Diapers.

Yup, diapers. I have only ever used disposable diapers on my kids, and was curious about cloth diapering. My husband wasn't only not curious, but adamantly against the idea of cloth diapers. Mostly because of the whole deal with cleaning off poo (I didn't know previously, but you are supposed to flush the poo with disposable diapers as well. In some states it is illegal to throw it in the garbage). Since I was curious I looked into it, and found out that there is a lot to cloth diapering that I wasn't aware of. I didn't realize just how cheaply it could be done, or how convenient cloth diapers are now days, nor was I aware of how friggin' cute they are!

Research is always a dangerous thing for me, lol I ended up being quite interested in trying cloth diapering after watching numerous videos on YouTube and looking at many forum sites and cloth diaper website. It became something that I was almost desperate to at least try. I think my husband was a little freaked out by my interest in it, but after we talked about it some, he is willing to give it a try. He was very interested in how cheaply we could get started, and the camo print diapers are of course very cute, but what got to him the most was the boast that cloth diapers leak and blowout much less often than disposables. Dealing with a blowout diaper is never fun, so eliminating or greatly reducing the number of them would be great.

I am excited that we are going to try cloth diapers for this baby. After embarrassingly long hours of research, I decided that prefolds and covers would be the best and cheapest route. Then I found the SunBaby website, which has super cheap pocket diapers which many moms rave about. With a budget of $200, we could get all the diapers needed from birth to potty training. $200 is about what we would spend on disposables in just 4 months. If I buy less and cheap though, I could get started for $100. I hope to do a mix of prefolds and covers and pocket diapers.

There are lots of fun things involved with cloth diapering. I already have plans of attempting to make my own cloth wipes (me and sewing don't get a long so well, but I want to try making wipes anyway. I figure how badly could I really screw up sewing two pieces of cloth together?). I also want to make baby leggings with super fun stripped sock yarn, and knit up a few wool soakers. That is just the cloth diapering related stuff. I have a whole stack of patterns printed out for knitted baby stuff that I want to make, budget allowing of course.

12 Week Prenatal Appointment.

Yesterday was my first official prenatal appointment with the midwife. I was 12 weeks and 2 days. The appointment went well, seems everything is on track. My blood pressure was excellent, 120/66 and I have gained 8 lbs so far. I actually gained 9 lbs during the first couple weeks, then didn't gain any more after that. So really, I have lost 1 lb in the last two-ish months. She said my fundus was at the right height, and my uterus was the right size (approximate size of a grapefruit). We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, though both my husband and I have mixed feelings over the use of the doppler. Baby's heart beat was 158 bpm. My next appointment is the 26th of November, and I'll be 16 weeks pregnant.

Things have been going about the same for me since last time I posted. I am still having some occasional morning sickness, but ginger tea (decaf) keeps it in check pretty well. I am still tired beyond all reason. Sunday I didn't wake up until 10 am, took a nap at noon and didn't get back up until 5 that evening. I was tired all evening and went to bed at the regular time that night. I just can't sleep enough to get my energy up. Exercising is impossible to get through because I am so fatigued and get short of breath from the smallest amount of activity. I take my prenatal vitamins that are high in iron, and I also eat a pretty high iron diet, so I shouldn't be anemic. I was never this tired with either of my girls, but I also wasn't this hungry, feel movement this early, or have so much lower abdominal pressure either. This pregnancy is so very different than my previous two. Hopefully that means this baby is a boy.

Homeschooling has been really hard with me being so tired all the time. There are days we don't get started until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Some days we don't get any of our reading done and have to do double the next day. I am thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling. If we had to be on a strict schedule, I don't think I could do it right now. I am also glad that the girls are a bit older and more understanding. I remember my oldest being so confused and hurt that I couldn't really play with her as much or pick her up while I was pregnant with her sister. It is much easier not having to take care of a toddler while pregnant.

My diet has not been as good as I would like it to be. I have slipped up and eaten high carb foods a handful of times. It wasn't that long ago I had a grilled cheese sandwich, not smart for someone who is trying to eat low carb and fighting constipation on a dialy basis.  I suppose all things considered, I am doing a decent job with my diet. I am beginning to hate water with a passion though. Drinking 16 glasses of water a day gets harder to do every day. Flavoring the water isn't helping as much as it used to either. bleh.

8 Weeks and 2 days.

Today I met my midwife for the first time. The consultation went great and I am excited to be working with her. It seems like her approach to prenatal care and birthing was exactly what I was looking for. She doesn't do a ton of tests, is cool with how much or little weight I gain so long as my diet is good (lots of protein, veggies, and fruit), and is easy to talk to. My offical first appointment is on the 29th. I will be 12 weeks (past the danger zone!!) and we may be able to hear the baby's heart beat. I am very excited about working towards an all natural home birth!

Everything has been pretty good with the pregnancy so far. I am not hardly ever sick, just in the mornings when I am really hungry. I still don't have much energy, but I bought a prenatal yoga dvd that I am hoping will help a bit with that. If nothing else, it should help me get a little more flexible before birth.

I finished reading "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" and am currently reading "Silent Knife" and "Heart and Hands." The first book was quite good and very encouraging towards a natural (unmedicated) home birth. "Silent Knife" is a book about vbacs from the 80's. It is really good and quite enlightening. The statistics are not current, obviously, but the book has some very good information regardless. The "Heart and Hands" book is a book intended for the training of midwifes. It is chock-full of great information, and I am loving how much I am learning from it (not sure it will be helpful knowing how to give someone a pelvic exam though, lol).

My husband and I are huge Doctor Who fans, so hubby bought a Dalek plushy for the baby, lol It is a little clip on one that is about 4 inches tall. When you squeeze it it says a few different things, like "you would make a good Dalek" "Exterminate! Exterminate!" lol It is a bit sad that we think it is so awesome, but hey, that's who we are :)