Packing the bag pt 2

It’s not easy to pack a hospital bag.

But last week, during a ‘did my water just break’ scare, we managed just fine in about 25 min. After a 3 hour trip to maternal triage – it was determined that my water had not broken (nor had I wet my pants in Starbucks) but I had a rather pronounced increase in secretions. Yuck.

The one thing that didn’t make it in were the cloth diapers I have been diligently pre-washing. They hadn’t had enough washing yet to be ready to go. I think by the end of the day today they’ll be all set.

The other big news is I’m finished work. Not exactly sure what I’m going to go until Bubble gets here – but I should have time (oodles of time) to update here on the progress of BubbleWatch 2009 and decide to decide how to proceed with the blog once he’s here.

I can’t even express how excited I am to meet him.

 

Packing the bag…pt 1.

So we’re gathering items to put in the hospital bag. One of those items is diapers. As you may know, we’re planning on cloth diapers – with some husband friendly options thrown in for good measure. One that has peaked my curiosity is the gro-baby system. It’s a one size cloth diaper system which uses snap in cloth liners.

Now originally these ones were not going into ‘the bag’ because there was no alternative for my ‘easing gently into cloth’ husband. Enter the Bio Soaker. These are biodegradable, disposable soaker pads that fit into the Gro Baby Shell. Check it out…

http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/gro-baby-biodegradable-soaker-pads-p-745.html

The best part is, I’m gonna get some for free, so I’ll try them out and tell you how they go.

If you’re interesting in checking them out, here in Canada, I ordered the rest of my Gro-Baby diapers from Caterpillar Baby or you can order from the link above.

I’m still on the hunt for some of the things on the packing list I have…where do you get maternity pads…?

and husband and I agreed we wouldn’t pack it until he was all done his business travel.

Not long now.

Who me?

Lovely Kate has given me this very cool award. (hoping I’ll post more often…)

There are some rules which I’m going to ignore. They are:

The Rules which I shall thwart forthwith:

1. You Can Only Use One Word! (HA!)
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? Right beside me.
2. Your hair? Straight as straight can be.
3. Your mother? Is in Tuscany.
4. Your father? Was my favourite person I’ve ever encountered. I miss him every day.
5. Your favorite food? Movie popcorn with butter.
6. Your dream last night? Was weird.
7. Your favorite drink? mmm. currently lemonade. Generally good red wine (at least for the first glass).
8. Your dream/goal? My dream is to visit Antarctica. My goal is to try and be the better person in bad situations – so far, I’m a long way from both.
9. What room are you in? Bedroom
10. Your hobby? I’ve become a champion napper. I also like to take pictures.
11. Your fear? Losing people I love.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Still in size 10 jeans.
13. Where were you last night? Home.
14. Something that you aren’t? Organized.
15. Muffins? Blueberry please.
16. Wish list item? Healthy Bubble
17. Where did you grow up? Espanola.
18. Last thing you did? Said goodbye to the husband who’s heading off for bidness.
19. What are you wearing? Jeans. Hoodie. The regular uniform.
20. Your TV? Loves me back.
21. Your pets? One is good. One pees on the floor. grrr.
22. Friends? Fabulous.
23. Your life? Exciting. At least right now. No idea what to expect.
24. Your mood? Sleepy.
25. Missing someone? Always.
26. Vehicle? Rocky – my Kia Sportage. He’s my special guy…until my new special guy arrives.
27. Something you’re not wearing? A bra you could buy in a normal sized store. Sigh.
28. Your favorite store? Apple.
29. Your favorite color? Today? Pink.
30. When was the last time you laughed? At brunch today when husband fell over in his chair trying to pick something up for someone.
31. Last time you cried? Friday night watching tv. Don’t remember why now…
32. Your best friend(s)? Is super busy right now. Boo.
33. One place that I go to over and over? The bakery on the corner for freshly made chocolate croissants.
34. One person who emails me regularly? My ivf cycle buddy – who just got a bfp last week on IVF #2 after getting a bfn when we cycled at the same time.
35. Favorite place to eat? …my couch?

Alright. Now I only need to find my six blogs to pass along to…

Decisions, decisions

There are many decisions to be made while waiting for Baby and in our wait for Bubble there has been no exception.

Today’s googlefest? What detergent to use on cloth diapers? Uh – yeah. Because after you made the decision to go cloth – with some g-diapers thrown in for good measure – you need to prep the new diapers (from all 4 of the diaper systems you’re trying out) by washing them (or their inserts depending on the system) 6-10 (again, depending on the system) times.

Now from what I gather, the bamboo and cotton can be prepped together, but the hemp has to be done separately. And, according to the google, the wrong detergent can set you up for failure. Stinky, leaky failure.

Now of course, the one my local store recommends gets 5 stars on some sites and only one on others. huh. Now what the fuck am i supposed to do? go for it? Order a different one online?

And if I can’t seem to pick a detergent that’s in Bubble’s best interest, how the hell am I supposed to make the , I don’t know, million? decisions that will see him safely through to adulthood?

Sheesh!

I have, on a brighter note, picked paint colours for his room. No second guessing those as the first coat is already done. Looks great so far. Washed the bedding too so I can see how it all looks together tomorrow night after it’s finished.

I used the afore mentioned detergent I had originally bought for the diapers.

The 3rd Try-mester

What going so great. I was so excited. Feeling better. Stoked!

Then he started to grow. And grow. And he’s heavy. And he kicks pretty hard. Which kind of hurts.  Which I didn’t expect. Oh – and peeing in the middle of the night? ug. What a drag!

And then right after I get over how my ligaments are pulling and my tummy is itching and my chest is e-normous I am overcome with the magic of it all – and how lucky I feel to have the chance to be here in my 3rd trimester. And how I’ll likely never be here again. And as much as I want him to come out pronto I also want to be here just a little longer.

It’s such a strange place to be.

Loch Ness

Bubble was quite late in the noticeable movement department. But now that he’s rolling around like a bowling ball in there I feel the need to make a record of one move in particular.

Sometimes if your hand is on bubblesbump you’ll feel what is most accurately described as a sea monster swimming past. It’s not a kick or a punch. More like what you imagine Luke felt on his leg in the trash compactor. It’s weird. It’s neat. It’s vaguely disturbing and I can’t get enough of it.

I call it Nessing – like the Loch Ness monster is on the move. There’s nothing. Nothing. Then suddenly he Nesses. Then…nothing.

I have a feeling the Nessing is a sign that he’ still transverse. Doc should be able to tell more on Friday at 33 week appointment. I am so excited that there are only 7 weeks (give or take) till the Bubble comes into the world.

But am already acutely aware that after that day I’ll never feel Nessing again. And at the same time so so so grateful I’ve been given the opportunity to be Nessed at all.

My Thirties

This week marks the entry into my thirties. Not in age – sadly crossed that bridge long ago. The thirties in my pregnancy. It’s amazing to me that 30 weeks of this have passed already.

When I think back to months and months of BFN’s, far more than 30 weeks came and went – each one just as carefully counted. Waiting to ovulate. Waiting to see if it worked. Waiting for the sick feeling to pass after another round of one line sticks. Waiting to try again.

I believe you can easily count up the number of days and weeks of pregnancy. But for those who take longer than the ‘average 6 months’ the days and weeks and months of ‘waiting to have a baby’ far, far exceed the 40 weeks that the outside world can see.

In fact – the Bub is set arrive 3 years to the day of the first of the BFN’s.

We were only 2 and some years in the IF trenches – with 3 failed and 1 cancelled iui and then only 1 IVF.

When you’re still ‘trying’ and not considering yourself IF it seems like a long time. But once you cross into the category of infertile, I feel so, so blessed. I read so many blogs of brave women fighting to break past IF and sometimes feel like we had it pretty easy. Sort of makes it hard to keep posting here when I see so many who should have been in the thirties right along with me still fighting the fight.

When I think that Bubble will be here in 9.5 weeks (give or take) why, that’s less than the number of weeks from my go-ahead consult with my RE to the start of stims – and I couldn’t believe how fast that flew by.

My thirties. Remarkably good chance that there will be a baby here soon. A healthy one. (Fingers crossed) One that will do what babies do. One that won’t have any idea that we carried him for 40 weeks, but waited for him for three years – counting it out one week at a time.

Bad Blogger

I might get the award for the worst blogger ever. It’s been a crazy time at work. I’m exhausted.

Have been reading lots but can’t seem t find the energy to post. Nothing is really new. I’m growing. Bubble seems to be doing a-ok. The countdown to the start of my mat leave keeps me from losing it on everyone at the office. Do we really need to work till 11 pm every night? I think not.

The baby room is now only half full of office stuff. And the baby cloths are starting to pile up – through none have been washed or anything. The tags are all still on. And the baby stuff is starting to collect around the corners of the house but nothing is out of the packaging yet.

Once a scaredy cat -always a scaredy cat.

Tomorrow we hit 28 W. Getting there.

We’re getting there.

Oh how time flies…

Between work – recovering from a little back nightmare – fighting off fatigue that has suddenly reared it’s ugly head and generally living life, another week has passed without a post. so sorry to be disappearing.

Today – just wanted to write a quick note in memory of my Dad, who passed away 9 years ago today. Talk about time passing. I have to say, this year feel particularly hard. He would have been over the moon to have a grandchild. His love for kids had no bounds. He loved Halloween when all the kids came by for treats. He was a highschool teacher, but often went to elementary schools to give computer classes and cherished those days. He loved his students and his teams and most of all – he loved my sister and me.

This little guy here would have just made him giddy with smiles and stories and …well, I sure am sorry he won’t be here for that. And that the Bubble won’t ever get to know him aside from photos and stories.

That’s all I’ve got today. I’ll update more on the Bub soon.

Jinx

I should know better than to anger the gods of bad backs with talk of injury and spasm and pain. Every time you do that – wham. or ouch. or whatever.

I’ve been flat on my back – or rather – curled up with a pillow between my knees on my side since wednesday afternoon when, for no apparent reason (other than jinxing) my back decided to go into full spasm. Wednesday evening I couldn’t stand up straight – couldn’t walk more than 10 or so steps and couldn’t sit. At all.

Tonight – after spending the whole day off my feet (except for frequent pee trips) I can walk around the house slowly with only intermittent nerve pain firing down my legs, sit for about 10 or 15 minutes with only minor discomfort and lie still fairly though not totally pain free.

Gotta haul into work tomorrow though- thank heavens for half day friday summer hours!

It’s gonna be a long threeandabit months.