ten minutes to myself

The world's getting fuzzier!

I came across this link on the Baby Bargains forums, and thought that I'd better post it here before I forget about it all together - Karen's Cloth Diapering Page. This site is tempting me to try out pre-folds - even farther away from disposables than the all-in-ones that I was admiring before ...

Aren't these cute?

Mother of Invention

Much as I've admired the wares over at Posh Tots, I can't bring myself to spend more on baby furniture than I did on my car. The infamous e-Children store here in town has a circular crib on display; it's lovely with dragonflies carved into the sides, and it's $1200 without any bedding. Chris and I were going to buy a fairly ordinary crib for the little sprog, figuring that it's sensible not to spend a bundle on what is, afterall, temporary furniture.

But I am ever the fan of decorating on the cheap (as long as it doesn't look like it), and one of my co-workers gave me a fabulous nursery decorating tip today! One of her friends, instead of spending the moolah to buy a crib with a painted design or fancy carvings, bought a plain crib, and then went to M*chaels and bought a bunch of wooden cut-outs in the shapes of flowers and fairies. She put on a few coats of non-toxic paint, and then attached the cut-outs to the outside ends of the crib, which was transformed into something lovely and unique.

Farewell, Dear Sleep!

One of my aquaintances, a vetern mom-of-two, told me a few months back that third trimester sleep discomfort actually serves the purpose of acclimating one's body to the sleep deprivation of having a newborn in the home … She's far too practical a person! I only mention this because I've become a whole lot bigger lately, and it seems that the extra weight is to blame for the sore hips (whichever one I've been laying on all night) that I wake up with each morning. Since last week I've also been experiencing some discomfort in my sacrum, and the frustrating thing was that the lower-back yoga work I was doing wasn't helping a bit! I *heart* my pre-natal yoga instructor - she suggested poses with external rotation, like Warrior II, and I've noticed a difference! Needless to say, I registered in pre-natal yoga for another twelve weeks …

Convenience be damned ...

I think that I'm a better place with the cloth diapering alternative now. Many of the websites that I may order from offer introductory packages where a person can try out one or two different diapering systems (ie. all-in-one, prefold with cover) at a per-item price comparable to buying one or two dozen at a time. I'm thinking that a good game plan might be to use disposables for the first month whilst trying out a variety of different cloth diapers, the theory being that after four weeks I'll have a better idea about what kinds of diapers to order and have the energy to trek up and down the stairs to wash them … Any thoughts?

I also found some good information resources over the weekend:

• Born to Love


• Diaper Hyena


• Diaperpin

One thing that really impressed me is that cloth diapering is a little cottage industry unto itself - so many of the cute fitted diapers were developed by moms and still are produced largely by work-at-home moms ... indeed, quite far from Proctor & Gamble ...

Book Review: Birthing from Within

The book Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz was recommended to me from more than one source, but I am going to be cautious about recommending it to others if my opinion is ever solicited. I say that because it's more about pregnancy and childbirth as a spiritual sort of journey, and that's not what I was expecting from it, or felt that I needed at the time when I read it. I had trouble relating to the passages about expressing attitudes towards the birthing process via art (drawings, paintings, pottery) or vocalizations. I did find the passages about how much more empowering childbirth is other cultures quite interesting, though. I'm not sure if it's been updated recently because while it does talk some about hospital births, the information seemed a little archaic and I can't recall if a single positive hospital birth was portrayed. While I am the biggest skeptic about positive hospital births (which makes me a hypocrite *blush*), I do believe that they are the right choice for some moms and this book may be a little off-putting if the reader hasn't done any recent research or discussed the subject in detail with their caregivers.

Clarification

My dear husband Chris asked me to make it quite clear that when he asked about sexy pregnancy photos, he was not thinking of gratuitous nudity in any way. He was actually thinking closer to big white flannel granny nightie than Fredericks of Hollywood, but more artistic. He makes me laugh :)

Two nifty articles to read:

• Cuts You Up - compares natural childbirth to the hospital experience


• Cover Baby's Ears: Mommy's Online from the NYT ...

Where do I come up with these ideas?

I am seriously considering cloth diapering, at least part-time, after the little sprog is about four weeks post-utero. Does this make me crazy?

I should say here that I will be at home with our baby for at least one year, thanks to Canada's progressive parental leave legislation. Yes, not only can Canadians marry folks of the same sex and nearly-legally possess small amounts of a particular narcotic, we also can stay home with new offspring for fifty-two weeks, and get paid up to 60% of our salaries while doing so. So, I'm thinking that the time-frame I have makes attempting cloth feasible - it’s not like I'll have to switch over to disposables to satisfy outside childcare when the little sprog is a mere four months old … I must admit that I'm keeping fingers crossed that a happy side effect of this extra laundry will be a new washing machine for the basement!

Oddly enough, the laundry issue isn't what intimidates me about cloth diapering - it's figuring out what I'll need to purchase and what the heck all of the cloth diapering acronyms mean! AIO? PUL? And what's a doubler? I'm also afraid of investing several hundreds of dollars in a particular type of cloth diaper, and then discovering that's they're incompatible with the shape of the little sprog's body …

Guess I'm eating my veggies ...

Dear Little Sprog

My, how you've grown! According to the fetal growth table over at BabyCenter, you're averaging 13.5 inches in length right now, and weigh 1.5 lbs ... I think they're lying, though. I can't see how anything 13.5 inches long could fit inside me! That's huge :) I am totally amazed because two weeks ago I was sad because my regular clothes were finally too small for me, and my mat clothes were too big for me, but now they fit!

I also have to apologise for your Dad. Everytime I tell him that you're wiggling about, he's supposed to lay a hand out so that he can feel you ... not form his hands into a megaphone and shout "Hello? Hello?" at my tummy. I think he's just excited ...

Gotta Start Somewhere

OMG! We've actually made our first baby-related purchase - a Zooper stroller for the sprog. It's not a popular brand around these parts, but it's made of aluminum, has a full recline, air-filled tires, and it's a soon-to-be-discontinued 2003 model so it's being cleared out at a really good price. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the handle is high enough for both 5'3" me and 6'4" Chris to use without enciting back pain (tests of a floor model were encouraging). Chris is happy with Zooper because their strollers manage to look masculine (no cutesie fabric) and I'm happy because as far as I could tell, there is not a single plastic component on it that will become brittle and break in cold weather (yes, I worry about dumb things like that). The best price that we could find for the stroller in Calgary was for a floor model with some obvious defects and wear and tear, but we ended ordering a new-in-the-box one online from a shop in the Vancouver-area for $60 less! Whee!

Bring on the Flannel ...

A few months ago, Chris asked me if I was going to have any professional "sexy" pregnancy photos taken before the baby comes. I laughed at the sexy part, imaging that it would be a challenge to find lingerie that would even fit a huge tummy, but the idea of having some nice photos taken is kind of appealing - hey, I've never been happier with my body than I am now. I started looking up local photography studios last week, and I had to laugh when I uncovered one studio that had a gallery full of expectant moms wearing old-fashioned white granny nightgowns, in various woodland settings! Please tell me that granny nighties are not what passes for sexy when one is pregnant!!!

*wondering if it's acceptable to use the term "sexy" in what is supposed to be a pregnancy journal for my future offspring*