22 weeks!

How far along? 22 weeks

Maternity clothes? All maternity. Regular shirts are far too short now.

Sleep? So- so. Hip pain is back. But I manage. Definitely all worth it.

Best moment this week?

1. Mr Free and I celebrated 9 years of being in love today. : )

2.

We finished the first project for the nursery. Giving an existing glider rocker we had a complete makeover (blog tutorial to come). It's so fun getting things ready for our little one!

3. Our fetal echocardiogram. I wasn't sure what to expect other than it was another level 2 ultrasound, but to look closely at the heart. Luckily the tech also showed us baby again and did all the measurements along with the heart stuff. Baby measured great. Heart was fine. Kidneys have reduced from 5 mm to 4 mm which is great news. Baby weighs 1 lb 4 oz, and is in the 87th percentile. Peri is gonna keep an eye on that...may have a roly poly baby. But thats cute...and Im OK with that.

Food cravings: It varies daily. One day it was Chinese, another it was fried chicken.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In, but starting to become less shallow....

Movement? Yup! Daily now! The tech today said that baby's feet are up high and where the placenta is at, Im probably not feeling a ton of kicks yet, mainly punches. But once the placenta moves, I will feel them kicking my ribs! So crazy!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Mr. Free and I are having a mini babymoon this weekend.

I'm also looking forward to Viability Day in 2 weeks. (Where if anything were to happen, they'd fight to save baby's life!)

Milestones: Being more than half baked, and past the big scary ultrasounds. Baby is looking good!!!

Diapering: Our Plan

So, Mr. Free and I are in no way experts. Obviously.

But we've done our research, and *so far* this is our plan to diaper our little one.

Our goals?

Frugality!

Comfort!

Fashion!

Since I will not be a permanent stay-at-home momma, but will luckily be home with this baby for the first 6 months, we've decided on cloth.

But in returning to work, we know it'd have to be an easy process for our nanny or provider. (Still have to figure that out...so much to do!!!)

So after much research, we decided to go with One Size Pocket Diapers.

One sized pocket diapers are pretty pricey, but will last throughout their diapering days. They grow with the child and fit babies 10-35 lbs.

This was appealing with our teeny house and teeny nursery, to not have 18+ diapers in 4+ sizes to store.

With one sized diapers, you have the option of aplix (velcro) or snaps. While the aplix would probably be most user-friendly, they can wear out over time. The snaps are much more sturdy. So in the name of frugality, snaps won.

Another appeal of the one sized pockets, is the pockets! 'Pocket' refers to the pocket built into the back of the diaper to stuff with inserts.

Most diapers come with 2 inserts. A 'newborn' and 'regular'. BumGenius comes with microfiber inserts, but many rave about the bamboo inserts.

If your baby is a heavy wetter, you can stuff with both inserts. If they aren't and you want a trimmer fit, you can just use one.

I really like how it can be customized for your child.

We have registered at Buy Buy Baby and one thing that sold us on them over Babies R Us is that they carry the BumGenius 4.0's IN STOCK!!! Babies R Us they are online only. I'm hoping to receive a few as presents which would help us with our stash!

In the one sized world, BumGenius is probably king. They are the most widely available and popular.

Our plan is a stash of 18-24. If we have more, the better.

We registered for 18 BumGenius 4.0s at Buy Buy Baby.

We have also heard great things about Sunbabies, Alva Babies and Kawaii's. These Chinese-made diapers are a FRACTION of the cost of BumGenius.

BumGenius one-sized pockets are $17.99/diaper. (Thankfully Buy Buy Baby has their 20% off coupons regularly, making them around $14.50!)

But the Chinese-made selection range from $6-9/diaper and get a range of reviews. Some think they are better than BumGenius, some think not so much. I think a lot of it depends on the shape of your baby and which brand fits the best to control leaks.

Black Friday offered some GREAT deals and I snagged 13 one sized Kawaii's and 3 Bum Genius 4.0's.

We received 2 more BumGenius diapers at my shower, and then scored 4 more Bum Genius diapers on clearance at Cotton Babies during their Seconds Sale. (These diapers supposedly have minor defects, but I have yet to find them!)

So our current stash sits at 21 diapers and have only spent $200!

Since the one-sized usually don't fit babies well until they are 10+ pounds, we decided to just use disposables until they fit versus buying a newborn stash. Since we have no idea what the size of our baby will be, we feel this will be the most frugal choice.

Also, the disposables will give us a chance to segway into parenthood before laundry overload begins.

So...what about laundry?

Most usually wash their diapers every other day. Obviously the more diapers you have, the less laundry you have to do...but for the 'stink factor' I think every other day will be a good rule of thumb.

For laundry, most cloth mamas use wetbags vs. systems like a diaper genie. Wetbags keep the contents inside, but breathe so that there isn't ammonia or stink build up. Most have a home wetbag and a travel wetbag for changing while out and about.

We purchased 3 PlanetWise wetbags as they have great reviews and come in adorable prints. 2 are in the nursery in trash cans for everyday laundry, and 1 travel wetbag in size medium for the diaper bag.

The newborn poops is water-soluble so you don't need to do a thing to prep them.

Once baby is onto solid food, the poop becomes...well...more solid.

That is where a diaper sprayer comes in handy.

We registered for one at Buy Buy Baby and hope to get one.

This sprayer attaches to the water line in the tank of your toilet and hangs on the side of the tank.

When baby has a dirty diaper you can just hold the diaper over the toilet and rinse of what needs rinsing.

Then throw diaper into the pail and wash when its time.

Now with laundry detergent...

You can't use just any laundry detergent as it can cause repelling issues.

Here are the most recommended:

Rockin' Green

Original Tide Powder

Dropps

Charlie's Laundry Soap

or make your own...which is what I plan to do.

In food processor, combine:

1/2 c. Baby Oxyclean

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

I've stocked up on Dropps when they were on clearance and registered for lots of Baby OxyClean as I have all the other ingredients for the detergent on hand.

Now...what about wipes?

At first, I planned to stick with disposable wipes. But then... I changed my mind. If we are already doing laundry every other day for the diapers, we might as well have cloth wipes and throw them in with them as well.

BumGenius has their own brand of flannel wipes that we were able to register for at BuyBuyBaby as well. We have received 2 packs of them so far, so that totals at 24 cloth wipes. As far as getting the baby "clean"... you can either just wet the wipe with plain water, or there are a number of homemade "wipe solutions" to clean em up.

What about diaper rash cream?

Well, from what I've read, babies who are cloth diapered experience diaper rash much less than those in disposables.

When you do need to use rash cream, you cannot use traditional creams (desitin, butt paste, etc.) as these will create a waxy layer on the cloth causing the liquid to repel (not good!).

A few types you can use include California Baby (available at Target and Buy Buy Baby) and CJ's BUTTer.

I registered for some California Baby and ordered a few samples of the CJ's.

The CJ's is awesome because it's not JUST diaper cream. It can be used for all sorts of skin ailments and comes in fun flavors! They smell awesome!

Now obviously, we haven't tried this all out yet but I've done lots of research and can't wait to give it a whirl.

The savings is so motivating and the cute little fluffy diapers are inspiring as well.

I will be sure to update you on how the process goes!

Does anyone else cloth diaper or plan to?

I'd love to hear insight!

19 weeks

How far along? 19 weeks

Maternity clothes? All maternity. Ive definitely "popped".

Sleep? I'm sleeping through the night, and doing a hybrid, tummy-side sleep. It keeps me off my belly and helps my hips from being sore.

Best moment this week? Our anatomy scan and seeing Baby Free!

They measured right on track, brain, heart and spine looked great. Amniotic fluid was normal. Cord and placenta looked good. Baby was head down.

Their kidneys were both enlarged though. "Normal" is around 3-4 mm and both were measuring around 5. The perinatologist said he sees it often and is nothing to worry about but they will monitor it. I of course was a mess, thinking of something being wrong. It can also be a "soft marker" for downs syndrome, but our blood work was great and no other soft markers were presented. The chance of our baby having downs is still very very low.

From what I understand, most cases of enlarged kidneys clear up either in utero or within the first year. The baby will be monitored closely. Worst case scenario is surgery after birth to correct the problem.

The peri also mentioned he didn't see any blockages, which was good, and that progesterone can lead to kidney swelling. He said that pregnant women's kidneys are actually enlarged during pregnancy.

We know that God is perfectly knitting together this child and just pray that their kidneys are healed.

I'm praying for peace about the situation. My first instinct is to worry, worry, worry! Which isn't good for anyone!

But, I do feel great knowing all of Baby Free's vitals were great!

After the scan we went out to dinner and started our registry at Buy Buy Baby! So much fun!

Food cravings:Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Yes!!! On Sunday Mr. Free and I felt our first "outside" movement. It was awesome! The last 2 days I have felt this baby move like crazy! The tech mentioned again how much this baby moves! We've been told this a few times now...life should be interesting come February!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Preparing for this baby! Now that we see that they *should* be arriving this February, I cant wait to finish our registry and get our home ready for baby!

Milestones: Our anatomy scan!

First outside movement!

We appreciate your prayers that Baby Free's kidneys will correct themselves and won't require any intervention. We also appreciate prayer for peace as we just "wait and see" what is in store for our precious little one.

Week 17

How far along? 17 weeks

Maternity clothes? Definitely pants, but starting to transition to shirts as well. I can wear my non-maternity stuff as long as it's really long.

Sleep? Getting better! I got some great tips on sleeping while pregnant and its certainly helped! I still can't quite get used to sleeping with pillows all around me and by morning they are all usually on the floor, but I'm tossing and turning much less and not nearly as sore!

Best moment this week?

We have baby things in our house!!!!

On Saturday night, our amazing friends Audrey and Josue and their sweet little girl Melody had us over for dinner and let us raid their basement of baby stuff! Such a HUGE blessing!

Here's the unorganized pile of amazing blessings that are currently in our guest room:

A car seat! An actual car seat!

The snap n go stroller for the car seat.

Baby baths, crib skirt, breast feeding pillow, swing.

Bouncer, baby books and maternity clothes!

Such an incredible blessing!

Food cravings: Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Early this week I hadn't really felt much, but yesterday I began feeling the baby again and it was a bit stronger than before. I can't wait for regular movement! It's such a great feeling!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Our level 2 anatomy scan in two weeks! We won't be finding out the sex of the baby, but I can't wait to see them again and hopefully get good news that all is well with our little one!

Milestones: We got our quad screening results back yesterday. For some reason I had in my mind that if we heard the results back soon, that'd it'd be bad news. Well, 3 days after I had my blood drawn, the OB called. I was freaking out! Being a type 1 diabetic, I didn't have any increased risk for a chromosomal problem (like downs syndrome or trisomy 18), but there is a possible increased risk for neural tube defects. Luckily, my amazing nurse Kris immediately said that all my results were negative! And I'm not a carrier for cystic fibrosis! Whew!!!

I seriously felt on cloud 9 after that! Thank you Lord!!!

Today we met with the perinatologist for the first time. I will be seeing him every 2 weeks until 28 weeks, then weekly until 36 weeks. He said that the normal quad was very reassuring with this pregnancy and the level 2 will hopefully confirm that.

The plan of action is in 2 weeks we will have the level 2 anatomy scan to look to make sure everything is developed correctly and no birth defects. 2 weeks after that, we will have our fetal echocardiogram to see a more detailed picture of the baby's heart and make sure everything is working the way it should!

I have felt so overwhelmed by everyone's support and generosity. Every little milestone with this little one is such a blessing and we just thank God so much for blessing us with this little life.

Week 16

How far along? 16 weeks

Maternity clothes? Just pants, but I have worn a couple of sweaters too

Sleep? I'm normally a tummy sleeper, but this week its become uncomfortable as my belly has firmed up. All the literature says to sleep on your left side for optimal blood flow but its so uncomfortable! I wake up after an hour with a very sore left hip! I'm trying the body pillow, but it still hurts my left hip. Not sure what to do, but even if I don't sleep for the next 5 months, it is well worth it. : )

Best moment this week? This has been a FABULOUS weekend. So I have many 'bests' this week!

1. Having a great 16 week appointment today! As soon as the doppler touched my belly we could hear a strong heartbeat in the 150's. The nurse said she could hear baby moving all around too. : )

2. We completely gutted our basement! (When I say "we" I really mean Mr. Free). Mr. Free is such an amazing handyman. He has completely demoed it out and is currently working on framing our future family room! We are so excited for this additional space as we grow our family and love to entertain family and friends. (Many blog posts to come about that!)

3. We had the most incredible food weekend! It started with SantiCaliGon days this weekend. What's better than an onion blossom and funnel cake?! Then Sunday night we went to Fogo de Chao with our dear friends (I had been seriously craving some red meat...check!) and finished that off with Cold Stone. Then, this morning was the start of the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte'! Mmmm....

4. The weather here in KC has been AMAZING!! High's in the 70's. AC is off, windows are open with the attic fan running. It's feeling like Fall which is my FAVORITE time of year!

Food cravings: Red meat and Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Last Friday I began feeling some flutters and little pokes down low. I can only feel it when Im sitting and learning slightly forward or curled up in the fetal position. Monday I was feeling it and Mr. Free pushed his hand right in to where it was at and swore he felt a little poke. I didn't believe him at first, but maybe he did! I can't wait for noticable 'outside' movement!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Starting to really look at baby gear. I bought a couple of neutral outfits this weekend, but now that we had a great appointment, I feel like I can look "for real".

Milestones: A great 16 week appointment!

I spoke with my OB about whether I can "relax" now, because I've still been freaking out. She assured me that I now can relax.

She explained that 1st trimester losses are from COMPLETELY different reasons than 2nd and 3rd trimester losses. Since I have successfully made it to the 2nd trimester, I have no indication or risk of losing this baby.

She said the only thing that they will monitor with me is the "increased" change of a heart defect since Im diabetic. (I put "increased" in quotes because my blood sugar has been in such tight control, I truly don't have an increased risk from a non-diabetic mommy, but I get monitored none the less).

She assured me that even if a heart defect appears, it usually corrects itself in utero and if not, may require surgery. She said the defects are usually not fatal. Which made me feel MUCH better.

Tomorrow I will go in for blood work to do the quad screening. This will give us the odds of our baby having a chromosonal problem or neural tube defect. We should hear results in about a week. This test can give false positives, but since we didn't do the first tri screening, we thought we'd do this to *hopefully* give us some reassurance.

In 4 weeks I will see the OB again for a regular 20 week check up, but will have my anatomy scan along with a fetal echocardiogram with the perinatologist down the hall. We will be able to see all the details of our little one and check for any type of defect.

Please be praying that our little one has developed correctly and will continue to do so. I know, statistically our baby isn't at an increased risk, but I just pray they truly are healthy.

I can't believe we have to wait another whole month to see our little one! We were so spoiled to get to see them every 2 weeks, and now it'll have been 2 months since we last saw them! I'm so thankful for those doppler checks. They keep me sane!

Week 15

How far along? 15 weeks, 1 day

Maternity clothes? Just pants

Sleep? Its gotten a bit better. The last week Ive only been getting up once to go to the bathroom. And instead of waking up at 6:30, Ive been waking up with Brian at 6. I think my energy is coming back!

Best moment this week? I've had several:

1. Feeling my bump expand. My tummy is getting really hard! And its growing up higher! Its so very weird! Im used to having a jiggly flabby tummy. Now when I poke it, its firm!

2. Going maternity clothes shopping with my mom. I just got a couple of things for fall. We went to Destination Maternity for their clearance sale and I loved it! The store is awesome! And everything was under $15!

3. My first student asked me if I was pregnant today. Bless their hearts, they didn't want to be rude and ask! Ive heard a couple of comments whispered, but none had asked me. I think the word will be out soon!

Food cravings: None really.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? I don't think so... the other night I laid on the couch and REALLY tried to focus and thought I felt something like a fish swimming down low, but I think its probably psychological... I can't wait for real movement!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Our appointment next Tuesday. I'm praying we hear a nice, steady heartbeat again! I'm praying that my increasing waistline is a good indicator that all is well inside. Not that I worry about those types of things : )

Milestones: Obviously we are more pregnant than we've ever been! I feel like I'm starting to get to the "comfortable" part of pregnancy. I'm really anxious to hear our little one next week at 16 weeks and to see them on an ultrasound again and gain some reassurance that they are healthy!

This week I've been really trying to just meditate in the fact that God loves our child more than we ever could! He is preparing them for His perfect will, however that may look. I'm still worried and absolutely terrified of all the endless possibilities of what could happen with our child, but I assume that's just the beginning with mommyhood!

If you happen to think of us, a prayer for our baby and my anxious mind would surely be appreciated. I pray that our next appointment will help my heart be a little more at peace.

Week 14

How far along? 14 weeks, 1 day

Maternity clothes? Just pants

Sleep? I usually wake up once or twice to go to the bathroom.

Best moment this week? Letting word get out about the baby and sharing in our excitement!

Food cravings: None really.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Nope. I can't wait for that!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Our next appointment in 2 weeks.

Milestones: We are definitely into the 2nd trimester by anyone's definitions. According to most, the chance of loss at this point is at or less than 1%. We are praying praying praying that this is our healthy take-home baby!

I will say, this first full week of teaching with kids is kicking my butt! I didn't have much morning sickness during 1st tri but it is sure here now! I think actually working is wearing me out and making me feel sick and tired. When I get home in the evening I am really trying to take it easy. I can't wait for that 2nd tri burst of energy and for the nesting to begin. My house is currently a wreck!

1st Nursery Purchase

One thing I've been looking forward to for a long time is decorating a nursery.

Mr. Free and I have always known 2 things regarding our nursery:

1. It needed to be gender neutral

2. We didn't want a "theme" (i.e. No Winnie the Pooh or painted flowers on the wall...etc.)

So ever since our first pregnancy I've been looking for ideas on the internet.

I quickly fell in love with the idea of light turqoise walls with accents of sunny yellow and red.

And also during our first pregnancy I fell in love with this bedding at Target:

When it went on clearance for $35, I snatched it up.

So these are my basis.

A couple of weeks ago, I began looking at nurseries again and found this beautiful image:

I fell in love with that rug!

Those that have read my blog for awhile know how much I've dreamed of a chevron rug, but they are so pricey!

I wrote off that dream rug figuring it was too expensive.

But I was wrong.

As I read about this nursery, the article mentioned that the rug came from Urban Outfitters for $69.

I quickly showed it to Mr. Free with enthusiasm and he ordered it online.

When it came in the mail I saw it was perfect.

Our baby is getting the coveted chevron rug.

And I couldn't be happier.

So this is the foundation of what will become our nursery.

The room we will use is very small.

We anticipate only purchasing a crib and rocker for the space.

We already have a white bookshelf that will serve as storage in the room.

It is so exciting to have another room to decorate, and for such a worthy person makes it even more fun!

I will sure to update you along the way!