the tree is on the wall

one month to due date

“My due date is in one month.”

“That’s soon.”

“Then we’re going to have a baby with us, all the time.”

“Yeah.”

Pause.

“I hope that works out ok.”

——-

I’ve decided to just not step on the scale anymore.  I don’t want to know how many pounds I’ve gained.  I feel better not knowing.

I wake up and switch sides every couple of hours.  My hips and butt ache in my sleep, my allergies make my nose stuffy and my throat sore, of course I have to go to the bathroom, and then sometimes acid reflux wakes me too (has that fact induced me to change my eating habits?  No.  So I can’t complain).

In the daytime, my main complaints are how difficult it is to bend down and then get back up, as, for example, when tying shoes or picking up a dropped pencil.  That, and the pain of stretching ligaments, which is sudden and can make me gasp a little. Oh: and don’t let me forget the achy, swollen hands.  Feet too, but right now the hands are much worse.

I feel more energetic.  I don’t know if the energy is due to my iron levels going back up or due to the fact that I’ve quit work and can take life as easily as I want to.  Not that I’m taking it THAT easy.  Yesterday, while 8 inches of snow blanketed Seattle, DH and I spent six hours deep cleaning the kitchen. Whew.

Our inane birthing class is finished.  My recommendation: instead of the 150 or 200 or whatever the class costs, just get yourself a free library card and promise to spend 10 or 15 hours reading books and watching dvds.  The books I’ve read have been way more informative and empowering than the class was.

Gear decisions have been made.  And re-made.  And made again.  We ended up choosing a Chico infant car seat instead of the  convertible we’d originally chosen, so that we could pop out the seat and carry it places.  This will mean that we’ll have to buy a second car seat at 12 months, so it’s not the thriftiest of decisions.  But maybe eventually we’ll need two seats anyway, a toddler seat and an infant seat, depending on what might happen with a baby #2.

As for diapers, Mom bought us our first dozen bum genius 3.0 one-size diapers, which are adorable.  They are washed and ready to go.  I’m also going to get some old-fashioned cotton prefolds and covers, which are cheaper than bum genius, but not quite as simple.  I bought a bunch of cotton flannel remnants at the fabric store, and I’m cutting them into re-usable cloth diaper wipes.

Instead of buying a sling, I got a long piece of fabric from the discount section (it cost like $10, total) and will try it out as instructed here and here.

I found a great website to help determine what laundry detergents are good to use for baby stuff: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm.  For now, I’m using the Arm and Hammer for Sensitive Skin, just because it’s sold at the grocery store a few blocks from my house.

And as if I haven’t committed my little sewing machine to enough other projects, now I want to use the leftover quilt fabrics to make a flock of birds.

one month to due date

baby quilt

For size perspective...at the foot of a twin bed.

The back is a little furry with textured hearts.

without the flash...more accurate colors?

The quilt is made with the same fabrics as our tree art project was made with, plus a few extras that I had around.  It has a lot of mistakes that you can see if you look closely…squares not matching up, fabric pulled instead of smooth…but it was my first quilt, and I made it entirely by reading instructions online and figuring things out as I went along, without using any professional tools like a rotary cutter to get things even.  I did a simple “stitch in the ditch” to quilt it together, so it’s nothing fancy.  But it’s warm and cozy.

i know, i know

Is everything ok?  What happened to the blogger?

Everything is fine, maybe even more than fine.  I’ve just found that obsessing over my pregnancy is less interesting as I get closer to my due date.   This pregnancy thing is almost over!  Instead of keeping track of exercise and diet and baby movements and pains and aches, I’m thinking more about car seats and cloth diaper wipes.

But I’ll write about that.  Soon.  Maybe tomorrow, if the power doesn’t go out (Seattle may have 6-10 inches of snow by tomorrow, high winds and ice).  But right now, I’m going to cuddle up and watch the Hallmark channel Christmas movies, and finish binding the baby quilt (pictures to come).

Merry Christmas.

I want my body back.

Have you bought your “buggy” yet?

Some stroller advice from the UK….courtesy of my mom, as most of my links are.

According to the pregnancy facts gadgets on my iGoogle homepage, I have 62 days until my due date.   There’s still a lot to do to prepare, and that’s all I want to do, really — read about babies, make things for babygirl, organize and clean things for babygirl — but I can’t, not quite yet.  I’ll work until Dec. 12, and I have to focus on work until then.  After that, I’ll be free to baby it up.

In my thirty-first week, my appetite has finally slowed down.  For the past couple of days, I’ve been feeling more Braxton Hicks contractions, mid-back pain, pain down in my groin, and stomach-stretching pain.  But my energy levels have been up, a bit, and with such a supportive husband, I really can’t complain about a thing.

30 weeks and 2 days; 68 days to go

A couple of nights ago I had a dream that while I was at school one day, babygirl stuck her hand out straight through the left side of my stomach.  It didn’t hurt, it wasn’t bloody — it was like one of those fantasy movie scenes where somone steps through a mirror or wall.  She grabbed onto my finger.  I asked one of my students to take some pictures.  We all thought it was pretty cool.

—

And speaking of movies, sometimes when baby girl is kicking, I feel like I’m in a sci-fi flick, and my body has just been taken over by an alien.

–

Some people know exactly the right things to say: “From the back, you don’t look any different!”  “You look beautiful.”  Other people, trying to show their enthusiasm, could do better: “Ooohhhh…getting bigger!” (Thanks for pointing that out, as if I don’t feel huge enough already.)

–

“How’s the baby?”

I don’t know.  I’ll ask her when I see her and get back to you.

–

We’re halfway done painting babygirl’s room.  It’s a little limey.  But I like it.  It feels brighter and cleaner than before. (Postscript: After two coats, the green walls next to the dark wood trim look like a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream…)

–

My blood test results last week indicate that I have very low iron (29 when it should be 35, though I don’t know what those numbers mean, exactly).  I’m feeling it, too.  The last week, I’ve had a couple of headaches and a lot of bone weariness.  The worst part has been the breathlessness, though.  Lecturing in class, going up and down stairs, swimming, even just prepping the walls to paint today: I lose my breath and have to stop. I’m taking my iron pills, with vitamin C to help absorption, and I’m trying to eat iron rich foods every day.  I wonder how long it will take to build my levels back up.

–

Reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth is probably the most empowering thing I’ve done in my pregnancy.  It’s making me feel much more prepared for giving birth.

the place

Where it all will happen, hopefully. Don’t worry, relatives, I can transfer to a nearby hospital at any time if something goes wrong. And my midwife can accompany me.

But think about this: Giving birth, without any complications or even overnight stay, costs about $13,000 at the hospital.  It costs about $2,500 at the birthing center.  And sure, insurance will cover 80% of either one, but we’re still talking about a significant difference.  If I want to try to go all-natural anyway, why not do it at the cozy birthing center?

News

Babies need tummy time.