A fancy brunch and a few questions for the mamas out there

Sunday was a busy day!  The morning started with a girls' brunch at the Four Seasons hotel, where my dear friend Kelsey treated me to celebrate the baby-on-the-way.  Kels lives in NY now but is out in LA for about a month and just got in yesterday...which means she missed the official baby shower last weekend. BTW...Can't wait to show you the pics from the baby shower tomorrow!!  Also, I keep going to write "the shower" instead of "the baby shower" and realize it sounds really strange..."Can't wait to show you pics from the shower!" just doesn't sound right.  And might lead to some unwanted google traffic...ha!  Anyway, back to brunch...we felt very fancy having brunch there!  Yesterday was the Golden Globes and it seemed like there were quite a few celebs staying at the hotel.  Pretty sure I saw Ed Norton having brunch in the inside dining room.  And out on the cabana, where we ate, Tony Kushner (screenwriter of Lincoln, very famous playwright) was at the table next to us.  All of the other celebs must have been in their rooms, getting primped and pampered for the big night ahead.  Hope they had a waffle with their room service because mine was delish!

The Ladies

In addition to treating me to my waffle, Kelsey got me and the baby the Jewel Lullaby CD.  I squealed with excitement when I opened it!  As a gal who grew up in the nineties, Jewel holds a special place in my heart.  I am an unabashed fan and had planned on checking out her lullaby CD, figuring I would love it.  Do any of you have this CD or an affinity for Ms. Jewel?  Or do you have a favorite lullaby/children's CD you'd recommend??  I would love to hear about it!  This little one seems to love music:  When music is playing loudly or someone is singing loudly near me, he starts to dance in my belly - which is pretty cool to me!  Would love to start a musical library for him!

After our leisurely brunch, it was time for the hubby and I to go to our Infant Care Class.  This is the last class of prep we are registered for before baby's arrival so I was excited to attend!  We were originally supposed to go on Thursday night but I was still feeling under the weather (did I mention that I had a cold all last week?) so we thought it best to reschedule - both for me and for everyone else in the class!  Unfortunately the reschedule time was during the NFL playoffs but that's what iPhones are for - checking scores during breaks!  We only cared about the Patriots/Texans match up because we're Ravens fans...and the winner is who we play next week!  Looks like next Sunday is going to be a rematch from last year...fingers crossed the Ravens pull off another upset!  

Ok, again, back to the class (I keep diverging from the narrative path!).  It was three hours long and pretty informative.  Because I read a lot (too much), I felt I knew a lot of the things discussed, which made me feel more confident about baby's arrival.  But there were also things that I learned, which was great.  For example, I've never swaddled a baby...

Meet our practice baby.  He didn't cry once. 

In fact, I've never really been around a swaddled baby or seen swaddling used.  And I've been around a lot of babies, I feel, so this emphasis on swaddling is new to me.  But now I know how to swaddle with a receiving blanket and since there are so many easy-to-swaddle blankets/pjs/etc on the market, I think we're covered (pun intended).  For you experienced mamas reading, did you swaddle your babies?  Did you find that it was soothing for them?  

Also learned more about SIDS prevention and while I already knew that you aren't supposed to have anything in the crib (blankets, stuffed animals, bumpers) I was surprised to hear our instructor recommend that the only bedding you should use is a fitted sheet.  No mattress protectors.  I asked about this because when we bought our mattress, there was an additional discount if you bought two mattress protectors so we went ahead and bought them, figuring we'd need them.  Even though the mattress is already waterproof, I thought it would be a nice barrier and a way to keep baby comfortable.  Our instructor said nay:  It can overheat the baby and if it's too plush that can be detrimental as well.  So I guess we get rid of the mattress protector sheet?  What say you, experienced mamas?

I have to confess that practicing changing our baby doll and swaddling him and holding him and watching videos of little infants got me a tad misty-eyed and anxious for our little guy to arrive.  I can't wait to meet him and hold him!  I have a feeling that these next five weeks are going to pull off that rare feat of time flying while simultaneously feeling like it's standing still.  I feel like there is a lot to get done still and, at the same time, I feel like we are ready.  I need to make a checklist of the tasks that I'd like to get done before the delivery...gotta put this nervous energy to good use somehow!

Tomorrow: Baby Shower scoop...excitement!