This all began after one long terrible high risk first pregnancy and not so ideal hospital delivery. I didn't want to think about being pregnant again after that, I knew I wanted more kids just wasn't sure how it was gonna happen. After a couple years went by and my baby was slowly turning into a this sweet little boy that baby fever was really setting in! I found myself watching the discovery channel baby story shows and one day last May I saw a water birth episode, after watching that show I knew I could do it again, I just needed to change how I did it! I love swimming, water has always been a relaxing thing for me, it would be the perfect resolution for me to have a baby without all the interventions of a normal hospital birth! That week I made the appoinment to have my IUD removed and we started our family planning!! :)

We found out we were expecting, and the journey began! The local hospital has a jaccuzzi tub, but it's just for laboring not for birthing. My midwife was on board for a water birth and helped me get in contact with the right people to try and get some procedures and policies put in place that would allow a water birth. However around 25 weeks or so I was informed it was taking much longer then they expected and that the policies would not be in place before my due date. My midwife referred me to a birthing center in Annapolis. After verifying with insurance that it would all be covered we switched care at 27
weeks.

Being a 1.5 hour drive with no traffic from our home, this was not a easy decision to come to! There were many pros to having a birthing center birth that ended up outweighing the cons...water birth capable, could have our son with us (with no family nearby, this was a big pro for us), 3-5 hour discharge after birth, no pressure for medical interventions, the list goes on! My husbands biggest fear was that we'd be having a baby on the side of the road. In fact at my 36 week appointment he asked the midwife again, how fast do you think this labor will go, and at what point do we need to make the drive. She said it's different with every person but since my last labor was 17 hours we shouldn't have anything to worry about!

The only thing that could stop me now from having a water birth was if there was complications, so my number one goal throughout the pregnancy was to stay healthy! I exercised regularly, ate well, drank tons of water, took my vitamins and supplements, etc! It all payed off, I had an excellent happy healthy pregnancy and was well on my way to a water birth, or so I though!

Tuesday, April 30th 2013, the day before my Due Date.  I had my 40 week prenatal check up at 11:20am.  During my shower I had a contraction and they continued about 3-4 an hour till my appointment.  At my appointment the midwife said I was a stretchy 3CM dialated and 80% effaced, she stripped my membranes and said go eat lunch and walk to mall and call in later if we have some progress.  

So we did just that, went to the mall, did some shopping, walking, ate lunch, and some more walking.  By 3pm the contractions had been 6 mins apart for about an hour, so I called in to tell the midwife the progress, she said come on in to be checked and we'll see where to go from there. So around 4pm they checked and I was 5CM 80% effaced, she said we  should expect to have the baby at some point in the night, don't leave town.  

I finally let the excitement sink in, this is really it, we're gonna have the baby soon!! Cody had just gotten off work, so he started heading up to Annapolis.  My mom, Karter and I went out for dinner and some more walking while we waited.  Contractions continued, around 9pm we finally went and checked into the birthing center so we could get some rest  before delivery.  Contractions continued through the night, but they didn't get closer together or stronger.  I slept terribly, up about every hour, those birthing center beds are not meant for sleeping, not to mention i'ts a queen size bed shared by my husband, 3 year old, oh and lets not forget myself and the big belly! 

At 8am the midwife came and checked on me again, I was still at 5CM and 80% effaced.  She said I could head home and that I would notice a difference in the contractions when it was "Real"!  It was so sad to be leaving with a baby still in my belly!

So it was officially the Due Date - May 1st 2013. I was exhausted from the prior day of walking, and the poor nights sleep that I got, it seemed like the end was never gonna be in sight. I managed to do some more nesting around the house, moving very slow but accomplishing things!! Since it was a pay day for us once Cody got home from work we left Karter with Nana and went to do some grocery shopping! By suggestion of one of my best friends we had Taco Bell for dinner, it might have actually done the trick too!!

Contractions started to get a little stronger while we were shopping, nothing that was too unbareable though, and they were like 6 minutes apart. We got home and put everything away, then headed upstairs for bed. Around 11:15pm, While I was going to the bathroom I felt a small pop, I poked my head out the bathroom and told Cody I think my water just broke. When I stood up there was no gush or even continued trickle, and my belly was still huge. Cody googled Water Breaking and it didn't sound like it was it so we just wrote it off.

Within minutes my contractions started to get more intense, after about an hour of solid strong contractions I had Cody call the midwife...I was contracting about every 3 minutes. Midwife said this could be the real deal finally but she'd hate to see us make the drive up there and it not be it so she said try taking a bath and if the contractions stop then it's not it, if they continue then start heading up. Cody started re-packing the car again and I ran a bath and hopped in, the hot water felt so good, but then my body started shaking, I thought it was really weird and a couple minutes later it did it again, I realized my body was pushing. I knew he was really coming this time and he was coming soon!!

Without even drying off I ran and woke my mom up, "it's go time, he's coming out!!!" I yelled down to Cody, he came up and I told him I could feel him coming out, he knew at this point we would not make it to the birthing center, and he made the executive decision that we were going to
the hospital and we were going now!! My mom went to get herself and Karter ready to go, I sat down on the birthing ball and Cody worked through my contractions to get me dressed! I walked downstairs and that was when I felt the so called "Ring of Fire", I told Cody he's coming out now! I laid down on the living room floor and those sweat pants that took him 2 contractions to put on, he had off in .02 seconds! lol He yelled up to my mom we need towels, she said "What!? Why!?"

Cody got some gloves, mom got towels, and they both came back. Cody called 911 at 1:00am, and informed them of what was going on. I kinda figured they'd stay on the line and walk him through it but she said "someone is on their way" and just hung up! At this point, my body had continued pushing him, and his head was crowned. I reminded cody to massage the area so it doesn’t tear but he told me his head was already out, one good push and he'd be all the way out. I waited for the next contraction and gave my one push and out he came along with that gush of fluids...it was like a huge weight was being lifted off of me! I sat up and Cody handed me our son! We did it, together! I cried tears of joy! Such an amazing feeling!

EMT arrived at 1:08am, I requested we keep the cord attached so he could receive all the blood, I stood up and got on the stretcher myself. They sent us to the hospital, once there Cody cut the cord at 1:50am, Kris nursed for the first time at 1:55am, and placenta was delivered at 2:24am. Since the birthing center was in Annapolis, in the event of transfer we were registered for the hospital across the street from there, not the one closest to our house! So for not being a registered patient and them not having a copy of my records or birthplan/newborn care wishes they were very good to us! They asked us about everything and were very supportive, even allowed us to do a early discharge - 12 hours, not quite as fast as the birthing center but still better then the normal few days!

It was so nice to be home and sleep in our own bed that night!  We didn't even miss a night of tucking in Karter to bed!!  While I didn't get the water birth, I don't have any complaints and it was definitely an experience to never be forgotten!! And that sums up our story of the birth of our little boy who cried wolf!

So here’s a good start to any baby registry!!  We have received and purchased ourselves so many great products over the past 3 years, some we registered for, some just fell into our hands.  In this blog entry I am mostly covering topics with products and brands that we especially love!  There are obviously more things you will need  like clothes, sheets, diapers, baby wash, lotion, etc...but it’s kinda to each their own on that stuff!!  All this stuff is mommy, daddy and Karter tested and approved products, or products we’ve chosen for the second time around due to our 1st time experiences!! 

Chicco is one of the best for the infant carrier, I recommend to go with the key fit 30 if you can, it costs a little more but it gives you more use! The Cortina Stroller stands much higher then most, the handle is adjustable, great for us tall folk, but since the handle adjusts it also works nicely for short people or big siblings!  It collapses easily, I can do it one handed, and is about the average size of most travel system strollers - fits nicely in the trunk of our ford focus and van.  We also purchased a Chicco Liteway when he was around 15 months old, not as nice as the Cortina Stroller but more compact so easier to travel with!

Be sure to include on your registry a convertible carseat as well because when they outgrow the   infant carrier (which for us was at 6 months) and you will want something that they can continue to ride backwards in (recommended at a minimum for ages 2 and under, but more ideally to the maximum limits of the carseat).  I don’t own it yet, but my #1 Carseat Recommendation is Diono Radian RXT, 5-120lbs weight limit...45lbs rear face limit, 80lbs or 57" in 5 point harness limit, Steel Frame instead of plastic, 8 year expiration date instead of the normal 5 year expiration plus an additional 2 year expiration on the booster...so 10 years total use!! This is a SUPER
Carseat!!  The convertible carseat we use with Karter (bought prior to knowing anything about Diono Radians) is Graco MyRide65, 5-65lbs weight limit...40lbs rear facing limit, forward face with harness till 65lbs, 5 year expiration.  We also have a Graco Nautilus (20-100 lbs, 65lbs or 52” in 5 point harness), but it’s a forward facing only seat, so it’s in our extra car since Karter still hasn’t reached the rear facing limits of the MyRide65.  

We all want to keep our babies safe so your goal when looking at carseats
is to look for a seat with the highest restrictions, may cost a little more but
it means your baby is that much safer for that much longer!!  Truth be told, I own 3 different carseats that I’ve used over my sons 3 years of life and together they cost WAY more than the Diono Radian which does  what all three of my carseats do and more (minus the convenience of the “bucket” infant only Chicco Carseat - it is handy to just carry in the carseat when you have a sleeping newborn.)  Do NOT purchase  any aftermarket carseat inserts or accessories...they have not been crash tested and could interfere with the safety of the seat, in the event of a car accident!  If you have any questions concerning carseats or installation I highly recommend setting up an appointment with a Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician, they are VERY knowledgeable, I still to this day learn new things from them!!

While I'm thinking about Chicco I figured I'd tell you they have the best high chair as well! Height Adjustable (great for if you sit on the couch to feed them or so they can join you at an average or tall dinner table), reclinable (very nice for including a new born, or non sitting infant into family meals), easy to clean, durable.  Oh and we love our Chicco pack n play! Has all the bells and whistles - changing table, basinette feature, remote controlled sound/light/vibration machine, toy gym (to use in bassinete feature, in normal pack n play feature or just on the floor), handy side pockets, privacy screen, easy to use, easy to clean!   

Pretty much anything Chicco is great, rather then making a million models of each baby item they make 1 and it has all the features you can want!  This has been my opinion of them based on 3 years ago when we were making our big purchases, as I'm writing this blog I'm viewing their website and seeing they have more products a different models available but still only 2-3 models not 25 like Graco!

Rocker/Glider & Ottoman combo is a must if you plan on nursing, we didn't have one with Karter and it really really sucked!  The most comfortable place I nursed was at my parents house in their recliner, I often went home just for the comfort!  I have a Shermag Bella Deluxe Glider Rocker & Ottoman with Side Table, I love love love the rocker (not a fan of the color nor Babies R Us customer service or their sales restrictions, but that’s another story) - it has a high back on it which is perfect for myself and my tall husband, it glides smoothly, has a locking feature to prevent gliding on the chair and ottoman (great for preventing my 3 year old from taking out a wall, or getting little fingers stuck in the gears), it reclines, the ottoman also has a nursing stool that pops out, it came with a side table too – nothing fancy about it.

Crib – Obvious necessity!  We were very frugal with this, we requested on our registry a nursery in a box from Walmart, it came with a basic crib, changing table and dresser - for I wanna say around $150-$200 (this was 3 years ago, although I do know they still sell a similar set).  The dresser is great for baby clothes, however gets outgrown in about 2 or 3 years, we are still using it in my 3 year olds room but because his clothes are bigger we do have to force   the drawers shut!  I’ll talk about the changing table below.  The crib
was perfect, it’s not one of those fancy 4 in 1 cribs but it was perfect for
us.  Karter graduated to a toddler bed for his first birthday (luckily for us he only had 2 teeth at that point so there was minimal teething damage), So we’ll be using it again for probably about the same length of time.  He
used the toddler bed for about a year and a half till he got his big boy bed.
 The toddler bed cost us $50 and it was from Wal-Mart and matched his nursery in a box bedroom furniture.  All in all it didn’t quite add up for
us to buy one of those 4-in-1 cribs.  Also something to keep in mind, the 4-in-1 toddler bed conversion is like a day bed– some parents don’t care for this feature.  I have one friend who 2 years in couldn’t bear to look at her
 4-in-1crib any longer due to the teething damage...so if you have one, remember you’ll have it for a long time – be sure to buy whatever protection accessories you need to preserve its appearance!

Changing Table - Every parent is a little different on their preference for a changing table, I LOVED it with Karter, so much that I bought another one for downstairs too, and we used them till he was potty trained.  I really liked having everything organized in one place.  This time around, due to lack of space in the nursery, we’ve made a changing station on the dresser and I’ll have another one down stairs, so it’s still all organized together.  So I highly recommend a changing station, but the actual table itself is not a necessity. 

Bassinnette - a great thing to have, especially if your master bedroom is cramped for space!  It's only used for a couple months but worth a nice one, I found a great one I had on my registry, The First Years 5 in 1 Carry Me Near Sleep System.  I just purchased it but haven’t received it yet.  So far impressed - It glides, has a night light, plays soothing sounds, elevates to help congestion and reflux (which is big with newborns), you can also pull the basket part out and carry that around and under the basket is a changing table...very handy!  It’s height adjustable and can also attach to your bed. We had a really old second hand one for Karter and while it achieved its purpose, looking back it would have been nice to have some of those amenities just to make the newborn time period a little easier!!

Breast feeding- Madela is the brand to go with on anything breastfeeding wise. I had a single pump with Karter and it's much more time consuming, I got a double this time around!  There are lots of other great accessories they have - storage bottles and bags, nipple shields, breast shells, etc.  I highly recommend visiting with a lactation consultant during your pregnancy, there may be classes you can take which are very great, but the advantage to a one on one appointment is she can check your nipples and make you aware ahead of time of any problems that may arise, and also let you know what sizes you will need for any accessories.  I didn’t do this when I was pregnant with Karter and had I, it would have made our first week home soooo much better!! 

Bottles - I wasn't a fan of Madela bottle nipples, so we used Dr Browns bottles- great bottle, but lots of pieces to clean and keep track of. I still have all my Dr Browns bottles but I also got a couple Tommie Tippies that I'm gonna try this time too (nipple is very similar to breast so easy to switch back and forth). When Karter got older Nuk bottles was a great bottle for him, because he wanted his milk and he wanted it fast!!  Every baby is different in what they like so it may be a good idea to have a couple different brands and then save some of those giftcards to buy more once you find out what works best for you and your baby!  I recommend the same for Pacifiers!

 Nursing Cover - You'll want a nursing cover! I'm not brand specific on this one, you can make one or have a custom one made by someone who does sew! I scored a couple from www.uddercovers.com for free only had to pay for shipping ($12). Coupon codes change every now and then but last I checked “7slings” is working.  One nice thing to the Uddercover over one I was given from Target (not sure of brand) is that the uddercover has a rigid metal type material in the neck that makes it stand up, so you can see baby!

Nursing/Support Cushion - Definitely will want a boppee or cuddle U, both have perks - boppee has washable covers, cuddle u has a latch in system...we went with cuddle U!  This is great for many uses - a positioner, nursing, tummy time, etc!!

Microwaveable Sterilizer - sanitizes bottles, pacifiers, breast pump equipment, sippy cups in 2 mins!! Most amazing thing! I never quit using 
 that! I originally wanted this fancy steriling maching that does it in like 45
mins, but one of my friends (who was already a mom, knowing that 45

minutes was a bit unrealistic) got me the Munchkin Microwavable one as a shower gift and I’m soooo grateful, WAY more convenient & faster!! I also have some Madela Steamable bags that I carry with me when I’m traveling!

Sippy Cups - we first started with Nuk, because Karter liked their bottles, we figured he'd like their sippy cups too but due to their design they actually brusied his nose.  The brand we ended up going with was Born Free, a few in each stage.  Around his first birthday he was starting to chew them and so we got basic no leak hard top sippy's for out and about and we used a cup at home.

Slings/Carriers - I don't like carriers, they hurt my back.  Once I descovered the Sling Baby Wearing I fell in love, there are 6 different holds you can do, it works from 6lbs-35lbs.  I have a few slings from brands HotSlings and Seven Slings. I scored the Seven Slings free from www.sevenslings.com coupon code “ucovers” only have to pay shipping ($12). Size matters on these! I have the 2 HotSlings from after I had my son when I weighed much more and they were size 8 (it’s now too big and doesn’t distribute baby properly - no longer comfortable to wear), I lost 100lbs and currently wear a size 5 and it's perfect. Perks to HotSlings, over Seven Slings, is they have built in padding for the kids legs (in the holds for 6 months+), it comes with a handy dandy cheat sheet with step by step instructions of each hold and a DVD to show you more detailed how each hold works! HotSlings also now makes an Adjustable pouch that is supposed to cover more sizes in one, I’ve not seen one in person or tried it, but I love the fit and simplicity of my Original HotSlings (Also known as Designer Pouch).

Bumbo - another must have!  We started using this just before Karter turned 5 months, he was wanting to sit up but was very wobbly, this seemed to teach him the posture and stability, he was sitting on his own in only 6 days!  Just be sure not to use this on raised surfaces!  If you purchase this second hand and it doesn’t have the seatbelt, also be sure to contact Bumbo for a free installation kit!

Swing and Bouncer Seat- usually matching! Ours (Fisher Price) are both battery operated and considered portable so they fold and store nicely in a closet while not in use!  These are very nice soothers during the Newborn/Early Infant months, and then make for many great uses during the remainder of the first year.  The bouncer seat was a godsend for when mommy needed a shower!

I wouldn't recommend putting an Exercauser on the registry unless you have room to store it, they don't typically use it till 6mo or so and they’re soooo bulky!  If you can score this used even better, get your 6 months or so of use out of it and pass it along to someone else!  Then you won’t feel
you’ve invested so much into this big bulky thing that doesn’t store well!  (Learn from my lesson)

One of the best gifts I received was from my grandmother, it was a gift set off Amazon from Cloud B & Vulli which included 2 – Sleep Sheeps (a travel & full size), a Constellation Night Light Turtle, a Lavender Lab, and a Sofie the Giraffe Teether.  The Sleep Sheep and Constellation Night Light are still being used with my 3 year old. 

Sleep Sheep - each makes 4 soothing sounds – between the two of ours there is Heartbeat, Rain, Ocean, Whales and Stream.  As a newborn Karter started out liking Heart Beat, he went through phases where each one was a favorite, we also went through a phase where he wanted a
different one each night and now his favorite is whales.  We hung this from his crib, his toddler bed, and now it sits on a table near his bed, he gets 20 minutes at bedtime and then often if he wakes up in the night or 2 early in the morning he restarts it on his own and goes back to sleep!  What better of a gift can anyone give a new parent then the gift of sleep!!  I also have heard you can use this while your pregnant so baby hears the sounds and will be even more soothed once he arrives, I'm currently testing out this theory!! ;)
 
Constellation Night Light Turtle became especially useful around the toddler phase when he began to fight sleep, he had a really hard time
staying still and this makes him lay down and look up at the ceiling to see the stars, he looks forward to turning the lights off so he can see his stars, so this can be an excellent product to use for kids who are starting to fear the dark, it’s also a nice night light!    

The Lavender Lab is meant to be laid on blankets and then leaves a lavender scent to help baby fall asleep.  I wasn’t too impressed with this product but I implemented the idea in other ways –lavender baby wash and lotion for bath time  before bed, a Scentsy Medium Sized Nursery Warmer with relaxing scents in it (they have lavender). 

Sofie the Giraffe – was a staple in our home. My first impression of this was – “You bought our son a $20 over glorified dog toy!?”  but it quickly changed!  Our sons love for it began before he could even grab it, he loved the look of it, then when he could reach it was always the most reached for toy, it was a great distraction for when he got angry in the car (squeaker), and when he was teething, it always gave him relief.  It stimulates all 5 senses –Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste and even Smell!

A Video baby monitor was a must for us!! We have the Summer Baby Touch Monitor....AMAZING!  It Pans and tilts, has color, talk back feature, the monitor (part that your watch) is the size of a smartphone and has a touch screen, the cameras come with an extra battery operated base, Which makes it very portable! Good range on it, we have a 1900sq ft house - works everywhere and in the yard! Has 4  channels so you can get more cameras for additional babies later on or for a playroom!

We used Chicco the first time around, very durable bag!!  Made it through 12 months of heavy use!  We had a second backpack style diaper bag that we switched to around 1 year old (which is still packed with emergency stuff in the stow & go compartment in my van).  For outings now (the gym, the park, the ball field, a picnic, etc) we use a Thirty One Organizing Utility Tote.  For when baby #2 arrives and we start the infancy stage all over again I have purchased a Thirty One Casual Cargo Purse –I was first drawn to it because I’m all about anything personalized, but now that I have it I’m very impressed with it and actually surprised they don’t advertise it more for a diaper bag!  It’s lined, has good pockets, and plenty of room for all the baby needs!!

We love baby gates, for the pets, for the kids, for safety, to keep a portion of my hose clean...many uses!!  I have used many different kinds of gates, I highly recommend walk through gates, so much easier then jumping over or having to move the cheapo gates!!  We have multiple Carlson pet gates, which are sold in the pet department at most walmarts, we chose the pet one over the Carlson one they sell in the baby deparment because we liked the small pet door...they are the same gate and run around the same price.  

Our current house has a 6 foot opening where we wanted the gate so we
purchased a North States Supergate - it fits any openings from 37”-72”, has a very wide walk through door, pivots,  and detaches off the wall to
stow away. We’ve only had it for a few days and so far our only concern is we had to mount ours above the trim and so now there’s no center bottom support – so we’re extra careful about making sure our 3 year old doesn’t try climbing it, as to not rip it off the wall!  Resolution would be mounting it flush with the ground, if possible. 

>  Pack N Play Sheets – I didn’t even know they sold these till Karter was about 8 months old...genius – it prevents stains from getting on the pack n play mats!
>  Waterproof Mats – Great for many uses – diaper changing mats, under a carseat (remember after market seat protectors are not safe – the water proof mats are safe though because they are thin enough not to  cause compression, and don’t interfere with seatbelt/latch pathways), under or on top of the pack n play sheets so spit up or over flowed diapers don’t saturate the mat.
>  Bathtub
>  Humidifier – I didn’t have one of these till more recently, it was recommended many times when my son or even my husband and I got sick, but we just never got one.  We now have a Crane Drop Shape Ultrasonic Cool Mist 2.3 gallon Humidifier – it has made a noticeable for my son and myself when we were sick, works best in smaller rooms!!
>  Crib Mattress – Often a forgotten item!
>  Contoured Changing Pad – for that Diaper Changing Station!
>  Swaddle Blankets – Karter LOVED to be swaddled, we had a few different brands and used them till Karter was like 6 months old!
>  Receiving Blankets & Burp Cloths – Karter was a big spitter upper so we had many of these!!
>  Safety Supplies – They get mobile ever so fast – plug covers, door handle covers, cabinet/drawer locks, etc.
>  Diaper Genie - If your using disposable diapers - NEED NEED NEED!
>  If your interested in Cloth Diapers at all, stay tuned for a blog on that! I'm Talking $1200 of savings on diapers and wipes each year per kid, plus better for their skin and the planet and the list goes on!

Ok, That's everything that I can think of!!  I can update this at anytime, so feel free to leave a comment with a topic I may have forgotten or tell me about something you could live without!! :)

If you've enjoyed this Blog and would like to see more - "Like" the Domestic  Diva Kalynn facebook fan page and follow me on twitter for updates!

Being a US Navy family, we move around often.  I was very lucky to be only 3 hours from my home town in Florida when I was pregnant with my oldest, but now here I am 25 weeks pregnant with my second and 14 hours away from my momma!  Once of my biggest fears is my mom not being there with us when this baby comes, she has such an amazing relationship with my oldest and I firmly believe it was because she was there in the room when he was born.  I still haven't figured out a resolution for getting her paid days off from work and timing her trip to where she can be here in time for the delivery, which happens when it wants! lol  But I have made the most of sharing my pregnancy with family and friends from afar!

The Announcement:
When we found out we were pregnant we already had an awesome custom embroidered t-shirt made for our son that said "I'm gonna be a big brother" and it had his name on it!  One of my recent Photography props I made from one of my Trash to freasure projects was these awesome chalk boards.  So I did a shoot with him in his new shirt and with a chalk board.  I coordinated a convenient time for an oovoo date with my mom & dad and my husband's mom & step dad...amazingly we were all able to be in the same video chat at the same time...Oovoo is the best for this!  All at the same time I gave them a link to visit that was an online album with the photos from the shoot, then we sent the pictures to our closest friends and family, then we made it public on facebook!

The First Heartbeat:
My midwife allowed me to record the heartbeat when she was listening for it during my 8 week prenatal visit.  After the appointment was over I sent it to the grandparents via multimedia message and they loved it, my mother-in-law even said it made her get teary eyed!!  Helps make them feel closer and apart of the pregnancy!

Names:
We like to have names picked before we know the gender so that from the day we know the gender we also have a name.  Last pregnancy we made our decision the night before the ultrasound, so when I was in the ultrasound and Cody was in El Salvador on deployment he called and got to hear the heartbeat and I was able to tell him "that would be your son, Karter Paul Wachs."  Well this time around we were talking about names before we were even pregnant so we had our minds made up at 12 weeks pregnant.  I wanted to share the news in a more interesting way then a Facebook Status and we came up with a fun way to not only share the news but to give show them our original list and make it a game where they get to guess as their looking through the album.

Now I did have to remind everyone we WERE NOT having twins, that we just had a name picked out for each gender and we chose to have them both have the same nick name, so from that day on it was "Baby Kris!"

Gender Reveal
This one was a tough one, my husband did not want to find out the gender, he wanted a boy and I wanted a girl and he said we should just not find out at all!  I NEEDED to know, so he came up with something creative to make it more interesting for when we did find out...I think ultimately he wanted proof of me crying if it wasn't a girl!  lol  Gender Reveal Parties are the big hit right now, but again since our friends and family are so far away we couldn't a big party to share the news so we were gonna do a Gender Reveal Shoot...well he didn't want us to find out until the shoot!  So we had the ultrasound tech right it on a card and seal it up and our shoot was scheduled for the next day due to lighting, so I brought the card to a friend along with all the supplies and she prepared the box for our shoot.  That 24 hours of waiting was such an anticipation builder, I hardly slept that night!  I ofcourse took my own pictures but I had my friend take a video of it.  We shared the video & pictures with our family to reveal the news and then the photos with our friends and finally made it official on Facebook! -Note last picture...my husband expression still cracks me up!!  Oh and I didn't cry! :)

Registry/Baby Shower:
I have only lived in Maryland for 8 months now, I do have a lot of friends here but I don't know that I have any close enough, who also have any extra time, who would throw a baby shower for me.  I also don't know that it's that neccessary since I'm having another boy.  I did get rid of alot of infant clothing back when I could still remember my pregnancy, labor and delivery and swore I would never get pregnant again...and then somewhere around 9 months in it finally dawned on me I may use this again.  We also are taking on a new adventure into Cloth Diapering this time around so I'm in need of things there.  However my husband and I are slowly buying things as they go on sale and as we can afford them.  I did make a registry on Amazon so that if any friends and family did want to make any purchases they can see what we need and have it shipped right to our house from the comfort of their own couch!  With my son I had like 4 registries at different stores and I never kept up with any of them, it was fun running around with the gun the first day and then I don't remeber anything after that.  With this Amazon registry I'm constantly on it, adding things, removing things, checking current pricing...so the things I like most about a Amazon Baby Registry:

-Easy to Access - for family and for us - a simple search on Amazon Baby registries and our family can find it and for us it's part of our account, off on the right hand side there's a drop down menu under wish list and just hit Baby Registry - that's how I started it and also how I acess it anytime!
-Notes - once something is added to the registry hit "edit comments, quantity & Priority."  This is a nice feature because I can state what the product is for, where I plan to have it, when and/or how long I'll use it, etc.
-Quantity Editing - I believe most registries you can request 12 bottles but if you have 12 on your Babies R Us registry and someone buys you a 4 pack at walmart, your Babies R Us registry doesn't show it.  So here I can say quantity desired is 12, if I receive 4 I can edit it saying 4 were received, once the desired amount is reached Amazon adds it to the Purchased Items List - which is still viewable by anyone or myself!
-Priority - I can edit the priority of an item based on: Must Have, Like To Have, Nice to Have.  In the screen capture below you can see the rash cream comes up "Must Have", yet the carseat shows no priority because I have it listed as "Nice to Have."  (I have 3 carseats in different stages that have all passed inspection, I WANT the safest for my kids so I'm saving my pennies for it but it's not a NEED!)
-Categories - I'm a organizational freak, so I especially love how I can chage the categories on the items.  For instance Diapers come up under Diapering Category, but the diaper rash cream came up under Bathing & Skin Care...I can select Change Category, select Diapering and it'll move down to the diapering Category.

Now I haven't actually received anything from any of my friends of family that ordered direct from my Amazon registry, so I'm not exactly positive if the quantities will change when someone does.  I have received gifts in the past from Amazon before and they come very nicely wrapped with a card and gift receipt/packing slip with no price listed! 

As for those who want to have a babyshower from afar, I would suggest a virtual baby shower. Send out invites via the mail, e-mail, or create a facebook event.  Create a registry and have any gifts sent but the parents are not allowed to open them till the shower.  Using a video chat program like Oovoo (www.oovoo.com) you can chat with up to 12 people at one time under a free account, so make sure all who would like to be in attendence have an account set up and are ready to go when the party time begins.  You can play a couple shower games, and open up presents then enjoy some cupcakes while you sit and chat with everyone!  If you are a real planner you can even sent out shower party favors ahead of time maybe even stuff with the party theme, and a maternity or ultrasound picture so everyone can have a feel of the party at their home...it will really help bring everyone together!!

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