Preparations

I need to find a new care provider for the birth. The options in Erie are pretty limited so I am looking to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and just across the state line into New York. I have some good leads, but nothing set in stone. I haven't had a full appointment since 28 weeks so I need to get something set up this week. I am working with a chiropractor, but the baby is still breech so I need to find someone to do an external version if necessary. I didn't try this last time, but I will this time. I will keep working with the chiropractor until the the end, even if the baby turns before the end.

Obama won and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl so I still have hope.

As far as other preparations go, I washed the baby's diapers today (small Fuzzi Bunz) as well as Ian's new large Fuzzi Bunz. I've got to get my cloth diapering operation up and running again because size 6 diapers are too expensive to buy even conventional disposable diapers, the environmentally-friendly ones are even more than that. So I want to get the cloth going again. I hate seeing all the waste from the disposables.

I need to wash the baby's clothes as well. I mostly have Ian's things since we aren't sure of the gender (but they think it is a girl). I figure I may get a nice newborn girl outfit for after the birth and then if the baby pulls a surprise on us and turns out to be a boy, I will give it as a gift. I'll get more girl pieces after the birth when gender is confirmed.

I want to do some more knitting as well. I hope to knit a baby dress, but it involves doing a lot of things I don't know how to do so I think I will do it like my friend, Kara, and just start and see what I end up with. I have to use stitch markers and circular needles and do all sorts o things. I bought the stitch markers and stitch holders, so that is the first step. The second step is swatching to determine needle size. What a pain, but I suppose I should do it.

I bought new BPA-free bottles: two Adiri natural nursers and I have 1 Medela bottle that I got for free. I plan to breastfeed primarily so I don't need many bottles. I had 6 Dr. Brown's bottles for Ian and would have been fine with three or less-they now have BPA-free versions of their product, but of course, the ones I have contain BPA. He almost never had more than 1 bottle a day because I was almost always with him.

As far as gear goes, I need to get some sort of small travel bed to use downstairs for naps and am considering a double stroller or another single stroller with a toddler board attachment. The selection at the PX is horrible and to buy on the Korean economy is expensive and I have spent more than enough time on this blog agonizing about the difficulties of having a stroller shipped over here. If I do attempt to ship again it will be through a large company like Amazon or Right Start instead of a small business. I like to support small businesses, but for large items or really expensive items, I think a large company is often easier to deal with on a customer service level for getting replacemet/reimbursement. Of course, that isn't always the case, but you need to have a personal endorsement from someone you know. I will probably wait until after the baby is born on that issue. I picked up an infant carseat from a friend to use while we are in Erie. I left Ian's infant carseat in Korea because I didn't want to carry it or ship it. I was so glad my friend Michelle, still had her son's infant carseat and was willing to lend it to me. Her son was tall so they didn't even use it much and she takes very good care of things so it is in really good shape. It is only 2 years old, too, so that is great. I will probably take Ian's convertible carseat on the plane with us to put the baby in. Ian won;t sit in a carseat for a 14 hour flight, but it will be good to have a place to put the baby sometimes. I just need to remind Curt to bring the Go Go Babyz Travelmate attachment so we can pull it through the airport.