Bad timing

We went to some open houses today...which was really really dumb. We found a great house, in an area we would want to live,with really good potential and a lot of fixer-upper cosmetic projects with enough space we could stay there for a decade at least. And it was in our price range. The problem is, we still have to list and sell our condo in Chicago (which is being occupied by renters with a lease through July). We are planning to list it in April with a closing date not before august 1st (if it even sells before then) anyway because we have to sell it by April of 2011 (balloon payment due on a 7 year ARM). But we can't list it before having a chance to talk to our renters. That just isn't right. And although we could apply for a home equity loan in order to make a down payment on a house here (or could get a bridge loan), itsnot the smartest idea when I haven't solidified a job for next year and there's a baby on the way. So I guess we let the house go. And we keep renting in our very affordable apartment for now. Hopefully the condo will sell quickly after we list it. We're going to price it aggressively. So we'll see.

:(

Birthday and 14 weeks!

This is now officially the last year I can think of myself as "young," which is perfect timing really-with the kid on the way and all. We started the day with an appointment at the hematologist, to check the wife's iron and discuss possible treatment options during pregnancy. I'm really hoping there is something that can be done cause the falling asleep before dinner thing is getting old. We are in our second trimester. This should be done with very soon, but if her iron is low, maybe not.

Then, I dropped the wife back off at work and went home to read my new book, "baby bargains." I love this book. I am the quintessential do-it-yourselfer. If I can save $20 bucks, I will spend four hours of labor on something. This is how my household survived during grad school when money was non-existent. Related to baby, I updated the highchair that's been in the wife's family for 60 years with safety straps and easily cleanable cushions, made 57 bibs from spare fabric scraps lying around my house, have made probably 100 items of clothing (including sun dresses, onesies, fleece jackets, sleepers, booties, crocheted hats, a baby blanket, shorts, shirts, etc.), crocheted a zoo of stuffed animals (that were stuffed with fabric scraps)...you get the point. So I'm pretty excited to also research good deals for not-so-easily-made baby stuff.

It's a good thing I got this book when we did. I had mostly been looking at online reviews when looking at baby furniture and products, taking comments with a grain of salt since they are self-report-which only really happy people and really pissed off people take the time to do (according to psychometrics research). I thought the crib we picked out (which was on the lower-end price-wise because we are on a budget) was fine and met our needs. The authors of my new book gave it an F!!!!!! So, we reevaluated how long we expect the crib to last and realized, we really would like to keep using it for all of our children (as many as four we think) over the next decade. That said, I'm not dropping a grand on a crib. I don't need it to be fancy, just safe and durable. So we changed to a new crib today. I think we are going with ba.bi ita.lia. The one we chose can also become a toddler bed and day bed. When the kid is ready for a bigger bed we will probably be having another (we hope), so that's All we really need it for anyway.

After the crib debacle we also changed our mind about having a seperate dresser and changing table. Now we are going to get an extra wide and shorter dresser that will offer more storage and double as the changing table. We may get the dresser that matches the crib. But, for $100 less, I can get an even nicer unfinished oak or maple dresser and stain it myself! So I'm entertaining this option as well.

We also are reconsidering the glider in favor of a more old-fashioned rocker (which I can also buy unfinished and stain to match the other furniture).

SO MANY DECISIONS!!!!

Which brings me to a place where I am going to ask for some advice (I told you I could do it when needed):
for those of you with cloth diaper experience I have many questions.
Do you hose off the diapers right away or put them in a pail to be washed every other day (or every night)?
If you put them in a pail, is there a recommended type?
What are these wet pails I keep hearing about?
If you use cloth wipes as well, do you dampen them before using them?
Is the hose attachment actually helpful as a way to get rid of solids before putting them in the wash machine?
Is there any sort of special wipe warmer for cloth wipes?

Really, I need the most help with the logistics involved. I've got a good idea about cloth diapering system options and brands, but I have no clue about the peripherals.

No advice please

It's amazing how the announcement "we are pregnant" turns into an invitation for advice from all sorts of people who've not do much as spoken a sentence to you in the last decade. We went public with the pregnancy this week and I already have gotten many pieces of advice that I would never follow in a million years.

For instance, "wine during pregnancy is okay."
no, actually, it's not. I know a little something about child development, thanks.

Or, "cloth diapers aren't practical, you'll see."
maybe they aren't practical for those that don't feel as strongly about using them. But I do.

I am not so stubborn or defensive to realize that I don't know everything and might benefit from others' experience. However, I'd like the opportunity to ask for help when I need it. I am pretty good at doing that actually. At the moment I feel like I'm batting away advice (good and bad) left and right.

And I hate the expression "you'll see."
maybe I will. Maybe I won't. I'll find out soon enough. I don't need people predicting it for me.

And on this note, if anyone has a personal favorite cloth diaper brand, I'd love to hear about it and what you like about the brand. We are going to do a blend of all-in-ones and prefolds with covers. We are also thinking of doing the one-size options wherever possible. Considering duo-covers as well however.

SECOND TRIMESTER!!!

Today, is day two, of the middle of our pregnancy! Lot's of exciting things have been happening regarding the baby. KB is starting to pop out just a little bit, and her uterus is starting to make it's presence known. We went in for an ultrasound to do a nuchal screening. Baby was not cooperating...we saw the baby hiccuping (we think) and squirming around all over the place. You could see the baby's brain, and could make out the different bones in the arms and legs...two arms, two legs...so that's good!

KB thought she saw what looked like testicles on the ultrasound monitor...but it's too early for testicles to drop...so that is not what she saw. The ultrasound technician, however, stated that at this age, she usually sees a penis if one is there, and she doesn't see it. She was strongly suggesting that the baby is a girl...but wouldn't come out and say it. She said we'd know for sure at our 20 week ultrasound,so we will wait patiently (or not) to see what we are having on April 2nd!

That is not that far off at all!!!

While we were having the ultrasound, we also saw baby dancing around, doing somersaults and having a grand old time her/his legs were pretty long already as well...so that was fun.

Back at the house, it already looks like we are parents! My parents are still going crazy. They sent us a pack-n-play two days ago, and they also sent another package with baby book and scrapbooking material, a stuffed animal, and a variety of baby clothes/supplies. My mom also thinks she might be able to get a discount on a me.della double hands-free breast pump from work...so that will probably arrive shortly as well!!!

It's pretty fun around here.

And it's good to be in the second trimester, finally. I feel like we can take a deep breath and relax a little now.

Here are some pics of our product-tester/crash-test dummy and the new items:

He's not so sure about it all...

Well that was fast.

We went to a big baby supply store today to test out a few strollers we had researched. When my dad has his mind set on doing something, he has to do it immediately, and if he's buying, I'm in. So I emailed him with our selection tonight and he called three hours later with the tracking number. But that's not all. He also did some product safety research. He's cute.

So while we were there we also did our entire registry (split between two stores). How could we resist? I was fine until I got to feeding and then felt completely overwhelmed and irritated (we had already been there a while). It's been a long time since my nannying days and they've come out with a LOT of new products. I can't believe how much stuff we ended up registering for. Feels like when we got married all over again (except for the fact that all the stuff we registered for huckleberry will be used more than a lot of stuff we got for the wedding). 25 years until I can start spending my money on me again. Wow.

12 weeks and the beginning of the family war

Today we are at 12 weeks! That means only one more week left of the first trimester and only 1% chance of miscarriage from here on out. But that's not all that happened today. Today we began the war of the grandparents.

This is the first grandbaby on both sides of the family. That should be enough to explain the rest! The wife's parents told us yesterday that they wanted to take care of all of the furniture/etc. in the nursury up to a very generous limit (that will not only cover the furniture, but also the wall art, the rug, the hamper, the spare sheets, a mobile, maybe a nightlight...you name it. They are pretty excited to be grandparents.

Today, I had no patients, and "worked from home," where I spent most of my time looking up what we would need (a pretty exhaustive list) for the first year of our baby's life and pricing items that I liked. I also had a pretty lengthy conversation with my dad (an ex-colonel in the airforce)about real-estate and the growing baby. I let it slip (rather strategically) that the wife's parents were buying the nursery furniture, knowing that my dad can be somewhat competitive (hey, we need to save our money for maternity leave...so might as well milk the first grandbaby thing). A few hours after our conversation, he called me back and wanted to let me know that one of the things they want to take care of is the stroller/carseat system. Awesome. That was another one of the more major purchases. He asked me to let him know as soon as we know what one we want. This is pretty cute. You see, my dad, in his very military fashion, has difficulty expressing his feelings and his excitement about things...the only way you really know he is excited is when he pulls out his wallet. We knew my wife's parents would be excited, but my parents are often a mixed bag.

So the war has begun. I'm going to ride this out for a while. The other fun thing is that my sister is a pediatric nurse, mom is a neo-natal intensive care nurse, and mother in-law is a retired OBGYN nurse. They all love babies and are all going crazy. They also all get some pretty neat free stuff that they are stocking up on for baby huckleberry...a few less things we have to worry about!

It sounds so wrong...but I'm really loving this. It's pretty cute to see how excited they all are. Sometimes when I tell people we are pregnant and don't get the reaction I want, I know it's because it just isn't exciting to others as much as it is to us. But to our family, it's just as exciting. And that's a good feeling.

Where's the beef?

So our lovely nurse called yesterday with results from friday's bloodwork. The wife's hemoglobin was a 9 (they really like it if you stay above 10). We knew this would probably happen because she has a blood disorder called thalessemia minor, which means that her red blood cells don't bind iron well. So simply taking iron doesn't really do anything. The nurse instructed us to take iron threetimes a day, which is a lot of iron for someone who won't absorb it anyway. We are thinking that perhaps they forgot she has thalassemia and are going to call tomorrow to request an appointment with a hematologist. We are not overly concerned. Her iron has been this low even without bring pregnant and with all the production of new blood cells during the last week or so, we figured it might happen.

It sure explains why she has been overly tired for even a pregnant person and why she has been craving hamburgers and steak (we don't eat red meat more than a handful of times per year). I'm seeing a lot of hamburgers in my near future.