Am dumb, apparently.)
OH MY GOD SHUT UP AMALAH.
What a cute tum tum! Is Noah super excited or does he still not get the concept?
I didn't even need the 28-week link, I could tell you had popped. You look awesome. I still remember one of your pix at the end with Noah when you were quite big with a white tank and jean skirt and you looked adorable.
Re: the pedicure. I made sure to get one with both kids. Both times I kept my socks on in the delivery room. Then realized I was obsessed over a pedicure for nothing.
Also, we co-sleep half the night in a queen, it's not too bad.
I have the same bed as you (sounds like I'm stalking you) and we bought little wooden bed risers at bed bath and beyond to make it about 5 inches higher - maybe that would help with the co-sleeper? Also gives you more under bed storage space...
He'll deny it if you ever ask him, but 15 yr old DS still sits. I just always made him. He stands everywhere else, but in private homes I like him to sit. (1) less messy (2) less noisy - who likes to listen to a 6" guy pee into a 2" toilet? (3) no toilet seat fights.
Your belly is adorable. Yay you!
OK, for those keeping track, DS is not 6", is 6'. Toilet is not 2", is 2'. derh.
I agree, king size mattresses are EX.PEN.SIVE. I'll suggest the route we took which was a suggestion from from my cheap mother-in-law. We purchased 2 twin beds, a nice egg-crate, and a mattress pad -- VOILA, King Size Mattress!
Ok, so it's not as good as the real thing, but for the price, and the extra space, it works.
Really, and I mean REALLY, don't buy the Maclaren double stroller. Seriously. Go to a store that has one (I realize it isn't easy to find them in actual stores) and just try to push it through a doorway with a door. Because of the split handle bars, when you are forced to hold the door with one hand, it is SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS to get it through a door - especially when you have kids that weigh different amounts. Just pushing it normally with kids who weigh different amounts is a pain (for the arm pushing the heavy side). Trust me, I'm on my third double stroller. Get the BOB Revolution Duallie. Yes, it is big and it's a hassle to collapse, but it pushes LIKE A DREAM. And you can get the BOB console thingie so that you can have a drink (another problem with the Maclaren - no satisfying cupholder, even the Valco baby slips!). And AND! you can get a carseat adapter for the BOB for the newborn stage. Just saying....
Oh but how the cuteness of your belly slays me!!!!
Really, and I mean REALLY, don't buy the Maclaren double stroller. Seriously. Go to a store that has one (I realize it isn't easy to find them in actual stores) and just try to push it through a doorway with a door. Because of the split handle bars, when you are forced to hold the door with one hand, it is SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS to get it through a door - especially when you have kids that weigh different amounts. Just pushing it normally with kids who weigh different amounts is a pain (for the arm pushing the heavy side). Trust me, I'm on my third double stroller. Get the BOB Revolution Duallie. Yes, it is big and it's a hassle to collapse, but it pushes LIKE A DREAM. And you can get the BOB console thingie so that you can have a drink (another problem with the Maclaren - no satisfying cupholder, even the Valco baby slips!). And AND! you can get a carseat adapter for the BOB for the newborn stage. Just saying....
sorry for the double post!
Okay, now everyone please don't throw stuff at me. . . . I'm a hoverer who until very recently did not wipe up any pee splatter. But hear me out!
I always thought it was nicer to let the person after you know that someone had peed on the seat rather than to just wipe it up with a piece of toilet paper, because that's not really sanitary. So, if they're going to sit there, they should know there was pee there that did not get cleaned with some cleaning product.
But now I do clean it up because apparently people don't care about sitting on dirty toilet seats as long as they are dry.
Mostly, I do try to avoid the splatter anyway, which is not as easy as some of you non-hoverers may think. This is probably going into TMI territory quickly, but the stream often changes direction in unexpected ways, which is totally different than a guy, who can aim if he wants to. It's a balancing act of keeping it all in the toilet.
Okay, the end.