I can kind of empathize with Michelle Duggar...

I started watching the Duggars sometime during my second trimester. I had baby programming fever. It sort of evolved into TLC and Discovery Health fever. It drove B to a state of despair. He asked me if he'd have to watch women give birth from the hours of 8-12 for the rest of his life. Thankfully having my own baby makes watching births sort of boring. I only wanted some insight and had hormones to thank for my pregnancy programming obsession.

Well now that I have Elise, I still watch the Duggars. Some may find their lifestyle chaotic and unreasonable. The truth is that a lot of families in other countries have a lot of children. I don't know about 19, but I've definitely seen Orthodox Jewish families with 9 or 10. Catholics also seem to have some beliefs against birth control so their families can run big as well. I come from a relatively small family. My mother has two siblings and my father has one. I'm the oldest grandchild of 4 on my fathers side and 4 on my mother's side.

Sometimes I envy the families of dozens of cousins, great aunts, uncles, second cousins, etc. I don't even know if I have a second cousin or what it even is exactly. I just know I don't know any of them. My sister has three children. A family of 5 seems cozy, close but still large enough to take up a full car. Would I want three kids though? Do I even want two?

I know I just had a baby and all but female brain chemistry does wacky things. I look at her and wonder who she'll have when B and I aren't here anymore. Do I wait until she's old enough to talk and ask if she wants a sibling? I think I would have appreciated being asked as a kid. Then again, I probably would have said no. (That would have been a mistake.)

Back to the Duggars. I think Michelle is addicted. I can see where she's coming from. Being pregnant wasn't the most enjoyable experience for me, but the less I remember in detail about it, the more I miss it. I miss being able to just think about myself and being the baby grower. I miss always having somebody in the car with me when I drove back and forth from my doctor's appointments. The weirdest thing? I miss being in suspense about labor: wondering what it'd be like and having an endless amount of things to research about it.

I'm sure it's different the second time around. Every pregnancy is different, supposedly, but I imagine the whole thing to be a lot less exciting and new. I'd have a toddler to chase around and I really do worry about giving her the amount attention I think she deserves. She may get jealous. I might get distracted from my schooling goals. B may become financially strained. All these things make sense in my head. I rarely follow what my head tells me to do. I follow my intuition and in this case, it stems from my human desire to procreate.

Just to be sure I don't let my hormones get the best of my brain, I've decided to get an IUD. It's happening on Wednesday and I can't help but have my doubts about it. It's almost as if part of me feels disappointed that a surprise won't even really be feasible once it's in. It's also going to be weird choosing to get it removed. Elise was a surprise so the next one will be more "planned." How you even go about discussing that with your partner is a big question mark to me.

Sooo...are you planning to have another if you just had one? How long are you waiting if at all? If you have more than one child already, how far apart are they in age and do they get along well?

The Many Faces of Elise

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And the winner is...

Louisa! I've emailed you and hope you enjoy the sling. I'm in the process of getting it packed up as I type...just need to know where to send it.

For the rest, I'm in the process of trying out a couple of other slings. Hopefully I'll be able to give another away soon. The Peanut Shell is great for baby wearing but for those on the..bustier side breastfeeding is a skill to be perfected. Next up, a ring sling (like the Maya.)

Diapers, diapers, everywhere but not a single leak

Diapers are pretty much synonymous with babies. One begets the other. While pregnant I pondered the possibilities: cloth diapering or disposable? What kind of cloth or disposable? What about diaper accessories? Trash cans, diaper covers, changing tables, diaper bags, changing pads, diaper clutches, etc. Seems like so many choices for something that prevents poop and pee from getting everywhere.

The thought of cloth diapering seemed so eco-friendly and chic. I just don't have the work ethic to keep up with it though. It seems like a lot of laundry, there are a lot more upfront costs, and I know B wouldn't be up for dumping some poop in the toilet rather than just dispose of the entire package. I decided just to go with the disposables.

As I've mentioned before, I'm cheap...er, frugal. I can't imagine spending more on something than I have to: especially on something that I'm going to be constantly throwing away. We started with Pampers Swaddlers, of course. This is what they give you in the hospital. While laboring, my sister and mom scoured the cabinets and drawers looking for free stuff to take home. There weren't many diapers but I did manage to tuck away the nasal aspirator I had been advised to take.

I figured the difference between Huggies and Pampers were minimal and had tons of Huggies coupons from signing up for a bunch of free samples and their reward program. I had B get her whichever seemed the most cost efficient on his first diaper run. I figured out why they send out so many coupons the next morning. I woke up to find her pretty much covered in nastiness. It was everywhere. It isn't even as if she totally filled up the diaper or anything. They just didn't fit her well.

Pampers seem to have a second leg lining and fit closer to the body in general. I'm sure Huggies fit others better but I can say since we've switched back, we haven't had a single leak, blow out, or any nasty surprises. Unfortunately, Costco doesn't carry Pampers. Walmart has okay prices but don't carry the huge case of Pampers in store. Sam's Club carries them at the very best in store price ($37.99) but this hardly warrants buying a membership to shop there. Walmart, Target, and other markets don't carry the supersize case.

So I started my search for the cheapest Pampers diapers. I can't find a good source for coupons, so I turned to online shopping. Diapers.com offers $10 off for first time customers. You just have to spend $49 or over. I needed bottles too so I tacked on a two pack of Dr. Brown's bottles. The total after everything considered was cheaper than buying the case at Sams Club because I was saved from 8.5% sales tax. The craziest thing to top it off? I'm getting the order tomorrow because I ordered before 6. I'm not sure how they manage it: isn't overnight shipping insanely expensive?

If you want to give it a go, try this:

1. Find you favorite diapers (diapers.com also provides an instant e-coupon for Pampers giving you $2 off right away) They have cloth diapers too.
2. Find something to get the price up to $49. This was pretty easy. There's always something you want to buy your baby. (I wanted to keep the cost down, so the Dr Brown's bottles were perfect.)
3. Use the coupon code SSXL3509 to get an instant $10 discount.
4. Use coupon code PLUS10PCT to get ten percent off of the other item you added to your cart.
5. Check out and enjoy the savings!

I'm going to see if the diapers actually show up tomorrow as they're supposed to. I'm also waiting to hear from them to see if they'll price match Sam's Club case price and let me get the $2 e-coupon on top of it. If so, I'll be a user for life.

Free Sling!

So I reviewed my Peanut Shell sling awhile back. At the time, I was fairly pregnant and wasn't sure what size to order. I ended up getting a medium one and a large one. Well, the large ended up being the size for me. I figure I should give it away to somebody who needs it. Slings can get a bit pricey, after all, and it's so much more convenient than a stroller, I'd recommend everybody to have at least one.

If you're interested, please leave a comment below. I'll choose randomly in a week, on January 28. I'll cout all entries until 5pm PST. Here's how you can get some extra entries. Please leave a separate comment for every entry.

1. Follow me on twitter
2. Add me as a friend via Google friend connect
3. Tweet this:
RT @miraclepending Free @Peanutshell sling! #www.miraclepending.com
4. Add me to your reader.

Postpartum Fatty

So I tweeted a couple of weeks ago about how I felt like my pregnancy weight was just melting off. I really felt as though I was really making progress: after all, my maternity clothes are sagging (amongst other things.) Somehow whenever I feel optimistic about something I've managed to "dodge" it comes back to taunt me. Case in point: stretch marks. I made it to 37 weeks with 1. Some how at 40 weeks it turned to a good section of my lower abdomen. After giving birth I feel they've multiplied even more. I was SO hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones.

Somehow I hoped breastfeeding would be the diet and exercise regimen I could never commit to. 500 calories a day is like a pretty good session on the elliptical. The problem with breastfeeding is that you release a hormone, prolactin, that increases your hunger. I really don't feel I'm eating that much more than usual, although, the usual is hard to remember pre-pregnancy. I didn't think I'd gain close to 50 pounds. Guess all that Dr Pepper had to go somewhere, right?

Now that I've reached my 6 week postpartum mark, it's time to get busy. I don't exactly feel "normal" yet. Something about my joints and bones feel loose or weird. Something about looking at Elise and knowing she came out of me sort of creeps me out about my anatomy in general. Maybe it's all psychosomatic. B started his "postpartum" regimen January 2nd. He wanted to get a head start since he doesn't have the breastfeeding advantage. I'm going to start with a slow elliptical session tomorrow. I'll probably have a hard time doing it for even 20 minutes but will try. From there on out I'll increase 10 minutes every 3 days until I can do it for an hour.

Any suggestions for other work out regimens or diet changes okay with breastfeeding? I'm afraid of cutting too many calories and losing weight too quickly. (Supposedly, toxins within a woman's fat cells can be released into breast milk at too high a concentration if more than 2 pounds are lost a week.) I'd be happy with 2 pounds a week. At that rate, I'd be normal again in 4 months and change.

I'm going to start posting body shots next week and joining in on McFatty Monday. I feel entirely too bloated and disgusted this week to start. In the meantime, enjoy Elise's 5 week baby pics. She gets more gorgeous by the day.

Almost 3 Weeks Old and Growing

Elise is keeping me so busy lately. I'm wondering if she's going through a growth spurt because she's eating every 2 hours or so. The feedings aren't super long...10-12 minutes each. At her 2 week check up she went up from 18 inches to 22! She's also gaining weight wonderfully...8 pounds, 4 ounces. I'm excited for her to fit into her 0-3 month wardrobe. I have a couple of newborn items that seem to be getting a little tight on her.

I've been feeling a little zombie-like. I feel really lucky to be able to sleep in 3 hour stretches. (Creepily, she wakes up pretty much on the dot, 3 hours later.) Technically, I get more than 8 hours of sleep a night but something about interrupting the sequence just makes you tired. If I go to sleep later, around 12 am, I feed and put her to bed by about one. We're up at around 4, then just wake up in the morning around 7. Last night I thought I'd catch up on some sleep so we went to bed around 9. Somehow this produced an additional feeding session so I think I ended up just being more tired. How long does it take before babies sleep through the night again?

Here's our latest photo session of the princess...