Future plans

My sweet friend, Kristin over at My Pretty in Pink Life inspired this post.  A few months ago, she made a couple of posts explaining to everyone what some of their future plans with baby (the-recently-arrived-handsome-Casey) were.  She answered some tough questions that she and her husband had been receiving from others.

I decided it might be a good idea to do something very similar.  A lot of our out of town family members read this blog, and I figured it would be nice for them to know what some of our future plans with Hudson include.  Of course, we are going to be first time parents.. so these are our plans and opinions as of NOW.  There is plenty of room for change once he actually arrives and I have no doubt that some change of plans will be inevitable.  But, at this point we are getting down to the home-stretch and we have made some pretty big decisions regarding the future for the three of us.

One - Let's start with our birth "plan".  We don't have one, and I'm ok with that.  It will be what it will be.  My OB seems to think that we have are going to have a rather large boy on our hands, so she always says to keep the possibility of a C-Section in the back of my mind.  Whatever is best for our son is best for me.  As of now, we are planning a natural birth.. and by natural, I mean not a c-section.  In no way, shape, or form do I think that I can go through childbirth without drugs.  My pain tolerance is about a 4.  Seriously.  I mentioned to Matt a few weeks back that maybe I would be able to do it au-natural.  He laughed.  He knows me just as well as I know myself.  So, the only "plan" that I have is to have the gigantic needle shoved in my spine to take away the pain.  Of course, this may all change in time.  We start our four-week labor and delivery classes next week.  Maybe something I hear in those classes will intrigue me to change this.  But as of now, bring on the drugs and whatever happens, happens.

Two - Feeding.  I do plan to breast-feed.  I know that it does not work for all babies, but my intentions are to follow through with it for at least a few months.  If he isn't into that, then I will pump and we will use the good old fashioned bottle.  Everything you read says that if you are breastfeeding you should not introduce a bottle or pacifier to your baby for at least four weeks.  I know I'm not a mom yet, but to me this is totally unrealistic.  We have plans to travel at the end of July (which I will get into later) and he will need to be taking a bottle by this point.  I don't plan on being the one to introduce him to the actual bottle if he is successful at breastfeeding.  That will be all up to Matt and will most likely be done at one of our night-feedings.  He will also need to be accustomed to a bottle by the time I go back to work - which I will also talk about later.

Three - Diapering.  As of now, we are stocked up on disposable diapers thanks to Matt's Huggies and Chuggies party and my frequent trips to Target, which each include a pack if diapers in the cart.  However, that doesn't mean down the road we won't switch to cloth.  I don't mean the type of cloth diapers like my mom used on me.. totally not into that!  However, I do love the covers they sell now that include inserts.. and you only really need to worry about the inserts (besides washing the covers as well).  There are a few local places that offer cleaning services at reasonable prices.  In the long run, I know this can save us money.  Matt has a co-worker that gave him one piece of money-saving advice.. use cloth diapers.  So, it's in the back of our minds.  But at this point, we are sticking with disposable.

Four - Sleeping/Co-Sleeping.  This one is tough.  There are so many options out there and ten times more opinions.  I have no intentions of having Hudson sleep in our bed with us - for various reasons.  First, I don't want to start that habit at a young age.  My parents didn't have us sleep in their bed and I think we turned out just fine.  Second, our dogs sleep in our bed and they are not little.  Their lives are going to change drastically and I have no intention of taking away their sleeping space.  I just don't think it would be safe to add a baby to the mix as well.  As of now, our plan is to have him sleep in his bassinet next to our bed for the first couple of weeks.  After that, I plan to move him to his crib and use a video monitor.  This is based on the fact that he will not be sleeping through the night right away.  According to my mom, I slept through the night from day 1.  I like to think that maybe Hudson will take after me in the sleep department :)  Hey, I can dream, right? ha ha  IF (a really really really really really big IF) he happens to be an awesome sleeper and sleeps through the night from day 1, we want to put him in his own room so he doesn't have any disturbances.  I will still pump during the night if he does not wake up.  I don't want the sound of the pump or me getting stuff together wake him up.  You know what they say.. never wake a sleeping baby!  

Five - Working Momma.  Yep.  I'm going to be one.  My school district provides six weeks of paid maternity leave - beginning with the day of delivery (unless are you put on bed rest at an earlier date.. then it begins with your first day "off").  My due date is June 28th, which means my six weeks will have expired by the time next school year begins.  So, any time I choose to take will be unpaid.  While that might be easy for some, it is not for us.  Our insurance did not cover a single penny (surprise, surprise) of our in-vitro cycles or medication.  Ok, they covered $2.25 for the Zithromax I had to take prior to my egg retrieval.  Therefore, we have medical bills upon medical bills to pay.  We also bought our gorgeous (I am partial) forever home prior to knowing that we would need to go through fertility treatments.  And we bought a new truck.  While some might say that we should get rid of the truck, sell the house and move to something smaller (like the rental property we also own.. thanks to the shitty-ness of the housing market and not being able to sell for a decent price), etc., that is not what is best for us.  We love our home.  We love our 4 acres of property even more.  This will allow Hudson to have plenty of room to play outside and explore when he is growing up.  And we need the truck to travel with a baby and two large dogs.  So again, it works for us.  With that being said, I am currently planning on taking off the first four weeks of school by using FMLA.  Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will return to work (if I still have a job.. I work in public education and do not teach a tested subject, so my job pretty much in limbo every year thanks to those a-holes who know nothing about education but create the rules/laws that govern it (yes I am bitter)) at the end of September when Hudson is around twelve weeks old.  I would love nothing more than to stay home with him, but it is just not feasible at this time.  I also plan to return to coaching lacrosse next spring.  It is a very time consuming commitment, but it is one that I love.  Matt will be able to bring the little guy to games, and I will still get home at a decent time most nights.  I will just be exhausted.. much like I am now :)

With that being said, daycare was a top priority on our list of things to figure out sooner than later.  I knew from that start that I did not want him in a large daycare facility.  Not only do they cost mega bucks, but I just don't like the idea of them.  Both of my parents worked full time and we were lucky enough to never have to go to one of these places and I wanted the same for my child.  We asked friends and co-workers for names, numbers, information, etc. of people who did in-home daycare (as in their own home, not ours).  We got a few suggestions, but ended up not having to use any of them!  One of my good friends is currently a stay at home mom to her little girl that will be one in the beginning of July.  I asked her if she would be interested in keeping Hudson four to five days a week during the school year - but told her not to feel obligated, it was just an idea I had.  She accepted!  So, he will be going to Miss Jill's house four days a week and will get to play with her sweet Lily!  She lives on our way to work, which makes it even more convenient.  The other day, Hudson will be going to stay with Miss Debby who will be going through empty nest syndrome because her youngest (one of my lacrosse players) goes off to college in the fall!  To me, this is the perfect set-up.  He will be with people we know personally and trust and that is what is most important.

Six - Baby Food.  I am pumped to make my own baby food!  Like, really really pumped.  I used to be the girl that lived off of mac and cheese and potato chips and could care less about making my own food, let alone food for anyone else.  Now, I do like to cook and I absolutely love having a garden of our own every year.  Planting season is just around the corner here!  I plan to make almost all of his baby food.  Some things will still need to be store bought (like the nasty meat if we do that), but I plan to make (and freeze) everything else.  There is nothing better than fresh fruits and veggies!  I found a few storage systems that I think will work perfectly with our space.. so I am really hoping that this works out!

Seven - Traveling.  We love to travel.  Anywhere and everywhere.  For a week or for a month.  It is just something that both Matt and I love.  And we don't plan on changing that.  While we will need to adjust some things, we still plan to travel.  In fact, we already have a long weekend planned for the last weekend of July.  We will be flying (with baby.. at 6 am) to Boston for a wedding.  We have enlisted my mom to go along so she can keep Hudson in the hotel room while we are at the actual wedding/reception.  The rest of the weekend will be like any other weekend getaway.  Walk around the city, get the giant cookies from the awesome market, and maybe even make a round in the aquarium.  Then we will fly home.  We will be home for about a week before we hop in the car and make the seven hour drive to the Outer Banks for our annual beach vacay.  While it is a little different this year (different time of year, shorter length of time, new house!), we still plan on going and doing many of the same things.  We will get up super early, make the 7 hour drive and get on the island before traffic is bad, eat lunch, go to the grocery store, and then check into our house.  We plan on taking him to the beach for a couple of hours each day (all covered and in a tent type apparatus!) and to the pool.. where he will be getting in the water.  I want him to get used to being in water at an early age - pool and ocean.  I am a terrible swimmer and I don't want him to be that way.  They town we stay in has an awesome running/jogging/biking trail and I am hoping to get him out for a walk at least once a day.  If we go out for dinner, he will go.  If we take a day trip anywhere, he will go.  At the end of the week, we will make the seven hour return trip home.  We have a few other trips planned out (in our minds right now) within the next year.. and he will going on every one of them.  In other words, we want our son to be used to traveling at a young age!

Eight - Baptism.  Yes.  We are going to baptize Hudson.  Matt is Catholic and I am Methodist.  We had a lot of discussion on this one and we came to the conclusion that we are going to baptize him in the Methodist church.  I am not Catholic and our marriage is not recognized in the Catholic church since we got married on the beach in NC, rather than in the church.  Therefore, it wouldn't be the easiest process to convert.  We have also been attending a Methodist church in our town for the last few months and we like it.  My (ready for this.. follow along) mom's cousin's husband is the preacher there and he is great, so we plan to continue attending this church.  However, we will not be baptizing him in that exact church.  Instead, we will have it done at the Methodist church I grew up in (and am still a member) and then have his membership transferred when he is older.  While we don't attend church every single week, I feel that it is important to teach Hudson about God and faith from the beginning.  We are hoping to have his baptism sometime in the end of August or early fall.  

I know this post is long winded, but these are the pretty big decisions we have made to this point.  Again, I know there is tons of room for change and I have no doubt that we will change and adapt some of our ideas and plans.  I also know that the decisions we have made do not work for everyone and that not everyone will agree.  I am a firm believer of the "to each their own" concept.  You do what works for you, we do what works for us.. and neither of us will push our views onto the other.  And this, my friends, is what works for us :)

Happy Friday!