Travel and Baby Gear Thoughts

I spent 4 days in Baltimore this week for training for work. I was pretty nervous going into it about how I would feel traveling and being away from home. All things considered, it went pretty well. I managed to eat more normally than I have in months and even stayed out late two nights in a row! I went to a baseball game Wednesday night and then met my friends A and W (ha-like the rootbeer!) out after dinner Thursday night. They drank and I had NA beer. First time I've been able to even be around alcohol due to the smell! I was really quite proud of myself for behaving like an almost normal person for a change. It was refreshing. Apple and Banana (as I have started calling the buns) must have enjoyed their first trip out of the state.

B was at home with the dogs all week and I don't think he thought it was fair that I was starting to feel normal again when I was away from him. After all, he's been dealing with the first trimester me and, let me tell you, she is no pleasure to be around. I think I'm starting to move into the second trimester me and she is much easier to handle. First trimester me will likely still make some appearances here and there, but hopefully she'll be kicked to the curb permanently soon! I'm still taking the zo.fran and will not try to wean off of it until I feel better more often than I feel bad. I need to be careful that I don't push myself now that I'm having chunks of time of feeling better. I wouldn't go so far as to call them spurts of energy yet!

My next appointment isn't until July 28th when I'll be 15w4d. They haven't scheduled an ultrasound, so I might call and beg for one. My doc told me at the last appointment that we should have no problem getting our insurance to pay for multiple ultrasounds with a twin pregnancy-there's always a reason to peek inside. If I can convince them to schedule an ultrasound and Apple and Banana cooperate, it would also be possible to find out the genders at the next appointment.

We are also starting to think about the baby registry and baby gear. There is a lot to think about, especially with twins and it all seems so overwhelming. There are so many options for everything that it almost makes it harder to figure out what you need. We have been starting with the big items. We think we have decided on the cribs and dresser/changing table. I think we've also decided on two pack'n plays because we didn't hear very positive opinions about the double one. We've settled on keeping Apple and Banana in one room versus separate bedrooms and we've decided which of the two bedrooms will be their nursery. Progress! We don't want to fully decide on decor and bedding until we know the genders.

The big thing we're struggling with is the stroller and car seats. There are two options we see here. The first is getting this snap'n go stroller. It is basically a bare bones stroller frame that you can strap an infant car seat into. They claim you can fit most major brand infant car seats, but in the store, none of them seemed very sturdy in it other than the car seats that are the same brand and made for this stroller. The big pro to this option is that it is really light compared to full strollers (much easier to get in and out of the car). If we go with this option, we will need to purchase a double stroller later when the babies are able to sit upright in a stroller as opposed to using their car seats.

The second option we are considering is this double travel system. It also takes two infant car seats (same brand only-but it is at least a popular brand we've heard of), but can also be used when the babies are able to sit upright in the stroller. It is much heavier than the first option, but we would be set (I think) on the stroller front for awhile. The other issue to consider is that there was a recall on some of these strollers and I'm not sure if this particular model was recalled or not. Have to look into that.

I think either way, we are stuck having to buy new car seats when the babies grow out of the infant seats because it doesn't seem like any of the travel systems take convertible car seats. Please enlighten me if I'm wrong!

So, we welcome and appreciate any advice as we begin the great stroller debate of 2008!

New belly picture to come soon. It's growing by the day!