30 things in 30 days

As of today, there are only 30 days until Baby Bagel's due date!  We had another doctor's appointment this morning and everything is looking good.  As usual, the Bagel got annoyed by the Doppler and started kicking it - this raised her heart rate to the point that the doctor had to wait for it to come back down to normal before she could give us a clean bill of health.  We had to sit there for quite a while before Bagel realized we weren't going to move the Doppler and she just had to settle down.  Jeremy also got the news that he was looking for today - if Bagel doesn't arrive before her due date, they would probably induce BEFORE the new year for medical reasons (not just for the tax break).

Since there are only 30 days left, and we have a big list of baby to-dos, I thought I'd make a list of the 30 baby things that I hope to get done in the next 30 days.  We'll see if we can get them done before Bagel arrives. 

1. Buy curtain rod for baby's room, sew curtains and hang them up (I already have all the fabric, I just need to get around to putting them together).
2. Buy Pack-N-Play mattress pad, sheets, and changing table covers - set up pack-n-play in our room - we'll keep the baby in our room in the pack-n-play at first so that we don't have to walk down the hall to get her in the middle of the night.
3. Clean off the top of Jeremy's dresser and make room for a  couple of baskets of baby stuff (see note about not wanting to stumble down the hallway in the middle of the night) - we might as well just keep a change of PJs, sheets etc in our room. 
4. Refill mini-shampoo, etc and back toiletries for the hospital
5. Do laundry and pack clothes for the hospital
6. Make list of last minute things to grab on our way to the hospital (camera, phone charger, etc)
7. Finally decide on a brand of baby shampoo/lotion/etc, purchase and set up baby bath station in bathroom (I realize the baby won't need baths right away when she comes home, but I figure it isn't like we'll have MORE time to take care of this stuff after she gets here)
8. Reinstall car seat so that Jeremy can take car to the highway patrol to get it checked out.
9. Purchase cloth diapers, wash (apparently you have to wash them multiple times before the first use for maximum absorbency - Jeremy and I feel that maximum absorbency is very important in this area).  I am waiting to see if there are any good online black Friday deals on diapers - if not, we'll just go ahead and buy them next week.
10. Purchase some more disposable diapers to tide us over while we try out different cloth diapers to see which ones we like (plus, we figure there will be times when disposables are unavoidable)
11. Locate extra camera battery and cable that allows us to download pictures from camera (OOPS!)
12. Purchase baby first aid kit
13. Purchase stroller that fits our car seat
14. Buy straps and tie large furniture to wall (apparently you need to do this in California in case there is an earthquake)
15. Buy baby gates so cats can get used to them before the baby gets here - we are getting baby gates with cat doors on them to keep the baby out of the rooms with litter boxes.  We'd like the cats to acclimate to the gates before the baby gets here - they don't handle change well so we want to ease them into the baby thing.
16. Purchase cabinet locks and other baby proofing stuff and start working on baby proofing the apartment.  Again, not something that really NEEDS to be done now, but we figure it is better to get a jump start on this and get it done before the baby is old enough to discover electrical outlets on her own.
17. Get bottle drying rack and sterilize bottles.  Find a place in the kitchen to store bottles and other baby feeding stuff (apparently you only have to sterilize bottles once - who knew! after that you just wash them like normal).  Finding a spot in the kitchen will be rough - we're already kind of maxed out so this might be quite the chore!
18. Sterilize breast pump parts and try to figure out ridiculously complex assembly instructions.  Again, might not be need to be done now, but I can't imagine those instructions will get any easier to understand when I haven't slept for weeks.
19. Purchase baby books recommended by other new mom friends - start reading them. 
20. Compile email list for birth announcements.  We're "going green" and sending out an e-announcement.  Really, it is for the environment.  It has nothing to do with us being too lazy to compile the actual postal addresses of our friends - really.  Also, we would like people to be aware of our child's birth before her fifth birthday and we don't have a great track record with snail mail.
21. Sew or purchase crib sheets.  I sewed one crib sheet already and have fabric for two more.  Realistically though, given my schedule, we might just want to go ahead and buy a few more sheets at this point.  We'll see. 
22. Write exams - this is technically work related and not Bagel related, but if Bagel decides to come early, I need to have exams written for my colleague to give so technically I think it can go on the baby list.
23. Buy new coffee maker :)  Just kidding, I've been lobbying for a new one on the premise that it is a baby-necessity, but I think that since I am the only coffee drinker in the house, this is probably a lost battle.  But I should probably at least make sure we have a good supply of coffee because everyone wins when mom is caffeinated. 
24. Purchase diaper pail and laundry hamper for baby's room - there's no denying that gross stuff is going to happen so we might as well have somewhere to contain it.
25. Hang pictures on the wall in baby's room
26. Figure out some kind of toy storage for baby's room - she doesn't have many toys right now, but if she gets many more, the "chuck it on the floor of her closet" method of organization will completely break down.
27. Download contraction timing app for iPhone
28. Download baby tracker app that keeps track of when to feed the baby, etc
29. Attend base-wide garage sale and attempt to find a second used baby bounce seat - the cats have made it pretty clear that they would like their own and I don't think that baby will be big enough to fight them off for at least a couple of months
30. Return mobile that Jeremy dislikes and try to find a better option - or just decide that baby doesn't really need a mobile to keep her entertained - consider replacing with cat toy - or maybe just a cat
31. Freak out about how much we still have to take care of (although I think we can cross this one off the list - we seem to have it pretty much under control) :)

Quite a bit to try to get done in 30 days given that this doesn't include things like doing my job and keeping us fed.  Maybe my students don't really NEED their essays graded :)  We'll see how much progress we can make over the next few days ...