Baby stuff...so much stuff.

The countdown is officially on. With (hopefully) less than 10 weeks to go, we're accumulating the absolute necessities for Baby's first few months. And by absolute necessities, we mean the bare minimum. Which is still a LOT of stuff!

One of the first questions everyone asks us is "what are you doing for the nursery?" Well... there can be no nursery. At least not until our lease is up in October and we move to a larger apartment.

Because this is where we live, as currently furnished:

It's a snug little nest, right? (note: this version is much neater/cleaner than reality.)

Any "extra" floor space you think you see is an illusion. But let's be honest, at 782 square feet, we already have more private space for us and our newborn than the majority of expectant parents on the planet. And even by spoiled first-world standards, it probably won't really be that much of an issue, since Sandi plans to breastfeed, which will be easier if Baby lives in our room with us.

Our plan is seriously going against the grain of American consumerism in many ways. Amazon, Babies R' Us, and the internet in general really want us to spend a lot of money on a lot of stuff,most of it made of cheap plastic and fabrics covered in toxins. They have lists of huge items "recommended" for new parents. But we don't have space, we'd rather save the money for a down payment on a house, and generally we want to be as minimalist as possible.

A major concern (especially for Doug, for some reason) is that so many of the items for babies are drenched in flame retardants, which are very toxic and emit fumes forever. Flame retardants are actually required by a U.S. regulation due to the large number of deaths from mainly cigarette-related fires. We don't want baby to burn up, but we also don't want to expose her to any more toxins than absolutely necessary.

Ingenuity washable all-in-one play-yard!

So after much research (mostly by Doug), we purchased a  washable, convertible, portable bassinet/co-sleeper/play-yard/changing table to tuck next to Sandi's side of the bed for night sleep and feedings. Thank you to Sandi's parents for offering to sponsor the bassinet/play-yard purchase! We appreciate it so much! We also got a baby swing for the living room area, since all of the nieces and nephews loved their swings and would play/sleep happily there when not being held. We already have a soft, tie-on sling carrier for "wearing" the baby around the house, which is a great supplement to carrying her in our arms to comfort her. We'll probably also buy an "Ergobaby" sling for longer outside excursions.


And that's about it.

Ingenuity washable multi-direction swing!

We'll also need a car seat, and since we already bought the breast pump and bottles, that should be the only other "big-ticket" baby item we'll need for the first few months. Except, of course, for diapers. Doug has found a local cloth diaper service that seems like a good balance between cost, convenience, and keeping poopy diapers out of landfills.

Hopefully by the time we need anything else substantial, we'll have moved to a larger place. Doug's new commute is more than an hour each way, so we'll likely move down into the peninsula to split the distance and get a larger space.

People who follow certain schools of parenting would strongly object to our choice not to use a "real" crib, which is "safer." But let's be real here. There's absolutely no space for a "real" crib. We won't even need an electronic/video baby monitor, because at no time will Baby be more than 20-30 feet away from us.  We won't need a high chair for months, if ever. She won't even need actual toys until Christmastime, which is...um...perfect!

Our lease is up in October, which is probably perfect timing.

In other ways, we've fallen into the modern "progressive" parent trap of wanting as much of our stuff as possible to be organic, non-toxic, and earth-friendly. So here's the list of what we've purchased or been given so far:

Washable play-yard (Ingenuity)
Ingenuity washable swing (Ingenuity)
Soft organic cotton tie-on sling (Stochen Wiege)
Organic lambskin (Child Organics)
Portable organic changing pad (Gift!!) ("Patemm")
Breast pump (Medela)
Glass baby bottles (Born Free)
Bottle warmer (Kiinde Kozii)
Organic nursing pillow (Blessed Nest)
Organic swaddling blankets (Bambino Land)
Burp cloths (Gifts!)
Several baby outfits (Gifts!)
Medical/first aid toolkit (Gift!)
Baby's first books (Gifts!)

We have several Target gift cards to spend which were gifts from Sandi's Jobe cousins and aunt & Uncle. (Thank you!!)

Doug is also researching car seat options, books, clothing, and other things we may need. But this should take care of most of the absolute necessities. We hope.

So there you go. That is how we're doing with baby stuff, so far. Phew!