Breast Pump

I'd been waffling between getting a new breast pump and getting a used one.

The FDA recommends that they only be used by one person. I'd been leaning that direction, then I talked to people who've actually used them and I looked at a video of how it works. No fluids actually go into the pump part and all the external parts are replaceable. There's no possible way that milk could get sucked into the pump and then get spat back out into the external parts. New Medela breast pumps are $300 roughly.

I changed my mind. I decided to get one on Craigslist. I found one that was being advertised that the lady said had only been used a couple of times. She was selling hers for $160. It came with a bunch of extra pieces, too. I went through it and cleaned everything today. All the external pieces can go through the dishwasher, but we're waiting till closer to when we'll need it.

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.

Maternity Clothes

This is that awkward stage where I'm not really big enough to wear maternity clothes without them being baggy and silly looking, but I'm too big to wear real pants. It's not that my pants don't fit anymore, it's that having anything pushing on my tummy is extremely uncomfortable. Before, "suck it in" might have been a strategy that worked. Now, elastic waistbands rule the day. I'm even wearing dresses, which I almost never do, because they don't restrict my tummy. Who'd have thought that a person who's only the size of a fig would need so much room?

My maternity clothing plan has been to look at Goodwill and on Craigslist. I went to Goodwill last week and found one pair of nice looking black pants. I wore them out already, actually. They have a very stretchy waistband, but not that big elastic pouch thing that is on a lot of maternity pants. Maternity pants, unlike regular pants, come in S, M, L, XL, rather than numbered sizes. I wasn't sure where I fell on the continuum. After I tried on a few pairs of pants at Goodwill to determine my size, I started to look Craigslist.

Last night, I picked up an awesome deal. A garbage bag full of clothes for $40. Turns out the people have 5 kids and are moving. I'm guessing that they're way done having kids and that the mom didn't want to have to deal with the clothes now that they're moving. Total score for me.

There's several pairs of jeans, some shorts (which I probably won't wear since I'll be mostly pregnant in the winter), a pair of leggings and a skirt. There's also a whole laundry basket full of tops: some tshirts, some nicer shirts. I'm pretty well set as far as clothes go. I'm going out shopping with my mother today. The only thing I think I really need are black pants that I can wear to work... although I'll probably get to the point where I'm wearing jeans and comfy tops.

The only downside is that they seem to be *full* of detergent residue. I'm running the first load through the wash and at the end of the first cycle, I could see suds coming out during the final spin. I ran them through again with no additional detergent (I'm still using my homemade laundry detergent, which doesn't usually produce much in the way of suds) and they're still sudsing on the second go-round. It's going to be a pain to wash all of these things two or three times, but I don't want to chance allergic reactions to the laundry detergent. They'll probably be softer once I get them actually rinsed out, too.