The Dirty Business

A few months the kid was born, I had it in my head that we would do cloth diapers. They’re endlessly discussed – better for the environment, better for the baby, etc. Then I started reading up on diaper services versus buying diapers and it got confusing. If you buy directly, you have to wash ‘em (I am admittedly squeamish), but it looked like diaper services – with their professional grade chemical laundering and hot water usage – were closer to disposables on the environmental side of things. Then I learned that Toronto’s compost program allows composting of disposables. Then I remembered that I was a lovely combination of busy (I’m not doing classic mat leave, but working part time flex – mostly online, though here and there in the office – while hanging out at home with the babe), lazy (I did not want to do multiple loads of daily laundry), and grody-averse (I don’t even like yucky words).

So with that, we decided to figure out what was the best disposable we could find. And with that, we discovered Nature Babycare – they’re a Swedish company that makes what are apparently the most environmentally friendly disposables around. Chlorine-free and made of biodegradable materials, the diapers and wipes are compostable and friendly to the earth – so I started the hunt for where to get them in Toronto. No dice – not a single retailer here carries them at this pont.

So I hunted down the company on Twitter and they directed me to some online shops through which I could buy the product – the closest one was Clothworks based in Milton. They don’t carry the entire Naty line of products (which, on that note, look amazing) but they do carry all the key stuff – we invested in diapers, wipes, travel wipes, and disposal bags.

Et voila – the Nature Babycare stuff gets a thumbs up here. My very-waste-averse husband doesn’t feel guilty, and I don’t have to figure out how to store a tiny boy’s dirty business between washings. Success!

Our Plus One

So I can’t even go through the extended version of how this kid made his entrance into the world, as it’s like having war flashbacks, hah. The good thing, however, was when it (finally) ended and they threw this particularly sweet creature onto my chest (yes, literally threw!) I was able to entirely block it out, because that boy is the best thing in the whole world.

I won’t go on and on, but in short? He’s a week old tomorrow, and has spent much of his first days being as sweet as can be, sleeping and eating like a champ, and is easily the number one favourite of his two totally gushy parents.

So there! Best Christmas gift evah.

The Induction

So tomorrow is the induction day. I have nothing of interest to share here, but that we have determined a few things for certain.

1. Even if you start having daily contractions at less than 37 weeks, you can still require an induction five weeks later.
2. No amount of red raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, S&S procedures, walking, yoga ball bouncing, or anything in between can force out a kid who simply likes things as they are.
3. If this kid doesn’t begin an exit of his own volition in the next twelve-ish hours (which I’m pretty confident that he won’t), I’m destined for Motherboy conferences in jaunty sailor suits with our very own answer to Buster Bluth in the future.

Here’s to meeting this kid before the weekend is through!

The Remaining Essentials

Went a little purchase-wild today – the store at which we registered gives you a 10% gift card for whatever people buy you, so I decided to get the remaining essentials in one fell swoop. On a related note: I am a disgusting consumer and a marketer’s dream – but at least I’m not in denial about it. Besides, it was mostly free thanks to gift cards! Guilt trip out…

This Plover Organic crib bedding set – it’s double-sided with the dots versus geometric pattern, and we’ll be making the dots the stars (i.e. the opposite of what’s happening here).

This really bizarro bucket-of-baby style thing called Tummy Tub.

These two little newborn-size onesie things by Tea Collection with coordinating sweatpant-looking things which I’m not a huge fan of, but it appears that babies don’t get a lot of bottom options at this teensy size. It turns out we don’t actually have a lot in the way of things to put on this kid quite yet – well, other than blankets!

These hilarious looking things by Beba Bean (I can’t bring myself to write their name as it’s sickeningly cutesy) that apparently reduce the likelihood of a small creature urinating on you – I am praying for success with this as the idea of that is very hard on my grossness-hating head.

And most important of all: the only book I will be obsessed with, as the good doc was my absolute fave when I was a wee one. Thirteen in one! How’s that for fun?

The other little goodies are far less interesting so I’ll quit while I’m ahead. Suffice it to say, we’re pretty much done!

Showered

The family baby shower was lovely! Aside from the heavenly cupcakes, to-die-for St. Andre cheese, and ACE Bakery cranberry cracker things, the following is a short list of some of my favourite goodies!

The Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance Air bouncy seat:

The Baby Bjorn carrier cover:

The Maxi-Cosi Mico car seat:

The crazy cute Cariboo activity gym:

The Skip Hop Playspot interlocking foam tiles:

There were also lots of adorable little things that I can’t find online, not least of which is a particularly cute baby medical kit. (Who would have thought that even the basics could get all cutied up?)

In other news, while I was out, Dave finished the subfloor for that kid’s room as well as insulating about half of it. Baby steps ’til we have somewhere to put this stuff!

More Maternity Basics

Okay, so I know I raved about my beloved leggings and kind of thought that would be my sole maternity clothes rave, but I have two more pieces that I must heavily recommend.

Boob is a company from Sweden that makes things that are organic, good looking, and comfortable. I hadn’t bought anything at all from them through this pregnancy ’til a week or two ago when I found two things that struck my fancy at Belly from their Once on Never Off series.

Okay. So these are the first actual maternity pants (that I can actually wear in public) that I’ve bought. Well, unless you count the two pairs of designer jeans that I wore possibly three times each. (Holy discomfort, by the way – why do pants with half panels even exist? They will not stay up and start visibly cutting into the bump as it grows. Hideous, I tell you! I even tried to cut a bazillion slits in one pair to hide the line under my shirt. Let me tell you: disaster. Maternity jeans, in my opinion, stink. The general store stuff unflatter one’s backside as much as any mall pants, and the designer stuff doesn’t stay up. Ridic!)

In any case, these pants are heaven-sent. First of all, I’m getting to a point in pregnancy where it’s getting very uncomfortable to not sit… in a rather unladylike fashion. It’s like sitting with a ball on your lap – instinct makes you want to rest the ball on your legs, but you need a little spread space to make that happen. This creates an awkward situation in anything but stretchy skirts – and pants. These particular pants feel like I’m going to work in yoga gear, but miraculously still look decent. (And I swear I’m not kidding myself, I took pictures first to be safe!)

The skirt is equally dreamy. It’s an ever-so-slightly longer length in the non-belly-panel section than the bulk of skirts that I’ve been buying, which means I can position it more appropriately for a variety of seated positions. It’s stretchy and also feels like loungewear while still looking good.

In addition, the panel on these two pieces is slightly different than what I’ve been buying. Most of my previous skirts have had a full panel that end up practically touching my bra strap in the back, as I really only need that extra room in the front. These two lovelies, however, have a lower panel height in the back, meaning the fabric stops at a lower point, which means less bunching up strangely under cute fitted tops.

Finally, they’re both designed to have the panel able to flip down (without excess material) after the pregnancy is over, so can both be worn post-pregnancy as well. This makes me feel less wasteful in my short-term wardrobe excursions!

These are two basics I wish I’d found in the early stages of being knocked up, but don’t feel guilty about buying so late in the game due to the ongoing usefulness. Also, it’s good to know that the sizing is consistent to your pre-pregnancy size, which I haven’t found to be the case with all manufacturers (no matter what they claim) so they’re easy to buy online if you can’t find any in your neighbourhood.

Deals and Excess

I always have internal battles about shopping online. I like to buy local whenever I can, but the allure of the recent flash sale type sites is a tough one to resist. The online shopping thing drives Dave bananas, as he’d prefer we skip the deal and put the money into shops in the city, but I have a real thing for convenience as well, which gives online shopping a late-evening appeal that normal stores can’t offer.

Philosophical issues aside, in seeking clothes for myself, I have a tougher time with the online purchase – you never really know how things will fit and it becomes a bit of a challenge. But kid stuff? My assumption is kind of that everything fits. And everything is half off, thereby making the nice stuff all the more affordable? Oh my.

With that, I bring you BabySteals. I made my second purchase today – the first consisted of a few muslin swaddling blankets from aden + anais, which are quite pricey at the boutiques I frequent. I look daily but buy only when the deals are great and I particularly love the item. And I’ve had my eye on this Hatley stuff for a little while, but couldn’t bring myself to order any at the original price.

Now check out the sharks:

And then these little green lambie ones:

So cute. So cute! It’s funny, people always think of me as a big shopper, but I am really not. I’ve made seriously few non-essential purchases for this kid’s life entry, and he’s less than two months from hitting the streets.

And with that, I feel compelled to ask: how do you feel okay about buying a few nice things without letting the too-much-factor into your house? It seems harder when it comes to kid stuff, not simply because it’s terribly cute, but because everyone and their dog wants to give you the stuff they don’t use anymore!

Thoughts?

The Modern Dance Costume Essentials

So I have spent way more money on clothes than a sane person should while pregnant, but you know what? It’s hard to find nice things, and I have a business to run that requires me to look a certain way. (I swear to god, I’d better find someone good to give all of this stuff to when I’m done, because it agitates me endlessly that I’ve spent this much and it might not get into good hands. But that’s another story.) In any case, despite this ridiculous level of spending on boutique-y things, I have made only one purchase that I think was truly spectacular. And I am here today to harass you into buying them too.

The Ingrid & Isabel Belly Leggings.

You see, even pregnant, I remain me. Every day, I wear something pretty – pencil skirts are my personal pregnancy favourite, but I also have a number of dresses that combine knocked-up function with a modern form factor. I ensure this blonde bob is styled exactly as it has always been. I put on makeup, never skipping a step. I go for regular manicures, pedicures, and stay true to my waxing rituals so that my eyes are always as bright as they can be. I wear pointy four inch heels. I may be the size of a house, but I like to look… just so.

That said, the second I get home from a busy day at the office or in meetings, this same me that I’ve always been has immediately swapped out lovely day gear for still-sweet but cozy home gear, i.e. yoga pants, i.e. half of Lululemon‘s catalog. However! While many of my Lulu faves still fit, sometimes even stretchy yoga pants start to feel a little… constricting. I know! It’s tragic, both in the sad and embarrassing sense. But it’s a fact. Sometimes the belly feels a bit smooshed.

Early on in the pregnancy, I discovered the bottom half of what friends have now deemed to be my Modern Dance Costume. These stretchy Belly Leggings fit like a flipping dream, are so dreamy-soft you can hardly stand it, and – most importantly! – give the midsection more than a little breathing room, allowing the developing kid ample space for motion and allowing you ample space for a piece of vegan chocolate cake. Um. If that kind of thing strikes your fancy.

In any case, I have a few pairs now and literally wear these things daily. I sometimes also toss them under a skirt or dress for an alternative to stockings or tights, and – though I haven’t found a tunic that I love enough yet – I hear they’re also great with other wardrobe essentials. I couldn’t have made it through these last eight weeks in particular without these blessed things, and they’re the best maternity purchase I’ve made to date.

Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Girls

After a recent fascinating discussion on Hitched! about gender issues, someone posted this. Fascinating!

When I was a kid, I didn’t play with boys. My sister was the type of girl who had boy friends – and I don’t mean boyfriends (I was indeed the type of girl who had plenty of those, hah) but boy friends, the kind that help you get to know how the other sex operates. I was always a little nervous around boys. I didn’t know much about them. I had no idea how they worked. They didn’t seem terribly fun. They never seemed to make magazines or radio stations or write stories. They were always pushing and fighting and playing sports. I wasn’t particularly interested in them and, as I got older, I mostly just wanted to make out with them. I didn’t have any real understanding of the whole male experience.

This year, however, I did a bunch of work with the White Ribbon Campaign and that, coupled with the fact that we’ve got a small boy on the way, got me thinking pretty extensively about the whole thing. Admittedly, I’ve always simply assumed being of the male variety was pretty easy and without any major challenges. But I’ve learned that it’s not – and in order to push forward equality, it’s just as important to think about what needs to change in the male experience as in the female one. After all, how can we raise a generation of young women who innately understand that they are as deserving of respect as their male counterparts if their male counterparts don’t equivalently learn not only that they are a part of this respect-giving culture, but why it needs to work the way that it does in order for all people to share in a more equal society?

Interesting stuff.

Doctor-Hunting

I had my almost-thirty-one-week midwife appointment today, and she told me it’s high time that I hunt down a family doctor, seeing as this creature will need immunization stuff done around the two month mark.

Right.

So let me start by saying that I am very much for our healthcare system. I think it’s great that it’s free for everyone and I love that we’re all safe. I am even one of those people who never, ever, ever complains about paying taxes. I am seriously happy that I live in a country where we’re all okay when it comes to emergency situations. But… I haven’t had a family doctor since I was a kid. And it’s starting to bug.

When first moved away from home and lived in Antigonish, I relied on campus doctors. In Halifax, I went to a healthcare centre. Here in Toronto, I’ve been to a number of different clinics. I’ve dabbled with doctors over the years. I’ve tried a few out, even – but I’ve never found one I liked enough to consider sticking around. And getting those very few that I was able to trial? Total ordeal. Without fail.

But now that lazing about and relying on clinics is no longer really an option, I have to get on the case. Yet the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario‘s Doctor Search no longer gives me an option to find only those doctors accepting patients, and my area returns a list of 160 professionals. Given such ridiculous results, I find myself at an obvious answer for someone who raves about word-of-mouth for a living: why not ask friends nearby? Where do their kids go?

And this is the problem: You know what? I don’t know people with kids. I mean, yes, I have a few girlfriends with wee ones, but nobody lives near me – and their doctors certainly aren’t in my neighbourhood. Indeed, despite the fact that we live in five minutes walking distance from no less than five different public schools, I don’t even know where those kids live. Perhaps I should skulk about one of these institutions around 3PM and follow some kids home in order to hunt down their parents to conduct a Q&A about neighbourhood amenities.

Alright, fine. I’ll avoid the creepy and stalk the 160. But I’m not going to like it.