I'm a first-timer, too. I'm not really doing much as far as planning right now-I figure there's a long time left. I have reserved a spot in a birth prep class, though. The biggest thing that I'm doing is going through all of the stuff in our two extra bedrooms (one is currently my office-I work at home-the other is a guest room) and getting rid of all of the crap. We're planinng on consolidating the office and the guest room (since I hardly use the office anymore, now that I have a laptop), and making the current office the child's room, eventually. It'll really be more of a storage room for their clothes at first, since they'll be sleeping with us. I just want to get it all sorted out now, though, while I have the time and energy, so that it doesn't have to come later when we have a toddler running around and MORE stuff in the house.
As for registering, I don't think I'm really going to register anywhere. I know that there are people who will want to buy us gifts, but I just don't think we're going to need very much at first, and there just don't seem to be stores that carry everything that we will want. One thing my sister did is set up a webpage for those who are interested in buying them a gift, and it has descriptions to things that they'd like to get, along with links to websites where those things can be purchased. It also has links to several websites where a gift certificate would be appreciated, like in the case of a custom sling order. She just has my mother "administering" it, so that when someone buys something off of the list, they email my mother, and she crosses it off the list. It is somewhat cumbersome, but it seems to be working pretty well. This way you can get the cloth diapers you want, the sling, etc., but also can leave some things up to the individual. For instance, if you know you'd like some terry/flannel wipes, but don't care what they look like, comeone could have fun going through several websites and picking out the ones that they think are the cutest rather than just clicking "buy" on a registry.
I'm sure that I'll probably have a shower, but I think that it'll probably be a homemade frozen meal shower, in order to stock us up with food for when the baby arrives. Our immediate family members will probably buy gifts anyway, so I'll probably set up a "wish-list" like my sister has in order to direct any gift purchases towards things we might actually use.
As far as deciding....whew! It is nice that my sister is going through this before me, as are a few friends of mine with similar notions for how they'd like to raise their children. This means a few things-I'll get hand-me-down diapers for the smaller sizes, which will be GREAT, and I'll get to see what kinds of things work for them....my husband and I are still trying to figure out several sleeping options that will work for us, but I think this will probably be something we just have to figure out once the baby is here. We have a full-size bed, and don't really want to buy a bigger one, although it would be nice....so right now we're thinking of doing a crib side-carred to the bed for a while, to see how that works. However, I just REALLY don't want to buy a crib! It seems like such a huge expense, and we both feel like we don't REALLY need it...but it is cheaper than a new bed for us. A friend of mine used a co-sleeper, and while a lot of people swear by them, she could never get her baby to be happy in it. He just wanted to snuggle up with her, of course. We might try borrowing it from her, if she hasn't sold it yet, but I don't have high hopes for it, either. I like that a side-carred crib provides a little more space, but all on the same level surface.
The only thing I can't figure out is what about the space along the side of the bed that the crib doesn't cover? Has anyone's child wiggled up or down the bed to the point that they fell out with this kind of side-car arrangement? Our bed is very low to the ground, but I'm sure it would still hurt. Any advice would be appreciated!
Okay, I've babbled on for long enough....
Those are just my thoughts! It's good to have such a diverse body of experiences here!
I dusted, wiped and alphabatized our once huge movie collection. I bleached the front door?! and various other weird things that I could reach while in my chair. LOL
