Time to think nursery furniture...

There's no more ignoring the fact that it's time to start thinking about the nursery. I've put it off long enough and now I think I have the ego strength to cope with the stress of this undertaking! But boy oh boy, is there a lot to think about!

First up - the cot. Thankfully a colleague from work is giving me her old cot. Her children are well and truly grown now, so I know it won't be in pristine condition, but she's happy for me to do with it whatever I like, so I'm thinking a quick sand and a slosh of white paint and it will be as good as new. Apparently it's an American cot, purchased while they were living over there, which means it is larger than the standard cots here in Australia. I've seen an old photo of it and it seems quite nice - will post photos when it's set up. We collect the cot with mattress and one set of sheets this weekend so that's one thing to cross off the list.

Next up is a bassinet. We plan to have bub sleep in our room in a bassinet at night but in her cot during the day (until she outgrows the bassinet, then it's full-time cot). I'm quite taken with this style of bassinet... I think it's really pretty - soft and delicate. And I like the skirt going all the way to the ground. I'm counting on Mum to make me some sheets (for both cot and bassinet) and a skirt if I need one... hint, hint! I'm also keeping my eye on ebay to see if anything I like comes up, but in fact there are a few sales around at the moment and I found something at Target that actually isn't that expensive, so we might just end up buying the bassinet new.

So, that's the sleeping arrangements taken care of (forgetting the endless supply of sheets, the lambswool sheepskin, musical mobiles, nightlights, and blankets/swaddle cloths...). Next up comes transport, specifically car seats/capsules. After seeking advice from people who are far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to things like this, we've pretty much decided to start off with a rented capsule from Queensland Ambulance, something like the picture I've included here.

Now doesn't that just look like it would be incredibly comfortable? (although I suspect the rental ones won't be quite as good looking as this one). Rental is a good option because it's only about $70 for 6 months and you can then move from the capsule into a car seat at 6 months that will probaby last the baby for the next 5-6 years. The other advantage of capsules is that you don't have to wake the baby up to take her in and out of the car, which sounds like a good thing to me! You can get additional bases for the capsules so that I can easily swap the capsule from my car to Brandon's - my understanding is that the capsule disconnects from of a base unit that stays behind in the car. Nice and easy (yeah, famous last words, eh?)

Apparently one also needs to consider where you're going to change baby's nappies - quite an important consideration really when you consider the potential impact of NOT considering nappy changes! LOL I'm quite keen on white furniture to keep the lines clean and neutral, so I'm thinking a white 3-tier change table is the way to go. I have learnt (over the past 48 hours) that Boori furniture is very good, albeit very expensive. Another thing to add to my ebay watch list ;-)

When you have as much distance between your nursery and your main living area as we do (over 20 metres) a baby monitor is also a good idea (do I sound like I know what I'm talking about?) We are particularly fond of the Angelcare Sound and Motion monitor because it senses sound and movement (breathing). Our friends have this monitor and swear it's great.

We also need a white chest of drawers for all of the clothes that our little girl will no doubt end up with, as well as a porta-cot for later when we start to take her out and want to have somewhere for her to sleep in the evening (when she's too big for the capsule). And no doubt there will be countless other things we'll need to think about - clothes, diapers, pacifiers, blankets, a high chair, a swing or bouncer, bottles... the list is endless!

Thankfully I have had my phobias about walking down the baby aisle in the supermarket part-way cured as a result of a recent visit with my best friend, K. As a parent herself, I knew if there was anyone who could help cure me of my anxieties, it was her. So off I flew to sunny Tasmania (literally) and within a week I was armed with all the information I could possibly need about nappy rash, nursing pads and breast pumps (that's a whole separate blog entry!)

For now, I'm content with looking online and slowly arming myself with more information. But I can't wait much longer - I only have 11 weeks until I'm due (crikey!) and that's assuming I go full term. I really want to get things set up sooner rather than later so that I'm not panicking closer to the day. So I guess I'm going to have to actually buy something in the next few days... once I make the first purchase, I'm sure the rest will follow without too much pain... and let's not even get on to the topic of nursery decor - I've only just finished renovating the kitchen and I'm already tired thinking I might end up wanting to paint a whole other room!