Of empty arms and bedrooms...

Julie has an interesting discussion on her Redbook site on what did you (or did you not) buy while you were contemplating having children. Some of the entries are terribly sad, women who long for children but still have empty nurseries that have since been turned into offices, guest bedrooms and junk rooms; pregnant women six months along who are afraid to buy a onesie because it might jinx the pregnancy; hand-knitted sweaters and crocheted booties that are hidden away in boxes and closets.

I did not buy much before my son was born. I will admit that in the years we were trying whenever Disney came out with limited-release movies (The Lion King, a re-release of Cinderella, etc.), I bought them for my future children and both of our homes were 4-bedroom homes. We had a nice guestroom, B had an office and I had a sewing room. Other than that I think I bought two onesies when I was about 3 months along and only because they were on sale. And the whole pregnancy, they hid back in a closet because I was afraid to hope that this time there was going to be a real, live baby at the end.

That is all the baby stuff we had before coming home from the hospital with E (except for the things I got at a baby shower given by my Sweet Adeline chorus). During my marathon induction, my in-laws set up a crib and a chest of drawers (hand-me-downs) and unpacked all the hand-me-down clothes that were used by E's cousins. They had bought a baby monitor, bedding, stuffed animals and toys. They were terrific.


Fortunately our story turned out happy. But I will never forget how fearful I was that those Disney movies would remain unwatched and I would be forever saddled with a guestroom that longed to be a kid's room.