We'll See How It Goes...

I really like the idea of blogging, but I am also worried that I won't do very well keeping it up. I also worry that I will write something that I later feel silly about and thus destroy/delete several of my posts. I guess those are my main worries about blogging. As for why I want to do it, I really like the idea of logging what is happening in my life and having a record of it. I feel like doing this in a blog format would be easiest because I like the idea of sharing my life with friends and family. For now, I just want to clarify that this might not last. I hope it will, but we'll see!

And now here is a little info about me. I recently graduated with a degree in English Language and a minor in editing. While I might know more about editing than many, I don't feel I got as much out of my education as I could have. Actually, I know that I didn't. I still feel completely inadequate when it comes to editing, especially grammatical issues. I still pause over different issues and then feel like I need to go rushing back to school or to grab all of my text books and study for hours until I know "enough." It is silly, but oh well. Just being honest about this.

I haven't worked for the past few months. This started when my job just got to be too much at the beginning of my last semester. My wonderful husband encouraged me to quit since he made enough for us to live comfortably. Then right after graduation we found out I was pregnant!!! BEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!! But more of that in a little bit. After graduating I wanted to spend the summer doing and internship and decided to apply for several. I really wanted to work for a publishing company and I was hopeful about getting this opportunity, but it just didn't work out. I applied at Deseret and it went really well. They told me later that they were really impressed with me, but unfortunately I didn't do well enough on the editing test (proof that my previous comments are not just me being modest). But I didn't give up. I applied with Covenant Communications and was also turned down. I am sad about it, but it was probably good because I don't think I could have devoted my best work to an internship during the summer. The reason being that I was tired ALL the time. I was nauseated a lot too, but never actually sick. Anyway, Sama continues to work and provide for us, which I sometimes feel really guilty about. I had planned on being a stay at home mom for a long time, but since I am pregnant right now and don't yet have a baby, it is hard for me to reconcile not working when I see my husband having a stressful day with school and work. This wasn't so bad in the summer since he was just working and we were able to spend lots of time together, but now that he has school too it is harder. However, who is going to hire a pregnant woman who doesn't plan to work for more than 2-3 months?

Okay, as for my pregnancy, things are going (overall) great! Like I said, I was very exhausted at first and still am now at 26 weeks, but not as much. My family often wonders aloud how I am going to handle so little sleep once our baby arrives. I worry too, but what will be will be and I will have to adjust! The last few weeks I have been more sick than I ever was in my first trimester. It is definitely a little weird, but that's how it is for me. Usually I just get nauseated, vomit, and then feel fine until the next time. I almost always get nauseated when I am eating a meal, so I can't eat too much at a time. This last week Sama had the flu, which I then caught. It was awful! Definitely worse than my regular pregnancy sickness! I have been eating mostly crackers and drinking water and Gatorade, but now I can eat a little more solid things again. I expanded to toast and applesauce for breakfast this morning, but I am thinking that I need to add something more substantial at this point since I haven't felt that sick since yesterday.

I spend my days resting, looking online at anything baby related, reading books about pregnancy and newborns, and getting things ready for the baby. By the way, we are having a girl and plan on naming her Natalie. We already have TONS of clothes for her first few months that were given to us by my sister and Sama's sister and sister-in law. And of course my mom went crazy at Goodwill (her favorite store) and bought lots and lots of girl things. This was before she knew we were having a girl, but with my sister having all (4) boys, she was eager for a girl. So we hope the doctor is right!!! My grandma on my mother's side is also very happy we are expecting a girl as all (13) of her great-grandchildren are boys. The doctor isn't 100% sure, but we are going with it for now. I have already washed all of the clothes we have gotten for Natalie. I had them arranged by size and everything as well, but since washing them, I have gotten them a little mixed up. We are planning to have a monkey mural for her nursery too. It is going to be a tree with monkeys hanging from the branches. I know it is traditionally a boy's theme, but I don't care. I think monkeys are cute!! Most of her things will be pink anyway including her crib bedding, which is one of the things that will stand out the most anyway.

As for diapering, we are going to use cloth diapers. I am very excited about this! I like that 1.) it saves a TON of money 2.) Better for baby (no chemicals, less chance of diaper rash 3.) Not that hard to use. I was definitely not planning on doing cloth diapers at first, but before I got pregnant my sister was pregnant with her last baby and had decided to do cloth diapers. I thought it was weird and gross and messy, but I had been thinking of the prefolds and diaper pins and soaking poopy diapers and such. After finding out that it was much easier now, I started considering it. Then my sister told me that with newborn poop (with breastfed babies), it just dissolves in the water, so you don't need to clean it off in the toilet first. So then I thought I would do cloth for the first few months and then switch, but once I started researching it and looking into it even more online I found out that it was still really easy even after babies start on solid foods. It can be extremely cheap if you do just prefolds and covers, but if I am saving so much money, I don't have a big problem spending a few extra dollars per diaper and getting an easy to use kind. Here is my plan.

My Cloth Diaper Plan:

I am purchasing a few newborn (Rumparooz Lil'Joeys) all in ones since I have read that the one size are still often too big for newborns. I am also getting a few prefolds and covers (thirsties) for the newborn stage. I am also hoping that some of the one size I will be getting will fit her even as a newborn, but I am not counting on it. So as a newborn, she will have 4-6 one size, some prefolds and covers, and maybe some one size that will work.

I am ordering 1-2 each of several brands of diapers that I have researched and look like something I would be happy using. After that I will order more of what works best for us. I know a lot of times what works for one baby doesn't really work for another. Also, my husband is okay with doing cloth diapers, but if he could choose, it would be disposables. So I also want to have something that will be easy for him. I decided to do all in ones with inserts and a couple pocket diapers that my sister really likes and recommended. To me none of the ones I am getting, except maybe the prefolds in the beginning, are harder than disposables. Maybe a little harder for me, but only because I am the one who will be washing the diapers.

I already mentioned the Lil'Joeys that I am planning on getting. They don't have any inserts or anything so are really, really easy. They come in packs of two for about $28. I am considering getting a newborn size of BumGenius as well. Mostly because there are so many good reviews on it and even though it didn't look like one of the best to me, I am intrigued to see if it really is that good. I also already mentioned Thirsties. This is another one that my sister said she used in the beginning, and they have them sized so that they will fit a newborn. After the newborn stage, which is usually when the baby reaches around 12 pounds, I will start using the one size diapers. The one size just means the size can be adjusted to fit different sized babies. Anyway, I am going to try GroVia (one of the ones that looks the best to me). they are just a shell/cover and you snap in an insert. If the shell doesn't get dirty, then you can use it again for the next diaper change. I like this because it cuts down on laundry and the amount of diapers I will need to buy. If I had to choose a brand to buy several of right now, it would probably be this one. But I haven't tried them, so who knows? I am also going to try Softbums because a lot of moms have reviewed that they really do fit a newborn. Then I am trying   Flip diapers because they are recommended to me by my sister, are cheaper than other diapers and look easy. I am trying the BumGenius one size for the same reason I mentioned above. I am trying Wahmies because they have an inner hook and loop that seem to give the diaper a really good fit. I am trying Peachy Keen by Niffty Nappies because I have read good reviews about them and I really like the prints they have. I think those are all the ones I am going to start out with. Oh, I haven't decided, but I am also interested in trying Smartipants. They are a pocket diaper, but you don't have to pull the diaper out of the cover because it just comes out in the wash. I didn't believe this but from other moms reviewing the diaper, they say it really does come out in the washing machine.

I am also getting cloth wipes. I am a little skeptical of using cloth wipes, but it seems cheaper and easier than having a pail for diapers and then having to throw the wipes away separately. So I think it might be easy to just have the cloth. So I am buying lots of diapers, cloth wipes, diaper inserts, and diaper accessories like the wet bags, wipes solution, and laundry soap (I am getting the Rockin Green Hard Rock that I have read really great reviews about). All together I am planning to spend around $400 for the initial investment. I know it sounds like a lot, and I also know that I could do cloth diapers for cheaper, but I feel like I am still spending so much less than I would be for disposables! Plus, I would really rather go the easiest route with cloth diapers and I am willing to pay extra for that. I think it is interesting that I thought it was so weird and disgusting to do cloth diapers at first, and now I am really excited about it!