Prepping for D-Day

My usual Monday morning plans are as follows: Wake up with Thane, tidy up the house, do my bible reading, have breakfast together after his PT, and then head to the gym and commissary. I've decided to put a hold on the gym since last Thursday. My last workout was a lot harder on me than usual, and all the next day and night I had regular Braxton Hicks contractions as well as lower back pain and cramping. Nothing to get excited about, but being a week away from full-term status at that point, Thane cut me off from the gym just for caution's sake. So, no gym until the end of this week at least (that is, if he lets me go back at all...part of me wants to throw in the towel, and the other part wants to keep doing at least a little something other than walking to stay active). Anyway, my commissary plans were thwarted as well at the discovery that my keys were locked in the Escape. So, what better time for a little baby prep and blogging!

Talk about a big check-list of things to do! We still have a few days till this baby is full-term, but it feels good to get things prepped ahead of time just in case he surprises us with an earlier than expected arrival. So, amidst putting last touches on the nursery, getting pre-registered at the hospital, finalizing our birth plan, and all that exciting stuff, here's a few things I've been working on around the house.

Diaper inserts and prefolds washed, plus all the baby's linens and coming home outfit.

Carseat out of the box and installed...would have taken a picture of it in the Escape, but oh yeah, I'm locked out! We'd been putting it off for the sake of Thane's "man-car" remaining manly for as long as possible. But the full day and night of Braxton Hicks got his butt in gear :)

The items for our hospital bag are just about assembled, including change for the vending machines- those check-lists think of everything! (Couldn't decide what would fit the little one better for his big "coming home", so, in true girl fashion, I'm taking a couple of options.)

A few frozen dinners; lasagna, beef & veggie stew, and meat sauce for pasta. I plan to bake a huge batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies today. Can't promise any will make it into the freezer though!



All of this being said and done, being prepared ahead of time is probably the sure-fire way to ensure that we'll have a late arriver. But, if so, so be it! No matter what it feels great to know that we're (almost) as prepared as possible. Of course only God knows this little boy's arrival date, but we're sure hoping it's sooner than later. We're ready to meet you, baby! Oh, perfect timing...Thane just called, he did a "drive by unlocking", haha, so errands, here I come afterall!

Nursery Birds

Sneak peak at just a few little art and sewing projects for the nursery. The whole room is almost done!

Diapers!

After many months of deliberation, we finally decided on and ordered our cloth diapers! As I've said before, I never thought that diapering could be this fun. And compared to the cost of disposables- so inexpensive! (All of this plus a set of wipes, which should last for Asher and the rest of our kids, was only $160). So, not only are they adorable and eco-friendly, but very affordable. We'll have to wait till the baby comes to give a definitive A+ to the whole concept. But after all of the great things I've heard from other cloth users, I can't imagine that there will be too many unforeseen issues. By the way, we ordered them from http://www.nickisdiapers.com/. That was the second time I've placed an order on their site, and both times was very happy. Best of all, this order of diapers came in two days with no charge for shipping!

Check them out!

3 Best Bottom shells, 3 small Thirsties shells, 12 medium BB inserts, and a set of prefolds. I also ordered a set of re-usable wipes.

The three BB shells (left) are one-size-fits-all, with thick inserts that snap into place. The three Thirsties are size small (I was worried about the BBs being a little too big for a newborn), and the prefolds lay right inside. The BEST thing about all of this is that the BB inserts and the basic prefolds can be "mixed and matched", to go into either type of shell. Also great is the fact that the shells are moisture resistant, so they can be used multiple times between washes. If we find out we need more inserts and prefolds, we can order them for fairly cheap at any point. No need to make a hefty purchase of shells.

I took some old second-hand flannel receiving blankets and cut them into 8x12 rectangles for re-usable baby wipes (four blankets made 25 wipes). They will fit in any wipes case, so I plan to re-use a large case I already have with regular wipes, once those are gone. I'm replicating the Bottoms-Up reusable system, which is genius in my opinion. Now I just need to make the wipe solution, and we'll be set! Dirty ones get stored in a mesh bag within a wetbag. Cleaning solution can be poured into the wetbag so that the wipes are soaking until it's time for the wash. Once it's time, you just pull the mesh bag (containing the dirty wipes), out of the wetbag, and throw it into the washer along with the diaper inserts and prefolds. Sounds great in theory, right? We'll see how it all works!

I imagine we'll order a few more shells and inserts over time, as we see how many we really need. Which I'm looking forward to, since the colors and prints are so cute. Thanks again for all of you who offered good advice and suggestions! And I'm always open to more. Can't wait to try these out!

Home Stretch

Coming up on 33 weeks now and getting more and more excited as each milestone passes! It's hard to believe that we'll be full term in just a handful of weeks. Everything has fallen in place wonderfully- praise God. There is an amazing group of midwives here at Fort Benning, and I have a lot of confidence that they'll help us to have to best birth possible. They've had a great track record with natural births, and have delivered babies in all kinds of ways- even in the shower! So I'm doing what I can to prepare, and hoping and praying that God will bless us with a smooth labor and delivery (while keeping in mind that anything can happen and that what matters most is the safety of our baby). As far as everything else goes, the nursery is just about complete, and most of the major items needed have been checked off of the list! So now, all we need to do is finish up a little shopping, keep exercising, and anxiously await the big day! And of course enjoy our last weeks together as a family of two, which I'm certainly trying to savor as I'm sure they'll fly by. And once they have, it'll be amazing to finally see our little boy!

A couple belly pictures, just for fun. No outie yet, but it's getting there :)