Not much, actually. Time is flying by. But I did just give Lentil the green light to come as of now - we had our [surprise] baby shower last weekend (thank you, Mrs. C!!). Got some of what we need. Should I go into labour right now, the only thing missing would be Mr. M (I'm NOT driving myself to the hospital...can you imagine getting pulled over by a cop while you're in labour for speeding???). He's at school for their yearly open house, and meeting all the parents. Poor guy. He'll be home at 10ish, and he'll be exhausted. Good thing tomorrow's Friday, and the only thing we have going on this weekend is a puppy play date with Apollo's good buddy, Rook. Oh...and baby shopping.
Anyway. Lentil now has the green light. Both from Mummie, and the OB. Scary, huh? Car seat is installed - just have to get it inspected. We have what we're using as the bassinet. We have a few onesies and newborn gowns, socks and hats, and some mittens. We do have some wipes, and a few of the cloth diapers I wanted to try. We have a few bottles, and a Diaper Genie that probably won't be the best to use with cloth diapers (meh...oh well). We still need a lot. But most of it is stuff that can be ordered online for much cheaper than BRU anyway. And...thanks to my mum, we have a Sleep Sheep. Lentil's going to LOVE that - I love it...!
Onto the shower. I seriously haven't the slightest clue how Mrs. C pulled this off, but she did. She was in cahoots with Mr. M, his mother, my mother, and my step-MIL...supposedly, we were going to go apple picking...so Mr. M and I got there, and surprise! Everyone is in Mrs. C's backyard! It was a huge surprise, even though I had suspicions - Mr. M almost screwed up because of some phone calls the day before, and when we pulled up at her house, I saw all of these cars...my SIL's included. So...therefore, I was highly suspicious. Anyway, so a day that I wore my favourite green cargo pants (basically, the only comfortable article of clothing I own that isn't yoga pants), and my tennies, I had my shower! It was very exciting. I'm definitely not good at being the center of attention, but I tried my best! Mr. M was grinning ear to ear when he saw my face. That was actually priceless.
All in all, I would call the shower a great success. Still stuff to buy, but oh well. It's the nature of the beast. I honestly would have preferred to purchase our own cloth diapers, for example...and yes, I do have to point out that a breast pump is a pretty personal purchase, as are all the accessories for it. That is something that we do need to get ASAP, as I would like to try to pump as soon as I can...so that Mr. M can have that special bonding with Lentil, as well.
Oh...in case you're doubtful, I promise you, it's not a miniature watermelon I'm growing in my tummy. I guarantee that it's a human being...one who likes to poke and kick me everywhere, wakes up in the mornings with hiccups, LOVES Smarties, parks his/her butt right below my ribcage and has already decided to start descending.
Yup. Lentil is dropping...everyday, I notice a bit more breathing room...and less peeing room. And more space in my tummy to eat those Smarties he/she loves so much. We had our first of the weekly check-ups yesterday with the OB. I also had my first internal examination, which showed no 'progress'...which I'm fine with - basically, although Lentil is dropping, my cervix is still long, and closed. This is good news. Oh...and I've gained 4 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I also got to hear Lentil's heartbeat twice, since Mr. M arrived at the appointment late, the OB did another doppler check for his sake. Oh...I also got to hear my OB give Lentil a private rendition of Let It Be, by the Beatles. Strong heartbeat aside, the OB still wants to do a growth ultrasound...despite the fact that everything else seems to point to healthy baby. He says it's a precaution. So this will get done this coming Monday. I guess at this point, he'll make a decision with us as to what needs to be done, if, in fact, his hypothesis that Lentil is small is correct.
As some of you know, Mr. M and I had decided early on that we were going to do our best to use cloth diapers and try to avoid disposables. There's just a lot of crap in disposables that we're not too wild about thinking of being such close proximity to Lentil's butt and nether regions. Not only that, but the environmental impact, should we use our own machines to launder the diapers, in conjunction with detergents that are 'good' for the environment, is much lesser; as well as the economical standpoint. We are very fortunate to have our own washing machine and dryer, and although we pay for electricity, the water is included in our rent...and when the weather's clear, I do plan on line-drying the diapers - which is better for them, anyway, as for their absorbency, etc., and also intend on using a detergent that is pretty economical. All of this being said, we were originally going to use an actual diaper service. You know, the one that comes and picks up all the poopie diapers and leaves fresh, clean ones in exchange...once a week. I searched, and I searched. There is ONE service for the tri-state region of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Luckily, they charge a flat fee of $23.00 per week for the service we need. However, after doing the calculations for the rough guesstimate of 2.5 years before Lentil is potty-trained, hiring the diaper service would not make financial sense for us, since we will want to use them for the subsequent child(ren). So we (or better yet, I) decided that we would just suck it up, make that initial investment of a couple hundred dollars in a good set of cloth diapers, diaper pins (or snappies) and diaper covers. This way, we have them, they are ours, and this way, we can try out a few different styles, types and kinds and choose which ones we prefer. Mr. M was a tough sell. He mentioned all the organic disposables there are out there. He mentioned the upfront cost of cloth diapering. I fought back...teeth and nail. I mentioned the organic disposables have really shitty (no pun intended) reviews. I mentioned the ability to RE-USE the cloth diapers we OWN on subsequent child(ren), or the ability to either sell second-hand, give away, or just use them for dust rags. I WANT to cloth diaper. Maybe I'm a masochist who likes to smell poopie diapers, and stick her hands in the toilet to rinse out fresh poop. I really don't care! This is what I believe in, and at least I'm not asking him to do the work. And...for the reasons stated above, I believe in them, and think they are the best choice for us as a family. He finally gave in. Yay! I think he realized that there may very well just be a method to my madness. At least I'm not insisting on co-sleeping. He'd probably shit a brick if I mentioned that.
Lentil has decided to give me some pretty decent contractions tonight. I'm going to bed in hopes of them going away.
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