Getting Ready for Baby

I have some very fond memories of my first pregnancy.  We were living near a city then and would often go in on weekends.  I would go into the Babies R Us and just walk around.  I hardly bought anything, but I just looked at all the baby things and dreamed.  I sat in the rockers, I felt the soft sleepers.  I felt the baby within me and wondered what it would be like to be a Mom.  I've been in that store since and those wonderful dreamy feelings all came rushing.  It was a wonderful time. . .

I'm very thankful for those memories, but have to admit that those feelings just can't be replicated.  I already know what it is to be a Mom.  New sleepers and crib sheets just don't make me as excited anymore.  Now I'm a lot more concerned about toxins and would much rather have some organic clothing or used clothing that's been through the wash dozens of times.  I think about my rocker and shudder at the thought of all the toxins it emits into the air while I snuggle my baby.  I've learned that there are more important things than "new" when it comes to baby.   I've discovered that there are great ways to make wonderful and useful things from other things.  And that is also a wonderful thing!

Lately I have begun to do a few things to get ready for baby.  I've been working on a quilt.  It's not very babyish or typical of a baby blanket, but I love it!  It is made from scraps of fabric my Mom gave me and some that I had around.  It is lots of greens, blues, orange, tan with some of the pieces floral.  It is very summery, which I thought was fitting considering that Baby will be born in August.  The back is a piece of blue plaid flannel from my Mom and the batting in the middle is two layers of an old cotton bed sheet.

I have also ordered the baby new diapers!  I tried having Kara in cloth right from the start but failed to remember that my babies have always been small :)  So I thought I could get away with the diapers that were size "small".  What I really needed were "newborn".  So this time I am ordering newborn cloth diapers!  I am so very excited about this, especially considering that I got them at a very good price, thanks to a good friend who recommended them.  I'm just getting some wraps (the covers) and will use some fitted diapers I made for Kara and prefolds that I already own, inside.  (If you're curious what I'm getting, here is the link to them - yes Leanne I did get them in colours!  Not the design ones, but the solid colours that were gender neutral) I am so very excited that I should be able to start right from cloth this time. 

I've been thinking of trying to make the baby some clothes - but if you know me, you know that sewing clothes is not my specialty!  But I've really been wanting to learn.  I find clothes on cloth bottomed babies just doesn't fit the same as they do on disposable bottomed babies.  It'd really be great to have some clothes that were made to fit over larger bottoms.  We'll see.  I've been telling myself I first need to finish the baby's blanket.  No need to have several unfinished projects hanging around.

What I'm NOT doing to get ready for baby and have absolutely no intention of doing:

• I won't be painting baby's room.  Not that it couldn't use a fresh coat of paint.  But I feel very strongly that paint is toxic, and what I breath the baby breathes.  And filling my baby's room with even more toxins just doesn't sound like a good time to me.  Besides, I am fairly certain that my baby won't notice :)  Even if someone else painted the baby's room it would still add more toxins to our home that I just would rather leave in the store.  
• I won't be dyeing my hair :)  Not that I've ever dyed my hair, but I also feel that the dye is just much too toxic to be anywhere near my baby.
• I won't be adding rug or new furniture to baby's room.  I'd love to tear the carpet that is already in there out and replace it with something less toxic, but as we're hoping to sell our home soon we've decided to just leave it be.  If I was so be adding new furniture I would be making sure that it was not OSB or filled with tons of toxic glue.  

I'm sure that as time goes on I will be continuing to do things to get ready for our baby.  But I've started and it does help it to feel a little more real.  I've begun to notice the baby moving around some and sleeping has become more uncomfortable as my belly expands.  I've even noticed some wonderful braxton hicks!  One of the many perks of having been pregnant before :)  I dug out the maternity clothes the other day and have begun to wear some of them - not so much because I need to, but because sometimes it's nice :)  Here's a photo that I took around 16 weeks. (I'm 17 now)  I look quite pregnant in this photo thanks to the shirt I'm wearing.  In regular clothing, I don't look quite so pregnant. 

It still seems a little odd to me that I am pregnant for the fourth time.  I look at my three blessings and wonder what it will be like with four.  Yesterday as we were getting out of the van to go into Church I wondered how I would manage to get all four inside on those Sundays TR is not there.  I still buckle all three in and out (although hopefully Chloe will be going into a booster soon and able to manage her buckles even in all her winter gear).

So far this pregnancy has been wonderful and I seriously could not ask for more.  I have been very blessed and I am very thankful!  Some of the things I dealt with in previous pregnancies just haven't been an issue this time - even my emotions haven't been quite as overrun :)  And for that one I'm sure TR is very thankful :)