Of Cloth Diapering...

As a stay-at-home woman I have a lot of hours on my hands. I am extremely grateful for a hubby who not only "allows" me to be home during these months of pregnancy... he actually encourages it. I was asked recently if I "had" to be home because I couldn't do anything else due, I guess, to morning sickness. The answer is a simple "No." I could go out and get a job... I wouldn't enjoy it but I am definitely capable. However, we've made the choice for my homemaking to be a top priority. I love it because it frees me from stress outside of the home and allows me to fully focus on being "wife" to Nick. My life revolves around his schedule. Emotionally, I am prepared at the end of the day when he has gone through so much at work. Cleaning the house, baking yummy food and reading doesn't really stress me like a job outside the home would. So we're not both having to vent to each other at the end of the day.

I am not bored at all. I have a huge realization that these very last couple of months are the last months of this freedom I enjoy. Starting in September my life will revolve not only around my hubby but also a precious little squealing bundle of joy.

So last week I took up the task of researching cloth diapering to the "nth" degree. Fun stuff. There's like a million articles online due to the rising popularity that is cloth diapering. I am jumping on the bandwagon of the old ways made new. But before I make that giant decision there's so many littler decisions to make.

A month ago I didn't know what the difference was between fitted or pocket, Bummis or Fuzzi Bunz, or what the heck AIO stood for. Now I am about as confident in discussing this subject as one could be who has only taken it from a cognitive approach. I have two packages to arrive in the mail sometime this week - *squeal* At that time, I will be sure to post my thoughts on how they work on a stuffed animal. Just kidding ;p I am curious to death to actually hold these diapers in my hand.. To me, it is more exciting, I think, than buying baby clothes. And since we're not buying baby clothes yet - since we don't know what we're having - than it is definitely as close as I can get. ;p

After reading several articles, such as this and this and this, mama has made her official diaper plan:

Newborn Package

~ 36 infant chinese prefolds (I'm going to go with the "Infant" size and possibly a few "Newborn")
~ 12 fitted diapers = Kissaluvs, Dream-Eze, All Together, Heiny Hugger Sherpa Fitted, Swaddlebees, Drybees
~ 4 diaper covers = Prorap cover, Imse Vimse cover, GEN-Y cover, Bummis Super Whisper Wrap
~ 3 pocket diapers = BumGenius

As baby gets bigger we'll go to the One Size diapers (Rumparooz, Happy Heiny's, Mommy's Touch, Blueberry & Tiny Tush) and Medium Fuzzi Bunz.

I can just hardly wait for baby to get here so we can start taking pictures of it in these adorable diapers!!! ;p

23 weeks

For Today...

Outside my window... 78* and 75% humidity. Perfect day for sweating ;p

I am thinking... that there's a large possibility we won't be camping this weekend.

I am thankful for... an excellent appointment at the birthing center yesterday!

From the kitchen... it's a mess. I need to clean it! ;)

I am wearing... shorts and a mismatched but comfy tee shirt...

I am reading... I have about 20+ books on my shelves from the library that I need to finish reading. Mostly about nutrition and pregnancy.

I am hoping... that the next 17 weeks go by FAST!

I am creating... an active child :)

I am praying... for hubby to have patience at work.

One of my favorite things... feeling sugar bean kick me at almost every hour of the day.

A few plans for the rest of the day... clean house, finish wedding gift project for sister, exercise, get camping stuff ready, go somewhere? (camping might be ruled out)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

19.5 weeks

How far along are you?
19weeks5days

What symptoms are you experiencing?
energy :), lots of indigestion/heartburn, round ligament pain

How are you feeling?
Feeling much more happy and energized. I think nesting instincts are kicking in :)

Any Dr. appointments/ultrasounds/tests this past week and how did they go?
Not this week. Yay! :)

Anything big happening in your personal life (moving, work related, family, etc.)?
We made our first BIG road trip during this pregnancy... roughly 900 miles there and back. It was good. I didn't have to pee as often as I thought but I did feel really cramped :( I'm flying out next time - in about 5 weeks.
I have been really motivated to eat healthier. Groceries are stocked and I'm almost through with day 1. I can't believe how hungry I get even on a 2500-2600 calorie diet. Oh my word! Had no idea I'd been eating that much - or more! ;o


Any belly pics from this week?
Yup! :)

Any food cravings?
M&M's ;o Not good. So not good. But I'm not devouring them.

Tell us your favorite thing about your pregnancy this week!
I actually really like my belly. I just really started realizing that we're going to have a baby in a few months and it's exciting to be looking at strollers/car-seats/swings/pack-n-plays. Fun. :)

18.5 Weeks

How far along are you?
18W4D

What symptoms are you experiencing?
very hormonal mood swings (someone say PMSx3!), feeling super heavy, still get sick daily, lots of acid reflux/heartburn/indigestion, out-of-breath

How are you feeling?
I'm not nearly as tired as I have been... I need to get out of the house more often to get sun and exercise but it's been chilly the past couple of days. I very much dislike the PMS-like feelings. I can burst into tears over the littlest thing. And I very much hate most things related to food. I'm excited though... I'm almost half way there and I feel like I can make it :D

Any Dr. appointments/ultrasounds/tests this past week and how did they go?
We had our "big" ultrasound on Monday. We definitely could have found out what it was, but we chose not to. :D Go us!! It was really an awesome experience. We had an ultrasound at 10 weeks and I felt no warm/emotional/fuzzy feelings then. This time I did! I was like, AWWWWW!!!! I thought it was adorable! I don't think we got any pictures of this, but Baby had it's hand resting on it's tummy while it was sleeping - just like I do. Too adorable for words!! And it's other hand was messing with it's face - looked to me like it was playing with it's ear; Nick thought it was putting it's fingers in it's mouth.
Stat's - Hearbeat was between 134-141 (they checked it a couple of times); It weighs 9oz (which I think is a little big for 4 months, but who knows?); It had all four chambers (they had to have the dr come in and check because the sonographer couldn't find it... but he found it just fine! relief!); It has 10 fingers... and we assume 10 toes (she didn't tell us. we had our eyes closed then so we didn't get a show and tell... haha!). Everything looked great!

Anything big happening in your personal life (moving, work related, family, etc.)?
We're going to my family's for Easter on Friday. First long car ride in about a month. My body has changed a LOT since the last one (from here to Big Sandy, TX and back in a weekend). Looking forward to the trip!

Daddy is still waiting on that ridiculous promotion and sending out resumes on what seems to be a daily basis. Praying... I would really like for him to have a new job soon. Diapers and bottles and clothes and strollers are all adding up in my mind. God knows...!


Any belly pics from this week?
sure... here!

Any food cravings?
fish sticks, fish sandwiches, canada dry!!, york candies, apples, strawberries.... Still no red meat or chicken! Everything I smell in the kitchen still makes me sick - I threw up a couple of times last week just trying to load the dishwasher ;o

Tell us your favorite thing about your pregnancy this week!
Feeling the baby move lots and lots on Sunday and Monday. Getting to see it's adorable self and knowing that everything checks out fine... Just knowing that I'm almost half way there! :)

A Whole New Idea...

I'm seriously considering changing the Harris' family diet. This coming from the girl who puked twice in the kitchen yesterday just trying to load the dishwasher. But good grief, this morning sickness surely will not last for-e.v.e.r. And I am kinda freaked out about the growing belly. ;o I mean, I guess I knew this was going to happen, but having not gained more than a pound or two in the first trimester, I about burst into tears when I finally got around to doing my "body test" on the Wii the other day. The poor Wii is really freaking out!! It keeps asking me if I know what is causing this weight gain - eating too much, not exercising, etc... There's no option for: I'M A FREAKING TWO PERSONS IN ONE!!!

My blessed cousin Mallorie reminded me that Kate Hudson gained 60 lbs in her pregnancy and she still looked pretty hott. I'm certainly not going to just let everything go to the wind and eat bon bons, though. And this got me to thinking. And remembering...

When I graduated from highschool I seriously would have given anything to become a nutritionist. I had just completed a 17 month fast from sugar. It was AWESOME!! ;) Seriously... it opened my eyes so much to how much of our food contains processed sugar. Scary stuff.

So at the end of that "fast" I bought a book called Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair. I was entranced! Granted, I think this woman is a Christian Scientist, or at least very new age minded, but she has some solid advice on nutrition!!

Once I was finished reading the book (while laying out in the sun catching lots of rays!!), I promised myself that I would not buy my babies processed baby food or feed them junk. Of course this was all before I was married but I filled lots of mental file folders back in those days. ;)

The day I found out I was pregnant I was eating like a rabbit! Salads, fresh fruit, rich veggies, water, water, water!! I was so determined to be a super mom and be very healthy. That all went out the window once morning sickness hit. I didn't want to eat ANYTHING! And when my midwife told me that I should really try to eat more meat I wanted to slap her. :(

Now, at 19 weeks, my morning sickness has let up enough for me to be able to at least think about food. Hubby was digging through some boxes (that still haven't been unpacked... grr. I'm so disorganized!) and found my Feeding the Whole Family book. So yesterday evening, while hubby made dinner (such a sweetheart - except that he didn't realize that chipotle peppers in the casserole would give me really bad indigestion for the next couple of hours ;p), I pulled out my book and started studying.

So this really is something I want to apply to our lives in a real big way. I am not the type to do anything in baby steps. It just won't work for me. So if I'm going to really change our diet to whole foods it's going to have to be every meal - I may be willing to sacrifice weekends and occasional eating out.

I should clarify that I do NOT believe that by eating whole foods and much less meat that we are going to become the healthiest critters in the neighborhood! I really think some people are more prone to sickness than others. Other than my morning sickness, I'm not prone to getting sick very much at all! So my motive in changing our diet is really for baby - I really don't want it growing up on a lot of hormone-induced, chemically-"enhanced" food. Not that I won't ever let it have an oreo but you know? A little more grains and fresh fruit/veggies, a lot less junk.

So stay tuned... If everything goes according to my plan, we may be starting a new adventure very soon. (I still haven't convinced hubby that this is a wonderful idea. But I have a lot of great recipes to try... so we'll see. And if he needs more red meat than I do, I won't make him sacrifice.)

Some quotes from Cynthia Lair's book:

Deep in our cells we know that whole, fresh, natural foods can help feed the desire for wholeness within ourselves

What is a Whole Food? 1) Can I imagine it growing? It is easy to picture a wheatfield or an apple on a tree. Tough to picture a field of marshmallows. 2) How many ingredients does it have? A whole food has only one ingredient - itself. 3) What's been done to the food since it was harvested? The less, the better. Many foods we eat no longer resemble anything found in nature. Stripped, refined, bleached, injected, hydrogenated, chemically treated, irradiated, and gassed; modern foods literally have had the life taken out of them. Read the list of ingredients on the labels; if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. 4) Is this product "part" of a food or the "whole" entity? Juice is only a part of a fruit. Oil is only part of the olive. When you eat a lot of partial foods, your body in its natural wisdom will crave the parts it didn't get.

What's For Lunch Today....

It's been a while since I updated here :) I make no apologies... I've been growing a kid which sucks most of the energy out of me.

We've moved from having our main meal of the day in the evenings to our mid-day meal. I usually am zapped after 4pm so rather than just not cook at all, I'm cooking earlier in the day and we eat at 10:30/11, Nick's lunch time.

So my midwives did not disapprove of my very random diet - which mostly consists of cantaulope, milk, and tuna these days. My protein and sugar levels were superb so I guess it's working ;p I am still not gaining much weight at all so I am quite happy ;-) We'll see how long this lasts!

At 15 weeks I can definitely say that I feel better than before, but I'm still in the throws of morning sickness (which usually for me is actually afternoon/evening sickness). I'm hoping that by the next dr's appointment it will be gone ;)

So today... I'm making Apple Tuna Sandwiches for lunch. With carrot sticks and maybe a green salad. I'm not feeling very hungry for much so hopefully this will suffice Hubby's hunger needs ;) For dessert we'll probably have Cantaulope :D Nummy, Yummy!!

Apple Tuna Sandwiches

1 (6 ounce) can tuna in water, drained
1/2 cup chopped pink lady apple
1/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
2 T finely chopped onion
1 T sweet pickle relish
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
6 french loaf bread slices, toasted

Directions
1. Ina bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients.
2. Spread 1/2 cup on three slices of bread. Top with remaining bread.
3. Eat with carrot sticks ;-)
4. Think about how much baby enjoyed the food.
5. Eat cantaulope 30 minutes later because I'm strangely starved again ;o

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." — Emilie Buchwald

I would like to change the above quote to this... "Children are made readers in the wombs of their mothers." Maybe not quite as true, but it makes me smile ;)

Yesterday the baby reading bug really "bit". Well... it also may have had something to do with getting a $25 reward certificate from amazon.com. Hubby needed one book, Mommy needed... several. After literally over an hour scouring a couple of sites for good books, I ended up with these:












Afterwards, I ended up spending about 3 hours at Barnes and Nobles in the children's section. I made a list of books to get. Here's some of them:
* Little Hoot & Little Pea
* Big Smelly Bear
* The Dot by Peter Reynolds (This may have been my absolute FAVORITE!! It so describes me as a child!!)
* What Am I?
* What Do I Eat?
* Twelve Days of Springtime
* The Cow That was the Best Moo-ther
* How to be a Baby by
* Batty About Texas
* The Jalapeno Man
* Don't Eat the Bluebonnets

I'm thinking that if I stick to getting two books a month we will have a fairly decent supply of books for bumpkin by the time he/she gets here ;-)

One Trimester Down, Two To Go!!

Well... I made it past the twelve week mark. Little baby continues to grow and make mommy so, so sick. I am definitely NOT a high-risk pregnancy, but I sure do have morning sickness pretty bad... which leaves me completely exhausted and hungry almost all of the time.

There have been very few days since this started that I have not lost at least one or two meals. My nurse midwife had some advice, eat more protein and try sucking on oranges. Yeah... Well, we tried that. It didn't work. I can't keep vitamins down and I've been advised by several people I respect to not take them until I feel better.

It was an amazing experience a couple of weeks ago to see little baby squirming and wiggling during our mini ultrasound session. The whole appointment went really well. I didn't even cry when they took my blood ;) I think we didn't hold the typical first-time parents appearance though... we didn't bring anything to record our first experience of hearing the baby's heartbeat. Nor did we cry. I think it felt kind of like our wedding... I was just happy; why would I cry? But I know that it's sort of expected. Oh well...

I have cried watching Judge Judy or while puking my guts up or seeing a baby... But I think that all has to do with the crazy hormonal changes going on in my body. It's not the normal Rebecca!! It does make me wonder if I'll cry when I see my little baby in September. Hmmm...

Speaking of September... I had a fun experience at the birthing center trying to explain that I wasn't due in August. I detest the little dr's due date predictor circle thingy - I can't think of what it's called. According to that my due date would be August 17th. But that is predicted assuming that every woman has a 28-30 day cycle, which I don't (sorry, TMI). I KNOW when this child was conceived and the only way it will come in August is if it's early.

I tried to explain this to the nurses. I think they just blew it over as "she's a first time mother; she doesn't know." They gave several explanations for why I was probably "off". That lasted all of maybe 20 minutes until they measured the baby - and it was EXACTLY where I had predicted it would be - 10 days 3 days instead of 12 weeks 6 days. I have to admit I felt better. ;-) I just don't like people treating me like I don't know what I'm talking about. *sigh* I'm feeling my crazy hormones kicking in... All that said, the midwives were EXTREMELY nice to me and Nick! I'm looking forward to meeting the next midwife sometime next month.

Well, it's that time of day where I feel like I just took an overdose of benadryl. Time for a rest...

Next time I'll try to post pictures of my not-growing-very-fast baby bump. For now, it just looks like I ate too much (which is definitely NOT the case! haha).

Toot-a-loo

9 weeks...

I have been clicking on my own blog site daily in hopes that my baby ticker would change. (THAT is a stupid hormonal woman for ya... because I KNEW it wasn't going to change! ;o)

Well, this week brought about different changes. My child is rejecting me. Or rather, it's rejecting what I tried to feed it this week. Now I have a real aversion to chicken noodle soup, oatmeal, rice, and milkshakes. These foods have been replaced with toast, ramen noodles and apples. And with that kind of diet (like yesterday ALL that stayed down was the ramen and an apple) you would think I would be wasting away to nothing...

Here's where sympathetic pregnancy comes in... Nick is the one wasting away to nothing while my weight stays exactly the same. I would like to know how this is possible ;o I would guess it's my hefty metabolism ;)

I really started to feel like a horrible wife as I noticed how my husband's waistline is shrinking... ;o Every time he tries to cook for himself it makes me want to barf. I have to either go in the bedroom and pull something over my head or else hold my nose for a long time. SOMEHOW the smell seems to go away after a while until I wake up in the morning and I get a rush of sickness again. This is really bizarre to me because I am the person who can't smell ANYTHING.... until now.

So... I'm 9 weeks. This is good. It hopefully means I only have 4 or so more weeks of feeling sickly. Unless I'm one of those REALLY blessed women who is sick the whole way through. Heaven help us if that's the case.

Thankfully, my mum is coming in TWO DAYS!!!!! I've already asked her to make me a big pot of soup. And hopefully she can make us some casseroles or something so that Nick has something other than mac-n-cheese to eat until I can get in the kitchen again.

A friend bought me a subscription to Taste of Home. This month's magazine arrived in the mail and I guess Nick thought it would make me feel sick so he didn't show it to me. I found it later and flipped through pages of yummy recipes. I really am missing cooking... but not enough to actually get back in the kitchen and heat anything. Sometimes even boiling water makes me lean over the sink in agony. ;(

On February 10th we go in to hear itty bitty's heartbeat. Mommy gets a head-to-toe exam, whatever that means. Nothing would overjoy me more than for them to tell me I'm actually like 12 weeks instead of 10... but I think I know my body well enough to know that my estimated due date is right on time.

Until more worthy news than what I can and can't eat...
the pregnant woman

Of Hunger and Appetizing

I have learned that being hungry and appetizing are two different things. At this stage of my pregnancy (and who knows? maybe every stage will be this way...) I am CONSTANTLY hungry. However, the thought of most food still makes me want to explode into extreme nauseousness :( This makes it rather difficult to keep my tummy quiet.

On occasion, a food will come to mind that I can fathom eating - this is what I call appetizing. At first it was potatoes and strawberries. Then pizza. Then the thought of any of those things would almost bring tears to my eyes. And I would feel a very strong urge to throw up - amazingly, I have not thrown up ONCE since being pregnant.

The other day Nick rather strongly encouraged me to get out and walk. It was a gorgeous day and I needed to get out of this apartment. I gathered my courage and walked to McDonald's, just down the way. I felt renewed, refreshed, and energized! I gathered my change and bought a parfait and some cinnamon things that are sort of like monkey bread that my mom used to make. I sat down and absolutely adored the food as I laid it to rest in my tummy. I was sure that baby was very thrilled to have such a healthy brunch and felt quite happy. I then felt like taking a nap at McDonald's. Walking AND eating can do a pregnant woman in for sure!! I talked myself out of the nap and walked home. Well... before I got home, as I was walking past the elementary school I suddenly felt all my food coming up :( BOO!!!! The little children were out playing for recess and I could actually hear my stomach open up ready to hurl. FORTUNATELY, it settled just as quickly as it started. YUCKO!!! I started crying and just made it home before crashing on the couch. I doubt I'll try that again for a long time. ;o

In other news... my mum and sister are coming in ONE week to help me move!! I'm soooo excited. Nick is excited too because at last, someone can take care of the piles of laundry, lack of food in the house (I have not been in a grocery store in over two weeks!!), and maybe by then I'll have some more strength. I'll at least be happier. I feel like a prisoner in my own apartment...

For now, I think we're going to make a trip out of the house. It's Sunday afternoon and we're both a little stir-crazy.

In the words of Carrie Fisher, "Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be."

Changes Ahead

Well... I've been pretty sporadic about keeping up with this blog. I did much better about blogging before we got married ;)

I'm sitting here thinking about putting a potato in the oven. I am craving a few things - any form of potatoes being one of them. Pregnancy has sure changed my lifestyle. Sleep, wake up, try not to think about food while getting something into my tummy. I sure thought that I would actually GET sick versus just FEELING sick. I guess every woman's different. And it seems like as soon as I actually eat something it makes me feel like I just ran a marathon. Weird! Pregnancy is just STRANGE!

Thankfully I'm not having any trouble sleeping - at all! Right after I found out I was pregnant I had some real troubles with insomnia, but no more! I think I could sleep all day and night.

I am glad for my Wii Fit! Maybe it'll keep me in better shape even though I know I'm not eating right or anything. I had all these high hopes of being super healthy and on top of things.... Well, all the healthy foods I ate the past two weeks make me absolutely want to vomit now!! YUCKO!

Nicholas is being a man's man and taking SUPER good care of me. I think his paternal instincts kicked in sometime around yesterday - just in time!! He was very proud of himself for grocery shopping by himself and coming home and cleaning out the fridge and putting everything away. I feel terrible but if I even think about fixing the food for him that he needs it sends me back to bed with a blanket over my head. Not to worry, he takes pretty good care of himself.

It's good to know that a baby comes at the end of this season of the yuckies. ;-) We're not finding out the sex of our itty bitty but I *feel* so sure that I have a little pink girlie in there.

Even as recent as last week I felt like something must be terribly wrong with my pregnancy because I sure didn't feel pregnant - AT ALL! I think Baby got word of that and decided to send me the sickies so that I would have my wish of feeling pregnant.

I sure am craving a cheeseburger from McDonald's or some chicken nuggets dipped in lots and lots of honey mustard/BBQ sauce.... I think I should exercise instead ;p