Opinion Request #1

I'm starting to price out all the stuff we'll need for little Petunia...YIPES! Babies are expensive!

I've decided that we need to be "on top of it" so that we can space out the spending over the next 6 months. This means I have started browsing the internet on my lunches or while laying around at home. Obviously you've seen my diaper research - but there's much more that goes in to this.

The first item I need an opinion on is a car seat. I want to make sure to get something gender neutral, affordable, lightweight, and practical. The one I've come across with good ratings is below. It comes in several colors - but I really like the red/orange combination. SO - opinion time - is this gender neutral enough??

New Cars & Weddings

Well - the long weekend is over - BOOO!
We had quite the eventful one, however. Starting with Dain's decision that the amount of money we needed to drop into his PT Cruiser immediately might not be worth it. Dain is famous for always wanting to trade-in vehicles - however this time he was thinking NEW vehicle which made a lot of sense for us, and as long as he was going to drive it until it was paid off (hopefully), then I was on board. Especially since we agreed only to find something for the same payment we're used to now.
SO - we started to look just a little on Friday night - but were not quite satisfied with what we saw. Once we put some thought into it, it seemed a Toyota was the way to go - and since I work in Automotive Advertising, I had a connection to a Toyota dealer. So, I made a call and we headed up to see them on Saturday. It was quite the interesting trip, considering we went for a Matrix, and drove home in a brand new Scion xD!

It's a great car - Dain loves it - and though we'll be paying off both of our cars until Petunia is in school - we're happy with the decision.

Then came Sunday - we loaded up the new ride with our bags and Kohl (my brother in law) and headed to Northern Indiana for Dain's aunt's wedding. It was a Sunday evening event (due to Memorial Day) in a cute hotel/spa in Chesterton, Indiana. The wedding was beautiful. It was interesting being at a reception where I couldn't have the champagne toast, but I made the most of it - and wasn't even sick that night!!
The quote of the night apparently was Dain and I. It wasn't a big "dancy" wedding since it was a crowd that wasn't the "right out of college crazies". Side note: I can't handle the smell of much right now - especially alcohol. So, the end of the reception arrives and the DJ announces the last song. Everyone that's left grabs a partner and heads to the dance floor - including Evan and Marcy who were sitting right by us. Dain says to me "(Sigh) We can't be the only ones sitting here" and I follow up with "Fine, but try not to breathe on me". YEP - don't you want to be a married person expecting a baby? We're so nice to each other.
Anywho - I realized I don't have a photo of me and the hubster on this blog yet - so here we are at the wedding! My growing bump was hidden a bit by the dress I bought for $11.50!


All in all - a great Memorial Day weekend...though I wish I had more time for sleep!

Thump & Bump

I had my 12 week doctor appointment yesterday. I went in under the impression that I was just going to get weighed again (lost 1 pound, all that throwing up didn't do that much eh?), pee in a cup of course, and then chat with the doctor about my ultrasound that I got after my last in-office appointment.
To my surprise the nurse brought me in the room, and asked me to lay down. I was so confused - but did it anyway. Here she comes with what looks like a little white walkman with a microphone attached. She plopped the mic down on my stomach and right away I hear BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. My baby's heartbeat!! She didn't even have to search around for it. That was strong! I was so excited and teary - and she just smiled while she counted beats with her watch. And then, she took the little white walkman away - and told me the normal heart rate is between 130 and 170. Petunia came in at about 160. I wanted to hear more - but that was that I guess. I have to tell you, it was so amazing though.

Everything else checked out great. My pee, blood and ultrasound were all normal. I asked questions about what was going on with me, and if it was normal that I was wearing maternity pants - and apparently it is. So HOORAY!


And on the subject of my stomach - I've been instructed to put up a picture of my growing bump. So, here I am at 12 1/2 weeks.

Pardon my appearance - but I'm in my comfy pants for the night, and have no make-up on and a "I've been laying on the couch" ponytail. (On second thought, this is frequently how I look!) I pulled my shirt tighter on the other side - and it's not the most accurate photo (I look bigger in real life) - but I like that Daisy is in the background...her paw is all better by the by!

My First Belly Pants

Yep it's official. I'm wearing maternity pants.

I went to the outlet mall with my friend Grace yesterday. We had a great time even though I was nauseated because of the baby, and she was nauseated because of a hangover! It was so nice to just walk around and visit. It had been awhile since we'd seen eachother so there was never a dull moment.

I made a stop into "Maternity Works" which is a clearance/outlet store for the franchise Motherhood Maternity. And...I bought these which I'm wearing today. Let me tell you - they are COMFORTABLE. (that's not me in the pic - I'm not that big yet!!)

Lists and Cravings

Tomorrow I'm 3 months along - and I figured some of this stuff would start soon...

I'm experiencing my first craving. Sadly for you people who want to hear crazy-pregnant-lady stories, it's not anything weird like a pickle sundae. It's not even grass or concrete (okay my pregnancy book mentions that some women get this, and it's a sign of a serious illness which, HELLO, makes sense). NOPE. My craving is Iced Tea. Bizarre. Especially since I'm supposed to seriously limit my caffeine intake, and most iced tea is caffeinated. So, in order to help myself - I bought Crystal Light Iced Tea mix at the grocery store today, which is 99% caffeine free. I've consumed 2 quarts since noon.


The other thing I started just today - was making a list. Yeah yeah, I've heard of nesting...but I didn't think it would affect me this early. Well, here I am. I made a list of everything from cleaning out closets, to donating our unused board games, to painting what rooms we need to get painted. I have plans to do some major pitching around here. I'm a pack rat by nature - but I blame my dad, who's never thrown away much more than a gum wrapper since his youth. This habit needs to break. If you've been in my house you know there's barely room for us and the animals, let alone another HUMAN and the 40 pounds of crap that I'll accumulate with it. So it's going to be a Spring cleaning like no other!

Fluffy Butt

No this blog isn't a reference to my growing behind...it's a reference to cloth diapers.

I've always been a tree-hugger. Recycling is my mantra - and my co-workers think I'm a bit of a psycho about it...but it makes me feel better. Naturally - I have a bit of a problem with disposable diapers...

Here's a little info for ya:
Diapers: An average child will use between 8,000 -10,000 disposable diapers ($2,000 worth) before being potty trained. Each year, parents and babysitters dispose of about 18 billion of these items. In the United States alone these single-use items consume nearly 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. We will pay an average of $350 million annually to deal with their disposal and, to top it off, these diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years from now. Americans throw away 570 diapers per second. That's 49 million diapers per day.

So I decided a long time ago that I would use cloth diapers - there are just so many options - and they actually save you money! (I'm also cheap, so this is a great thing).

There are diaper services out there (actually I'm only finding one in Chicagoland) - but it's more economical to do-it-yourself.

The cloth diaper has come a long way from the "towel with pins" that people so often think of...you know you were picturing this:


Actually there are so many easy and fun options that are in different sizes, or my favorite idea, the one-size cloth diapers! These grow WITH your baby adjusting sizes. I've been reading up on several kinds and I've heard the best reviews on 4 different brands. I'm on baby message boards finding out the information from real-life moms who have used these...but in the meanwhile - I thought I'd share:

1> Haute Pockets One-Size Cloth Diapers

2> Bum Genius 3.0 One-Size Cloth Diapers

3> Happy Heiny's One-Size Cloth Diapers

4> Wahmies One-Size Cloth Diapers

All come in a variety of colors - and most are organic fabrics which I think will be a must for me.
Anywho - just thought I'd share some of my thought processes that I'm going through these days. I actually have Dain on board with this whole extravaganza of cloth diapering - so the biggest hurdle is COMPLETE!

I Can't Eat Supper

That's right...I can't eat anything worth a damn past about 5:00 p.m.! It's so frustrating.

For those who aren't in the know, I've had morning sickness ALL DAY since about week #5. I'm now in week #11! It's so frustrating to have that nauseated feeling all day every day. Usually when you're sick with the flu and throwing up - you're done in a few days. And by then, you're ready to be done. NOPE - 6 weeks and counting!
This phenomenon has led me to the strangest diet ever - eating mostly only processed cheese/bread combination items. Not exactly the healthiest - but if it goes down fairly easy - I'll try anything.

Anywho - oddly enough lately I've felt better in the morning. This lasts through til early afternoon when the fatigue really sets in. After that - forget it. Anything I eat or drink is coming back up. Last night all I ate was a tangerine - and that was too much.

The good news, and weird news - is that I'm in week 11 now - and week 12 is the start of the 2nd trimester! Things are supposed to be better then! HOORAY! Keep your fingers crossed please.

Spilling The Beans

So - we're letting the cat out of the bag. NO we don't have Daisy (our cat) in a bag. Though it appears something traumatic happened to her. She's walking with a limp, not using one of her front paws. I have determined through examinations...that it's her PAW that's hurt, not her leg. The last time she was limping a few years ago the vet said to give it a couple days. So, I'm waiting it out. She's being more adventurous but still not using it. Tomorrow will be call the vet day if it's not better. Here's Daisy:



ANYWHO - WE'RE SPILLING THE BEANS!
I decided a great time to tell our grandmas would be on Mother's Day. So even though it is going to be the beginning of Week #11, it's still close enough. We figure - once grandma knows, the WHOLE family knows. Dain's grandmas aren't ones to keep things under wraps and this is actually a good way to get the word out to the extended family.

I think we're telling the dudes (our friends) this weekend too. Might as well make it public.

HOWEVER - if you're reading this THERESA or MOM....you have to keep it shut until at least Sunday. I'll give you the green light.

Petunia PICKLE BOTTOM??

Thanks to my sister-in-law/best friend/nutrition counsel/sanity keeper Stephanie - I learned about a line of baby gear


How crazy is that??
I've been to their website - and they have diaper bags, bedding, clothing, etc! However - it's SUPER PRICEY. Anything that says "chic" tends to run that route.

Just something I'm keeping in my "mind file" for when I start the registry/purchasing phase!

Wowzer - It's Real

So we had the first ultrasound appointment on Saturday morning, and all I knew before going in was that I had to drink 32 oz. of water within an hour - without throwing up or peeing!! That was a true test of my limits...but somehow I pulled it off.

Dain and I had to go to the hospital for the ultrasound, as they're not done in my doctor's office. We got there at about 8:50 for our 9:00 appointment. Within just a few minutes I was in an ultrasound office with gel on my stomach and an instrument being pushed around while black and white images showed on the little screen. The technician took about a million "pictures" of my insides - then said it was time to see the baby.

Holy amazingness. There was Petunia. He/she was a perfect image of a little tiny person - with limbs and all. We saw the flicker of the heartbeat - and even saw him/her bouncing around! It was truly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.

So - here's baby!

(For those who can't see it - the head is on the right - arms and legs showing. The bright spot is where the flicker of the heartbeat was!)

Look What Dain Found

So it looks like I may be making my first purchase for Petunia...

I promised myself I would wait until 12 weeks to start thinking about what I wanted in any facet. I know the rate of miscarriage is low as I'm almost to 10 weeks - - but I didn't want to jinx myself or get overly excited about anything too soon. No sense counting my chicken before it hatches.

However - somehow in his infinite internet scavenging (or through his new job as a DVD inventory manager)...Dain ran across this:

How can I say no?