Diapers Diapers...

I've thought from the start that I'd want to cloth diaper my baby but now it's a definite. At the baby care class today Dave got to play with some diapers and now he is completely sold too. He never was against the idea (and always was for it) but didn't really know anything about them. Our reasons are not really environmental - although it can't hurt to be a little green every now and then, but more that he hates the chemicals used in disposables and the financial piece doesn't hurt.

We're still going to start with the newborn trial from Jillian's Drawers . Dave surprised me today by being more impressed with prefolds/covers than the all in ones or pockets which I think seem easier. He thinks the old fashioned ones are easier. This trial will give us a chance to use both for 21 days. He also is interested in possibly using a diaper service- the only one we have here is Tidee Didee but at $18.50 a week it is more comparable to Seventh Generation disposables (70 diapers) which would be about $20 for 70ish as well.

I'm really excited about the diaper trial because I'm a little afraid that I won't be able to keep up with the laundry or it will be overwhelming. Also, the AIOs and Pockets seem so convenient but they are much pricier than flats and covers and a lot of people love those too. If I would've spent a few hundred dollars on diapers and then realized it was too much I'd be upset or if I would stock up on AIOs and realize I like old school diapers I'd be disappointed as well. 21 days should be enough to figure out if I'm made for cloth diapering

I know that a lot of daycare centers (legally) will not accept babies with cloth diapers. But, I haven't picked a place yet (might be able to find a home day care- who knows) and I'll definitely be home for 5 months before the next school year starts. Also, when I do go back to work it will only be half time so even if I am only cloth diapering half time that would still make an impact on my baby!

30 weeks!

I'm 30 weeks today and it feels like it's getting close- especially when I remember full term is really 37 weeks so I have somewhere between 7 and 11 weeks to go! When people keep saying 25% more to go it feels like so much longer though. Amazing how numbers can mess with your mind!

Today we have our breastfeeding class and tomorrow we have our newborn care class. Hopefully we will bring home some knowledge and it won't be a waste of time. I think Dave will get a lot out of both classes- he has NO experience with babies and hasn't read anything about breastfeeding like I have.
Breastfeeding Class Update: Nothing was really groundbreaking but I'm glad we went (although sitting for 3 hours was brutal). It made me remember this is all possible and we will figure out a way to make it work. I also received some valuable resources and information about the Lactation Clinic at the hospital that I will be using. It was worth it.
Newborn Care Class: Same thing... nothing ground breaking but I'm glad that I had the venue to ask a million questions. I really liked the lady who taught the class and makes me feel more confident about being a mom. Dave learned a lot about babies and is really excited now. He also really loved the cloth diapers we got to check out- he was already on board but now he's completely in.

Our babymoon to SoCal is next weekend and I was just booking the car, dinner reservations, Dave's surfing lesson (he's always wanted to do this) and my spa treatment (still deciding between prenatal massage or facial). I am getting very excited. We decided we're going to go all out for this trip to truly enjoy our last big babysitter-less getaway. We have an ocean view room with a balcony and I plan to just relax and enjoy the time with my husband! Hopefully we'll be able to get some sunshine and walk a lot too but it depends on how I feel. Regardless, it's going to be warmer there than here in Oregon and hopefully sunnier!

Current Measurements:
Around: 41 inches!
Total Weight Gain: 6.4 lbs
Fundal Height: 31cm!

For comparison sake... same dress at 13 weeks and now at 30 weeks

29 weeks!

This week was a long one (I think as long as a 4 day work-week can feel) but we survived! We were supposed to get some snow (i.e. snowdays) but it was all rain :(

Besides an annoying cold this week and the exhaustion that has become my "new normal" I felt pretty good this week. It's weird how pregnancy changes into a "new normal." Kind of- yes my back and sciatic are still acting up, yes I'm ready for bed at 7, yes I am barely eating but that's all the norm and nothing crazy has happened. I made it through another week of work and we're just chugging along.

It's starting to feel closer now- in 11 weeks I could have a newborn in my arms- MY baby. What an odd concept.

Babelet is so lucky- we have received so many amazing gifts already! The nursery is filling up with baby gear and nursery essentials. My mom has volunteered to do a bunch of the laundry when I'm still in the hospital so we aren't going to open/wash too many clothes because who knows how big this baby will be. Dave was 9+ lbs so if this baby takes after him we wouldn't even need newborn sizes.

We start some of our classes next weekend- I'm sure that will make it feel even more real- especially for Dave. He's trying to feel connected but I know it's nothing like how I feel with babelet reminding me it's there every 2.5 seconds. This baby sure craves attention!

After my shower last weekend I started thinking about Baby Books. My mom and Dave's mom both pulled out our baby books to share with us and it had me thinking about how I want to do Babelet's Book. Do I want to scrapbook it, buy one and fill it in, make a digital book and get it printed? Since I usually lean towards digital scrapbooking- I started googling and wasn't too excited about the options I found. Eventually, I found one on mixbook that I think I like. I decided to do the pregnancy journal one on mixbook so I can buy it and make sure I like it before I spend a year creating one for the baby's 1st year. So, hopefully by May or June I'll have decided but in the meantime that's one more thing off my list!

28 weeks and Showered with Love!

wow, 28 weeks. Sometimes knowing that I have 12 weeks to go feels like it's so soon and other times it feels so far away. I'm sure it's going to go by fast because we're so busy.

This weekend we traveled the 2,892 miles back to PA for my baby shower weekend! It was a great time and my mom was very excited to celebrate Babelet with the baby shower. The travel was harder than I expected- my feet swelled pretty bad and I struggled to get comfortable but with 6+ hours of flying I should've known better. I did ask my midwife before I left about compression stockings and they said they weren't necessary- just drink a lot of water and try to get up and walk around... so I did that. I just flew 3 weeks ago and it was much easier so I'm glad we booked this for now- we were originally planning it for early February. I imagine it's just going to get worse.

My shower was really nice. My mom and sister worked hard and we had about 35 guests. Most of the people were family or friends of our family. I did have 3 friends that were able to make it. My friends here are throwing me a local shower at the end of February. It was very nice to see everyone and people were extremely generous and bought us amazing gifts. We are so lucky!

I had my midwife appointment today and she has assured me that everything is normal. Medically I'm normal, physically I'm getting quite uncomfortable with the stereotypical pregnancy symptoms- sciatica, heart burn, insomnia, back pain, exhaustion, braxton hicks- you name it! But, she reminded me- it's probably going to get worse before it gets better!

Stats at 28w4d
Weight Gain= 6.6 lbs
Waist Measurement= 41 inches
Fundal Height Measurement= 27.5 cm

Gluclose Tolerance Test

Today I had to drink my little bottle of glucola and take my 1 hour gluclose tolerance test. I was 27w5d for my test and I'm so happy that I passed!
My mom had gestational diabetes so I was pretty nervous but mostly scared because of my food aversions and lack of appetite- if I had to limit carbs I'd be in trouble- it's really all I can eat without getting sick.
One more step out of the way, getting closer to having my baby!

27 weeks!

Welcome third trimester!
(most of my sources say 27 weeks is 3rd tri but some still say 28... I wish they could get these things straight- pregnant ladies are too hormonal for more confusion)
Anyways, I now have 91 days until my due date and that seems kind of soon!

I went back to work this week for what felt like the longest 4 day week ever. I'm hoping the 5 days next week somehow go by quicker. I was glad to be back in the classroom, I missed the kids but I didn't miss the early morning alarm clock. I think I'm going to strategically need to look at the calendar and take some more of my sick days to make more 4 day weeks. I'm just not sure my body will be able to take 5 days for the next 10 weeks. (I'm currently scheduled to work until about 37.5 weeks)

This week I've felt pretty good which is a relief since I felt kind of crappy the last few weeks. My appetite is about 75% of what it was pre-preg... when I feel like eating I can eat normal but when I don't feel like eating there's barely anything I'll eat. The nausea has also started to return, hopefully that's short lived.
My back has been very stiff so I'm trying out a maternity band to hopefully help with that. I ordered this band last week from Target but when it came it was too small. So, I returned it and re-ordered from Amazon and am waiting for it to arrive. I'll post a review once I have time to try it out.
I had my chiro appt this week and it helped a little but my back was still acting up the next day. I tried to sit a lot more at work this week and that helped. I also am going to rely more on the heating pad and warm baths (I tried this last night and it helped!)

Babelet has been moving and kicking like crazy again this week but is still very very low. All the kicks are well below my belly button, I hope babelet starts to turn soon even though I've heard rib-kicks are not too exciting. I have my gluclose test next week and my next dr appt is then too at 28 weeks.

Current Stats:
Weight Gain = 5 lbs
Belly Measurement = 40 inches

The nursery is still coming along, the glider is now built and the valences are all hung. Today we are buying the crib mattress (yay for BRU rewards and coupons) then when I get back from my shower next week I'll continue organizing the room. We have most of the big stuff and with my showers coming up hopefully we'll finish the little stuff we need.

The only thing left on the to-do list (for now) is to get the black out shades and hang them. We decided we will wait until early March for that- no rush. We will probably start shopping for them at the end of Feb. We are registered for all of our classes with the hospital (infant cpr, baby care, breastfeeding, birth prep) and we'll be busy once those start.

We had fun at Lisa's shower, Caitlin planned really fun non-traditional baby shower games and did a great job with the decorations. Since Lisa's nursery is a jungle theme with monkeys we went with that and did a "Monkeyin' Around" jungle theme.

Jaime (27 weeks), Lisa (35 weeks), Caitlin (23 weeks)

I'm very excited for my PA shower this weekend and also for our upcoming babymoon.

Life is Good :)

26 Weeks!

Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be a lifechanger- that's for sure! We rang in the new year at the Oregon Coast, one of my favorite places to go! Read about our New Years here!

I'm now 26 weeks which is at least 6 months pregnant no matter how you calculate your months (4 weeks or half a year, etc). This week has also brought us to double digits- Today I'm 96 days from my due date. I'm starting to get more uncomfortable and struggle with sleeping. Unfortunately, my 4-5 weeks of eating has also slowed down since a lot of foods make me nauseous again.

Our babymoon is now fully booked and we are counting down! We will be going to SoCal to celebrate Dave's birthday and our last trip as just a couple (without worrying about a baby at home)!

In the last few weeks, the baby has started moving like crazy, my appetite has decreased and I've been pretty tired. I also am having more twitches and as a First Time Mom really honestly don't know the difference between baby movement, baby kicking my cervix, stomach pains and Braxton Hicks contractions. All I know is that there's a lot of weird things going on down there and it kind of freaks me out and makes me nervous. Also, my belly is getting bigger and is getting in the way more often- we tried to play a game on NYE and it was uncomfortable leaning down and reaching. Tying my shoes and bending over is becoming more of a challenge.

I have really enjoyed my 2 weeks of relaxation and am dreading going back to work. At least the next few months have a lot of random long weekends but still, I am counting down the days until March 22 (my last day of work)! We have a lot of big things going on in the next few weeks- including my first baby shower and our babymoon to SoCal! I think at least January and Feburary are going to fly by!

still to do:
_X_ decide on infant care class date and register
_X_ decide on infant cpr class and register
_X_ book maternity photos
__ buy and install black out blinds
__ build the glider and ottoman