$1000 Super Stash Diaper Giveaway!

Want to win some fluff? Head over to cloth diaper blog. They are having a giveaway worth $1000. There are 4 great prizes:
Grand Prize – $500 gift certificate to Diaper Junction to buy whatever you want!
1st prize – 12 pack Fuzzi Bunz One size diapers in your choice of colors
2nd prize– GroVia “Half Time” Package in your choice of colors.
3rd prize – 6 pack bumGenius! 4.0 One size pocket diapers in choice of colors.

The giveaway ends October 12th so hurry over to enter. Good Luck!

Cloth Diaper OORAH Event

Coupon Mommy of 3 is having a cloth diaper giveaway event over at her blog. Check it out if you would like to win some great fluff. The event lasts through the month of September so there will be lots of winners.

A wrench in the plan

38 Weeks and what a crazy week it has been. My pregnancy was going pretty smoothly until...

I had my 37 week checkup last Thursday and my doctor informed me that my blood work showed my platelet levels were dropping significantly below normal. Very early in my pregnancy they were found to be low but she said now they had dropped further. I am going to a Hematologist tomorrow to discuss causes/treatment. She also told me that most anesthesiologists wont administer an epidural in patients with low platelets because of the risk of bleeding into the spine and causing permanent damage (yikes!). I am a little scared because although I would like to see how it goes during labor before electing for pain medication, I would really like to have the epidural available to me if I want it. Many other pain killers are also off the table because they thin your blood. My doctor suggested that she would like to induce me later this week before the levels get dangerously low. At a certain point, the routine things to do is completely put the patient under general anesthesia and perform a c-section to avoid risking internal bleeding with a vaginal delivery. I am crossing my fingers and praying that when I visit the Hematologist tomorrow, he finds that my platelets have improved and I can safely have an epidural (whether I am induced or not). If I am not this lucky, I will probably take the induction even if it means having to do it without medication. :cringe:

Car seat

Here in California, the Highway Patrol offers a free service where they will inspect and install car seats to ensure they are being used properly. We decided to take advantage of this service and I am so glad we did. My car is equipped with the LATCH system for installing car seats, but when we tried to install the base as per the car seat instructions it did not feel snug and secure in there. The officer told us that we were correct in installing the seat in the center of the back seat but that instead of hooking the LATCH hooks to the ones hidden under the middle seat, we had hooked them to the ones for the side seats. I was a little embarrassed, but considering the correct hooks are only a couple inches away from the incorrect ones I bet we aren't the only ones who make this mistake. Boy does that couple inches make a big difference. The officer also explained to us how the harness and straps should be adjusted which may seem like common sense but I appreciated him explaining it so that when we leave the hospital we can feel confident that we are actually securing him in there properly.

Happy Friday!!!

Here I sit at 35 weeks and 3 days. I feel giant, I can't even imagine how I will feel over the next 4-5 weeks. little t has been so active lately and boy is he strong! I can see his kicks and punches popping out all over my belly. I am very appreciative when he kicks out and not up into my ribs or down into my bladder. He gets the hiccups at least once a day. They are usually so low in my pelvis that only I can feel them. Yesterday they were up by my belly button, so his daddy could feel them too. I sure hope that doesn't mean he has gone from head down to head up!

His room is almost done, I will post some pictures when it is. We just need to get the curtains up. I can't wait for my little guy to be here but I am so nervous because I don't know a thing about being a mommy. I hope as baby is delivered, so too is my standard issue delivery of mommy knowledge. Happy Friday and have a good weekend, everyone!

Cloth Diaper giveaway event

Coupon Mommy of 3 is having a cloth diaper week where she is reviewing and giving away several cloth diapers. Today she posted a Softbums giveaway. I have been eyeing this diaper for a while and am dying to try it out on my little one, I hear such great things. Head on over to her blog this week to win yourself some cloth diapers.

Happy Friday!

Well here I am at 33 weeks and 3 days, is it over yet??? I do find myself saying "its hot in here" an awful lot lately. My poor husband tries to be understanding but with the A/C on full blast in the car he starts turning into a popsicle. The crib and mattress came and although it took a couple hours to get it together it looks beautiful. Now I just need to get a dust ruffle and some curtains to make it look complete.

This weekend is an in person cloth diaper workshop hosted by a local mom who owns and runs angelbunz.com. My husband and I are going to attend together and he will get his first taste of prefolds. We have both been leery of them and are hoping that some hands on practice will help us with confidence before we order a bunch for our little one.

Those of you who cloth diaper, what covers do you find work best for a newborn? I have heard good things about Thirsties XS covers. What about the duos, I don't want anything too bulky but I'd like to get something he can wear for more than 2 weeks as well. Know what I mean?

32 weeks

I can't believe how fast time is flying!!! We just ordered the crib and baby monitor last night. I am excited to get his room all set up. so far it just has his dresser and a glider along with all of the clothes and gifts we got at the shower. I also ordered some cloth diaper laundry detergent today. I am hoping that I can get all of his clothes and diapers prepped soon just in case he decides to make an early appearance. Lets all cross our fingers that he stays put until September. :)

Speaking of cloth diapers, I am attending an online cloth diaper workshop today. You can attend live or view it later, it is hosted by babykicks.

Happy Wednesday!

31 weeks

Only 9 weeks to go! Some of the lovely 3rd trimester symptoms are starting to kick in like acid reflux, swollen feet, and leg cramps but all in all I'm doing pretty well. I have had the weirdest sleep though. On most nights I wake up around 3am, go to the bathroom and then can't fall back asleep. I usually toss and turn for an hour or 2 before giving in and having something to eat but even then I still have trouble falling back asleep until around 6am. These 3 hour nightly blocks are becoming more of the norm and leave me pretty sleep the next day. I try not to nap as to not perpetuate the cycle but sometimes I am so exhausted that I can't resist.

Anyway, my 30 week doctors appointment went well. She said my belly was measuring 2 cms ahead (32cm rather than 30cm) so they went ahead and did an ultrasound to make sure he was growing on schedule. He is, he was only measuring a few days ahead, so that is good. We didn't get very good photos but there was one where the doctor said he looked like a bunny. So cute! So I will include it with this post. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Cloth Diapers

So maybe I'm a nerd but it felt a little like Christmas when the mail man knocked on my door and presented me with 2 packages. One contained 10 Bummis cloth wipes which I had won in a blog giveaway. The other was 3 LolliDoo diapers which I recently ordered. I had won a 50% off discount coupon a while back so I got a great deal on these diapers. They are made out of super soft fleece which happens to be made from recycled water bottles. A super cute and pretty cool product. I have actually been building up my diaper "stash" for several months with all types of different cloth diapers. I would like to try out the different types and see what works for us. Many people swear by prefolds and covers for newborns because they go so often but I am a little apprehensive. We are going to a cloth diapering workshop at the end of the month and hopefully they can help me build my confidence. I bought a couple of snappis and have been trying to practice with them by dishtowel diapering Tickle Me Elmo. So far I haven't really gotten the hang of it and Elmo continues to mock me as I fail. :)

I had my baby shower this past weekend (more on that later) and my sister and I thought it would be cute to decorate with the cloth diapers I have. A couple of my friends who didn't know that I had planned to cloth diaper (some of which are moms) asked me questions about it and seems pretty supportive and interested. My mother and MIL on the other hand were not. My mom took one look at the diapers (all of which were pockets or AIOs) and said "I give it a week". My mother in law, who actually cloth diapered 2 out of 4 of her babies was also strongly against it. When I first told her months ago that we planned to cloth diaper she tried to talk me out of it because it was so much work and mess. I tried to tell her that cloth diapering has changed a lot since she did it in the 80s. She didn't want to hear it. So at the shower when she kept calling my diapers "plastic pants" I tried to show them to her and how easy they were. She went on and on about how much laundry they would be, and how they wouldn't fit under any of his clothes. I showed her how easy the Aplix ones were and her only response was that he would figure out the velcro and pull them off. Last time I checked disposable diapers are just as easy to get off. She insisted that he would use disposables when he comes to visit her. I really hope both my mom and MIL will come around and realize that cloth diapers are easy and that we are making the right decision to CD our baby.

Buzz on by Thursday

So now that I have a new blog design I've decided this blog needs some followers! Today I am participating in a blog hop, Buzz on by Thursday, which is hosted by the ladies over at by Fashionably Organized and The Two Savvy Sisters. Thanks to these blogs for hosting and to all my new and current followers. Hopefully I can build up some followers so I can start doing my giveaways soon. Happy Thursday and have a safe July 4th weekend everyone!

Infant CPR class

So this weekend my husband and I attended an infant safety and CPR class at the hospital and I am SO glad we did. Although, I pray I never have to use anything I learned in this class. It was a 3 hour class that covered what to do for infants and children who are either choking, unconscious or not breathing. What a scary thought but, now I feel more confident that if something were to ever happen to my little one that I wont have to stand by helplessly waiting for paramedics to arrive. I hope that all new parents get the opportunity to take a class like this, at the very least for some peace of mind.

Vegging out

Today is one of those days where I can think of a million things I should be doing but have the motivation for none of them. Sure, the projects and dishes and laundry need done but they will just have to wait for tomorrow. Some days I feel energized. Today I am just a lump, I think baby is moving around more than I am.

I woke up this morning at 2 am with a full bladder, as usual. After I hopped back in bed I just tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable and ignore the grumbling in my stomach. After about an hour I gave up on sleep and headed to the kitchen. As I walked down the stairs my kitties looked at me with their sleepy eyes wondering what I was doing up at this hour. They sweetly followed me down and kept me company. As I stumbled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door the first 2 things to catch my eye would be my meal, a hard boiled egg and a chocolate protein drink. Now that may not sounds very appealing, but at 2 am the choices are limited to only those things which take zero effort to prepare and consume. After reading through some emails I headed back up to bed determined to get some sleep. Even though I did eventually fall back asleep, it wasn't very restful and I woke up this morning feeling groggier than I did at 2 am.

I suppose I will become fairly acquainted with this feeling once little t arrives, but I was hoping to prolong it as much as possible. It is amazing how much sleep (or lack of) can affect ones mood.

Maternity pants

Around my 3rd month the belly band over my unbuttoned jeans was no longer cutting it and I realized it was time to buy some maternity pants. My pre-pregnancy wardrobe consisted mostly of jeans and t-shirts. So it was only natural for me to buy maternity jeans. I don't really like how the panel maternity jeans look and found 2 pair of "under belly" jeans. Although they do have an elastic waistband, it is hidden inside the same material as the rest of the pants so it doesn't scream maternity pants like some others. These 2 pairs of pants have become major staples in my wardrobe. As summer approaches it has be getting warmer outside, and shorts are just not flattering on my thighs, so I decided to look for some capris. I found a great deal one day at Ross on a pair of khaki capris, or so I thought. They fit great, but after the first time through the washer/dryer the waistband (which is covered in a stretchy knit material) had gotten so twisted around itself that I spent a good half an hour getting it back to its original shape. And worse yet, after wearing for an afternoon I found the waistband kept folding down and required constant adjusting to not expose my belly. Had these been my first pair of maternity pants I may have thought that all under belly pants would be this way. I certainly appreciate my well made jeans more now. I am hoping that I can sew the elastic in place so that it doesn't get so twisted in the wash but I doubt it will help with the folding down problem, which I will have to solve by wearing my belly band again. You would think by now the makers of maternity pants would have all of this figured out by now and use the right materials!

My new layout

I recently won a blog makeover from So Stylilized, who makes custom blog designs. I have been working with Jessica via email to create my new layout, header, button, and signature. Today the new design has made its debut, and I love it. She did a great job of capturing what I wanted and was very professional throughout the process. Thanks again Jessica!

Here is a screen shot of my blog before.

The 3rd trimester!!!

I cannot believe that I am now in the 3rd trimester and neither can my husband. I am starting to get really excited! The average baby is 6-9 pounds at birth, but judging how I was just under 7.5 lbs and hubby was over 9 lbs I'm guessing little t will be somewhere around eight or at least that's my hope. At my last appointment (1 week ago) my doctor measured my belly and said my growth was right on schedule. According to the "What To Expect" book, little t is currently weighing in at 2.5 lbs. Over the next 13 weeks he has a lot of growing to do. His kicks and punches have gotten stronger and I am now feeling when he rolls around, its a very strange sensation that sometimes even hurts. If this 2 pounder packs this kind of punch now I can only imagine what it will be like at 8 lbs!

26 weeks

Chugging along at at 26 weeks now, last week of the 2nd trimester. This past weekend we attended a Childbirth Preparation class at the hospital where we plan to deliver. It was an all day class full of birth videos, breathing techniques and lots of other info that I am sure to forget by September. I wasn't disappointed with the class but I don't really feel anymore prepared than I was before. I'm guess I am just feeling like you cannot really "prepare" for childbirth. I think I am going into it with the mindset that it is an unpredictable event and if you do what your body (and the doctor) tells you to do, it will all work out in the end.

100 days to go!

Wow, how time has flown. Little t is only 100 days away from his due date. We got a countdown clock for Christmas a couple of years ago. Back in January when we first found out I was pregnant, we set it to little t's due date. At that time it still had 250 days to go. Since then, it has been in our living room reminding us daily of the time we have left before our little one joins our family. Some days I look at it and just cannot wait for it to be at zero, other days it is a source of stress as I realize how fast the past months have gone by and how much we still have left to get done before his arrival. My husband has been anxious about tomorrow for weeks, because tomorrow it drops into the double digits. He too is always thinking about the seemingly endless list of things to be done before baby arrives. We have been slowly knocking things off the list. We completed our baby registry last weekend which was a relief. Although, the nursery still needs curtains, some wall decorations and most importantly the crib. I know we will make it to the finish line as ready as any new parents can be.

I won!

What a great way to start off the week. I entered a giveaway over at http://familyliciousreviews.blogspot.com and won! What is the fabulous prize? A $40 gift certificate to frecklebox.com. I plan to use my gift certificate to get little t a cute growth chart for his room. The only problem is there are too many cute ones! I can't decide between the airplanes or the monkeys. Want to help me decide? Check it out here and let me know what you think. Thanks again to Debra at Familylicious Reviews for the chance to win!

This past week

Today marks 25 weeks down and ~15 to go! We enjoyed the long 3 day weekend. Pretty much completed our baby registries, went for a couple of walks, and relaxed. I am definitely feeling little t move around a lot more this week too. He likes to kick me the most in the evenings, especially right after dinner and as I am laying down for bed. In fact, I had to stop in the middle of this blog post for a potty break because he is so actively punching my bladder this morning. Don't think I am complaining though, I LOVE feeling him move. It almost always brings a smile to my face.

In the beginning

The little one growing inside of me has inspired me to start a blog. One where I can share my journey to motherhood. As of today, I am 23 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Since we found out we were pregnant back in January the days and weeks have just flown by. My hope is that this blog will be a place for me to share my thoughts and fears as well as my hopes and dreams for little t.