Did any of you get a journal together with pictures and events that happened during your baby's development in utero? I'm trying to get some ideas together before I find out the sex (it's a boy, I'm sure).I was thinking of pasting pictures of belly, date and newspaper clippings, as well as a few personal notes and carrying it on as s/he is born- any other ideas?

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

Answers

That's a really great idea. I wish I had thought of it!!! The only thing I did was fill out his baby book where it asked questions about the pregnancy and I put his sonogram pics in his scrapbook, on the 1st page. Next time I'll do the In Utero Scrapbook!!! Sorry I didn't have any ideas!

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

My brother and his wife were encouraged by their midwife to write letters to the baby while she was still in the womb. I thought that was a beautiful idea.

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

We did a journal for my goddaughter. We did nothing for my son, because, well, we suck. If you want to do belly-pictures, I'd suggest doing one a month for the first 8 months, then one a week for the last month. Try to wear the same thing (maybe like a button-up shirt with hand over belly sorta thing) and stand in the same spot, profiled and it will give a great 'time-line' of baby/belly growth. I've seen some really nice mommy and daddy portraits where mom is proudly showing off her belly in just a bikini top or a shirt buttoned just to below the breasts. If I was there, I'd do them for you. :)

The best thing for a pregnant chick is a camera with a self-timer. I have all sorts of black and whites of me naked, running through the hay field and lying in dandelions on the farm. All earth-motherly.

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

Oh, hey, do you have names picked out yet? If you don't why not put in the names you're thinking of and their meanings? You know, like, "Katherine, Gift from God." That sorts thing. Or, in my case, "deborah, Queen Bee." Boooooring. I sting you, ha!

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

My mother kept a journal for me while she was pregnant and while I was little (up till I was about two and she got pregnant with my brother), and I'm so glad she did. It makes me cry every time I read it, and I can never say that my mum never loved me, cos reading that, I know she did.

I'm definitely going to keep one for my kid(s).

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

another thing we did, post-utero, was take a photo of our sprog once a month on her "birthday" with the same teddy bear. Like the monthly belly photos, the bear acts as a marker so you can really see Sprog's growth. Of course, getting her to lay there quiet and happy long enough to snap the photo was sometimes an issue, as she got older... now that she is 13, we've really had to wrestle her down a couple of times, and she is nearly 6 feet tall ... kidding. She's 5' 8 . KIDDING! she's a toddler. after her first year, we kinda do the bear thing once every ... so often.

also -- ask your friends to save the newspaper / TIME / People from sprog's day / week of birth. I wish i had saved more "time capsule" stuff; all she has is a Battle in Seattle magazine. loser mom.

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2001

Must be a chick thing Bubba. James

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2001

Okay, I'll expose myself to ridicule:

What is a sprog? Do I only not know this because I don't have one?

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2001

Sprog are offspring.

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2001

Shame on you James, you're usually so sensitive, like us chicks. Admit it though, wouldn't you have felt more secure knowing your beginnings and how your parents felt about the advent of your arrival? I know I would have.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2001

I started a webjournal when I was about 2 months pregnant. I'm still running it, and my son's about 4 months old now. I had a high-risk pregnancy, which was caused by my bone disease, my heart problem, and my son's heart problem, so there was obviously TONS to write about. It was pretty cool, because the people who would read my entries would send me emails and relate their own advice and comments. That was good because it was my first pregnancy and I had no idea what I was doing! On the website, I started including pictures of the things I was making for my son, like pillows and blankets and mobiles and bookplates and stuff like that, so that people could take ideas from them, and it also serves as kind of an archive of his arrival, you know?

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2001

This is something I *wished* I would have done, but didn't...after said sprog was born. I tried maintaining a baby book but was terrible at it. The book was never where I was when something funny/poignant/worth noting happened. (nothing is ever where it is supposed to be in the house of a baby it seems). I thought it would have been great to get a mini, voice-activated tape recorder and keep handy for logging noteworthy events. The added benefit here is being able to whip it out when sprog uttered first word...or when you discovered sprog has own language/words for certain things. Friends and loved ones might also participate more if all they had to do is talk into a tape recorder (I always liked the parts in my baby book where my mom had other people write about how wonderful I was as a baby). Then later, I would have transcribed these tapes at my leisure into a book, and maybe transfered some of the content to a more permanent audio storage arrangement. You could start the tapes during pregnancy ("god, I really feel like barfing right now"...ha ha, just kidding)

-- Anonymous, February 20, 2001

I started it yesterday. I think it'll take me some time before I find the way to communicate to someone I don't know. Maybe I'll wait until I at least know what sex s/he is. Thanks guys...

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001

I promise you, you cannot say or write too much. Even the little stuff will tickle your child. My mom told me recently (although I'm sure she told me a thousand times and I just forget over and over) about how she lived off of Doritos during her pregnancy with me. In fact, when her water broke, she was sitting around eating Doritos and drinking Dr. Pepper with my aunt. That is so thrilling to me, because I cannot get through the day without the sweet Pepper and I go through phases where nothing satisfies me like Doritos.

Your food cravings, what your maternity clothes look like, the changes in your body, what you are watching on TV, what you are reading-all of these things will be fascinating to your child someday. My partner's mother just made a scrapbook of his 1st year that is taken from her personal journal entries throughout the pregnancy and 1st year of his life. We read it over and over again.

Wow, this is not helping to stop my baby cravings! I am so jealous of you pregnant chicks, keep us well posted so I can be pregnant vicariously through you :)

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001

Yeah, I love reading my baby book- about how when my hair started growing in, I would spend hours feathering it like Farrah Fawcett. Or how I had a whistle on a cord that I would wear all the time, and refused to leave the house without. People find the most mundane things completely fascinating if it's about themselves.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001

My poor husband cannot do anything right, and I don't want to see or talk to anybody these days. These hormones are really fucking with me. A friend of mine had her baby yesterday (on her due day) and she's really squishy and cute with tiny everything. I can't imagine I'll make we'll make it to August without homicide charges pending. I guess those thoughts won't be going in to the baby book.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

I started a baby book after my oldest was born. I think I kept that up until he was 9 months. I tried also with my 2nd, maybe made it to 6 months. I have a million pictures of my first, probably half of that is of my second. I hardly take pictures at all anymore.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Shelly: the diminishing baby picture total per child is totally normal from what I've heard. My mom went all out for my baby books. My brother got much less "print space" in his.

I think it is very cool that the moms are making an effort to record things for themselves and their kids. After all, I have no memory of my own from that time, so it is nice to know that my mom cared enough to write down every embarrassing, gross, weird or amusing thing I did as an infant. Not that she wouldn't recite them to company anyway if they weren't written down. ;)

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001