Showing

Weeks ago, I had to tell two of my department chairs that I was pregnant because they asked me about working winter term. Today, I told the last one. I was unexpectedly offered another class for winter term (after being told there were none) because someone suddenly couldn't teach it.

We sat down to discuss the matter and I told her that the only consideration was that I was pregnant. She said "I know, you've started showing." This pleased me quite a bit. I hadn't thought it was that noticeable because no one has said anything... but apparently it's not the sort of thing you mention to someone unless they've told you that they're pregnant. This makes sense and I know it to be true: I wouldn't want to accidentally ask someone about their pregnancy and find out that they just had gained 10 pounds.

As I was teaching lab, I kept thinking about her saying that I was showing and getting happy feelings.

She is, like my other department chairs, totally supportive and willing to find a sub if I have to leave early. She also suggested that I look at the labs for the class and see if there's anything I'm uncomfortable with (chemical-wise) and that we could find a sub for those particular labs as well.

Baby presents!

We got fabulous gifts in the mail today!

First, we got the second version of our wedding photo album, designed by Mike's mom. The first version had a somewhat less than flattering picture of him on the front. This version looks fabulous. This doesn't count as a baby present, but rather a present for us.

Second, we got a Moses Basket from the elementary school that Mike's mom works at. It's really lovely. My brother registered for one of these and didn't ever get one because it was too expensive... so I'm feelin' the love right now.

It's currently taking up all of the empty space on our kitchen table, but I don't want to move it anywhere that it will get dirty. However, dinner is on the stove and we'll be eating fairly shortly, so I'm going to have to package it back up in its box before anything happens to it.

Spicy

This week, the baby is the size of an onion. However, we weighed the onion and it's roughly twice the weight of the baby. We decided that the baby must be full of styrofoam.

Stroller #2

Today, we got up at 6am (well, that was when the alarm went off anyhow) and headed out to the REI used gear sale. When we were at REI a few weeks ago checking out the BOB strollers, the guy we were talking to reminded us about this sale and said that there are usually a few strollers there... but that we would have to get there early if we wanted a shot at them. We got in line around 7am. The sale opened at 8 and the line was already around 3 sides of the building. There were people who had set up tents the night before to get a good spot. That's hardcore. I can't think what I would want at REI that would lead me to camp on the sidewalk outside their building for a night.

We got inside the sale at probably around 9am. They only let a few people in at a time because it's a pretty tight space. I had scouted it out earlier (shortly after 8) and there were 5 or 6 strollers at that point, but several of them had already been sold. I guess you need to get there really early in the morning if you want the good selection. By the time we got in, there were two strollers left. One very used blue one where the tread was practically worn off the wheels ($144), and one orange one ($199). We decided to go for the orange one. I think it's last year's model, but it's never been used. The pokey rubber things are still sticking out all over the tires. I talked to the person who was working inside the REI in the stroller section and she said there were some updates between last year's model and this year's, but I don't think they're worth $150. I didn't really want the orange one, but I'll get used to it.

We also ended up getting a ginormous (6 person) tent so that we'll be able to take the kid and the dog camping next summer (originally $450 including a footprint tarp thingy that goes underneath; we paid $90). We got a smallish backpack that I thought would make an excellent diaper bag and Mike got two new pairs of toe shoes. All-in-all, a successful shopping trip.

However, I was exhausted by the end. I was hungry and tired and getting cranky. I ate an apple and a protein bar in the car and we made it home. I got in bed and napped for an hour. I have not managed to accomplish any of the other things that I needed to do today, but I did grocery shop. I'm going to cook white bean and fennel soup and there's a loaf of bread in the bread maker.

Diapers, cataloged

Ok, it's totally an obsession. Hopefully if I catalog them all, I will realize that I have enough and stop buying them. Here we go.

On the left top is a medium fitted diaper and a medium cover (of two different brands. On the bottom edge is a medium pocket diaper from some brand that starts with Bum. I think these may have come with the Fuzzibunz (all medium), which are the next set over from the left. Looks like there are 10 of these, although there may be another one or two floating around. I think I paid about $6/diaper for all of these, which would put it at maybe $60? That seems like a number I remember.

In the center are a bunch of misc inserts that go inside of pocket diapers. A couple of them are from diapers in the picture that just don't have inserts, but a bunch of them are extras. I spent $5 on 3 microfiber ones, several of them are my homemade ones, and the rest came as part of other bundles of diapers I bought.

On the right are 9 BumGenius one-size 3.0 pocket diapers (from Craigslist, bought probably a year ago). I know I paid less than $10/diaper and I think there may be another one lurking around because I thought there were 10 of them originally. I think I may have paid $80 for these.

On the very right edge are a few prefolds that I got from Jess. There's 2 or 3 small and 2 large ones.

These are the diapers that I've made. The 5 at the top are pocket diapers. The two on the left are adjustable (supposed to be one-size). Then there's two medium ones and one little one. Below those are 5 covers. They also are various sizes. The top two on the right edge are "butterfly" diapers which sort of fold apart and the bottom one is a weird fitted one made out of flannel.

These are the diapers I bought with a bunch of other stuff from a lady on Craigslist the other day. I also bought 12 small organic cotton prefolds and 12 mediums, which I didn't bother to take a picture of. I paid $86 total for this stuff.

 These are organic cotton fitted diapers. On the right is one of the diapers I bought, on the left is what I've restored it to look like. I replaced the elastic and serged around the edges with a multicolor rainbow thread. The fabric is quite worn, but I think they'll work ok. I have 13 of these and they cost me $20. They're a medium size.

These are my newest purchase. These are the little diapers. Total, these were $200.
For newborns: Top left: 3 kissaluvs size 0 (fits 5-15 lbs). Bottom right: 5 Kushies newborn (4-10 lbs). There's a tiny little cover at the very top right, then several XS bummis wraps (newborn size). The gDIapers (bright orange one in middle) fits 8-14 lbs.
For slightly older: At the bottom left are Kissaluvs contours in small (fits 5-20 lbs) and medium (fits 15-30 lbs). Small bummis wraps fit 8-15 lbs.
Not pictured: 12 organic prefold newborn diapers and 12 size small. These are from Green Mountain Diapers and I bought them new ($62).

All about cloth diapers recommends that you have 24 newborn-sized diapers, along with wipes, doublers, etc. I've got 12 prefolds, 12 contours, a couple fitteds, with 3 or so covers. I could probably use a few more covers but I think I can make those.

The small size should last for several months. I've got about the same number of that size as I do newborn, which is probably close to enough.

Hopefully there isn't a gap between the small diapers and the medium fuzzibunz all-in-ones, which are supposed to fit 15-30 lbs. The medium thirsties covers supposedly fit 18-30 lbs, so they may be a bit big. I might be able to cover the gap with the BumGenius, since their size is adjustable, but I was hoping to not have to use those until baby is a bit bigger.

So the bottom line: I've definitely got WAY enough bigger diapers; I'll be able to cycle through those slowly enough that they won't get a ton of usage. I could probably use a few more newborn and small diapers. Luckily, I just got an email back from two other Craigslist ads I responded to for newborn and little gDiapers ($50) and 8 medium bumkins covers which fit 12-22 lbs (a steal at $25). Then I really have to stop watching Craigslist for diaper ads!!

More (the last!) diapers.

One glaring hole in my (somewhat oversized) collection of cloth diapers was diapers for the first few months. I've already decided that I don't want to use the all-in-one diapers when the baby is really tiny. I think they're just way too huge and my mom felt like they restricted my niece's movement when she was little (she learned to turn herself over right after they switched to disposables). I have both BumGenius 3.0 and Fuzzibunz one-size diapers, but I don't want to use them until the baby is big enough to move inside them.

My latest Craigslist purchase is a bunch of little cloth diapers, all of which I got for $200:
5 newborn Kushies (all in one) - these are really cute. (new: $10)
3 newborn Bummis wraps (new: about $12)
5 small Bummis wraps (new: about $12)
1 small Litewrap wrap (new: about $6)
6 Thirstys wraps (new: about $11)
12 small Kissaluvs contour cloth diapers (possibly $7)
8 medium Kissaluvs contour cloth diapers (also about $7)
3 size 0 Kissaluvs fitted diapers (about $12)
2 size 2 Kissaluvs fitted diapers (about $12)
2 Snappis for the Kissaluvs (about $5)
2 G Diapers (about $15)
TOTAL if bought new: about $458 - I got the prices off of amazon. They're approximate because for some items, I'm not sure if I got the exact right item.

The lady who was selling the diapers also let me go through her maternity clothes. I got a bag of new tops (probably 8 or so) and a swimsuit for $20. Then, I stopped by Other Mother's consignment shop (I'd seen ads for it on Craigslist) and picked up three pairs of pants I can wear to work, a red Christmasy sweater, and a cute baby outfit with a raccoon on it all for $30. I had needed more work pants since I really only have one pair and it's hard to make it through a whole week with only one pair of pants. I'm pleased and will run several loads of laundry tomorrow.

I'll have to go through and catalog what diapers I have and how much I (think) I spent on them. I'm trying to keep a total now so that I'll be able to see how much this whole diapering endeavor costs. I'm curious to compare it to disposable diapers.

Cooking frenzy

Today, I went through a cooking frenzy.

My work schedule is very busy this term. Monday and Wednesday, I teach an 8:30-10am class, then a 6 or 7-10pm class. For most of the term, I've come home between classes and taken an nap in the afternoon. It gives me the energy to make it through the night class, but it takes up a good portion of my day. Today, I decided I would stay awake the whole day.

My first project was swiss chard pancakes. We've had the chard for probably 2 weeks now. It was well past its prime, but I figured that it gets blended into batter so it probably didn't matter too much. They were bright green and fairly tasty. We had them with a little butter and salt, but decided that they would have been better with melted cheese on top. This was my second breakfast, the first having been oatmeal that I ate before I went to class.

Next, I took the chicken carcasses that had been partially made into stock and sitting in the large pot in fridge for several days and finished boiling them. I strained out the liquid and picked the rest of the meat off the bones. I froze some of the stock and used the rest as the liquid in my next project:

Lentil and spinach soup. The recipe called for water, but since I had the chicken stock I thought I'd use it instead. I also cut up the rest of the chicken meat and added that as well. It turned out extremely tasty. I'd forgotten how much I like lentils; they're just so easy. I had a small bowl of soup around noon for lunch.

The actual cooking plan for today was sausage and cabbage pitas. We got a cabbage from the CSA and Mike had picked up italian sausage and not-meat sausage to use in it. I used half the not-meat sausage and all the meat kind as well as the entire cabbage. There was a slight issue with the pitas, as they turned out to be flatbreads and refused to open up to hold sausage-cabbage. It was tasty, though. We always enjoy this meal. I ate a pita and some sausage-cabbage around 5, before I headed to my second class.

I had thought that would hold me until I got home, but it didn't. I ended up eating two single-serve halloween candy bars that I had in my jacket pocket, then had another small bowl of lentil soup when I got home from class (just now).

I guess I should also add in the banana I ate during the first class and the apple I had in the car driving home from it. This tiny squee does like to eat.

Diaper Obsession

I seem to have developed an obsession with cloth diapers. I've dreamed about them for the last two nights. Not even interesting dreams, just dreamed about ordering them on amazon. What sizes should I get? What types? What colors? Do I want to use prefolds or all-in-ones or hybrids? I've become an expert on a topic that I won't have any use for until 5 months from now. I've bought hundreds of dollars worth of diapers off of Craigslist (over a long period of time, but still) and I'm still looking for more. I have several patterns to sew my own and I've put additional hundreds of dollars into supplies to make diapers with. I'm making modifications to the patterns based on absolutely no experience with actually putting these things onto a baby.

I guess it's good to have a hobby.

New acquisitions

My brother and sister-in-law had decided that they were going to get me a BOB Revolution stroller as my baby present. It's the way high-end SUV of strollers. REI is having a 20% off one item sale, which includes this stroller (although according to the guy at the REI we stopped by, it's been excluded in the sale in previous years). They bought it for us online and I picked it up in the Portland REI this morning. We haven't opened the box, which is large and imposing. Mike has this idea that he'll go to the REI used gear sale and see if he can get one for cheaper. If so, we could return this one and give my bro a refund on the difference.

This morning, I also picked up a bunch of stuff from a woman on Craigslist. Here's a list of my loot:
Boppy with organic cotton cover - $10
Baby Bjorn Potty - $4
Kidco Food Mill with case - $5
5 Thirsties Diaper Covers size Medium - $5 each (1 pink, 1 yellow, 1 light blue, 1 dark blue, 1 periwinkle)
3 Thirsties Diaper Covers size 2 (these are the newer style with snaps to accommodate 18-40 pounds) - $5 each (2 blue, 1 yellow) **These have hardly been used at all - maybe 2 times each)
1 Bummis Whisper Pant Medium - $2
2 Bumpkins Plastic Bibs - $3
1 small Snappi and 2 large Snappis - $5
2 wet bags - 1 blue medium, 1 white large - $3 dollars each
12 small organic cotton prefold diapers - $15
12 medium organic cotton prefold diapers - $15
13 one size fits most fitted organic cotton diapers - $20 (I'll have to replace the elastic on these)
2 Hemp pocket diapers with fleece lining and doublers - $7 each
Diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet - $20
Misc. organic cotton wipes, and extra random diapers...I'll throw them in if interested.

Grand total: $155
I figure it's a good deal. I can probably resell much of what I bought, either before the baby (if it's something we decide we're not going to use) or after the baby (since cloth diapers and such hold resale value pretty well).

I'm totally set for larger size diapers now... I just need to figure out what I'm going to do when baby is still teeny tiny.

Omega 3's

Today, the baby and I shared a can of sardines. The normal reactions I get from people when I tell them I've eaten sardines are either "Ew!" or "Huh".

My dad, my brother and I used to go camping fairly frequently when I was a kid. One of the things that we always brought along to eat was a can of sardines and saltine crackers. I have excellent memories associated with eating sardines and I enjoy their fishy flavor. They're also chock full o' good stuff: calcium (if you get the bone-in kind), omega-3's, and probably other things that I've forgotten.

Earlier on in my pregnancy, I was totally avoiding fish. While we were on our honeymoon cruise, I couldn't eat fish (with one exception) and didn't even want Mike to sit too close when he was eating fish. Anticipating that this would change as morning sickness abated, I bought three cans of sardines.

I opened one up and enjoyed it this afternoon. It was fabulous. I'm supposed to be eating about 1 fishy meal a week. We had salmon a while back, but I think it's been more than a week since I ate any fish, so it was about time.

Speaking of eating, today has been full of it. I had my usual breakfast this morning (oatmeal with raisins, frozen blueberries, ground flax, and plain yogurt). By the time I finished teaching 2 hours later, I was starving. Luckily, I had brought an apple for the drive home. Upon arrival home, I fixed myself a small grilled cheese sandwich with the last of the loaf of Costco bread. It's small-sized bread, so it was probably about half the size of a regular grilled cheese. I also ate the very end of the loaf with butter. Then, I had a plum. A half hour later, I was hungry again. That's what inspired the eating of the can of sardines, as well as half a sleeve of Club crackers, which we got instead of saltines because they're better with cheese. I topped it off with a small handful of peanut M&M's.

I believe I'm sated for at least the next hour or so.

Pee, take 2

This morning's results agree with the first batch.

pH was slightly higher at 7.
Baking soda exhibited no bubbling at all.

Gender tests

So there's this theory on the internet that if you're having a boy, the pH of your urine is more acidic than having a girl. You can test the pH of your urine with various household chemicals. I tried this tonight because I think it will make an interesting experiment to try several times over the course of a few days and see if the pH of my urine holds steady or if the results change.

First, we tested it using pH paper. The whole point of doing the other tests is that most households don't have pH paper laying around... but we're a scientific sort of a family. My urine is around pH 6.

When we added pee to baking soda, we saw only very limited fizzing (like just bubbles escaping from the baking soda because it's a dry powder). Supposedly, this means it's a girl.

An equal volume of pee added to bleach also produced only limited fizzing. Supposedly if it's a boy, it can even foam over the top of the container. My bleach + pee solution bubbled slightly, like soda. This test smelled bad and the internet warns that the gas produced from this reaction can be toxic (although other parts of the internet thought that was an overreaction). Since the same results were achieved via baking soda and bleach tests, I'm going to skip the bleach test from now on.

Alright, survey says it's a girl. That disagrees with the Intelligender test I took earlier on. I believe that test is also a pH-based test, which lends support to the idea that urine changes pH according to diet. I'll try again tomorrow and report back.

First baby gender dream!

Last night, I dreamed I had the baby and it was a boy. After he was born, I held him up to my breast in case he was hungry (it's a lot of work being born). He glommed right onto my nipple, but I knew he wasn't attached the right way, so we pulled him off and tried again. After several attempts, he got attached right and started nursing.

There was nothing definitively gender-specific about this dream except that I knew he was a boy. I think this dream was brought about by the discussion we had with the Dr yesterday about gender dreams.

Today I fell in love.

I was sitting at work today, daydreaming about the baby. Specifically, I was daydreaming about what my mother is going to think the next time I see her because I look a LOT more pregnant than the last time she saw me. She's going to be so excited! While I was daydreaming, I totally, suddenly, and completely fell in love with this baby. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked the baby before. But now... now, I'm completely smitten with this tiny apple-sized person who inhabits the formerly flat portion of my anatomy that's now poking out through my maternity pants.

I can't stop smiling.

Actual baby dream!

Last night, I dreamed that I had an actual human baby. He (it was a boy) showed up early and was teeny-tiny, but was healthy and wiggling. My mom and dad were there and we were putting tiny little diapers on him.

Then the dream morphed into "reality" where I hadn't had the baby yet. I was complaining that I would have to do something else for Christmas cards because I wouldn't have baby pictures yet, so we decided to do a photo shoot at Halloween. We hung a couple of pumpkins from a tree and then put stuffed animals in a shopping cart and parked it under the pumpkins. Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like pumpkins and a shopping cart of stuffed animals. Mike's mom was there helping me position the shopping cart. Then, she climbed the tree.