storbarnsförälder

Grace had similar shoe problems, for different reasons. Apparently, her feet are too healthy. She's got a nice high instep, very strong and thick, which will supposedly be great for avoiding fallen arches when she's older but nobody makes baby shoes for them because it's not very common. (Humans evolved to be able to walk on two feet; we did not necessarily evolve to be able to do it very *well*.) She also needed extra-wide. So there were all of two pairs of shoes in the shop which would fit her foot -- one basic white oxford, for girls, one basic brown oxford, for boys. I had a fair guess what my child would do to a pair of white shoes the first time she got them outdoors. She now owns the brown ones, I don't care if they're meant for boys.

And I agree completely about the indefiniteness of real-life labor pains. It took me about three hours to get from, "Hmm, that's interesting. Must've overworked myself a tad cleaning out the car this afternoon," to "Well, I'm timing contractions mostly for entertainment value, but I don't really expect to be lucky enough for this to be real yet." And I wasn't actually certain until I was examined at the hospital and they told me I wasn't leaving without a baby.