Cloth Diapers

You're going to do WHAT!? You're crazy! 

What a waste of water, time, and energy! 

Eww that's gross! 


Yup, that's right! We are cloth diapering! Does that freak you out?
Not sure why, as you're not the one doing it!
Plus there's a ton of great benefits that we believe are best for our family and our son.

Justin likes to point out the money saving factors, and I love the fact that our little guy won't be exposed to all the chemicals of disposable diapers (and diaper rash!)

If you want to learn more about cloth diapers, check out the links below!
And if you don't get it, that's ok - to each their own... But don't bother trying to change our minds or argue with us... We don't wanna hear it! Plus, how cute is this fluffy butt??

Learning Links:

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First Movement Felt

On September 5, 2013...I felt the baby move!! It felt like a huge fluttering ball of feathers..whatever that means! Best way I can describe it! ;)

Gender Reveal Day!

For our second wedding anniversary, Justin and I decided to purchase a gender reveal ultrasound package!

There are independent ultrasound technicians, outside of hospitals, that make special appointments for parents to be to see their baby and have the gender revealed to them. This is special, because at the hospital, the ultrasound technicians are very busy taking measurements and images of all the anatomy of your baby... And if and when they can, they will reveal the gender to you quickly and not in a special manner... Because their main priority is the medical health of your baby.

So we decided this would be a fun, special way to spend our wedding anniversary...or, well, the day before it actually. Our appointment was on September 3, 2013... One day before our wedding anniversary! We had grand plans to put the results in an envelope, and not open them until our anniversary dinner the next day. BUT we were so nervous and excited we wanted to just find out once we got there. Plus, if there was a weird reaction from one of us (ok, me!) or strong disappointment, we didn't want to ruin our anniversary.

We went to My First Peekaboo and Anna, the ultrasound technician and owner, led us into the huge ultrasound room that was hooked up to a movie projector screen.  I got on the exam table and then the fun began!

She found the baby right away with her machine. He was amazing. It was a tiny person...inside me... It was so amazing!  I have to admit, I hadn't felt much excitement regarding the pregnancy... Up until this point. But something inside of me changed when I saw the little spud. She pointed out his features, arms, legs, little tiny hands, etc.

Then came gender reveal time!

Anna said "Alright, do you want to know what your having?" ..and of course the answer was yes!
But Justin and I were very sure by this point we were having a little girl. Her name was Olivia. We just knew.

Anna: "Ok, you are having a SON!!"
Me and Justin: Shocked faces and blank stares "WHAT!? Are you sure??"
Anna: "I'm 100% sure!"
...wow, we were shocked! A Son!

And here are the pictures to prove its DEFINITELY a boy!

After a few more images, the appointment was over. We got into the car and started to drive home.
I was worried what Justin was feeling. He really wanted a girl. Like, really really, wanted a girl.
We had talked about Olivia even before we got pregnant. Was he disappointed?

Justin told me he wasn't disappointed, just very surprised. He said he was a little sad Olivia wasn't real, because it had already felt like she existed ... This made me cry for a couple minutes...
It was my way of saying goodbye to Olivia I think. Then my tears dried just as quickly as they came, and I began to feel an overwhelming excitement to have a baby boy. I think Justin began to feel the excitement too. We began chattering about having a boy, and all the great things that go along with it.   Football. Camping. The never ending energy and mischief. It was going to be good... It was going to be great.

And that's how our 2nd anniversary started. Staring at the ultrasound images of our baby boy.. We were filled with love and excitement. It was the best anniversary ever, the love overflowed, and I wouldn't change anything about it.

Try Again

On August 7, 2013 we heard our baby's heartbeat (or fetal heart tones) for the first time!!
It was the craziest and most surreal thing I've ever heard. But it as really awesome as well!

Debra, and her assistant midwife in training - Brandy, counted about 156 beats per minute for the little spud. Nice and healthy! It was such a relief!

We've continued to hear strong heart beats at every midwife appointment (every 4 weeks) .. It's always the highlight of our week!

Remember, at this point we still have not had any ultrasounds, and think we are about 13-14 weeks along!

Meeting Our Midwife

On August 1, 2013 we met our midwife Debra Studey.
Here is what a midwife is all about, and also a picture of Deb!
In the Milwaukee birthing community, Deb is pretty much regarded as a legend or rockstar.
Midwife Royalty if you will ;)

One of the tests/exams a midwife does each time you meet with her is to listen to the fetal heart tones.
They do this with a little ultrasound Doppler that is connected to a device that allows you to hear the heart beat of the baby.
Well, Deb was unable to hear the baby's heartbeat! Which didn't worry her, she said sometimes when fetuses are so tiny they can hide easily and not be able to be found. We scheduled to come back a few days later to try to hear the heart beat again. It was a long couple days for us!

The Dreaded Morning Sickness

Luckily, I only was cursed was a nauseated all day long morning sickness, for 2.5 weeks! Somewhere in the early July to mid July timeline.
It wasn't fun..it felt like I was hungover all day everyday. I survived on bread and pickles.

Telling Family & Friends

July 1 I informed my co-workers at Sinai I was preggo ..most of them had already guessed as I had called in Friday to go to the doctor for the blood test.
And on July 7 we finally were able to tell our families in person! It was a wild experience! But we were showered with love and support!