preparations

On Saturday I went with a friend to a nearly new sale at a nearby school, where bundles of baby things were being sold off quite cheap.  She was definitely better at spotting things than me (she found me a sleeping bag and a swaddle blanket for £1 each!) but I rummaged through person after person's cast offs and thought, do other people really buy this much for their baby?  I could count the clothes we had for this baby on one hand, before today, and if I want to do a proper count now, I'll need to wait until they are finished washing, but it really isn't much more (though it felt like a lot as I was buying them). 

We have various lists and discussions about what things a baby actually needs, like special baths or breastfeeding pillows, or little shoes when clearly he won't be walking.  Mostly we decide these things are unnecessary, but then I'll be in a store trying on maternity clothes from the clearance rack and Sam will find a cute fluffy blanket that we clearly don't need but buy anyway, because it is so soft and cute. 

Often we find ourselves discussing, how would we do this with a baby? Can we still sleep in (no), go for walks (probably) or stay up late talking or playing games or watching movies (maybe)?  I'm told (over and over) that you can't really prepare, so I've decided not to feel guilty when I sleep in that extra thirty minutes, because that won't last forever.  I think I've perfected smiling and nodding to random advice, but I know that will just get worse once the baby has actually arrived.  Mostly we are really excited and hoping nothing goes wrong.  And sometimes I go and stare at our small pile of baby things and think about how strange it is that a brand-new person will soon be joining our family.