Preparing for baby tips

Before Baby:

Great books: (read now, you will not have time or energy later)

-Baby Bargains: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% on baby furniture, gear, clothes, toys, maternity wear and much, much more!

-Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers

After you have your little one listening to books while nursing can work. I do it while commuting.

Websites:

-BabyCenter- I signed up myself and my mom so we could both read about the baby's development in me and after birth. My mom would ask how my "grapefruit" was that week or what're fruit they used to describe his size. The emails after birth are great too. Lots or mommy questions answered on those emails!

-babysteals.com. All baby stuff and great deals. I got silicone covers for my glass bottles and teething necklaces recently. Like them on facebook and their steals pop up on your newsfeed

-Zulili.com- i get their daily emails. Baby, toddler and mommy stuff daily. I got my favorite nursing tanks (glamourmom) on there and cute baby cloths you don't see at every store. Every few months a cloth diaper pips up on there too.

Breastfeeding - if you plan on breastfeeding I highly recommend finding a lactation consultant now while you don't need it and aren't sleep deprived. Then you'll have a # of someone you like just in case you need them. I only needed their email and phone services afterward and that was free with mine.

Buying Stuff:

Things to buy new: (because they are big baby killers)

-carseat-they expire

-crib

Toys/gear:

-they truly need so little and may be picky. Hand-me-downs are great.

-bouncy/vibrating seat will allow you to shower and pee...lol

-glider-great for nursing!

-baby carrier (sling, moby, ergo, bjorn...) will help around the house when dad isn't there

-play mat is fun too. Ryder now likes the mirror on it. He flirts with himself

After 38 weeks (if you aren't dialated) I have a paper of helpful ways to get there. I was 4 cm w/o a single contraction. Definitely nice not to have to labor through that part

Hospital:

-bring your nursing bras. That have lanolin and stuff there if you need it

-try the breast pump there. Use the lactation consultant's knowledge..it's free there. And they will give you all the tubing you can use later at home to pump. $40 or so worth of stuff

Wash the baby cloths and cloth toys in 1load = 1 cup vinegar. It cleans off residual dye and perfumes from processing. And the cloth does not smell of vinegar when you are done.



After Baby Arrives:

-Cloths-baby pj's with a zipper/snaps down 1 leg are torture at 3 am with a screaming baby.

-Diaper bag-do not do a black inside. Things disappear. A waterproof/ wipeable outside is great. You end up putting that thing on so many surfaces, wet counter tops...
-Sox-put on 1 size bigger than the cloths size so they don't fall off

Find ways ti get out of the house. Start with a walk around the block. Eventually you feel comfortable doing more and more. Look up "diaper date nights" in your area. Great way to see a movie.

Baby Blogs

Sherry over at Young House Love ! they do lots of super helpful baby posts:

http://www.younghouselove.com/category/baby-business/

So, here's some more ( and maybe you already follow them too )

I saw http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/08/reader-redesign-somebodys-nesting/

that led me to this blog with logs of "prepare for baby" stuff:

http://blog.jenwoodhouse.com/

and another favorite of YHL:

http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/category/babies/

Cloth Diapers

1) check this site out: http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/newtocloth
Check out all 8 pages under "new to cloth diapers"

2) Ask people! I talked to a lot of people about what they use and why. Another great resource is a local moms group. a lot of the women in my group cloth diaper so we've talked a lot about our choices.

3) try them. Granola Babies - down by my mom - has a package where you pay $25 and do a $100 deposit. you get 7 cloth diapers to try. all different brands. then you try them and return what you don't like. then the $100 goes to buying what you like. Very similar package available through Everything birth.com

I didn't have that option here. so try craigslist....used baby store....etc. but remember the ones you buy on there may be worn out. but try them for the fit, the use (do you like how they get put together)...etc.

4) buy a few. I'll give you a code for diapers.com they are the cheapest!

Cloth diaper FAQ:

http://christinescontemplations.blogspot.com/2011/04/cloth-diaper-faq.html

(that is from the blog of the woman doing my cloth diaper party)

Other helpful websites for cloth diapers:
(recommended by christine) www.diaperjungle.com

Detergents: (BumGenius sent this to me)
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

Awesome Rash Cream that does much more than the toosh:
http://www.everythingbirthblog.com/2011/06/weekly-giveaway-cjs-butter-stick/

All brands have you wash them multiple times to get them ready for use. I wash all of mine together. I use Planet soap because it is easy to find. but you have to use a tiny, tiny bit in the wash! I had ordered tiny bubbles (months ago from diapers.com), but i just finished that box. I wanted to find something i could get at a store.

For washing, they all are similar steps: first wash off any large stuff (we do that in the bathroom sink but have a diaper sprayer for when we start solids). Some people do not do this with breast milk poop and it comes off fine. Then they sit in a wet bag (link below, you'll want one for your diaper bag too). Then we wash 2-3 days of diapers at a time. Cold rinse, no detergent. Hot wash with detergent. This 2nd cycle i do on a stain cycle that is longer and seems to help. If you see any suds (you can see in the front load machines) you need to rinse more and next time use less detergent.

wet bags:
diaper bag size:
http://www.everythingbirth.com/Planet-Wise-Wet-Bags-PW0050.html

2-3 day size:
http://www.everythingbirth.com/Kanga-Care-Wet-Bags-RPZ6000.html
(i love this since it has on the door knob of the bathroom)

We are ready!

Friday was my last day at work for 8 weeks. It was odd leaving and knowing so much was going to change over the next few weeks. And then, going back to work after 8 weeks will definitely be a learning experience with a newborn.

I went to Whole Foods Friday to pick up some teas and other items to encourage labor. We'll see if they work. I got the list from another doula that teaches my prenatal yoga classes. One of the items on the list is an induction massage. That is a massage for pregnancy and accupressure points to induce labor. That is scheduled for Sunday at 2.

40 weeks and 4cm

We are 40 weeks tomorrow! Our little guy can show up any time now. I was having contractions at the non-stress test on Monday but i couldn't feel them. That means my body is practicing. At my obgyn appointment today I was at 4cm. So, all we are waiting on is real contractions that i can feel !

Jason was 4 weeks early and i was a week late. So, who knows when our son will appear. We are ready, our bags are packed, parents are on call...

39 weeks and feeling GOOD!

I've started to get lots of emails, calls and fb posts asking how I am, so I figured I'd answer all these inquiring minds.

Me: I'm 2cm. I was 1 cm the last 2 weeks. I am still feeling good and getting stuff done to prepare for the baby. I got a prescription strength hearburn med after the rest stopped working so I am able to get decent sleep. That definitely helps me wake up feeling refreshed and able to get on with my day.

We met with our doula last Sunday and i have a list of things to do to help get this guy out if I get to 40 weeks without any more change.

Him: He's still very active in my belly and his movements are definately more noticable because he's bigger. My ultrasound Thursday showed there is still plenty of amniotic fluid, so he's fine in there. He is definitely comfy in there. He was sucking on his wrist during the ultrasound. My Dr. said that 1st ones tend to be a bit lazy and come late. and sometimes never grow out of that...lol

If i get to next week i'll stop work next friday (Jan 28th - our due date) and spend the next week trying to get him out!

Here is a sneak peek at one of the pictures from my maternity shoot last week:

38 Weeks...really?

Boy how time flies! I still can't believe we could have a new addition to our family any day now. Though I do hope he waits until he's ready. And being a boy, he most likely will be late. My Dr. said she'll let me go to 41 weeks. So, lets hope he makes his appearance so we don't get induced. Jason was 4 weeks early and I was 1.5 weeks late. So who knows :)

Everything has still been good with the weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds. He has plenty of amniotic fluid to keep him safe. He made quite a bit of movement at this week's non-stress test so we only had to stay for 20 minutes. That was a welcome treat. No boring hour in the hospital waiting for him to wake up like last week.

The nursery is set up and usable. Just not decorated yet. Jason is designing some large canvas art for the walls that we can take with us since we are renting. If we owned our house he would have done all four wall in a mural like he has done in the past for family.

Here are some pictures of the crib and airplane bedding, the dresser, and the glider:

The Home Stretch

37 weeks and counting!

So much has happened the last few weeks. We had 2 baby showers, then moved, then attempted to unpack. And here we are. We unpacked the necessities and left lots in boxes. Extra baking dishes, loads of framed pictures, vases, and scrapbooking can wait. Thanks to having a garage, we have a place to store all this out of site.

We have been working on the baby's room a lot. We set up the crib last week and went out and purchased all the little things we need to have for the first few days the little guy is home. Friday we went on a search for a dresser and got an amazing deal on a large cherry dresser to match the crib that was over 50% off! I spent a lot of the weekend washing all the cloth baby items to have them nice and soft and dye free for the baby's sensitive skin. We worked on our binder of papers we want to bring to the hospital and the list of items to pack in our bag for the hospital. We also got all the thank you notes written for all the gifts our little dude has received. We still need to get the carseat installed and finish up the room as the rest of the items arrive that we ordered.

As for me, I'm feeling pretty darn well. I get heartburn in the evenings and that has gotten a bit worse this last week. My plantar fasciitis came roaring back when I was on my feet getting ready for our move and as we unpacked. So, I take lots of breaks to rest my feet and they are almost back to normal.

Our little guy moves around constantly. I love feeling him push and hiccup and turn and roll. I had my first non-stress test today and he didn't disappoint. He showed the Dr. that he is doing well!

December 7th I became an auntie again! Brandon and Ashley welcomed Weston James Taylor into their family. If you'd like to follow their family too and see pictures of the little guy here is their blog:

http://taylors4you.blogspot.com/2010/12/weston-james-taylor.html

this specific post is introducing Weston with lots of pictures. you can click on "home" or "the taylor's" at the top to go to the most recent posts.

Sacramento Baby Shower

32 Weeks:

We had our second baby shower out in Sacramento at Cathy Colombo's house. Close family and friends braved the rainy weather to celebrate our little dude. Even though Jason's grandma recently had a minor stroke, she was able to make it to the shower.

We got so many personal gifts, it really made the day fun. Lots of rock and roll items for Jason's little guy and airplane themed items for the bedroom.

Here was my belly December 4, 2010: