Cloth Diapers

Written by andrea on June 17th, 2009

We were supposed to go to a cloth diapering class this past Saturday, but we found out our nephew was having a quickie birthday party that day instead.  So maybe this weekend we’ll make it.

My friend Gina had a good comment the other day about cloth diapering.  It sounds like we’ll be using cloth diapers similarly to how she used them.  There isn’t a nearby diaper service here, but we have a brand new washing machine that has all these bells & whistles, including a sanitize mode that will come in handy washing diapers.  And we are totally not going to be cloth diaper purists.  We go on way too many day trips and longer trips to fiddle with cloth diapers during those times.  We’ll be using disposables for trips, illness (me or baby) and for days when we’re expecting to be gone big chunks of the day.  So I plan to have at least a package of disposables in the appropriate size available all the time here at the house.

Now it is just a matter of figuring out which cloth diaper solution to go with and actually purchase the things.  We’ll be using disposables for the first 6 weeks so we still have a bit of time to figure this whole thing out.

 

34 Weeks!

Written by andrea on June 17th, 2009

I had my 34th week appointment this morning and all is well.  No weight gain!  (No guilt meant for those of you who are supposed to gain weight during pregnancy…I’m overweight already and not supposed to gain at all.)  My blood pressure was 110/80 still.  And baby’s heartbeat sounds just fine and is in the head down position.

During my next appointment at 36 weeks, the midwife will do the required culture to check for the presence of Strep B and check my cervix for the first time to see where I’m at.

Tonight Dave & I are going to visit the hospital where I’m going to have the baby so we can see the rooms and just get a feel for the place generally so it isn’t strange when I need to go in for real.

 

Lots and Lots of Baby Related Appointments

Written by andrea on June 10th, 2009

Between childbirth classes, baby care class, breastfeeding classes, cloth diapering class and “baby-wearing” class, Dave and I have just been running all over the place with baby related stuff.  We’ve also got interviews set-up with pediatricians and a car seat installation appointment.   Tonight I’m attending my first La Leche League meeting with the topic “bringing home baby and beginning breastfeeding”.

We took our baby care class last Friday evening.  Seeing all the variety of new parents was interesting.  There was a couple who looked young and might even still be attending maybe graduate level schooling who took notes feverishly.  A couple who were hyper prepared and not nearly as far a long as I am in the pregnancy.  And an older couple having a second child 13 years after their first.  And several more just normal people with normal questions.

We’ve also taken our first childbirth class; actually our first of four of those classes.  This Saturday we are going to a local store for two classes; one on cloth diapering and another on slings.   We’ve just been absolutely overwhelmed with the variety of cloth diapers available right now.   There are a zillion different options and all of them have pros & cons, it is just a matter of coming up with a configuration of pros and cons we can live with.  So we’re hopeful this class will do that for us.

Thankfully, one of our local state troopers stationed here in town is certified to install car seats so I don’t have to fret about doing that.  I just had to make an appointment with him.

We are getting close to having the baby room prepared.  We have the dresser, but we still need to transform it into a changing table as well.  The changing pad has been purchased, but we just need to make a platform, do some sanding, fix a little trim and repaint the whole thing.   It should look pretty cute when it is complete.  My cat, Bailey, has approved of and decidedly taken over the new chair in the baby’s room.  And the crib is still in a couple of pieces, but coming along.

My mother-in-law is hosting a baby shower for us on June 27th.  I don’t think she’s actually sending out invitations, just letting people know via word of mouth because she’s been pretty infirmed lately with a leg injury.  She’s chosen a nice little Italian restaurant that serves yummy food in which to host the shower.  My mom is actually scheduled to be here during that time-frame so she’ll even get to attend!

So aside from running all over the countryside lately, I’m doing pretty well.  My only real “complaint” is being just pooped.  Occasionally, the baby stretches up into my lungs or jabs my stomach making me feel slightly ill.  And I’ve got the usual pregnancy back and pelvis aches and pains, but nothing really difficult to deal with at all.

Well, I need to go prepare dinner for my dear hubbie and I so that I can attend my La Leche League meeting this evening.

 

New Niece!

Written by andrea on June 1st, 2009

My dear sister-in-law out in Idaho gave birth to a baby girl yesterday afternoon!  Congratulations!!!

 

Chair for the Nursery

Written by andrea on May 30th, 2009

Dave and I have been looking for a nice chair for the baby’s room.  One that would be comfortable enough to use for nursing and just generally sitting in.  We decided upon getting a “club chair” style chair, but the ones at the furniture stores were anywhere from $200-$1000+ for anything we even remotely liked.  So our minds turned to finding a used chair, somewhere.  Every yard sale we’ve past lately we’ve slowed to look for a chair.

This morning Dave had plans at his parent’s house so I went “garage sale-ing”.  After passing probably 15+ garage sales with mostly junk for sale, I found myself in a tangled subdivision neighborhood with several sales.  Finally, it dawned on me to ask God for a little assist.  So I said a little pray real quick that I find something, hopefully a chair, that would be useful furniture in the baby’s room at one of the sales I saw coming up in front of me.  No joke the very next sale I came across had a cream colored chair sitting in the drive-way gleaming in the sunlight.  I thought the price was surely going to be $80+ or it would be stained and gross, but I’d check.  I should trust God more…  The price said, “make an offer”, the stains were very, very limited, it looked sturdy and when I sat in it…perfection.  So I asked the owner what she was hoping to get for the chair, all the while thinking to myself that $25 would be a superb amount.  And what did she say…yup, $25!

So there you have it.  God’s chair for our baby’s room.  I might or might not try finding a slip cover for it or asking my mom to make covers for the arms and maybe the seat, but it really is ready to use even if I don’t cover it in anyway.  And it also fit perfectly into the back of the SUV!

 

Designing Our Baby Announcement Cards

Written by andrea on May 28th, 2009

Today I went to the scrapbook and rubber stamp store here in town to peruse through the baby stuff they have on hand so I could work on designing our baby announcement cards.  Knowing how I can sometimes be a procrastinator about things, I knew I needed to get a jump start on this particular project or it might be likely the baby is turning 12 before I announce his/her birth.

I’m going to make them reasonably generic, but make it so that girl or boy embellishments can be added once we know that important detail. I think I’m going to make the front a mock picture frame that I can slip a photo in.  And I will probably use a photo taken of baby a couple of days after he/she enters the world since some of those hospital photos are so absolutely awful.  Some people’s baby’s hospital photos (mine included) look like horrid DMV photos.

 

What We’ve Been Up To

Written by andrea on May 26th, 2009

Well, my parents were here for nearly a week and did such amazing things for us while they were here.  We’ve gotten more baby clothes, which I need to wash and put away.  I’ve packed the baby bag for the hospital.  Since I had all the supplies, I figured that I might as well take care of it now rather than later.  Curtain fabric for the baby room has been picked out and my mom is working on those for us.

Dave and I have both been working on our family genealogies.  Dave’s back about 5 generations total so far.  He’s got a hard time of it because he’s been unable to tap into any one else’s work yet so the leg work is potentially going to be all his.  I’ve had a little more success tapping into other’s work and might even be back well into the beginnings of the 17th century (1620s and earlier in some cases) and still finding folks born here in North America.  Plus, I might have found leads back to Scotland, England, Ireland, France and Germany with various parts of the family.

We’ve visited the coast of Maine with my parents and had amazing lobster while staring out across the Atlantic.  Pretty awesome.

And I’m still doing really well at 31 weeks pregnant.  I’ve hit my threshold for endurance a few times lately and learned my lesson to take it easier nowadays.  I’ve also discovered that dehydration makes Braxton-Hicks contractions actually harder and slightly uncomfortable.  So staying hydrated and taking frequent breaks keeps me very happy!

 

Discounts & Coupon Codes for Shopping Online

Written by andrea on May 14th, 2009

I keep meaning to post this on the blog, but I’m finally getting around to it.  Dave has made a central location for finding discount, coupon and free shipping codes online.  It is really handy!!  I always start my online shopping there now to see if anyone is offering a discount or something that goes along with what I’m looking for at the time.  Plus, added bonus, Dave gets a commission whenever someone purchases something after clicking on a code for a particular store.

If you go to:  www.lincon.com and click on the blue button “shopping”, it takes you right to the spot where he’s put all the deals.  In Dave’s computer know-how way, he’s made it so the codes are always current and up-to-date.

So always start your online shopping with a quick stop at www.lincon.com and click that “shopping” button.

 

Getting Ready for Another Visit!

Written by andrea on May 13th, 2009

So this weekend and weekend Dave and I are getting ready to host BOTH my parents who are coming out next week.  They’ll be here Monday through Friday to help us out with a few household projects that we want to accomplish before the baby arrives.  So I’m probably not going to be online much for the next week or so.  My parents won’t be staying here at our house due to a space issue now that the former office/guest room is in transition phase to office/baby room.

We are going to surprise them with a day trip to Maine for a view of the coast and a lobster dinner.  They’ve helped us out so much already and will be doing tons for us next week too.  Neither one of them have been to Maine before so this should be fun for them.

I still need to come up with a menu for next week since I’ll be feeding them most meals for at least three days.

So I won’t be online, probably, for maybe a week or so.  I might bug Dave to add some pictures from last month’s trip out to IL, the baby shower and a few other things though.

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Written by andrea on May 8th, 2009

To all you mothers & expectant mothers out there…Happy Mother’s Day!!