Strapping the Cat into the Carseat

Don't worry,
Marley was way more excited with the box the carseat came in.

That being said, we bought a car seat today (duh!).

Because of our dumpster-inherited Bugaboo Cameleon, we only had a few options for an infant seat that would be adaptable to the stroller. We went with the Graco Infant Snugride 35, in boring black. I like it!
I originally registered for the 2012 version of it but we had a realization today that made the car seat seem a little more urgent.
(Side note: The 2012 version is currently backordered and may not be in by the time this baby arrives).

This morning I went to a Body Attack class. No biggie. I teach Attack and I'm still feeling good about it. Today's class was a little different. I wasn't teaching and I felt really good going in so I think I may have pushed myself (and poor little 'Peanut') a little too far today.
At the end of class, I was sweating from places I didn't know I could sweat from. My eyeballs were sweating; the inside of my nose was sweating; and (best yet) the "new" crease under my bum was sweating. I was soaked from head to toe. As you all know, this sweat had to come from somewhere and it doesn't take a doctor to realize that I was oozing whatever water I had in my body.
I got home and felt okay. I had about a litre and a half of water (chased by an Emergen-C) and a shower and I was good to go.
Alex wanted to wash his car at my parents' house so we went up there. My Dad has a collection of nifty car-care lotions and potions that Alex likes to take advantage of. There is also a pressure washer there that cleans the shit out of pretty much everything.
Once we got to my parents', I was feeling a little crappy. Not any more crappy than usual but I was having strong Braxton-Hicks contractions, OFTEN.
For anyone who is new to pregnancy (like myself) I will best define a Braxton-Hicks contraction as a practice-run for the real deal. They are relatively painless but they make your tummy and uterus all hard and funny feeling. They are harmless but often brought on (for me) from dehydration and exhaustion. They are usually a 'once-in-a-while' deal but today, they were coming on frequent and fierce. Instead of panicking, I just got up and walked around a bit. They tend to go away if you are moving (sometimes). These weren't going away but I wasn't phased. There was no consistency to time them so there was no real need to panic. This doesn't mean that they weren't uncomfortable. They were and I was having low back pressure; which is a warning sign for the beginning stages of labour.
My parents came home (from wherever they were) and we snacked. All of a sudden "PRESTO!" no more contractions. I knew chocolate was the cure for everything! Good thing there was lots of it to eat at my parents' house. Om nom nom!
I had relieved myself of my afternoon discomfort but still worried about "what if that had been the real deal?"

Alex wasn't phased by my afternoon discomfort but he figured that if this was the real deal, we should be prepared with the one thing that we need for this baby, a carseat.
We booked it (in Alex's freshly washed car) to the nearest Babies-R-Us and bought the carseat. As we walked out of the store Alex said, "You can have the baby any time now". :)

I was talking to some of the other women on my Body Attack team and they had their babies at 32 and 35 weeks. I'm coming up on week 34. Technically, I have six weeks to go. Realistically, this baby could come at any time between now and December. I was curious as to why the other women had their babies pre-term. They are models of good health and they aren't any older than I am. Although the notion of having a pre-term baby does freak me out a little, I can find solace in knowing that at least the hospital would let us take 'Peanut' home now that we have this snazzy carseat.

For the record, we aren't going to strap Marley into the carseat but stay tuned for swaddling lessons learned from the fury of the domestic house cat. That's next week's adventure.