Baby bedding dilemma solved!

We had not touched the guest room or made any other kind of room preparations for the baby's arrival until last weekend. I don't know what finally clicked in my mind but after debating the pros and cons of separate sleep arrangements and the bedrooms' locations in our house, we decided to leave Gi in her current room and make space for her toddler bed and the old crib too so this baby will share the room with her. The toddler bed is the same dimensions as a utilitarian crib (no fancy ledges or foot boards). So, even though the room is still a tiny box with only 2 usable walls for aligning furniture, we have managed to cram every square inch of it with baby and toddler equipment. The only thing we had to remove from the room entirely was Gi's IKEA table/chairs. There are still two storage bin shelving units, a crib, a toddler bed, dresser/changing table and rocking chair. It's amazing it all fits considering the room is about 10ft by 10ft--the size of my old college dorm room. I must say it works better as a room for two kids than it did for me and my college roommate.

And after all this furniture finagling I finally decided on a crib bedding set that will work with the exceedingly pinkish-purple color palette of the room. You cannot imagine the headaches and time spent scouring the internet looking for a set that isn't made of some man-made material or treated with a toxic chemical bath like formaldehyde. It's appalling what they can get away with in kids' rooms, a place where they will spend breathing in deep sleep for up to 16 hours a day for the first few months and years. Did you even know that your sheets are very likely treated with formaldehyde and that this treatment can cause respiratory issues and even insomnia, not to mention the environmental effects? 

I'm very excited that the bedding will be all organic with no harsh chemicals for baby to be breathing all night long. Here's a picture of the set and a link: http://www.coyuchi.com/organic-cotton-baby-bedding-collections-thor-pc-78.html

Coyuchi's Thor Bedding Collection

I don't know why finding cute, colorful (to say nothing of affordable) organic baby bedding is so difficult but in this case, the hand-embroidered nature scenes on a plain white cotton background is just what Gi's over-saturated pink and purple room needs. It's a shame the bumper cover doesn't come with an organic bumper insert though. I had to search high and low to find one the perfect size to go inside their cover and had to order it separately and pay shipping. Who pays for shipping anymore? So, it wasn't the easiest route to an eco-friendly nursery and I still have to find an eco-friendly crib mattress, but the hard creative decisions are over and I'm feeling more prepared that this baby will at least have a non-toxic place to sleep when she arrives. I'll have to take a photo of the entire room when I get the bedding set and complete with Gi's new princess canopy over her toddler bed too.

Children's Festival 2010

Every year in July some wonderful people and organizations put on a children's renaissance festival and we've taken Gi every single year of her life so far. It's simply fun entertainment for all with adults dressed up in renaissance attire, minstrels performing on the forested pathways, men in tights under cardboard horses heckling the crowds, a troll demanding payment to cross a footbridge and the king and queen perched on their thrones willing to take visits from all the children. There is even a mechanical dragon complete with fire-breathing, head-turning motions to thrill the older kiddos and scare my daughter. I saw babies delighted by the monster today but my little Gi, ever the sensitive, observant kid was just petrified. Thankfully, that was almost the only downer to our day. The heat wave was the other. It was 90 degrees when we left there at 11:30 and only continued to set records as the day went on. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much since this is really the first hot spell we've encountered all summer but it does put into clear perspective how much less tolerant I am of the heat when I'm pregnant. I really, really wish we had a pool right now!

Some pics of us enjoying all the arts and crafts and catching up with our friends.

Gi paints a wooden bird which we left on the table with the others to dry only to come back an hour later and find that someone else had mistakenly taken hers home! Poor thing was saying, "Mommy, where's my bird?" and turning them all over looking for her name on the bottom. We took an unpainted bird home as a do-over and will have fun with it tomorrow instead.

Stringing colored pasta to make a necklace.
















Wearing her beautiful princess crown and getting her face painted for only the second time ever! She decided on a butterfly.

Taking a break on the haystacks where a young performer offered up her magical harp skills to the attentive audience.

27 Weeks

I haven't shared a belly photo yet so I thought I'd take one today on my 27th week anniversary. It's amazing to think we have only about 90 days to go before this baby will be born!

Today I went to the OB to discuss the results of the glucose screening test I had done last week. I've been fearing high numbers or borderline ones because my first baby was 9lbs. 9oz. and I've secretly wondered if my borderline numbers then turned into full-blown gestational diabetes later in the pregnancy contributing to her sumo-esque weight at birth. But the doctor said on the contrary, this time around I tested only 48 which should have left me passed out on the floor it's so low. In other words, my insulin production is great and sugar levels are low, no gestational diabetes here! This is some of the most hopeful news I've ever heard. I can feel my spirit lifting and my doubts slipping away that a natural vaginal birth after cesarean I've been hoping for will not only be possible but indeed probable!

I'm still restricting the amount of refined sugar I eat in order to do my very best to limit unnecessary weight gain for the baby and for myself but the test shows that even if I do sneak a bite of pie or two or three or four, my body is amply able to soak it up and not deliver too much of that fattening good stuff to the baby. So, here's to hoping for a normal-sized baby and really anything under 9lbs. will do!