Mars and Venus Go Baby Shopping

The time had come around the sixth month to begin the “big” shopping. Yes, I mean that in two ways. First, all baby supplies must be purchased. Second, those “they-will-fit-all-the-way-through-pregnancy-and-beyond” maternity clothes we bought were already residing with the potpourri and candles somewhere(see Morning Sickness post). Frustrated, I went all the way to the top after that. Everything I touched was as big as I could get it after that. In fact, I found this great pair of comfy shorts that I nearly lived in from then on.
The sad secret.
I still wear them.
And I’m not pregnant.
Then, a second ultrasound was done (See Ultrasound post) and the joy of finding we are expecting a boy was known!
Mike and I rejoiced at his health and growth and I was again amazed at how God blesses us so deeply with the gift of children in our marriage. The wonderful growth of this baby from the little Mr. Peanut Man was now about 11 inches long and weighed over a pound.
My mother and I had been waiting for this moment for months. The restraint we had shown in waiting for an announcement of gender was commendable. Now the barriers were down and we were shopping. Any store that lured excited pre-Grandmas and new first-time-pregnant women toward “must-haves” was visited. Mike, my dear husband, who noted the frenzy and wild-eyed look in our eyes excused himself from the festivities and kept an eye on the checkbook.
I hawked elite baby stores and department stores and sales and second-day stores and chose some things to be purchased regardless of the contemplation of “need” versus “later to be featured in a garage sale”.
Mike, who was now hiding checkbooks and charge cards, was on board with some necessities. There are some areas that I have come to find where men do not fear to tread.
With Mike, it was wood and wheels.
He actually jumped at the opportunity to shop for a crib and a new stroller. This surprised me until we arrived at the baby section of the local department store. Whereas there had been basically women in the stores mom and I visited, there were masses of men to be found in the baby furniture area.
I realize this is where they lure the men in.
Fifty different types of strollers lining two sides of an aisle and at least twenty types of cribs on the showroom floor. I actually saw a dad under a crib looking at the bottom like he was under a car. Others were shaking the cribs like they were wrestling a wild animal. This must be meeting some "must test" requirement within a guy that I am not aware of.
Mike’s eyes gravitated to a navy stroller with ergonomic wheels and seven hundred options. I think we actually spent more time looking at a stroller than we evaluated the purchase of a car. He actually stood on it and men were having races around the store in them to test: balance, shock absorption, braking mechanisms...a world of which I was not aware.
We bought so many things that ended up being "please come to our garage sale" items over time that I marvel at how we ever thought it was a "necessity" at the time. One thing I actually laugh about to this day is a trash can gadget for dirty baby diapers that we picked up that day. We paid about thirty dollars for it and there were these disposable bags in a container that had to be snapped in to the unit…Well, it holds about 10 newborn diapers at a time (okay, that lasts about 2 hours) and maybe 2 toddler diapers...maybe.
Hilarious!
I did not understand at the time, but I know now that there were sage women laughing when they saw the things we were buying.
And scanning the male frenzy in the baby furniture department, I also noticed these experienced women were nowhere near there either. (smile!)