Halloween 2011

Halloween went very well. So well, in fact, that I kind of wish we could have waffles for dinner, dress up, and go out to get candy from the neighbors once a week!

Kaida was a bumble bee. She was adorable. She wore Melanie's costume from a couple years ago.


I put a jack-o-lantern face on the belly of an orange shirt so Bean could be dressed up too.


We went to three houses, Dave, Dave's neighbor on the other side, and Holly and Dave's. Diane from across the street came over to bring Kaida a container of swedish fish with a ghost on top and some tootsie roll pops. They have a lot of stairs so I think she was trying to save us the trip.

We had 6 trick or treaters. Zoe, and then a gaggle of pre-teen girls, one of whom was a bumble bee.

You could tell she knew something was up when we put the costume on her. She did really well and even let us put the hood up. She wore two pairs of tights, a long sleeve onesie, a sweatshirt, and then the costume and shoes. It was kind of rainy and chilly but she didn't seem to mind.



She only kind of understood that she was supposed to take the candy. At Dave's neighbor's house she did eventually take the candy from him but it took quite a bit of convincing. At Holly and Dave's she loved the dog and Lucas in his dinosaur costume. And she finally said "Buzz Buzz!" which we'd been trying to get her to say all night.

When we got home she immediately began to dig through the bag and she popped a sucker in her mouth wrapper and all. Once I unwrapped it for her, though, she was no longer interested.


I think she had fun. Maybe next year, six houses!

Big Girl Room

We're making a lot of progress on the Big Girl Room. I'm going to wait to post pictures until it's all done though.

So far it's all been primed and painted. We sanded the windows because the paint was peeling, so they've been primed, caulked and painted. I painted the dresser white and bought some letters to spell out her name and painted them green. The new carpet has been installed. Today we installed the first part of the moulding, we still need to add the shoe moulding, caulk, and touch it all up. JR built a window seat for her and I painted that and cut a foam pad to fit.

The pink on the walls needs to be touched up, we want to paint the trim around the doors, and the doors need to be trimmed shorter since they are very hard to move over the new carpet.
I need to sew the curtains and tie backs and cover the window seat cushion. We also need to find some display shelves, shelves for toy storage, hang the letters and some pictures, and put up the stickers.

Oh, and build the crib and move her in!

28 Weeks

That's 7 months for those of you counting.

I had a midwife appointment yesterday. It went pretty quickly, so that was good. Kaida didn't have time to get agitated like she usually does.

His heart rate was about 145. I measured exactly 28 weeks. My blood pressure was 90/72. I guess there isn't a normal blood pressure that you are all the time? That or some people just get wildly different measurements for me. Who knows.

I met with Emily D. She was nice. She had to do my weight etc. herself, I think the nurses were probably still at lunch since we were kind of early. She talked to Kaida too so I think that helped her not freak out when we had to do the heart rate and everything.

I asked her about the type of circumcisions they do at Magee. I want JR to see a video of how it's done so he can help me make an informed decision. I'm not really feeling it for Bean since I watched some videos and it's neither recommended nor discouraged by the AAP. Emily had to check to see which type they do but found out for me that they use the Gomco.

I also asked if they do pulse oximetry. That's a test that can detect heart defects that otherwise wouldn't be evident before the baby leaves the hospital. Several states are making them required and it's been added to the list of core screening standards by the Department of Health. She didn't think they do it though.

Then we discussed a couple of what-ifs.

What if my water breaks but labor doesn't start.
They are ok with waiting a while but would eventually start pitocin. They're more interested in figuring out why labor hasn't started (and fixing that) than just getting it started right away.

What if we're getting near the due date and he is breech.
She said he won't be. But, if he is, there are exercises or acupuncture, then external version (moving him from the outside), and last she said there are some doctors, depending on his size, who would deliver him breech. But that would depend on who is on call when I go into labor. Sounds like the modwives wouldn't deliver him. But that's a lot of tricks to not work before we get to that point.

And the last what if was what if I go way past the due date.
She said that they've gone as long as 42 weeks 6 days before inducing. I'm sure that's a case by case sort of thing. But overall it seems like we have a pretty good chance of avoiding pitocin unless it really is necessary. And that's my major goal, that and avoiding a c-section.

The e-mail says he's about 2.25 pounds and 14.8 inches long. He can open and close his eyes. Other than that his brain is developing and he's gaining fat. Maybe we'll have a chubby baby!

We're close on a name. We're pretty well decided on a first name and are working on the middle name.

Cloth Diapers

It's been a little over a year since we started using cloth diapers so I thought I'd give a little review.

Pocket Diapers
We started out with pocket diapers. They look a lot like a disposable (in fancy colors). There's waterproof fabric on the outside and it's lined with fleece to help her feel drier. There's an open pocket in the back to add the absorbent layer between the fleece and the waterproof fabric. You can add more absorbency if you need it.
They come in small and medium (large is for really big toddlers) or in one size. The one size usually have snaps to adjust the rise although we have some that you can adjust the elastic around the waist and legs.

We like the pocket diapers, they're pretty easy to use. On and off like a disposable (except with snaps instead of velcro). They dry pretty quickly. We dry the outside on the line and put the absorbent part in the dryer (this helps the waterproof fabric stay waterproof longer).

We had trouble with leaks for a little while until I figured out that she needed more in the diaper to absorb. Pretty soon we'll switch to the medium diapers, and they'll absorb even more so that will be nice.

All in Two
The second kind of diapers we have are All in Twos. They are a waterproof cover that has an absorbent soaker that snaps in, the idea being that you can reuse the cover until it gets dirty and just replace the soaker. We use the GroVia brand all in twos. Their soakers have a waterproof back so that even if the soaker is completely soaked it doesn't leak through onto the cover. They come in one size with snaps to adjust the rise.

These work pretty well, they have gussets on the soaker to help contain the poop but we've found that if you're not quick about changing a poopy diaper you'll end up having to toss the cover in the diaper pail as well. I don't think we've ever had a leak with these but we don't use them very often since they take a very long time to dry. They're pretty compact, so good for traveling.

An added bonus to these diapers is the disposable insert option. The disposable insert looks like a disposable diaper without any side velcro to wrap around. It has two sticky tabs on it that you stick inside the waterproof cover. I like these for when we're out of the house. That way I don't need to worry about trying to get poop off a cloth diaper when we don't have our diaper sprayer. They're biodegradable and a bit better for the environment than a regular disposable but in exchange they don't hold as much pee as a disposable which has led to some problems. They definitely need to be changed frequently.

Prefolds
The third type of diaper we use are prefolds. This may be what you think of when you hear "cloth diaper". Traditionally they were held together with pins and then you put a cover over it to keep it waterproof (wool, rubber, or plastic). You no longer need to use a pin for them, we use the snappi It's a stretchy thing with teeth that grabs the diaper from the outside and holds it together (just look at the link). When I put them on her I fold the sides in and flare out the back and front so I can use the snappi to close it. I've been using the GroVia covers from the all in two system with these and it's working really well.

The prefolds hold a lot of pee which is what we need right now. We were having trouble cleaning poop off of them (with all the folds and bunches it was getting everywhere) but I started using the fleece liners in them and that has helped a lot. I assume it helps her feel drier too, like the pocket diapers. I air out the covers in between changes, swapping between two covers throughout the day. They never get soaked but sometimes get damp. I really like them. They were pretty cheap too, comparitively. JR has not been sold on them yet.

Right now I like the prefolds best. Then the pockets. Then the all in twos. It seems to change with what we're doing and with how she pees and poops. And I bet it will change all over again when Bean gets here and is a different shape and size.

Wordsmith

Kaida has added a few fun words to her vocabulary recently.

Ow. JR said that she said Shirt. Ball. And the cutest is Uh-oh.

So far she has said ow only once or twice and that was at appropriate times, like after she fell down.

She said shirt when she was pointing to JR's shirts.

Anything round is a ball. Although ball and book sound exactly the same. I only know the difference by what she's holding.

Uh-oh started off right. She would say it when she dropped something, which makes sense since I say Uh-oh Spaghettio whenever she drops something. But today she started saying it at inappropriate times. I had to tell her a couple times "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Today we were reading Jack and Jill and she pointed to the cat and made the noise she uses to call Gin and Tonic. I was impressed by that since I told her yesterday that was the kitty.

Had my cardiologist appointment today. He said I'm absolutely fine. The heart murmur is barely audible and not a problem. I think he was a little annoyed that they sent me to see him. At least it was a quick appointment. And JR got out of work early.

BP Check

My Blood pressure was slightly lower than it was at my last visit. Yay!

I saw Tina. She thinks everything looks fine so that makes me feel a lot better too.

I said that no matter what happens I'd like it to go differently this time. I didn't feel like I had much choice in any of the decisions that were being made. But Tina said that they work hard to make sure that I'm a part of all the decisions and that I understand all the options.

And that's why I switched, hopefully it works out as planned.

Although I'm convinced I'll end up with a C-Section this time.

26 Weeks

26 Weeks today.

I have my blood pressure check tomorrow morning. Hopefully that goes ok. I've been reading a bit more about preeclampsia and it looks like my chances of getting it again are higher than the average second time mom's. They have no idea what causes it so there's no way to guess.
This is from the e-mail this week "Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it's probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant." I'm an over achiever so my blood pressure started going up 2 months ago.

I've taken two naps this week. I've been getting tired right when Kaida goes down for her second nap. I hope this doesn't get worse when I get to the third trimester, I'll never get anything done. Or wait, is this the third trimester?

Bean is practice breathing and his ears are getting more sensitive. He's about 14 inches and One and 2/3 pounds. He's the size of an English Hothouse Cucumber (not sure if that's different from a regular cucumber though).

We're getting closer to a name. Boys are hard though.