Life Lately...

I feel like I kind of left y'all hanging for the past month or so. We announced that we're having a baby and then just kind of dropped off the face of the internet planet. The truth is that I didn't really feel like I had much more to say on that topic, but at the same time couldn't think of anything else to talk about either. We're still only going to the doctor once a month, my last visit lasted all of 10 minutes and we didn't even have an ultrasound, just listened to the heart beat on the doppler. Pretty uneventful.

We are obviously VERY excited about having a baby, but I also don't want to bore y'all with a whole bunch of incredibly mundane details every few days, especially when I know I have several readers who are still struggling with infertility. I am trying hard to strike a balance between being excited about and embracing this time in our life while being sensitive to those who I know all to well are hurting. I have also realized that the demons of infertility are not something that simply disappear the moment you find out you're pregnant, those wounds are deep and I know will last a while.

For the inquiring minds who are interested in the mundane details... I am officially 17 weeks pregnant today. I'm feeling much better since the 2nd trimester started and have actually started cooking dinner again. I have gained a grand total of 2 pounds, and I don't think I look pregnant at all, (unless I pig out at dinner-learned that last Friday night), but I definitely look more than 2 pounds bigger. We will be finding out the sex of the baby, but we don't know it yet. My doctor does anatomy scans between 20 and 22 weeks, so it'll still be a few weeks before we find out. We're 95% sure we have names picked out, but they're still subject to change and will be finalized after we find out the sex, and will tell everyone when we're 100% sure.

I think that pretty much sums up our most common questions. Oh, and for those who want a belly shot, here's one from 2 weeks ago at 14 weeks 5 days:

Told you there wasn't much to see. I even put on maternity jeans for this picture because everyone told me I would look more pregnant with them on! I definitely think I look fatter thicker, but no noticeable cute round baby bump yet. It's a little more apparent now, but my last attempt to take a picture failed miserably and I'm not posting them. ;) Let's just say I'm okay with my stomach looking rounder/bigger, I'm not okay with my arms looking gigantic, and therefore all future bump photos will be taken in shirts with sleeves. haha

I have spent most of my free time, (and a lot of the time I should have been cleaning our messy house), doing lots and lots, (and lots), of research on baby products. This is the collection of books that are currently living on the floor by my nightstand, (I linked the titles to Amazon if you're interested in any of them):

Praying Through Your Pregnancy - I just got this in the mail yesterday so haven't had much time to form a solid opinion of it, but I'm really excited about it. It has specific prayers for your baby based on the development that week. I really wish I would have found it weeks ago.

Your Pregnancy Week by Week- I didn't like this one at first because it always points out exactly what can go wrong every week, but it's growing on me now that it's past the 1st trimester and doesn't remind me constantly how high miscarriage rates are.

A is for Atticus - I love this baby name book! It's all baby names from "great books" which I just love. P.S. I LOVE the name Atticus, but the husband vetoed that one real quick. What a buzz kill. ;)

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - My insurance company sent this one to me free when I signed up for the maternity program, and I honestly haven't looked at it too much except when I can't find the answer to my questions anywhere else. I'm sure it's probably a great resource, but since it was the last book I got I don't think about it often.

The Baby Name Wizard - In case you can't tell, this one's been well used. I actually bought it a couple of years ago when we first started trying to get pregnant because I felt like picking out a name early was one thing I could actually control in the world of infertility, (that and amassing an impressive collective of adorable clearance baby clothes, but I'll come back to that one another day). I love this book too because you can look up names you like and it refers you to other names that are similar. There's also a great website that goes along with the book.

What to Expect the First Year - Let's just say I like to be prepared. I have terror moments when I think I'm going to be like Rachel on "Friends" and have read everything about pregnancy and know nothing about how to take care of the baby when it actually arrives. This helps calm my fears a little bit.

Consumer Reports Best Baby Products - I bought this on clearance when our Borders bookstore was closing, and I'm honestly glad I didn't pay more than a couple of bucks for it. It's really my least favorite book of this stack by far. I think pretty much everything in it can be found on the internet.

What to Expect When You're Expecting - Oh, yes, the ever common What to Expect When You're Expecting. I have moments when I really like this book and can understand why it's so popular, and moments when it irritates me and makes me feel like I can only have a healthy baby if I live in a bubble for 9+ months. I do a lot of skimming when I feel like something doesn't pertain to me at the moment, but I like the illustrations. ;)

I may or may not have read a large majority of Jonathan's mother-baby nursing book too. Like I said, I like to be prepared/well-versed on topics of importance to me. ;)

I've also been doing LOTS of research on cloth diapers. I really like the money saving aspect as well as being more environmentally friendly and not putting lots of chemicals on baby's bum. I feel like since I'll be a stay at home mom, I really have no excuse to not at least give it a try. So far I'm leaning towards the bumGenius diapers, but am still up in the air on pockets vs all-in-ones. I ordered a pocket one off of Amazon, (the bumGenius one-size 4.0 in the sweet color), to see how well I liked it.

It came in the mail yesterday and I have to say I was VERY impressed with both the construction and how easy it was to figure out. Even my husband who was initially reluctant to try cloth diapers, (he was picturing the old school ones complete with diaper pins), was impressed with how easy it was to figure out/put on.

I dug through our storage and pulled out a Curious George stuffed animal from Sadie Hawkins my husband's senior year of high school:

to use as a model. I know George is obviously bigger than a newborn, but he does make a pretty good model. Here he is in the bumgenius 4.0 in sweet:

He also modeled some bibs I made a few weeks ago, (sorry about the bad iPhone photo):

Girl bibs with pink chenille backs. I have a few more of these in other girl fabrics along with some boy bibs with blue chenille on the back. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of any of the boy bibs.

I also made burp cloths to match, (here you can see the chenille that's also on the back of the bibs):

I made both boy and girl versions of the bibs and burp cloths, (I have several more than what are pictured), and I figure I can give away whichever ones we don't need. Then I got tired of sewing both boy and girl stuff and decided to stop until we find out the sex. ;)

Other than all of that I've just been enjoying the first sign of fall in north Texas-Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, (1/2 caf or decaf, nonfat).

It certainly doesn't FEEL like fall here, it was 105 yesterday! I'm ready for some cooler weather and some rain!

Jennifer