The power of chlorine & 28 Weeks

It always amazes me how a smell can totally transform your thought process, can take you back to another place, another time.  Last night, for the first time in probably close to thirteen years, I got in a lap pool and actually swam laps.  I swam in high school, and although I wasn't this amazing athlete, until I screwed up my knee summer between JR and SR year I did pretty good.  I pushed myself really hard the summer between FR and SO year and made the varsity team as a sophomore.  I loved spending 2 hours a day in the water just me and my thoughts.  It was not only great exercise, it was very therapeutic mentally.  I truly forgot how much I enjoyed that time.  I attempted to join the team in college, but my knee just wasn't up for the abuse.  I've come up with all the excuses in the book not to go back; I don't have the right gear, The gym is so far I'm gone for 90+ minutes for just a 30 min swim, the chlorine makes me itch, blah blah blah excuse excuse excuse.  While cleaning out the nursery to get it ready for paint, I found my old swim bag that had in it all my stuff...cap, goggles, training buoy, even a towel and shammy! (you know those sham wow things that are all over the infomercials?  year swimmers and divers have been using them for YEARS!) Although there is no way I'm getting into the speedo that was in that bag, I did have one that would work, and it fit even 28 weeks pregnant.  I remembered a couple weeks ago that my university offers free passes to its alumni to used the Athletic center and pool, and its just down the road.  So on Tuesday I went to the office and got my alumni pass.  I had no more excuses.  For my sake, for my baby's sake, I needed to get some REAL exercise in my routine.  So I did it. I went and swam for 40 minutes last night, and it was absolutely AMAZING!  I walked into that locker room an it was like I was 16 all over again.  The smell of chlorine in the air was unmistakable.  I slid into the pool and started out and it was like I hadn't missed a day.  The old rhythms came back so easily.  Granted I got tired and out of breath quicker than I remembered, but the longer I stuck with it, the easier the breathing rhythm became.  After 40 minutes I felt so refreshed and rejuvenated that I can't for the life of me figure out why I waited so long to get back at it!  My new routine is going to be 40ish minutes Tuesdays, Thursdays, and either Saturday or Sunday.  I figure 3 days a week from now until this little man comes and then back again as soon as I can after he gets here should help keep me in decent shape.  Here's hoping.

Now the Survey:
How far along: 28 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: (As of 01/04/11) +10.8, 215.8  I have a feeling this is going to be BAD next week.
Maternity clothes: All maternity.  I really need to find a pair of tights or leggings so I can wear all my dresses that I got!
Stretch marks: Actually staying pretty under control. 
Sleep: Meh.  I'm usually waking up at least once, but I usually can roll over and go back to sleep.  The sciatica is the worst an night, and I REALLY miss sleeping on my back.
Movement: Lots and lots and lots! I love it!
Cravings: I'm surprised that I'm not really craving much of anything.  Although I did figure out why I've been wanting T@co Be|| so much...the combination of soft and crunchy I can get.
Aversions: Pretty much gone.  My love affair with food is back!
Gender: Team BLUE!!!!
Symptoms: Heartburn and Sciatica and in full force I keep a bottle of antacids in my purse, in my desk at work, in the bathroom at home and in the family room! No Nose bleeds this week!  Major Constipation! UGH!
What I miss: Sleeping on my back. 
What I look forward to: Maternity pictures hopefully sometime in the next couple weeks.  My belly button popping...its so close!!!
Moods: Up, down left, right, in, out....depends on the minute but been a lot better lately I think.
Milestones: Got the nursery half painted, hope to finish it this weekend.
Medical Concerns: Nothing really, just typical stuff for this point
Weekly Wisdom: I'm going to say it again, take time for You!  The way I felt when I got home last night is proof to me that it HAS to happen. 
Worst moment this week: Really I can't think of one.  Its been a pretty good week.
Best moment this week:  Finding 40+ prefolds and 8 covers for less than $40.  I <3 Craigslist!

27 Weeks

Survey Time!
How far along: 27 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: (As of 01/04/11) +10.8, 215.8
Maternity clothes: All maternity.  I really need to find a pair of tights or leggings so I can wear all my dresses that I got!
Stretch marks: Another new one on my belly, this time on the right. It's still small, but I can see it starting to form. The ones on my hips from puberty are ANGRY! I've started using Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion for stretch marks, and it is taking most of the redness, tightness, and itching away. Loving it!
Sleep: Getting worse.  I am waking up several times during the night, sometimes because of the little man...sometimes because of the big man.  Apparently I have started taking over the bed in my sleep.
Movement: Lots and lots and lots! I love it!
Cravings: Nothing weird...whatever I see an add for!
Aversions: Pretty much gone.  My love affair with food is back!
Gender: Team BLUE!!!!
Symptoms: Heartburn and Sciatica and in full force I keep a bottle of antacids in my purse, in my desk at work, in the bathroom at home and in the family room! Nose bleeds of course, although only one very minor one this week!
What I miss: Feeling "normal". I have just had the general blahs for weeks now.  Not feeling bad, just not feeling great either.
What I look forward to: Painting in the nursery and setting up furniture :-)  Hopefully some of that this weekend.
Moods: Up, down left, right, in, out....depends on the minute
Milestones: Nothing major this week...
Medical Concerns: Nose bleeds are still the big one.  I'm SO ready to be done with that.  General upper respiratory issues.
Weekly Wisdom: Take time for You!  Being super woman all the time does nothing but run you down. 
Worst moment this week: Filling on Tuesday.  The whole left side of my face was numb for almost 4 hours!  UGH
Best moment this week:  Sitting and having little man listen to daddy sing.  We got a bunch of recordings from the church A sings with and he put the songs he sings lead on a playlist on the iPad so I can put headphones on my belly and he can listen.  He was dancing away!  Love it!

Lazy Tuesdays??

So I have to admit, I'm LOVING this Tuesdays off work stuff.  Its a nice break when I need it, and it allows me one guaranteed day to sleep in a little (hey when you're getting up at 5 most days, 8:30 feels like noon!)

It does have its drawbacks though.  Like today for example.  I had to get a filling done and my OB wanted me to wait until at least 24 weeks to do it, and this was the first they could get me in.  Works out well really; it means I don't have to take time off work to make it happen.  I scheduled it for this morning thinking that I would then be able to come home and relax for a couple hours while the Novocaine wore off (can I just say how much I HATE Novocaine), and then get a couple things done in the afternoon if I felt up to it.  Unfortunately A has other plans.  HE wants to have a productive day today...ALL DAY.  His f@cebook status this morning was "sleep... glorious sleep!! Now to be productive today!"  UGH.  Don't get me wrong I'm glad he's motivated.  I just wish sometimes that HIS being motivated didn't require ME to be motivated.  SO instead of laying around and being lazy today, I have a list of things that I should get accomplished. 


Now before you jump his gut, in his defense, everything that is on my list is things that I have either a) needed to get done since the first of the year, or b) need to get done so he can remove old wallpaper and prime the nursery.  But still...I DON'T WANNA. *pout*  I just want to lay around and be lazy for a couple of hours because my left eyeball is numb.  I want to be a little pitiful cause I've felt like crap for a week and dang it I deserve a pitiful lazy day once in a while.  Then he reminds me that we are only 13 weeks from this baby being here, and probably only 6 weeks from me really being up to doing much at all, so I should take advantage of every minute I have.


Gosh I hate it when he's right.  Guess I should stop procrastinating and go help.  If I don't want him to throw out everything in the last couple boxes of stuff that are in the nursery, I really need to go and sort through them myself.  


*Sigh* 

Wake-up times and Nosebleeds and 26 Weeks...oh my!

What a crazy week it has been!  A and I started our new schedules the first of the year, working 4 10 hour days instead of 5 8 hour days, and it has been quite the project getting used to it.  We're nearly done with the second week, and I'm still struggling to get my butt up that extra hour and a half early.  Why is it that going into work an hour earlier requires an extra half hour of prep?  I'm a night time showerer, and I used to be able to roll out of bed and be ready to walk out the door 30 minutes later no problem.  With this shift in leave time though, I'm lucky if I'm ready within 50 minutes of getting out of bed.  I don't know if I'm just getting slower because it's harder to move quickly or what, but it's really annoying.  I wasn't counting on loosing an hour and a HALF of sleep, just an hour, so this is totally throwing me off!  I have GOT to get myself to bed by 10.  Then I'm in pretty good shape.  Any later than that, and getting up on time just doesn't happen.

Monday night turned into quite the eventful, albeit craptastic evening.  I got out of a meeting about 2:45, got back to my desk, and about 3 my nose started bleeding, again.  Ok no biggie, I clamped down on it, sat relaxed at my desk for 5 minutes and figured it would be all good.  Not only did it not stop, but what was a one nostril bleed turned into a double.  So I clamped down on both sides and figured I'd give it another 5 minutes.  Tick Tock Tick Tock, 5 minutes later, still bleeding...GREEEAAAATTT.  OB's instructions were to call if I had one last longer than 10 minutes, so I call.  The nurse tells me to keep up the pressure and add ice in 5-7 minute increments and if it hasn't stopped by 3:45 or 4 I should probably got to promptcare.  Ok.  A runs down tot he corporate nurse and gets me a couple crack pack ice packs and I sit with ice and tissues on my face for the next 30 minutes.  3:45 rolls around and I think we might be done so I sit up from where I was leaned over my desk and woosh!  Here it comes again.  So off to Prompt care we go.  We get there, my BP is really high (for me, still not be concerned high), and the doc can't see the source of the bleeding, so when it's still bleeding after another 10 minutes there, he sends me upstairs to the ENT.  The ENT does her thing with the scope down my nose, sees the source and say we're going to try packing your nose first.  So she shoves some cotton halfway to my brain, and we sit for another 10 minutes (probably at an hour and a half of bleeding at this point).  The nurses up there were so sweet, and I was so grateful to them, you could tell we were keeping them from going home.  Anyway, 10 more minutes go by, we pull out the packing (which attached itself to my toes at this point) and wait...nope still bleeding.  So what now?  We'll have to cauterize it she says.  Oh BOY!  She sticks these brown chemical laden swabs up my nose and rubs it all around my open blood vessel.   Let me just tell you this is one of the most UNCOMFORTABLE experiences I have ever had.  Never mind the wooden stick halfway to my brain or the cold metal nostril spreader stretching my poor nose 3 times its normal size, that crap sting like a $&^#$*!  The NP warned me that I was going to want to say a bad word, and although I didn't curse at her, I did almost puke right there on her nice white lab coat.  We left there around 5:15 with all sorts of fun stuff for me to squirt up my nose and strict instructions not to blow my nose for 2 Weeks!  Are you serious?  I've made it so far, but if this sinus congestion doesn't go away soon, it's going to be a loosing battle I'm afraid.  So I spent most of Monday evening being miserable and most of Tuesday recuperating.  I feel much better now, and I do have to admit the saline gel and spray is helping to keep my nose a little softer on the inside, but I still don't like it.  Oh well, when you figure this is really the worst problem I've had so far, I consider myself pretty lucky.


Survey Time!
How far along: 26 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: (As of 01/04/11) +10.8, 215.8
Maternity clothes: All maternity or stretchy knit skirts (I LOVE my Old Navy roll top skirts!). I cleaned all the pre-pregnancy clothes out of my closet this weekend. I got 2 new pair of Maternity pants that I love, but haven't been able to find true leggings or tights which I still need. Any suggestions?
Stretch marks: Another new one on my belly, this time on the right. It's still small, but I can see it starting to form. The ones on my hips from puberty are ANGRY! I've started using Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion for stretch marks, and it is taking most of the redness, tightness, and itching away. Loving it!
Sleep: Crazy good actually. I sleep through the night most nights, and although I have to pee pretty quick as soon as I get up, I'm not waking up in the middle of the night either
Movement: Lots and lots and lots! I love it! Felt the first batch of Hiccups this week, so FUN!
Cravings: Nothing weird...whatever I see an add for!
Aversions: Pretty much gone.  My love affair with food is back!
Gender: Team BLUE!!!!
Symptoms: Heartburn and Sciatica and in full force I keep a bottle of antacids in my purse, in my desk at work, in the bathroom at home and in the family room! Nose bleeds of course.
What I miss: Beer.  I'm not a big drinker, but I do appreciate a good beer now and again, and have to go all football season without one has really stunk.And this is really hard because A is a homebrewer, and had his homebrew club meeting this week.  I went to pick his "happy" butt up and they were sampling someone's Red Ale, which happens to be my favorite. :-( 
What I look forward to: Painting in the nursery and setting up furniture :-)
Moods: Up, down left, right, in, out....depends on the minute
Milestones: First Hiccups, starting to accumulate baby stuff.
Medical Concerns: Nose bleeds are the big one.  I'm ready to be done with that.
Weekly Wisdom: Listen to your body.  Do whatever it tells you it needs. 
Best moment this week: New Haircut on Tuesday!  I LOVE IT!!!!

Thirty-One Skirt Purse: A review

OK one of the things I said I wanted to do a while back was some honest real person reviews of products I've purchased.  Please know that I am not receiving any products or any compensation from any company.  These are simply items that I have purchased and used and my honest opinions about them.

Thirty-One Skirt Purse

My SIL is a Thirty-One consultant, and I bought this purse in October 2010.  I'm not typically a big purse snob, since I don't like to spend large amounts of money on myself.  I have a couple of secondhand Coach purses, and while I do like them a lot, I just can bring myself to spend the money on them.  So I usually but a purse once a year or so and carry it until it wears out, and then buy a new inexpensive one and the cycle continues.  Lately I've been feeling like I would like to have more flexible purse options so I can change my purse depending on the time of year, or outfit, or whatever else might be going through my mind at the time, but the truth is I HATE CHANGING PURSES.  There's nothing more annoying than getting used to the set-up of your purse, having it all organized so you know where everything is and then changing purses and now you can't find anything anything.  In walks the Thirty-One Skirt purse.  The premise is that you buy 1 purse (a solid that comes with one patterned skirt) and then you just buy additional skirts.  When you want to change the look of your purse, you just change the skirt a voila! you have a "new" purse.  I bought the combination you see above, as well as an additional skirt in a print called Floral Fanfare.  You can also get the base purse in black instead of brown.  As the seasons change the prints available for skirts will also change.  New ones will come out, old ones will be retired, so the options are consistently changing.

The Specs:

• Size: 15.5x9x3.5 (or 15x10.5x6.5 for the bigger City Skirt Purse)
• Color: Black or brown base purse, assorted prints for skirts
• Price: $42 for the base purse and 1 skirt, $15 for additional skirts. (plus tax and shipping)
• Where to buy: From your Thirty-One Consultant or contact me if you don't have one.

Likes:

• I LOVE the flexibility of changing the outside of this purse.  I used the floral print for most of the fall and changed it to the Red skirt after Thanksgiving.  It mad me feel like my purse had a sweet holiday flair to it.  Changing the skirts is quick and simple and doesn't require emptying the purse unless I've really stuffed it.  And all the skirts are machine washable so it it gets dirty it's easily fixed!
• It's a good size to carry enough stuff, but not carry so much it weighs 40 pounds.  I'm one of those people that if I carry a big purse I WILL fill it, so I force myself to carry a smaller purse.  This purse is 15x9 inches and only 3 inches wide, so plenty big enough for my wallet and other purse essentials, but not so big that I can load it up.
• The design of the skirts is very simple.  I've been able to make my own skirts out of fabric I have at home.  This gives me even MORE flexibility in patterns since I now have the WHOLE fabric store to choose from.
• I am a huge fan of hobo style purses.  The straps are just the right length for me to be able to put it on my shoulder easily, but not so long that it hangs down to my butt.  I can carry it on my shoulder, in the crook of my elbow, or just in my hand without having to worry about it dragging on the ground.
• It has a quick magnet closure.  I have a severe dislike of zippered purses.  I always feel obligated to keep them zipped, which then becomes a pain when I need to get in it quickly to grab something (like my phone) and it always seems like the zipper pull is getting in the way.  This purse has a single magnetic snap closure that is unobtrusive and effective yet easy to get in and out of.
• The skirts fold up nice and flat for storage.  I could store 10 or 12 in the same space that 1 additional purse would take up.
• Definitely Budget Friendly.  After the first purchase, $15 for a "new" purse sounds like a steal to me!

Dislikes:

• This purse is lacking in compartments.  It has one small zippered side pocket and a cell phone pocket in one wall.  The cell phone pocket is too small for my droid x, so instead it holds my work ID and business cards.  With no other dividers of any sort, it's just one big bag.  I ended up buying another pouch to put in it to hold my smaller, easily lost items like chap stick, nail file, and pens so I don't have to constantly dig around for them.
• I'm not a huge fan of any of Thirty-One's current prints other than the 2 I have.  And if one of these 2 wears out and they've been discontinued, I'm SOL on replacing it unless i can find it on e-bay or something.  Luckily I figured out the pattern to make my own skirts :-)
• While the straps are the perfect length for me, I could see how someone with longer arms that me would struggle to put it on her shoulder one handed.
• Since so much brown shows, I'm probably going to end up buying a black one too eventually.  But still switching between 2 purses is way more appealing than 5 or 6.

All in all I LOVE this purse.  It's a good size for me, ideal for my idiosyncrasies, and friendly to my frugalista budget.  I've been able to overcome most of the dislikes with small easy fixes.  Highly recommended!

Once Infertile, Always Infertile

At least emotionally anyway.  I think I've figured out why posting in the last month or so has been tough.  I've really been struggling with a barrage of emotions that I don't know how to deal with, and some of which I don't like.  I've realized that I'm not over all the crappy emotions that come with unexpected pregnancy announcements.  You know the ones, the people who you either thought would never in a million years have kids, or who you figured from comments they had made that they were struggling and just weren't ready to talk about it yet, or they said they were done and "oops".   I had one of those come up recently and it hit me really hard.  Harder than I'd really like to admit even here.

It was one of the toughest nights of my life.  I was upset because she got pregnant so easily...and not just upset, green monster jealous upset.  What made her so special that I had to wait 3 years and she only had 3 months?  I was upset with myself for being upset and not happy for her.  I was upset with A for not understanding why I was upset.  I was upset at myself for getting upset with him.  I was upset that she was suddenly the only pregnant person around.  I was furious with myself for being so selfish.  Do you see where this is going?  All these irrational feelings (and more) that were in total conflict with each other and yet I couldn't stop the barrage.

This was over a month ago, and it still hits me almost every day.  I feel like such a tool for feeling a lot of it.  Part of me thought being pregnant would be this magic switch that would just make all the bad feelings about other people being or getting pregnant go away.  The truth is, I'm now not sure I will ever get over it.  It totally sucks that A and I had to go through all we did to get to where we are.  3 years of waiting, 2 years of treatments, thousands of dollars of medication and procedures (thank God for good insurance) and I still don't really understand why.  Do I think we'll be better parents now then we would have been 3 years ago, Yes.  Do I think something good came out of our wait, Yes.  We've learned so much by watching the parenting styles of those around us.  We value EVERY second with each other and this baby right now, and I imagine it will continue once the little man is born. We will still make our own mistakes I'm sure, but I'm hoping that they will be less because of what we've read, observed, and been through.  Even though there will be struggles and frustrations, sleepless nights and fights, I hope that I will be able to look at my son and be grateful for the blessings.

Yet there will always be a part of me that says "that's not fair" when the high school girl down the street comes home pregnant or the barely 20 something newlywed has an oops.  And I don't like it.  But I don't know how to change it.  I don't know how to let go of the jealousy and the anger and the pain.  I can only hope that finally being able to hold my son will one day take some of that away.  I think it's too much to hope that it will all go away.  Just like with any loss, (and infertility even without miscarriages is a loss in my mind) the pain will lessen with time, but it never really goes away. 

I just hold on to the hope that it WILL lessen with time.  And in the mean time, I got really good at smiling and nodding these last 3 years, so I'll just fall back on that.

25 weeks

Survey Time!
How far along: 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: (switching to the Dr.'s scale, I don't trust mine anymore) +10.8, 215.8
Maternity clothes: All maternity or stretchy knit skirts (I LOVE my Old Navy roll top skirts!). I cleaned all the pre-pregnancy clothes out of my closet this weekend.  I got 2 new pair of Maternity pants that I love, but haven't been able to find true leggings or tights which I still need.  Any suggestions?
Stretch marks: Another new one on my belly, this time on the right.  It's still small, but I can see it starting to form. The ones on my hips from puberty are ANGRY! I've started using Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion for stretch marks, and it is taking most of the redness, tightness, and itching away. Loving it!
Sleep: Crazy good actually.  I sleep through the night most nights, and although I have to pee pretty quick as soon as I get up, I'm not waking up in the middle of the night either
Movement: Lots and lots and lots!  I love it!  A actually was able to feel it for the first time this week.
Cravings: Nothing major.  Still having mexican on a regular basis.
Aversions: Still having issues with hot sauce.  Just the smell makes me nauseous, which is bad because A puts hot sauce on almost EVERYTHING!  Nothing else has been really bad.
Gender: Team BLUE!!!!
Symptoms: Nausea is basically gone. Heartburn and Sciatica and in full force I keep a bottle of antacids in my purse, in my desk at work, in the bathroom at home and in the family room!  Nose bleeds kicked in high gear this week, hope it doesn't mean my BP is up...
What I miss: Ummm nothing comes to mind right now...
What I look forward to: Painting in the nursery and setting up furniture :-)
Moods: Up, down left, right, in, out....depends on the minute
Milestones: Viability!!! WOO HOO!
Medical Concerns: Nose bleeds....my glucose tolerance test that is coming up soon.  Thankfully since the weight gain has tapered off I think I'll be ok.
Weekly Wisdom: Once an infertile, always an infertile.  This last month has been really hard in some ways and I've realized that being pregnant doesn't magically erase all the pain that the 3 years leading up to this brought.  More on this to come.
Best moment this week: Seeing A's face when he really felt that first kick.  Finding regularity in the little man's movements and being able to predict them.

Back to the real world

So tell me, does anyone else have a husband who harasses you when you don't blog often enough?  Cause I sure do...and not just at home, NOOOOO he has to come on my blog and leave a comment and publicly harass me.  Oh well I guess it worked, cause here I am.  The good news is that in the new year I have switched my work schedule to 4 10 hour days, so I now have Tuesdays off until the baby comes.  At the very least, there will be a post every Tuesday.


So what's been going on in our household?  Well the primary thing is the MAJOR nesting that has hit both A and I.  I think I've mentioned this before, but in order to set up a nursery, we had to first re-do the office so I had somewhere to go with my sewing and crafting stuff.  The office is now complete, and there's only a few things left to clean out of the nursery so we can start painting up there.

A in our new FUNCTIONAL Office

We spent Christmas day and the day after with A's family in Southern IL.  Grammy (A's mom) was SO generous with gifts for the little man.  We got our new pack and play and the monitors I wanted.  Throw that in with the money my dad gave us for Nursery furniture and we're pretty much set for all the big stuff.  All I need now is to get the stroller/car seat from our friend who is giving us the one they used (assuming no recall problems) and then it's fun stuff!  I actually bought my first outfit last week, a Chicago Bears "Rookie" Onesie :-)  I'm going to warn you all now.  If you are a Packer fan, you may just want to stop following this blog.  There's going to be a LOT of Bears stuff on here for a while :-D

A got me a Doppler for Christmas!!!!  I was totally excited and it is so COOL to hear little Man's heartbeat any time I want!!!  It's a 1970's doctors office version, even has a sticker on it that says for use by or under the direction of a physician only!  It was so cool to be able to take it to his mom's house and let her hear the HB. 

I took the whole week between Christmas and New Years off.  Most of that time was spent working on the office and nursery, but it was apparently a much needed break.  I didn't get up before 9 any day, and it wasn't like I was going to bed later than usual.  I think my body just needed some extra rest.  Everything went great, except for the fact that I had a nose bleed almost every day.  It was so strange, I would sit up in bed and within a minute (before I had time to stand up) the gushing would start!  We have a humidifier in our bedroom, so I think the real problem is that I am not drinking enough.  Especially when I'm at home.  At work I do pretty good as long as I get off my duff to fill my water bottle, but at home I'm terrible.  Since Sunday I have pushed myself to fill (and empty) my 28oz water bottle at least 3 times during the day, and succeeded.  Lo and behold I have not had a nose bleed since Sunday Morning, so maybe I'm on to something here.  I do have a doctors appointment later today, so we'll also be able to rule out elevated blood pressure I will talk to him about other natural solutions.

The last big bit of news is that we've decided to Cloth Diaper!  I was really interested in this route from the get go, but A was very against it at first.  Then he did some reading about all the environmental impacts of disposable diapers and changed his mind.  We are generally environmentally conscious people.  We do little things here and there, Rain water collection for our garden, eating locally whenever possible, basic water and energy conservation, that kind of stuff.  We're really bad a bout recycling, but that's mainly because we don't have pick-up in our area and don't have a good way to keep trash separated from recyclables in our house.  I think that may be a definite project before baby gets here, but I digress.  Anyway, A's sister has been cloth diapering for years, and we talked to her extensively about what she likes and dislikes, but I'm curious about other people.  Those who plan on using cloth, what are you getting?  Those who have used cloth in the past, what did you like/dislike/hate?  We're thinking pre-folds and covers for home and pockets and inserts for travel/daycare (assuming the daycare we choose will accept them).  I would love an guidance anyone has, so send it my way.

I can't believe I'm at nearly 25 weeks already.  It's been going so fast!!  I have to say I love being pregnant, and I'm loving all the craziness that comes with it.  I'll leave you with the pictures we took this weekend..it's crazy how much different I look!!!

24 weeks!

Oh I almost forgot!  if there's anyone who was a size 10-14 prepregnancy that needs some more maternity clothes, let me know.  I have a friend who gave me a bunch of stuff, and there's a bit that's too small for me.  If you can use it, you can have it for shipping costs.  There's some casual stuff, some business casual stuff.