So items have been chosen for the registries (Babies R Us and Target), the lamaze, CPR and newborn care classes are behind us and we’re nearly at 31 weeks. Yes, people, we’re going to have a baby in less than 10 weeks — give or take a couple of weeks.

Choosing stuff for the registries was much harder than I anticipated. Basically, we’re kind of using the registries as our list of things to buy. So, aside from the clothes, everything has been painstakingly chosen — Trinity’s been drilling his coworkers who have had babies recently on what kind of car seats they got, and we’ve both been a little crazy looking at user reviews, Consumer Reports, Baby Bargains and don’t get me started on how my head started spinning when I found the NHTSA ratings and Child Restraint Recalls from the Office Of Defects Investigations.

There’s also the added stress of trying to balance what the Babies R Us and Target “must have” checklists with what we actually will need. We ended up following the Consumer Reports’ checklist. Of course, we still have very few blankets on the registries and need to put mattress pads on there, but I think those aren’t as urgent. I’ll get to those eventually, and Trin and I are already planning to buy the big items — crib, crib mattress and dresser/changer — ourselves.

I have to say that I am still conflicted about this whole registry thing. But I suppose that’s why I chose so many clothing items, since everyone seems to love buying clothes for babies. However, my friends and family will probably be aghast to see I didn’t put any toys on either registry and the only decor item is a mobile for his crib. Dude, the first couple of months, Trinity and I are going to be his toys! (And if I’m going to be totally honest, the only toy on either of those registries is really for Trinity and I — the baby video monitor with Internet transmission!)

On the pregnancy front, my hands still hurt like hell and my ankles and feet seem to swell in intervals. Last night, I wore sneakers and socks and when I took the socks off, I found that my ankle seemed to have a skin cuff, even though I have been consciously keeping my feet up to alleviate swelling.

I’ve also got some wicked stretch marks. I’ve described them as….sort of like if Freddy Krueger was trying to hold on to me by my belly. Yeah, its fun times.

Then there’s the backaches. Last week, my friend Rita was in town, so we drove to Torrance to have lunch with her. The drive back was super long, even though we’d skipped the 405 and took PCH back home (I will always opt to take the scenic route when traffic is so bad), and that night, I was in so much pain on the right side of my mid-back.

In fact, I’m not really a fan of being pregnant, and I know there are women who really like it. I could do without the bigger breasts (and actually, mine haven’t gotten that much bigger, thank God), the bionic nails are a bit annoying and my hair isn’t shinier….instead it gets oilier faster. The only redeeming thing about pregnancy is feeling the baby shadow box (or whatever he’s doing) and seeing my belly move without any help from me. Heheh.

One thing a few folks have been asking about is belly pictures. I’m not so much a fan of me with my belly, but AAJA-LA’s Christmas party is on Saturday, so maybe I can manage to take a decent picture then.