Wow, do you know how hard it was not to give that away?! So now that I've got your attention, I will begin pumping the parents out there for information.

So here are the questions:

- what was the most useful piece of baby-raising equipment you got/bought?
- Toys you swear by?
- Ladies, when did you start buying/wearing maternity wear?
- How many clothing sizes did you go through before you delivered?
- Websites/resources you swear by? (we already have the Expecting series)
- What's the one thing you wish you had done differently during the pregnancy?

Consider me a bit isolated from other parenting types and a bit of an introvert. Pretend (albeit it is not a stretch) that I do not have any idea what the social duties would be in this situation:
- Do I need to send out any kind of announcement?
- I assume that I'm not responsible for setting up my own baby shower, right?
- Did/When did you sign up for a baby registry at said_chain_store?
- More than one?
- When did you set up the nursery? Did you?

Don't worry, I went into my ob/gyn with a very similar grocery list of questions.
I'm sure Guru has other questions he would ask. He's gone into "obsessive mode" so probably any books you would suggest would also be welcomed.

The biggest things I'm trying to avoid are:
a) horror stories - either it will or won't happen and there is precious little I can do about it now.
b) long labor stories - ditto
c) questions about my internal anatomy - some of this is ok, but naturally I lean towards modesty.

So, yeah, we have been busy letting folks know what's up. If we've missed anyone, we're sorry. My brain seems now to have a drain in the back where things I need to remember slip through. I'd like to blame it on tobo, but I think its too early for baby-brain. (otherwise know as "argh, the baby is eating my spleen!") Guru was apparently inundated with well wishes from his co-workers, including a phone call of young ladies yelling congratulations. I told him he was brave. :)

Yesterday management finished the window, so the last of the water damage has been fixed. Unfortunately they did that just before we got home, so it stunk of chemicals. We went out for dinner came back and still couldn't breath. So I finally got to see Harry Potter before it left the big screen last night. I enjoyed it, though I still like the book better. (this felt very much like glossing over a lot of stuff) I also have a hard time believing these kids were 15 (well, because they are not) but overall I thought it was good and am glad we went. By the time we got back the apt had aired much so it all worked out.

And now I'll say a few things about work.

I've had the weird experience of losing my job before I've left, in some ways. It's just the assumption that I will not be back (or at least not soon) after the birth. It was really odd because I *don't* want to rush this, but I still was ready to fight when someone else was trying to make the decision for me. I had to back up a moment and say, "what do I actually want here?" I just want to be deliberate about my choices and not just ride along and take what I can get. So if I'm staying home, I want to choose that. If I'm working part time/full time, I want to choose that too. I suspect I want to take time off until baby is sleeping through the night (when is that again???) and then maybe go part time, ideally from home. I'm debating upgrading my system to CS3 so I have all the tools ready in case I do that (be about $399) and I think I could find local freelance work with a bit of sniffing about. I also need to fix my website and portfolio. (which I've not updated in oh, 3 years) When they tell you to keep your portfolio updated when you get out of school, pay attention to them.

At work itself, I'm struggling to care. I have a strong inclination to work on stuff that is not important or timely (drudge work) instead of the really interesting projects that have come up (a lenten 40 day pray book, brochures templates, calendars, etc) and I think that's just slacker mode taking over. Most of my clients I want to chuck out the back window because of their annoying and petty little requests like new orders.

I'm also trying to find a replacement or new team member. I don't know how committed TL is about that part, or if he's just going to wait and see how bad it is without me for a few weeks before either asking me back or hiring a new person. Obviously we have some time, but I won't really feel comfortable about leaving if we don't have somebody lined up by 2008. His wife is ecstatic that I'm pregnant (that anyone would be pregnant actually) and has threatened a monster baby shower. (yikes!) But she also is going to school to be a delivery nurse, so it's understandable. (I believe she's also an extroverted sensing, so yeah medical problems at full volume!)

So that's the first batch of thoughts and feelings about being a about to be mom. I'm sure there will be much more to follow. Aren't you glad I'm no longer bottling it up?