Things I Obsessed Over during Pregnancy that Seem Silly in Retrospect

Posted by rebecca

31 Jan

During my pregnancy, I had some real concerns about giving birth and breastfeeding. But I also enjoyed obsessing over other issues that—six years later—no longer feel quite so urgent. Here were my particular bugaboos:

Nursing pads. What are nursing pads? Do I need nursing pads? How do I choose nursing pads? What if I choose the wrong nursing pads? Who knows why I cared so much about nursing pads. Read my nursing pads reviews. Or buy some LANAcare nursing pads and be done with it.

Cloth diapering. Prefolds? Diaper covers? Pocket diapers? All-in-ones? How will I ever decide? How will I wash them? If only I could have gone into the future and written the Eco-nomical Baby Guide, then brought it back to 2006 so I could read it and learn everything I needed to know about cloth diapering.

Pink clothes. Now that I know I’m having a girl, what if everyone buys her pink clothes? And pink blankets? How will my daughter defy gender expectations in pink ruffles? Well, it happened. And at six, my daughter’s favorite color is . . . yes, pink. She also wants to grow up and become a doctor (okay, or a ballerina).

Bad baby gifts. What if someone buys my baby something and I hate it? I really over-thought this one. Two choices: I can keep it or donate it.

For the baby, it’s a magical jungle. For me, a garish petroleum product that will one day wind up in a landfill.

Did you have any goofy pregnancy obsessions? What were they—and what did you do to alleviate your (admittedly silly) concerns?

Filed under: Baby Gear, Green Pregnancy

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2 Responses for "Things I Obsessed Over during Pregnancy that Seem Silly in Retrospect"

joy January 31st, 2012 at 6:34 am 1
I don’t think there is much that I didn’t obsess over! I remember thinking I’d never be able to handle nursing in public, I worried over how I’d survive the lack of sleep, and I completely shared in your anxiety over all things pink. My daughter is now the most feminine, butterfly loving, ballet tutu wearing human being I know. In fact, pink is the only color she can correctly identify at 2 years old!

It’s funny to look back at how scary it all seemed, but I think the exhaustion factor makes it much harder to obsess once the baby arrives–which is actually a good thing!
MelodyR February 8th, 2012 at 12:53 pm 2
I was convinced that some of my husbands family members were going to give us disposable diapers and formula. That is standard baby gear in their experience and I was afraid that even if we told them we weren’t using disposables and we would be breastfeeding that they would still give us the diapers and formula because we should have them “just in case”. My mother in law was in charge of the shower and I think she made it clear to everyone what kind of gifts were appropriate. She totally respected all the choices we made even though they were very different than the way she had raised her babies. Most of the gifts we received was the green gear we wanted (including cloth pocket diapers and prefolds) plus lots of cute clothes and toys that we’ve either used or traded in a the used kids gear store.