We've hit the single digits!

Only nine days to go. How can this be?

Pants-off appointment

Hey, I had to come up with a catchy title. I am 1-2 cm dilated but still pretty thick, as my midwife put it. She could feel the head. She said I should have the baby on Saturday because that's the next time she's on-call.

I have gained another 2 lbs. (yuck), the fundal height was 36-37 cm, and the heartbeat sounded great, as always.

Fourteen days to go, give or take a week!

I am really exhausted

I need to start going to bed earlier. This 12:30 a.m. stuff is starting to wear me down. Blah.

I'm going to do cloth again!

Yep! I'm officially crazy! :) I really miss it. I started cloth when Andrew was 9 months old (see pic above -- this was Andrew's debut in cloth) and continued for 7 months. I only quit because I was sick of coming home from work to three (on average) poopy diapers that DH wouldn't even flip the poo into the toilet from. Also, DH had unhooked the hot water from our washer as a "green-saving" feature and I think that wasn't helping as far as stink problems (I tried stripping my diapers and using more and less detergent -- basically everything that is suggested; needless to say, even people who wash in hot water get stink issues).

I sold my entire stash of BumGenius 3.0 one size diapers (24) and was happy to get half of what I paid for them.

A few weeks ago, I started thinking about cloth again -- I have a lot of friends who do it -- and I figured hey, why not? I'll start cloth when Baby E is big enough to fit into them (generally speaking, around 8 lbs. -- I'll use Pampers Swaddlers for the early days because those were the only NB diapers I liked for Andrew -- the others all leaked).

Anyway, this time I am going with a one-size snap diaper, because I wasn't a huge fan of the Velcro (correct term is "applix" since velcro is a brand name, but WTH -- I don't care -- it's Velcro). Even if I always made sure the Velcro was on the laundry tabs when I threw them in the dryer, I would still get diaper chains. I should mention that from June through October, I hung my stash on the line every time because that's what I prefer, but in the winter, it's an impossible feat in Wisconsin.

So, this time I ordered 24 of the Knickernappies because I asked around and figured out what would work for skinnier babies (skinny thighs and little butts, like Andrew's -- I am betting Baby E will also be that way, considering that's how I was as a baby/toddler). They are such CUTE diapers! Here's my friend's store: Cotton Tails If you scroll down, you will see all the colors. She has 10% off the Knickernappies (only through Friday this week, if you are interested) and I also got another 10% off because it was my first order and I am a member of a certain mommy board. I am a fan of the one-size diapers because they grow with the baby (8 - 40 lbs.) and will go from newborn to potty training. If you multiply out the cost of disposables and compare it to cloth, cloth is a better deal. And they're so cute! I ordered 6 different colors -- 4 of each in the chocolate, butter, raspberry, spring green, turquoise, and violet. So, my total cost is $388.58. Of course, there is the cost of laundering the diapers, but because I have a high efficiency washer, it is honestly pennies per load. Pretty awesome.

DH is going to help out a lot more this time with the diapers (all he needs to do is flick the poo in the toilet -- I will rinse the diapers when I get home from work), and he will also re-hook up the hot water (if I remember correctly, the process is cold pre-rinse, hot wash, followed by a 2nd cold rinse).

Now the fun part begins: waiting for my fluffy mail!

37 week appointment!

Woohoo! BP is great at 108/70!

Woohoo! I lost 1 lb. from last time (realistically, I think this is just because I went to my appt. first thing in the morning but shut-up -- let me celebrate!)

Woohoo! Heartbeat sounded good and my fundal height is measuring at 35 cm!

Woohoo! Everything looks great from the ultrasound last week; they even had the high-risk doc. take a gander and she's just a small baby.

Woohoo! She confirmed that the hospital did lift their visiting restrictions (put in place for the H1N1 which has all but disappeared now), so Andrew and any other family members and friends can visit in the hospital. It was just one support person plus grandparents before, so that's a plus!

Boo! I am GBS positive! (Yet again; I was last time, too.) I didn't think I'd be able to escape that one.

Woohoo! Since I don't want to end on a negative, the midwife said I look awesome and that I will be a great candidate for the waterbirth. She just said that when I know I am in labor, even if it's early, to call them and let them know so they can reserve one of the birthing tub suites for me.

This is my 36 week pic from last Wednesday.


Let's compare from my starting pic at 3 weeks, 6 days, shall we? :)

Bedtime woes: NO MORE!

I am happy to report that our three weeks of "sleep training", if you want to call it that, are complete.

The past three nights, I have left the room after tucking Andrew in, kissing and hugging him, giving him his sippy of water, and making sure his favorite blanket is on him.

It's a nice change from 45 minutes - 1 hour of me lying next to him while he dug his feet into my back, scraped his fingernails along the wall, poked at my face, and goofed off. It just wasn't good, especially when there were many times he wasn't going to sleep until midnight or later! It was pretty ridiculous.

Anyway, you'll recall that he used to run to the door and start banging his head if I tried to leave the room. I really was at my wit's end.

Two nights ago, I heard him come to the door and say, "mom? mom? mom?" but I just ignored it and then I heard him crawl back in bed. Five minutes later, I heard him snoring away.

Last night, he didn't get out of bed at all. All he did was say, "head? head? head? head?" about 30 times before giving up. He likes his blankets over his head for some reason, so that's what he was asking for. I know he is perfectly capable of arranging his own blankets and was only looking for me to come wait on him.

This is AWESOME and I have plenty of time before the new baby arrives to let this new routine settle in.

For those of you with high-needs toddlers: if you want to try this, this is what we did per the pediatric specialist we saw:

1) 3-4 nights of me sitting on the side of the bed, on top of the covers, facing out.

2) 5 nights of me sitting on the floor next to his bed.

3) a week-and-a-half of me sitting by the door of his room, still inside his room (he likes his door shut).

4) Finally, me leaving the room after tucking him in.

We follow a routine and read for 1/2 hour every night before bed, then I tell him when he has one more book left, and he picks out his last book. I then tell him it's time to go to sleep and I tuck him in, kiss him, hug him, and he actually asks for the lights to be turned off. I leave the room promptly and don't linger, closing the door behind me. He stays in bed now.

Back from the ultrasound

Everything went just fine. The ultrasound was pretty quick but they took some measurements. She's estimated to be 5 lbs, 1 oz and that's the 21st percentile, so she's just on the smaller side. I think they said she measured at 34w1d. The doctor will call me tomorrow with the official report. She got the hiccups while we were in the ultrasound and we got to see her practice breathing. She was kicking the wand, too. I got to see her sweet face as well! She tried to look between the legs, just to be sure, but she wasn't cooperating. The fluid level looked good.

Oh yeah, and one other thing. The u/s tech was asking if I had a name for her and I told her, and then I said that my son was named Andrew. She said that a friend of hers had two kids named Andrew and Elise. How weird is that?! I thought it was a sign that I definitely picked the right name.

Here she is . . .

Please keep me in your thoughts . . .

I had my 36 week appointment today and I only gained one cm from last time (I'm at 33 now and I was at 32 at my 34w checkup).

Heartrate was 150. I'm feeling movement and everything.

Because I'm still measuring small and only gained 1 cm, she did order an ultrasound for 2:30 today. She said she's not worried, but wants to make sure it's not low amniotic fluid, or a problem with fetal growth. She said it could just be a small baby. Her official diagnosis was "small for gestational age".

I am nervous, but I think everything is okay. I'll probably have to go by myself because DH is home with Andrew and there's nobody to watch him. I'm going to call my mom now and see if she can get my sister to fill in for her at work and see if she can meet me there (they work at the same place).

I hope this is nothing serious! :(