Monthly Archives: April 2010

Diapers & Fun Stuff (29w1d)

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Lots has been going on in addition to boring appointments. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a real planner. So researching stuff for our little guy hasn’t been a burden. One of the first things I started taking a look at was cloth diapers.

Paul and I (truthfully, more Paul) have become a lot more eco-conscious since I got pregnant. I think it’s natural for expecting parents to start thinking more about the kind of world they’re leaving for their kid. The facts about disposable diapers are just terrifying. Bottom line, in addition to whatever goes into them during manufacturing (IE tons of chemicals in the plastics manufacturing process and the bleaching process for the filler, and the chemical compounds that absorb the wetness) they stick around in landfills for somewhere between 200-500 years. So, enter cloth diapers.

Cloth diapers have changed incredibly in the last 30 years. Gone are layer upon layer of cotton diapers secured with safety pins and crammed into a pair of rubber pants with too-tight gathers at the legs to prevent leaks. Today’s cloth diapers work similarly to disposable diapers, but with varying abilities to add (much thinner) layers for varying needs.

Cloth diapers are cheaper in the long run over disposables – even when you factor in the cost of washing them ourselves. (At least here in Las Vegas where water and power are cheap.) That said, cloth diapers main barrier to entry is the start-up cost. At an average of $15-$25 per diaper, building enough of a stash to allow for laundry days means a fairly large initial investment. (The used cloth diaper market is HUGE.)

But I found a brand of diapers that has been around for quite some time in their native Japan, and has been brought to the States in the last year or so: Kawaii Baby Diapers. They’re getting rave reviews all over the internet (on baby websites, and diaper blogs – yes… these things exist) and they’re about a quarter of the price!! No, they’re not organic cotton, and they do have velcro fasteners. I’m totally OK with all of this. Why? Because I can get a 20-diaper stockpile for $115! That makes this a MUCH more viable option for us!

We’ll still end up using disposable diapers for the first month or so, as cloth diapers tend to be a little big between the legs of a teeny newborn. But we’re really happy to be able to try out cloth diapers. We’re not concerned about the extra work of a couple of loads of laundry a week. The benefits of cloth diapering make it worth it to us. I haven’t purchased our diapers yet, but I will in the next couple of weeks. (I’ve been holding off as much as I can on buying things until after we have the nursery put together – and after the shower.)

Speaking of the shower: I’m having one at work too! I can’t believe that two weeks from Saturday is the shower at Paul’s parent’s place! I’m having such a good time seeing the RSVPs trickle in on the Evite. Especially now that more of Paul’s friends are responding that they’ll be able to attend. I know he’s really stoked that his buddies will be at the shower too. (Although I think we’re gonna have to get creative on the seating! I’m hoping it’s a lovely day outside so we can take advantage of the patio.) We’ll have two babies at the shower, because Caroline is bringing her 7-month-old little girl and Jeremiah and Jamila are coming from San Diego and bringing their 4-month-old little boy! Paul and I are SO looking forward to having friends and family gathered to celebrate our little man. It’s just going to be such a great afternoon (and weekend!)

But, I found out this week my co-workers will be throwing me a shower at work too, a couple days before the shower at Tom & Jeanne’s! We’ll connect up our three offices with the video conference system so friends in the Northern offices can share in the fun as well. I was really happy to hear that something is being planned. I tend to miss out on a lot in my office since my physical office is so far removed from everyone else – which facilitates getting stuff done, but can have an isolating effect as well. I remember Caroline’s shower late last summer – everyone had a good time. I hope mine is as enjoyable.

Other big thing right now is the house. We’re (again, mostly Paul) killing ourselves this week to clear out our belongings in preparation for the carpet install on Saturday. Dangit, there’s a lot of stuff in this house. But at the same time, I’m so stinking excited about the new carpet and then putting the house back together – because it means the nursery will be mostly put together, and we’ll be that.much.closer to having our baby here!! Paul and I both spend a moment or two in the baby’s room in the mornings when it’s bright and full of sunlight. We love the colors we painted. I can’t wait to finish the room in the next week.

Limited Engagement (28w6d)

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Great appointment today, and apparently Dr. Scarypants was only available for a limited engagement – cuz he was nowhere to be seen today.

Today was (once again) a short, boring, good appointment. Highlights:

  • Blood Pressure was 138/85 on the first attempt (granted, the machine pumped up twice) which was VERY happy-making for Dr. Schwartz. Usually we have to take it again at the end of my appointment to get it that low. So Dr. Schwartz was very happy to see that.
  • I lost a half a pound. I was expecting to show a gain of at least a pound. So that was surprising. None of it makes any sense to me, cuz I’m totally eating. A lot. My belly is getting bigger. But whatever, I’ll take it!
  • Holy Cats! My kid is getting big! Misty (my favorite nurse) took a minute to have a look around and I was SHOCKED at how big my little boy is getting! I was convinced that Misty had the ultrasound zoomed in, because he looked SO BIG, and I couldn’t see all of him on the screen. His spine looked huge, with easily visible vertebrae! And OMG, he has HAIR!! Misty got a picture for me – but there’s no doubt he’s got quite a bit of hair already! And honestly, I don’t want to think about how big his head is already.

A little bump in my insulin, but that’s the only change. It’s expected, really – just part of the insulin resistance that comes with pregnancy. Dr. Schwartz cautioned me that if I’m starving when I’m up in the middle of the night to pee, that I should probably be eating something. He asked me to take my blood sugar if I think about it – just to make sure that the middle-of-the-night cortisol boost isn’t making me dip too low. He’s OK with my current blood sugar readings – even though I think they’re trending too high still.

My next appointment was set for two weeks, but had to be bumped to three weeks because of a scheduling conflict. The next appointment will be for a fetal echocardiogram, with Dr. Schwartz and a cardiologist watching the ultrasound as they check out every little part of our little man’s heart. Should be a great appointment to get new measurements of our (not so) little guy.

I’ll be 31+ weeks by the next appointment, which means that the non-stress tests will probably start the next week. Twice a week, at an hour or so each. Here’s hoping I can get them scheduled first thing in the morning so I won’t miss much work.

All in all, it was a great appointment. Dr. Schwartz said he hoped he didn’t scare me too much at my last appointment, and that the way things are looking right now, maybe his dire predictions wouldn’t come true. I told him that I’d christened him Dr. Scarypants, and he requested I give him another name now that he wasn’t preaching fire and brimstone. I explained that Paul and I are aiming to have everything ready at home and at work by the 36 week mark (June 19th) so that whatever happens, we’re ready. Dr. Schwartz was very happy to hear that.

Hooray for short, mostly boring appointments. And seriously, I do love Dr. Schwartz. I totally trust him and his judgment as to what’s best for me and the baby. He gets that life goes on, and that as great as being pregnant is, life doesn’t revolve *entirely* around the pregnancy. I have every confidence that no matter how things shake out over the next several weeks that the little man and I are in the best possible hands.

Help Wanted – May 2 (28w4d)

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We’re looking for help next Sunday (and possibly next Saturday afternoon) with moving furniture and building new furniture after the carpet is in.

We’ve got two IKEA dressers, an IKEA shelving unit, a desk and hutch, and the crib to build. Paul could use some help moving two small dressers, and the guest beds as well as possibly our bed.

If you’re local and have some time next Saturday or Sunday – we’d really appreciate the help, since there’s very little I can do to help lift or move anything. We’ve got a dolly and power screwdriver. We’ll even feed ya!

If you can help – reply to this message or email me (sarah at paulandsarah dot org) and let us know?

Thanks!!

Nursery Painted! (28w3d)

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The nursery is painted. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

We worked on clearing out the office on Friday night and finished on Saturday morning. We taped the room in record time and managed to get the lighter of the two colors painted on Saturday. Then today we finished with the darker green paint. Paul did the upper trim, while I did the lower trim. We make a great team – working together. We got the room painted in record time! (Thumbs up for that new Behr Primer & Paint stuff. It’s crazy thick, so it was a little work to get it into the nooks and crannies of our slightly textured walls – but one coat coverage that covered mars and blemishes on deep colors was GREAT! Oh, and NO smell! Thanks for the recommendation, Mikey!)

That said, MAN, it was hard work. The carpel tunnel syndrome I’ve been dealing with is in overdrive. I’m hoping that trying to take it easy on my wrists will ease some of the swelling – my right wrist and forearm are noticeably swollen. I pushed myself to the limit today after the painting, while we were applying a frosted window film. I had to go lay down for what I thought was just a minute, and woke up 45 minutes later.

But it’s totally worth it. I feel fine this evening, if a little tired. Our little guy’s room is painted, with alternate colors on the switch plates. Paul re-wired the light switch to work with a dimmer. We’ll be getting some sort of floor lamp for the room. The curtains have been bought by my girlfriend in Arizona and will be mailed this week. (Every IKEA in California is sold out, but hers had two sets left!) We’ll install the curtain rod and curtains on Sunday after the carpet get installed. We have a fantastic piece of art that was given to us as a wedding gift by Paul’s aunt and uncle – and it has a perfect place in the room. I’ve ordered some other art prints that compliment our bedding and ABC-123 theme perfectly. I need to find some skinny black frames for the 10 5×7″ prints, which hopefully will be here before the shower.

I can’t wait for friends and family to see the completed room. Tom, Jeanne, Nonny & Cassie came over this evening to see the paint job – but I want to get the full room put together soon.

So next weekend is carpet. That’s gonna be a heckuva lot of work to get the house ready, but I’m looking forward to it. It feels great to be taking these concrete steps in preparation for our baby.

(Yes, pictures have been taken – before and during. After pictures will follow when there’s better light, and after the carpet is installed.)

Oh, and as a total aside – the baby has been kicking like mad while I’ve been writing this post with my netbook on my lap. He’s knocked the laptop askew three times so far. It has become routine to feel him kick, but it’s still incredibly reassuring every time he does. I’m not gonna say that pregnancy has been fun, but I’m still fascinated by the experience and so grateful to be going through it. I feel so much more connected to my son now that I can feel him kick.

Nursery Happenings (27w4d)

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This week is gonna be a busy week. The nursery is about 70% cleared out (I guess it’s still “the office” until it’s fully cleared out, huh?) Painting MUST happen this weekend, because carpet happens next Saturday, May 1. So the office has to get emptied before the weekend.

Every evening, Paul and I will be in the office sorting, packing and moving stuff out into the garage temporarily. (Well, I won’t be moving anything, but I’ll be helping to sort and pack.) We really need to have a garage sale, but I’ll settle for another round of donations to Big Brothers, Big Sisters. (It’s just such a PITA to inventory everything before making the donation – but it’s necessary to get the tax write-off!) Well, except for tonight. I have homework and tests to finish for Accounting class tomorrow.

This weekend, we’ll paint the nursery (presumably with help from friends – depending on how the timing works out) so that it can be good and dry (with windows open) by next weekend. So I’ll be buying paint at Home Depot at some point this week during my lunch break. I wish I could find a coupon or a sale!

Then all next week, we box up the house and move IT into the garage. (Did I mention that our garage – despite Paul’s best efforts and an already HUGE pickup from SafeNest – is about 85% full already?) The carpet guys will move the furniture, but we have to unload it all first. So I’ll be culling our impressive bookcases, and attempting to sort through mountains of clothes that need to be donated. (Again with the inventorying…) Paul is threatening to send me away on the day of the carpet install, saying I’ll probably just be in the way.

Then once the carpet is in, we have a week of evenings and one weekend to put the house back together (including building all the stuff we got at IKEA yesterday and the crib) before the Baby Shower. Oh, and Baby classes start happening in the evenings there too.

THERE’S SO MUCH TO DO! But I’m looking forward to it. We’re *finally* at the point where we can be DOING stuff for the nursery. Nothing like a deadline to get one’s butt in gear! (I did a little figuring this weekend, and I’ll hit 36 weeks around June 19th… so any time after that we could have our little guy. So I’m all the more glad to be getting the house really ready for him!)