Oh, good, Aimee! Hope you can use the stuff inside.

Also, how do the already-parental Bitches filter out all the noise from all directions about "I know what you must do and everyone else is WRONG and probably trying to KILL YOUR BABY OMG" before you go feral on someone?

It gets easier with practice. First time around, it's always a little overwhelming. If there's a happy place you can go to, and pretend to listen, while nodding zombie-like, when someone is giving you that kind of "I know what you MUST do!" speech, it helps.

JZ, pick what you like.

Oh, I misread. What you want is what I think is best. FWIW.

Sorry you are having such a time, JZ. My friends got their changing table from Ikea, I believe. Although they do a fair amount of changing on the floor as well. (Or the couch when they're really teeny and immobile.) It's not part of a dresser though. I don't see it from quick googling, but they also have a changing table dresser thing for $200ish. [link]

I need some -ma. I'm having car troubles galore. I was really hoping the car would last me a couple more months before replacing it, but I'm afraid that might not happen. As is always the case, it's really inconvenient timing. So wish me it's not as bad as it seems right now.

I also need health ma. Not sure if I managed to get poison ivy or some other rash-inducing problem, but the itchy is bugging me.

My hometown is Hollywood, FL, but I have no really fond memories of it. I feel my true growing up happened in Paris, even though I only lived there for 2 full years and then summers and vacations.

d, do you have any antihistimines in the house? Benadryl might help your rash if it's either poison ivy, or another allergy of some kind. Also, if you have cortisone in the hosue, it might help with the itching. Use cotton balls or tissues or something to apply it though, so that if you do have poison ivy, you don't spread it to your hands.

Carma~ and my sympathies on the car. I swear cars wait 'til you can least afford to do something about repairing/replacing them, and then act up.

This hometown discussion has been interesting. Some people seem to think that "home" and "hometown" are related, but to me, they're not really. Home has been NYC to me since about 2 days after I moved here. To some extent, I think home has been NYC since I first visited here at the age of seven. It's where my heart is, as the saying goes.

My hometown, though, is the small Mississippi town I grew up in. I'll never live there again, I'm quite sure, but it will always be my hometown. It defined me, even as I rebelled against it, and that earns it that place. I'm sure that within a few years, going back there will feel strange - to some extent it already does - but Tupelo the way it was will remain my hometown in my memories.

JZ, you and Hec are going to be wonderful parents no matter what kind of changing table you get. Since you two are going to be doing most of the changing, I recommend getting what you like and playing deaf when anyone suggests otherwise.

In changing babies, I have found the couch works well, as long as you have a big enough pad or towel. You're neither so high that they'll be seriously injured if they fall, nor so low that it bothers your knees and back. However, cleary YbabychangingMV. Seriously, in this choice, you can do no wrong.

What do you all say when someone asks where you were "born"?

Manchester, CT, but this is none of my homes or hometowns.

Car and health ~ma, d.

Also, how do the already-parental Bitches filter out all the noise from all directions about "I know what you must do and everyone else is WRONG and probably trying to KILL YOUR BABY OMG" before you go feral on someone?

{{JZ}} It helped that I was already old and set in my ways when I gave birth I suppose. I never had a changing table. At home I mostly changed them sitting on a bed. There was a big dresser that often was the changing table. They went to work with me. The boys got changed on desktops, car hoods, conference tables. I always thought the changing tables in the public bathrooms were mighty cool, but the boys outgrew them about instantly.

The most grief I heard was about nursing them everywhere and anywhere. Whatever. Given the choice of crying child or scowling adult I'm feeding the child.

Given the choice of crying child or scowling adult I'm feeding the child.

Seems like the right priority to me.

Car~ma and Health~ma d. Hollywood, FL has some great neighborhoods back on the canals. Nice town. I have relatives there so we go pretty often. Nice beach and pier too.

We have one of those curved changing pads on top of a former kitchen island table (perfect height for tall people; current kitchen too small to use it). Never dropped baby #1, even when she got to the way wiggly stage. You can duct tape the pad to the top of the dresser if you're worried about it sliding (though we never did).

Currently the setup I have for baby #2 (11 days to due date!) is the changing table described tucked in a corner of our bedroom, 3 big tupperwares of clothes underneath. He might sleep in our bed, or in the pack n play (currently in Eve's closet), or in the borrowed crib that's currently disassembled in the basement. Eve slept in her stroller for the first few weeks. When it comes to baby stuff, whatever works, you know? (Except, of course, you do need a safe carseat.)