This is getting ridiculous

So, I think I look pregnant, lol, but no one else does!!! On Sunday, Brett and I went to church and then decided to head over to the baby expo going on at the Holiday Inn. It was free admission and was supposed to have a lot of information, including info from the local diapering services since I just have issues with disposable diapers and can't bring myself to use them and Brett has issues considering putting those cool bum.genius type diapers in our own washing machine (though I think we'll be using gDiapers, more on that later). So, my goal was to find the cloth diapering services and discuss. Well, upon first entering the exhibits, we saw one of the local hospitals set up with plastic models for the uterus and baby size for each milestone during pregnancy. Since I was exactly 20 weeks on Sunday and giddy with the very thought of making it halfway (let alone all that movement!), I went running over to the table, dragging Brett to look at the 20 week model. The women sitting there smiled at me and said "is someone in your family or a friend pregnant?" I said that I was 20 weeks TODAY...they looked at me, looked at my belly and said "really?" and then were like, "well, I guess it is it possible, don't worry you will pop one day!" I then picked up the little 20 week baby model, held it up to my belly and said, "see she still fits, even though I don't have much of a belly!" (and she did!) This continued through photographers and other vendors but the really fun one was at the end of it. Towards the end of the exhibits, they ask you to sign into a laptop computer for a raffle entry. The woman running the laptops told me, as I was approaching, that you didn't have to be pregnant to enter the list. I told her I was pregnant. She looked at me and said, "well, it must be early." Of course, I said no, I'm halfway today! 20 weeks! She then said that I didn't look it and, behind my back made a 'this woman is crazy' face to her co-worker. Brett saw it and leaned in to her and said "my wife really is 20 weeks pregnant today...we are due on Feb 14". The woman then got awkward and told me that I should enter my due date in the computer too. It was so awkward!!! I know I should be happy about this since I feel great and have no pains and am not uncomfortably large but I'd much rather have looked pregnant at this point. The thing is that all I could think was 'thank God I went to the doctor only 2 weeks ago and he told me that everything measured fine for 18 weeks'. I would seriously be a nervous wreck that something was wrong or she wasn't growing properly. Even with the reassurance from my doctor and the baby books saying I should feel my uterus at my belly button now (and I do), I am still nervous b/c I feel like I should show more. Of course, to me (and Brett) I am showing a lot. I am a lot thicker through the middle than I ever have been and haven't been fitting in my regular clothes for weeks...but, you never know what others see.



I've been feeling movement very regularly now, particularly after I eat something and specifically in the evenings to night time. She wiggles a lot in there and I just wish I had a little camera into my uterus so I can watch! I've also been dying to get to the point where her movements can be felt on the outside so Brett can share this with me. I wonder when that will happen....?

We signed up for a birthing class...wasn't too crazy about the idea initially but our local YMCA actually has people from the hospital I will give birth in come in to do these classes so it is much cheaper for us as members and I thought that it couldn't hurt. My main reason for wanting to do it was to go on the extended tour of the labor and delivery and maybe get us to the point where this whole delivery thing is real finally. Not to mention, someone in one of my forums said they aren't "crunchy" or "granola" enough to do one of these classes and, lol, I think I qualify for that (or at least I have at several times in my life!)....so I am compelled to do a child birthing class and wonder how Brett and I will do (will we get annoyed at it? frustrated? love it?). It starts in late November.

Now, about the diapers. I don't have issues with others using disposables at all and I get the feeling we will have to use them for the first few weeks because I've read that newborns are often too tiny in the beginning for the cloth or gDiapers to actually fit properly...and I will test that theory. My thing is that I can't imagine that much waste (here comes the 'granola' and 'crunchy' part, right?). I just can't bring myself to throw that much away...so I've been researching this stuff since we found out we were pregnant. I really like the Bum Genius diapering system but Brett can't handle that at all...the very idea of dirty poopy diapers being put in our dishwasher (oops, I meant washing machine, good catch, B!) is just too much (and I get it so am not criticizing him, though I'd prefer this method). I've researched the local diapering services and they are reasonable (all of these options cost about the same as regular disposables...except maybe the gDiapers are a little less cost efficient). ..but at the baby expo they were so busy selling something else that I didn't get to ask all of my specific questions (like do they come to my neighborhood? Do I buy my own covers? etc) so I will have to call them this week. So far, I've read good things about gDiapers though there are some complaints on leakage, this seems to be a growing pain issue of learning how to use them properly. These are the biodegradable flushable diapers. They have a cute little diaper cover and inside is a cloth liner and inside of that is a flushable diaper. Basically, when you have a dirty diaper, you take the disposable part to the toilet, swish it with a stick (provided) and then flush...and that is it. The other parts are machine washable if the mess goes beyond the flushable liner. We bought the starter kit for about $15 at a sale online and I am ready to go with these...but still want to research my options in case we aren't happy with this system. Has anyone used any alternative diaper services or products? what did you think? Oh...and I also can put in that as a baby I was very allergic to disposables so am wondering if my baby will be the same way so cloth may be a requirement.