How grown-up are we?
Friday, April 16, 2010
32 weeks, 5 days pregnant
A few weeks ago, for some strange reason, riding the bus to work reminded me that Darling Husband and I really needed to make wills.
Maybe it was the BAD DRIVING by the EVIL DRIVER or the TREACHEROUS POTHOLES that made me think of death? Ugh, anyway.
Apparently, you need to make a will before you have a baby because it’s very important to name a guardian, should anything happen to both me and Darling Husband. I thought of this months ago, and it vanished from my head in a whirl of Omigod-I’m-preggo-ness.
But we made the appointments and went through the proper steps. We are now both proud owners (owners?) of …
- A last will and testament
- A living will
- A power of attorney
Our wills are basically carbon copies of each other’s, except mine leaves everything to Darling Husband, and his leaves everything to me. Oh, and my executor is Best Friend, and his executor is his brother.
The important part — that part that is basically the reason for doing it — is that both our wills state that Little Sis gets Baby Boy (and any future kids) should anything happen to both of us. We feel very strongly that she is the best choice, and I feel much better knowing that it’s official.
The living will is an extra item that basically says we don’t want to be vegetables in a hospital bed for 20 years. We both agree that we wouldn’t want to put each other through that.
The power of attorney is something I hadn’t even heard of, but basically it is sort of like a living will. It gives Darling Husband the power to make decisions for me, if I’m unable to make them myself — and vice versa. Sounded like a good idea.
If you’re considering getting this stuff done, it really is a good idea. It cost us $310 total for everything — so I assume it would be half that for just one person? However, this lawyer was working in a bit of a dive, so perhaps he is cheaper than most?
So now, we are armed with six neat little envelopes — one document per envelope, three documents per person — that determine all of these important legal decisions. What do we do with them? Well, we’re going to the bank tonight to get a shared safety deposit box for them.
So grown-up, huh?
Scrub-a-dub diaper
Thursday, April 15, 2010
32 weeks, 4 days pregnant
The diapers are here! The diapers are here! I have never been so excited to get a package in the mail, which proves without a doubt that I am as dorky as you suspected.
As you may know, cloth diapers need to be pre-washed before use (in order to get them primed or something — I didn’t question it).
Since I have three varieties of diapers — BumGenius organic all-in-ones, BumGenius one-size pocket diapers, and Kushies — I decided to get nice and organized before I did the pre-washing. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin them before they were used!
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Pre-wash instructions:
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Regular wash instructions:
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Pre-wash instructions:
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Regular wash instructions:
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Eight of the BumGenius organic diapers are the new “bright” colours, so their labels warned to pre-wash them separately from lighter diapers (or anything else).
I never did find any washing instructions for the Kushies, but because they are my cheapie “extras” I wasn’t too concerned. I simply lumped them in with the light-coloured diapers.
So last night I did two loads:
- 1 load of the “bright” BumGenius organic diapers (washed on hot, dried on warm)
- 1 load of the BumGenius pocket diapers, Kushies diapers, and light-coloured BumGenuis organic ones (washed on hot, dried on warm)
If you’re reading closely (and not asleep by this point), you’ll see that I dared to put everything in the dryer. Am I going to cloth diaper hell? Perhaps.
The reason was because I knew I had read that Amalah used the dryer for her original BumGenius diapers, and the idea of “line-drying” was absurd. We don’t have a clothesline! And I was not draping wet diapers on the edge of my bathtub for the next who-knows-how-many years.
So I asked a friend who uses the original BumGenius diapers, since it seems everyone has their own special way to wash and dry them.
- Wash them in hot water
- Do an additional cold rinse
- Dry on warm
And here are the special “occasional” things she does:
- Once a month, she strips them with 1/2 cup of bleach (recommended by BumGenius) and a squirt of Original Dawn dish soap
- If they diapers are not smelling fresh, she washes them as normal. And then she washes them once with extra detergent and does two extra rinse cycles
Whew! Information overload! So I did the first load last night, and I think I’ll wash/dry them once every night through Sunday — that will be five times total.
Now my only concern is forgetting that the washer is set to “Hot” and the dryer is set to “Warm,” and accidentally shrinking a load of my (and Darling Husband’s) clothes. I think I should tape a big sign there, to remind my mushy pregnancy brain.
Doctor, Doctor — tell me the news!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
32 weeks, 3 days pregnant
I had my 32-week OBGYN appointment yesterday, and it went well. Here’s the quickie version:
- Pee: Fine (no sugar or protein)
- Blood pressure: 105/56. I thought that seemed extremely low, even for me, but the nurse and Dr. L were thrilled — I guess low is much better than high, in Preggo-land? They did warn me to be careful about fainting, though.
- Weight: Mumble-mumble.
- Baby’s heartrate: 143 and strong
- Fundal height: 33 centimetres (still measuring half a week ahead)
Since I didn’t get to see Dr. L at the last appointment, I made sure to pounce on her with some questions (and fears). I didn’t exactly get the answers I was hoping for, though …
- “How’s my iron? Has it improved since I’ve been taking the pills?” No, basically, was the answer. It went DOWN! This baby is sucking the iron right out of me. I have to up the dosage to three pills a day, plus take extra Vitamin C tablets to help absorb it.
- “Will you be delivering my baby … or might it be (gulp) Hippie Doctor?” Dr. L said the practice has 10 doctors, and they all rotate. She only does deliveries five or six days a month — which means the odds of her delivering Baby Boy are way slimmer than my chubby ankles. Boo!
- “Lately I have been really, really, really scared of vaginal birth. But C-sections don’t scare me at all. Um, help!” Dr. L was very pleasant, but didn’t really say anything to comfort me — just that it was usually the other way around. I was kind of hoping she would suggest a planned C-section, but apparently she doesn’t buy the whole “too posh to push” thing.
- “If I do deliver vaginally, do you think my hips will help make it easier?” Yes, I actually asked that. I am freaking out, people! And I was hoping that my curves would be an asset, for once in my curvy life. She laughed and said it was possible. Not a concrete “Yes,” but I’ll take it.
Was that his head or his butt?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
32 weeks, 2 days pregnant
The alarm woke the baby up this morning (awwww, so cute!) and he immediately begin squirming around. It almost felt like he was turning over, so I pressed my hands against my stomach.
WHOA! WHAT WAS THAT?
A baseball! Jutting out above my belly button was a rounded shape, that was super-hard and probably his head or his butt. I pressed on it — not too hard, in case it was his head — and could clearly feel the shape.
I started pressing other parts of my stomach, and it was very clear which parts with “empty” –they smooshed in easily and didn’t come in contact with anything solid — and which parts were full of baby — they were hard, and could be felt on the surface.
It was so much fun that I stayed in bed later than I should have. I wonder if it was his head or his butt … is there any way to tell, really?
Dear Baby …
Monday, April 12, 2010
32 weeks, 1 day pregnant
Why are you only kicking me on my right side?
The doctor said your head was down, but wouldn’t that mean you would kick upwards, like in the middle of my belly? Perhaps you are diagonal in there …?
Or is it just a game, to see how far away from the arm of the couch you can push me with your feet? I wonder if you can feel when you hit something in “the outside world”?
I can’t believe how the kicks are coming on my actual side — not anywhere near the front of my belly. You really must be getting big in there. Keep packing on the pounds. I hope you are a cute little chubster!
xoxo
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