Our city has pride in July instead of June. This past Saturday was our Pride parade and festival and also the day I hit 35 weeks, exactly. I’ve been going to Rochester Pride since I moved here in 2006 and I’m usually participating in the Pride parade in some way, by walking with a group or organizing a walking unit or even volunteering on the judge’s panel.
This year, I wasn’t asked to judge and I didn’t plan on doing any walking. Knowing I’d be well into my third trimester during Pride week, I just didn’t know if my body would be up for it. I missed the parade for the first time ever since I’ve lived in Rochester. As it turns out, I’m surprisingly still very active and I probably would have been fine. Then again, I’m almost full-term and I didn’t want to risk going into early labor in the middle of the street. I do feel I missed the opportunity to paint my bump with rainbow paint and glitter and go full exhibitionist in a crop top and miniskirt. That woulda’ been a great picture for T. Rex’s baby book.
I spent all day at the Pride festival, instead. I staffed a table for my day job organization, the New York Civil Liberties Union (the New York affiliate of the ACLU) with my coworker, our intern, and Waffle (my patient and constant spousal volunteer). And I did get to wear a crop top. My bump was making my work t-shirt fit weird, so I took a page from the Team Autostraddle fashion playbook and cut it up into a tiny crop tank that worked perfectly with my high-waisted rainbow-splashed stretchy skirt and comfy-practical-but-not-cute-enough-to-show-off nursing bra.
![My coworker and me working hard or hardly working at Pride.](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/pride2017nyclu.jpg?resize=640%2C396)
My coworker and me working hard or hardly working at Pride.
Most folks in my real-life queer circle know I’m pregnant now because of the fact that I’m writing about it for the whole internet and also because I announced it on social media during my second trimester. Also, I finally look pregnant to the naked eye. I had about a million conversations about being knocked up, about queer child-raising, about queer baby-making, and about how cute I looked at Pride this year. And I loved it.
Most of the time, I don’t draw too much attention to my pregnancy. I don’t particularly enjoy questions from straight folks about how we got knocked up, unsolicited advice from straight cis women about birthing and parenting, or even compliments on my pregnant body/glow/belly and affirmations of what great parents Waffle and I will be. Most of these types of interactions come from a place of caring, some from naive curiosity, most all with good intentions. Still, it makes me uncomfortable (unless it’s coming from someone who is truly a good friend or close family member, which is a very different and welcome thing).
I feel like I have to put on an act or constantly make space for other people in these situations. My good friend who really gets me recently sent me this For Harriet article about Nigerian feminist author, Chimamanda Adichie, about how Adichie “went into hiding” during her pregnancy.
![via](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-17-at-6.58.58-PM.png?resize=465%2C355)
via chimamanda.com
Adichie said:
I have some friends who probably don’t know I was pregnant or that I had a baby. I just feel like we live in an age when women are supposed to perform pregnancy.
It resonated deep. That’s the language I was looking for: performing pregnancy.
This is a real thing, people. I think all pregnant women feel this pressure, to be the right kind of pregnant woman, to make other people feel comfortable by answering invasive personal questions, to allow others to focus on our pregnant bodies instead of our brains/capabilities/whole selves, and finding the right balance of humble and maternal to satisfy what other people expect a mom-to-be…to be.
This becomes even more performative for anyone who is additionally othered by being a person of color, disabled, queer, transgender, gender non-binary, gender non-conforming, and so on. Now you’re not only a pregnant person who gets to answer lots of questions and receive lots of advice. You’re also a novelty, a curiosity, or even worse, inspiration porn for liberal straight cis heterosexual folks.
At Pride, for once, I didn’t feel like I was performing. I was talking to and with my own people. I was sharing knowledge with queer and trans folks who wanted to start planning a family. I was getting advice from queer and trans parents who had been there, with whom we share a common experience.
A young-ish couple stopped by the table with their beautiful four-month-old son and shared their advice with Waffle and me about coping in the first weeks after birth, which their kid punctuated by spitting up on his mom’s shirt. They also talked about their plans to switch up gestational carriers with their next child, something particular to families where more than one parent has a uterus.
We ran into several acquaintances who have slightly older kids, through fertility treatment, previous relationships, adoption, or blended families. We answered their questions about our pregnancy plans and asked questions about their families. We gushed over their adorable kids and laughed at stories of parenting fails and got lots of advice about being first-time parents.
We talked to folks who are our age or older who want to have kids in the future and traded info about friendly fertility centers, sperm banks, costs and insurance.
We talked to other queer trans parents and prospective parents about Waffle becoming a “daddy” and non-gestational perspectives on pregnancy.
A labor and delivery nurse came up to me and recognized me from this very column. She just so happens to work at the maternity center we’re planning to deliver at. She came out to us and we jokingly lamented over how heteronormative the entire birthing industry can be. She assured us the maternity center is LGBTQ-friendly. “I’m there all the time,” she said, “Ask for me!”
It felt like we were building community. I imagine this is what a mom’s group is for some other women—a place to talk frankly about pregnancy stuff, with people with similar life experiences. I just don’t see myself reflected in the “mom spaces” typically available. I often feel like an outsider.
The day after Pride, we did a tour of the maternity center with a bunch of other couples and we were, as far as we could tell, once again the only visibly queer couple in the group. There were a couple other people of color, but the people who spoke up the most and took up the most space were the white moms. Queer family spaces just don’t exist outside of the internet, at least not in my medium-size, upstate New York city. That’s why this column has been so cathartic for me to share with ya’ll. And so surprising to people who know me in real life and know how much I avoid centering my pregnancy in my day-to-day interactions.
This was our last Pride as a free-wheeling, child-free couple. As more and more LGBTQ people are able to and choose to have children, it seems Pride in our city is becoming more and more family-friendly. As we saw and talked to all these queer and trans parents, we couldn’t help but imagine how different it will be when we’ll have a Baby T. Rex to bring to our next Pride.
![Two weird peas in a weird pod, at their last child-free Pride.](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/pridekaelynphotostrip.jpg?resize=159%2C640)
Two weird peas in a weird pod, at their last child-free Pride.
One year from now we’ll be in a very different place as a couple and a family. We probably won’t be able to sit outside for 12 hours in the sun with a little T. Rex in tow. We’ll be carrying diaper bags instead of singles to tip drag queens. We can’t wait to share Pride with Remi, to share rainbow flags and glitter body paint and drag shows, to teach them our intersectional LGBTQI history, to introduce them to their big bold queer family.
9 Random Baby-Making Feelings I’m Currently Over-Processing
1. Go, Go Gadget Hospital Bag
As a shower gift, my friend packed a whole bunch of awesome feminist and queer and social justice-y kids books into this super-cute bag from the Rebel Wilson line at Torrid. It’s the perfect size to be my hard femme hospital “go bag.”
![Unfortunately currently out of stock at Torrid](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/torridbag.jpeg?resize=549%2C434)
Unfortunately currently out of stock at Torrid
I think I have just about all that I need for the hospital: toiletries, snacks, huge underwear (for huge postpartum maxi pads), a nursing dress, comfy nursing bra, flip flops, hair clips, a mini-makeup kit, maternity yoga pants and a long black top for going home, breast pads and nipple cream, a newborn and a 1-3 month outfit for Baby T. Rex, baby socks and cap and mittens, and some newborn diaper stuff. We need to finish our birth plan to throw in there and also pack a bag for Waffle, who plans to room with me at the hospital postpartum.
2. Finding QPOC Solidarity in a Sea of White Lesbian Moms
There was a big kerfuffle this past week in one corner of the Facebook universe. Members of a closed queer mom group I’m in got into a huge #AllLivesMatter v. #BlackLivesMatter debate, starting with a white mom asking that the group be “less political.” Despite the (white) moderators’ clear statement that the group supported BLM, individual members of the group started spouting off stupidity, like that the group should be for discussions of diapers and playgroups, not politics and race. As if parenting can be separated from race and politics for QPOC… It resulted in a separate group forming specifically for and closed to queer parents of color, which I joined immediately.
![Message from the moderators (identifying info removed for privacy).](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/screenshotfacebookgroup.jpg?resize=492%2C335)
Message from the moderators (identifying info removed for privacy).
This is just one example of the ways in which white supremacy dominates the conversation even in small queer circles. Before this went down in the Facebook group, I had noticed the disconnect between the queer moms group and the rest of my queer family. While many of us were mourning the lives of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, white folks in the queer moms group were posting happy selfies with their kids and, while I understand not everyone posts political stuff on Facebook, it just felt wrong and not at all like the community I expect under the word “queer.”
It happened a few weeks earlier, too, when the Pulse shooting happened and many white folks in the queer moms group were posting #WeAreOrlando pics with their families, full of good intentions, but not acknowledging or centering the ways in which Pulse disproportionately impacted Latinx members of our community. At least they were posting something, though. The lack of posting around BLM and the audacity to call for “less politics” showed that for some white queer moms, “politics” and trauma only matter when it affects them personally.
The group moderators took it upon themselves to make very clear what the position of the group is. They’re now approving each individual post and blocking #AllLivesMatter posts. QWOC members of the group have used this time to educate white allies by posting links to articles and some white allies are stepping up and posting messages of solidarity. It’s a start.
This weekend, at Pride, I saw and talked to several parents of color and moms of color. I saw how QPOC families uplift and hold each other, even in mostly-white spaces. I also saw an otherwise very innocuous lesbian t-shirt company proudly selling cringe-worthy rainbow-emblazoned #AllLivesMatter t-shirts. I wanted to rip it down from their tent. I decided to walk away.
3. Deep Dino Etsy Strikes Again
Waffle continues to procure dino things to cover every square inch of the nursery. This past week, this dino coat rack arrived for the closet door, along with a wooden dino growth chart by the same Etsy seller/artist. He can’t stop, won’t stop buying every dino thing he can find. But look at this happy face. How can I deny him?
![You can get this customized purple dino coat rack situation from ganderandgooseshop](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_0398-1.jpg?resize=640%2C640)
You can get this customized purple dino coat rack situation from ganderandgooseshop
4. Things I’ve Googled in the Past Week:
- probiotics safe pregnancy
- aversion to cruciferous vegetables pregnancy
- blood sugar bedtime snack
- how to relieve pregnancy pelvic pain naturally
- peppermint itch relief safe pregnant
- orgasm third trimester
- breast pump insurance
- will walking make baby drop
- kneeling mat for bath time
5. (Anxiety About) My Humps, My Humps, My Lovely Lady Lumps
I have to ‘fess up about something. I am totally and probably irrationally nervous about breastfeeding.
I’m not going to be super upset if I, for some reason, can’t breastfeed, like if Baby T. Rex is severely tongue-tied or it just doesn’t work for me. I do want to try. I’m more anxious about just, like, the act of breastfeeding. It’s something I think is going to be so absolutely weird and unnatural to me.
![This is ice cream, breast food I can get behind. (via Shutterstock)](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/shutterstock_199520954.jpg?resize=500%2C334)
This is ice cream, breast food I can get behind. (via Shutterstock)
I have done as much reading and preparing as I think I can to educate myself. I’ll have a doula at the hospital and there are also on-site lactation experts. I feel like I’ll be supported. I just feel like it’s going to be a super weird thing and I’m going to have no idea if I’m doing it right even as I’m doing it and I just have to be OK with that.
I also just have anxiety about my boobs, in general, not being breastfeeding friendly. I have a fairly large chest (42 D before pregnancy) and my nipples are not petite. They also aren’t perky like they were 10 years ago and I’ve been researching breastfeeding advice for people with large breasts. I had nipple piercings on both sides, pierced on two separate occasions (my first set rejected), with significant scar tissue in multiple directions. I took out my piercings a little over a year ago, to allow my nipples to heal before getting pregnant. From what I have read, nipple piercings usually result in more milk flow, which is theoretically good, but can also be too much for your kiddo when they’re newborns.
IT’LL BE FINE. I’M FINE.
6. Rub-A-Dub-Dub We’re Set For the Tub
We haven’t purchased any baby washcloths and we somehow have 37 of them thanks to lots of generous gifts from friends and family. We’ve also been gifted a plethora of bath toys, hooded towels for every day of the week plus some, and a variety of bath accessories.
![The leaning tower of washcloths and our bathtime toy collection.](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/bathtimebabystuff.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
The leaning tower of washcloths and our bathtime toy collection.
Remi will be very clean and very loved.
7. Gestational Diabetes Breakfasts That Don’t Suck
Eating breakfast every day is the biggest life change I’ve had to make diet-wise. I’ve never been a big breakfast-eater. My mom used to make me a toaster pastry or something portable and quick when I was in school and I’d scarf it unceremoniously while doing my hair or makeup. I’ve skipped breakfast for most of my adult life.
With gestational diabetes, breakfast is a must and I shouldn’t go more than 8-10 hours without eating. And, I only get two carb choices for breakfast, what amounts to roughly 30 carbohydrates. Fruit is completely off-limits. So typical fast breakfast choices like cereal and milk, fruit and yogurt, or a granola bar are not gonna work for me.
I’ve found a couple staple meals that keep my blood sugar stable, satisfy my personal need to eat quickly and get out the door, and that are generally not offensive to my taste buds. Here’s what I’ve been putting in my mouth, in order of quickest-to-longest to make and munch:
- Plain Greek Yogurt with Stevia, Cinnamon, and 1/4 Cup Granola
- Whole Wheat English Muffin with Loads of Peanut Butter (my least favorite)
- Whole Wheat Toast with Peanut Butter (also not my favorite)
- Frozen Whole Wheat Waffles with Peanut Butter and Sugar-Free Syrup
- Eggs and Toast with Butter and Avocado Slices
- Whole Wheat English Muffin Sandwich with Turkey Bacon, Fried Egg, and Muenster Cheese
For the record, I really don’t like peanut butter. Never have.
![Eww. (via Shutterstock)](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/shutterstock_272042216.jpg?resize=500%2C480)
Eww. (via Shutterstock)
8. Dino Couture Fashion Show
I asked Daddy Dino (a.k.a. Waffle) to curate his favorites from our very expansive collection of dino-themed baby clothes. I didn’t have to ask twice. Who knew dinos were so en vogue.
9. Baby T. Rex, I’m Ready to Go
As we head into our last month of gestation, I’m pretty much ready to be done. At the same time, the idea that a baby is going to like…exist outside of me…is so wild that I’m also hoping it doesn’t happen too early. I vacillate between hoping to go into labor at 38 weeks and hoping it doesn’t come until the due date or later.
For pragmatic reasons, it would be ideal if Remi decided to come out at 39 weeks when Waffle’s scheduled paid time off (vacation time) begins. If Remi comes more than a week late, Waffle won’t get any paid time off to stay home with us, which will suck, but we’ll manage.
By the end of this week, Remi will be full-term and most practitioners won’t stop labor if it begins naturally, so it really could be any time! I guess we need to get on finalizing our birth plan and wrapping up the many half-finished cleaning projects we have going on around the house. #nesting
ok obviously i had 10000 feelings about this, but i came here to say that if peanut-butter-eating surrogates were a thing, i would happily volunteer for that position. toast or an english muffin with peanut butter probably represents 80% of all breakfasts i’ve ever eaten.
also, how do i get that dino sweatshirt?
<3 <3 <3
You would look so cute in a dino screen print sweatshirt. Oh, goodness.
I wish you could be my peanut butter eating surrogate. I don’t know why I dislike it. Even when I was vegan, it was just not. my. thing. I think it’s the mouth feel. I don’t like how it sticks to the roof of my mouth.
i hate the mouth feel of the term “mouth feel.”
brb scouring the internet for a dino sweatshirt
Can you fit into kid’s sizes, @madderka? Because I found this for you and it’s very on-brand, I think:
i gasped aloud when i saw this. unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available any more! :'(
Yay for dinosaurs! I think the dinosaur bathrobe is my favorite.
Are there any of the kids’ books you’d particularly recommend? I’m always curious when books are mentioned, and one of my (straight) cousins is expecting.
SO MANY BOOK SUGGESTIONS.
I made a list of lists of LGBTQ children’s books on our personal blog a while ago. You can check that our here.
If you’re going to get just a couple, I think And Tango Makes Three and The Family Book are good places to start. Both come in a board book for really little ones and even nice, upstanding straight people seem to find them cute and readable.
Unrelated to social justice, but I’m also a fan of the BabyLit Primer series of classic literary novels turned into counting/colors/alphabet/first words board books. They could be a lot more diverse in ethnicity, but the English nerd in me loves the concept.
Thanks, KaeLyn! I was quite curious when you mentioned the bag full of queer and social justice-y kids’ books but only showed us the bag.
I’m not really out to any of my extended family at the moment, but The Family Book seems subtle enough from the preview I could see on Amazon. Is that a fair assessment? And the BabyLit series sounds adorable! It looks like they even have a bilingual Don Quixote one (granted, I’m not sure that my cousin knows much Spanish, but it’s just words).
Hey, @kaelynrich, a heartwarming update: I came out to my cousin today and she came out right back as bi! Just goes to show I shouldn’t assume… She’s not out to the family either, so I’ll probably still go with subtle books.
THIS. IS. SO. COOL.
@soledad!!!!!!
SO. COOL.
I’m really happy for both you and your cousin.
Thanks, @kaelynrich! So of course I told her about Autostraddle…
That facebook experience is infuriating. And the t-shirt at Pride… ugh. But I’m very glad you shared them with us to remind us all how much work there is to do within our own community.
I only ever went to Pride in my own town once when I was much younger and was kind of disappointed by how completely tame it was. It could have been a company BBQ, but for all the rainbow flags. I still had a nice time volunteering to hose down the big slide they had for kids, but I didn’t really appreciate how nice it probably was for many people to have a family-friendly event.
Thanks as always for sharing your journey! It really means a lot to be able to see having a family from the perspective of queer parents.
Our pride is fairly family-friendly, too, though there’s plenty of loud EDM and raucous drag performers and half-naked revelers in the mix. I definitely used to be more into the day-drinking and after-party drinking and sweaty dancing aspects of Pride when I was younger. Now I’m kind of happy to sit in the shade and eat some greasy food and people watch. Next year, with a stroller!
I should have said something to the out-of-touch lesbian t-shirt people. I just couldn’t get the words together at the time. Grr.
When my milk came in, I was a 42H. There’s a picture of my newborn giving my boob a hug, and my areola is the size of his head! So so funny.
But we managed to breastfeed for almost 2years despite the forceful letdown and over supply and huge boobs. :)
This is super reassuring! Thanks for sharing your experience, Jenna! Being able to laugh at myself is definitely going to be important. I’m glad it worked out well for you!
So, Kaelyn, the baby’s name IS going to be T-Rex, right, right? Please tell me it is. Please!
I mean, kind of. It’s nickname is definitely going to be T-Rex or Remisaurus Rex, but the actual name going on the birth certificate is Remi Lee Waffle. :)
Heehee.
I wanted to make my little sister Jelly Bean (It was near Easter.) when my parents asked for me input. They didn’t take my suggestion, but her nickname was “Bean” for a long time.
Well Remi Lee is a pretty name!!!! But T-Rex will be a cute nickname !
Jelly Bean was a cute idea too! Always good to have a nickname, I think…..something special. ?
I hope all goes smooth ….and QUICK for you’ We are all waiting for the BIG arrival!!!❤️
Remisaurus sounds so cute!
Remiachisaurus or Reminchenia if you want to be super nerdy and subvert some actual dinosaurs names :3
Rinchenia was this parrot-ostrich raptor looking dinosaur and Rebbachisaurus looked like playtpus got mixed with an awkward gentlemanly stegosaurus with scalloped ridges instead of giant ruffles on its back. They had also elephant feetsies rather than the sort of toed feet stegosaurs had.
But Remisaurus is good too and perfectly cute, I just like dinosaurs…alot
WOAH. You really know your dinos! We have this one kids’ book with a million hard-to-pronounce dino names.
I think that level of dinopedia is above our pay grade. We did watch The Land Before Time on Netflix the other night and I forgot how they all had silly names like “Three Horns” and “Long Necks” for the different species of dinos.
I had a very confusing but lovely dyslexia moment of reading “pay grade” as “gay grade” :P
Um yes dinopedic knowledge…and might I say that calling a triceratops a Three Horn makes perfect sense visually and it is total call out to the scientific name.
“Tri” is three, “cera” is horn more or less, and the last bit “ops” is just face.
And calling the carnivorous dinos Sharptooths, well that is how one identifies a carnivore versus a herbivore or omnivore in I think the whole of the animal kingdom by the teeth. How many sharp ponty teeth for ripping an’ rending meat, or how many flat wide teeth for serious chewing of fibrous stuff like veggies and grains makes the case for what an organism eats.
Kaelyn I think just gave support here that The Land Before Time might have some legit scientific merit depending on the observation skills and conclusion making power of your little Dino Sprout to be.
But uh Long Necks are sauropods, a sub order of saurischia, and means lizard footed. Odd long story having to do with the infancy of paleontology and hips.
Would have made more sense to call them long necks in my humble amateur o-pinion, but alas that was not how the paleontology cake was mixed before it started to bake and ya can’t unbake a cake. Only decorate it.
SO EXCITED FOR THIS LITTLE BABY DINO!
and for you and waffle and your new journey!!!!
in case you have any worries, and because i know all parent like to hear this:
you are going to be an AMAZING parent. like, the best you can be. and your baby is gonna love and appreciate you so much for that.
WE ARE GOING TO BE AWESOME. Well, like…I mean, let’s not set the standard too high… Ha! I’m sure we’ll screw up the kid in some way, but I hope we’ll be moderately ok!
Very Okay Parents!
I had nightmares about breastfeeding mid-pregnancy when it occurred to me this baby would have to be fed. (genderqueer)
After talking it through with my partner, we went to a store and ceremoniously bought the cutest bottles we could find and a can of formula.
Those went into the hospital backpack, as I went to a “baby friendly” hospital and just wanted to make sure I had a safe exit.
I was fine and actually grew to really really like breastfeeding, which was good because from 2 weeks on when we first tried, the kid refused any and all bottles forever.
Sooo – I guess the point is, it was nice to feel prepared. :D
Thank you for writing this!! It means a lot to feel less isolated.
I also have a little bottle collection and backup formula! It’s good to have options? At least, it makes me feel a little better to have lots of options. I’m not a hater on formula, anyway. My partner was formula fed and he’s just fine. My sister was still on formula when she arrived at 13 months and she’s, like, a super smart doctor now.
I hope it ends up being totally chill and cool and not terrifying! Sharing your experience with me definitely makes me feel better, so thanks for that! It makes me feel a lot less isolated, too!
Waffle is hoping the kid will take a bottle eventually because: 1) I have to go back to work, and 2) He really wants to be a part of feeding time. But from what I understand, every baby is different and you can’t really force them to do what they don’t want to, so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Oh I wish you SO much love and happiness and sleep and quiet moments, all the showers you want all the time, and may you find *just* the right underwear! However things turn out to be.
We actually wanted to combo feed – I had it all figured out, and as a bi person, what could be more obvious? I found it really fascinating how the either-or-mindset keeps following one around. It was really hard to find information on combo feeding, but from what I did find, it seemed really a great thing for a lot of people! … enter our breastfeeding separatist baby. :D no, can’t force them.
Ha! I’m bi, too. I wonder if bi parents are just more likely to be open-minded about dichotomous parenting decisions.
People get REALLY INTENSE about their breastfeeding opinions. Like, chill.
Would be pretty funny if your kid grows up not liking dinosaurs. ;P
We have prepared emotionally for the possibility and we will love them no matter what.
But I hope they really like their BRIGHT GREEN BEDROOM. Because we’re not repainting it anytime soon.
Green is the best color for small humans for they are lil sprouts, not fully baked gender rolls fresh out the oven. ^-^
I hope you’re planning on continuing this column after the baby is born! I love reading about your experiences. Do you have a child care plan for when you return to work? The cost of day care is a huge hurdle in the path of my baby-making dreams.
I guess it won’t be a “countdown” anymore, but I’m sure I’ll still write about parent stuff now and then! I plan to keep writing for AS, so as long as that doesn’t change, I think it’s safe to say I will keep writing!
We have a unique situation in the Waffle works evenings and I work days, so we’ll be able to switch off on child care a lot of the time. However, it’s not a perfect system and we’ll have to figure out babysitting/care for when I can’t get home in time or have meetings after work or other things that will come up while Remi is still little.
The cost of daycare (in the US, at least) is astronomical. It’s just ridiculous. The average cost in our state is as much as our mortgage. I can understand why it’d be a hurdle, especially if you don’t qualify or have access to subsidized childcare.
I have a postpartum tip maybe, net basketball style shorts.
It’s helpful with menstruation in my experience, it could help with that elevator from the Shining gif-ness that I have HEARD lochia can be.
PS Waffle be killing me with the dino cuteness finds.
I can’t the stuffs are just too cute, I’ll OD if I keep looking at them.
Thanks, Lex! Comfort is definitely key for postpartum recovery.
So many feelings about this! But, it’s early where I live so all I can coherently say is, those dino baby clothes! So so adorable! I love this column, thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
And it’s just the tip of the dino clothes iceberg! Somehow, there are EVEN MORE dino clothes in the closet. We only bought some of them. Everyone has been finding these amazing dino things and sending them to us.
oh my god i love the dino overalls. wish they sold them in my size!
RIGHT?
Kaelyn, I meant to comment on the part where you were thinking about postpartum period options: this lady’s postpartum/overnight cloth pads are super comfy! Never been pregnant so can’t vouch for postpartum use, but for my period, it’s super comfy. The fleece layer absorbs well and keeps the dampness off my skin! https://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaBearBabyWear?section_id=5887106
*post. The post where you wondered about period stuff. ?
Thanks for the tip! Still useful!
Yay! Also, I’m really excited for you!
I absolutely love these articles but really hate how “gender neutral” baby clothes just means boys clothes…I think every piece was some variety of blue or green? I hope Remi gets some pink and otherwise pastel dinos in the mix. :)
Agreed. There is surprisingly little in the purple/pink category for dinosaur stuff. Kids’ clothes are ridiculously gendered. Waffle did go out of his way to get some purple room decor and one of the reasons we picked the wall decals we did was because it had a pink dino. I wish gender neutral/androgynous didn’t just mean masculine. I mean, it doesn’t. But it’s hard to get the rest of the world to break out of that mold. :/
For sure. I just peeked around on ebay and a few places, and they definitely exist, just harder to find and probably therefore more expensive.
Here’s a few links if you’re interested though because I can’t resist researching baby things despite my giant lack of baby:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Babysaurus-Cute-Green-Dinosaur-Happy-Cartoon-Animal-T-Rex-Infant-Baby-Bodysuit-/401126429347?var=670664117703&hash=item5d64ff92a3:m:m-3Pqp6lYP02m8Ai6EobTCA
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Threadrock-Baby-Dinosaur-Infant-Bodysuit-animal-t-rex-/401122841935?var=670660041078&hash=item5d64c8d54f:g:ohcAAOSwXSJXPGRI
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Pink-T-Rex-Skeleton-Dinosaur-Fossil-Novelty-Animal-Fashion-Infant-Baby-Bodysuit-/401126430608?var=670664118387&hash=item5d64ff9790:m:m1Th_hAIUcPtn3Ur3PaKdhQ
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-Toddler-Kids-baby-girls-sleeveless-cotton-T-shirt-Blue-Dinosaur-1-6years-/272238494462?var=&hash=item3f62adc2fe:m:mc4kjZYQ9wCS-KaCHN-n3EA
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/6-9-month-girls-bodysuit-with-purple-dinosaurs-purple-ruffle-bottom-pants-/201620364716?hash=item2ef1829dac:g:H~sAAOSwddNXgW8F