In his serialized account of his wife's pregnancy, artist/writer Danny Gregory is closing in on the last few anxious weeks, which are full of gear-buying, surprise baby shower-organizing, L&D touring, and increasingly anxious anticipating:
Time to get more paraphernalia. We visit a couple of stores, one manned by a flamboyantly gay guy, the other by a curt misanthrope who sounds half in the bag.The Peanut Chronicle: Stocking Up (May) [tmn]We decide that we will not need a changing table ($600) or an elaborate pram ($450) or even a full crib at the beginning. For a while we consider one of those rocking devices that Betsy had shown me with additional plug-in options like a bassinet and a mini chair. The grim man says the add-ons are necessary if the baby is colicky which we donít know because a) we havenít seen the baby yet and b) weíre not sure what ěcolickyî means, exactly.
One thing we've learned is that colicky doesn't exactly mean anything.. except you're punching walls and pulling your hair out, and almost crying more than the baby is.
Dang! If only we had known about the amazing healing powers of add-ons!