I received some Thirsties diaper covers in the mail today! They are soooo cute! From photos online I was a little worried they’d be really plasticy – sometimes pics shows them as very shiny. And I wasn’t happy with that. But I get them and they’re so soft and lovely! AND they come in tons of colors – which most covers don’t. So now I’m on the hunt for more in XS and S in some other colors. Though it seems that on DiaperSwappers Thirsties go fast! I was lucky to get the ones I did, I guess.

I’m just so excited to try out my diapers on the ickle baby when he/she comes. I’ll have to remind myself of that when the time comes…. “Look, remember how excited you were for the diaper thing?” “Yes, but… I wasn’t thinking about the POOP!” Going to happily ignore that for now!

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Den and I were talking a little bit more about labor and birth. Or rather, I was rambling about it, he was listening. I mentioned how I’ve gotten some mixed advice/reactions to giving birth in a hospital, seeing how I want a non-medicated, “natural-as-possible” birth. I guess it’s one of the things I’m letting him choose. There are so many things about the birth that *I* want, that I have specifications on, and he’s really insistent that we give birth in a hospital, in this particular hospital. And I’m okay with that, surprizingly. I can be a wee bit controlling (no, really?) so it’s a little weird that I’m so okay with it. But I guess that’s just how it is.

Den’s really starting to “get it,” I think – about what I want for a birth and what I’ll need to get there. He told me we’re just going to have to go over with the Midwife and OB what I’m looking for and suggested we ask their advice on how best to achieve that – ie, how to handle nurses and such. And he added, “I’ll be your advocate,” with a solemn nod. He’s so sweet. I’m not sure why I was worried before – maybe because the birth was so far off to him that he wasn’t showing me any reassurance – but now I can totally picture him being all protective and, “No, THIS is what she wants, this is what she gets.” That’s cool. Maybe we can pull this off.

I did admit to him that I’m not like 100% committed to going medication-free. Not that I don’t want to, but I recognize there may be mitigating circumstances that would change my mind. A friend of mine probably would have done a natural birth, had she not been in labor for three days – not active labor, but three days of no sleep. And her active labor was really drawn-out too. By that point she was so exhausted she could barely function. Getting the epidural allowed her to sleep for a few hours and prepare herself for pushing the baby out. I told Den, it’s a hard line. You need to go into it with as much dedication as possible in order to get yourself through it – yet at the same time you can’t be so inflexible that you’re totally disappointed if things don’t go the “right” way. I need to find a balance that will allow me to have the best experience for me. And part of that, unfortunately, is playing it by ear. (I haaaaate playing things by ear!)

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My left ovary has been letting me know how unhappy it is the last two days. I guess it’s really shrinking back to normal, because I’m feeling a lot of pangs and twinges from that area. Feels a lot like right before retrieval, to be honest. And it’s only my left side. (It was significantly larger than my right at my ultrasounds, so that’s why.)

I was at Walmart today and while I was there I picked up some more Expecta (DHA suppliment) and decided to buy some Unisom and B-6 – the two things recommended by the nurse to take together to help with the nausea. She said the half-pill of unisom, taken with the B-6, doesn’t seem to make most pregnant women more fatigued than they already are. (Actually what she said was, “I know what you’re thinking – Unisom is a sleep aid, and the last thing I need right now is to be more tired!”) Even if it does make me tired, I wouldn’t object to that right now.

I think I am taking more pills now than I was when I was trying to get pregnant. :lol: (Just no injections – thank goodness!) I have: my celexa, the prenatal, the DHA suppliment, the B-6, and the Unisom. Lovely! And that DHA suppliment is a giant gel pill…. learned the hard way to take a BIG gulp of water to get it down, or else it gets stuck. Yuck yuck yuck.

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In some sorta-unrelated news, Den has decided to take some night classes and finally finish his degree! He has a really solid, well-paying job right now, but, as he explained it, once he gets his Bachelors he can become an Officer in the military which could open a lot of doors for him. It would increase his pay slightly, which is of course nice, but I’m most excited that he could have some more career options. He’s had the same job for over 10 years, he’s pretty much at a dead-end right now with nowhere to go, if he transferred to something else he’d take a pay cut which we can’t afford. And he’s been getting increasingly more frustrated by it. I think mainly because he’s done the same thing for so long, he’s so bored and fed up with it. I’ve always felt bad that he can’t just go look for another job, again because we couldn’t afford the huge pay cut that would take. So for him to have some options is wonderful! The only downside is that he’d have to go away for several weeks for some required training, which would suck, but it’d be well worth it in the end. Obviously I would really love for that to happen before the baby comes.

We stopped by the college today so he could find out his current status as a student (inactive) and re-register and find out what he needs to do next. I guess he needs to put in some calls to advisers so he can find out what courses he needs to finish up his degree. He only needs 7 stinkin’ credits to graduate! Oy! He really is hoping to get enrolled for a Fall class, but I don’t know if everything’s going to be sorted out in time for that.

He also mentioned a big inspection that is coming up in February. I guess he doesn’t get paid overtime for any extra hours he puts in, but he gets “comp time” – which means for the hours he works overtime he gets extra hours in his time-off bank. Which, guess what, will be REALLY REALLY handy when the baby comes! I asked him if he can take paternity leave, and he can – but it would be unpaid. Can’t do that. So I guess he’ll just be saving as much leave time as he can so he can get a couple of weeks off with me and the baby. That would be so wonderful.

Oh I hope everything works out for him!