Third Baby, 40th Baby Carrier

I have a small addiction.  To baby carriers.  its actually not that bad.  I know people (online anyway) that have worse hoarding tendencies than I do, when it comes to baby carriers.  And then there are people out there that collect strollers.  Or diaper bags.  Or other items of baby gear, of which you really only "need" one to be effective, but theres one for every occasion that could possibly ever come up in your collection.  It happens.  We all have our vices.

Anyway, my fascination about baby carriers came about when I was pregnant with my daughter 7 years ago (right around now, in fact).  I saw some different options (mostly WAHM-made-Work-at-home-mom-made) on my local mommy's board, and I was hooked.  All the gorgeous patterns of fabric, the different options, and the versatility of it all.  I became so entranced that I figured out how to sew them, since I couldn't really afford to try all the different ones I wanted to try.

Baby number one, on day 3 of life, day 1 home from the hospital, in her first carrier, a pouch sling, made by an amazing WAHM who has since stopped making carriers in lieu of other commitments, like homeschooling (oh, I understand that, oh so well):

My husband also took to babywearing quickly.  It was a nice way for him to bond with a mommy-intensive baby who wanted to be held, and by default of who was usually doing the holding, nurse constantly.  He would strap her on and start walking, and usually she would fall asleep for a bit.  A side perk of this was all the attention he got from passers-by!  Nothing like a cute dad and a cute baby sleeping!  

Then baby number two happened, and baby wearing became a way to keep up with a rambunctious three year old, while keeping the baby close and safe.  A bonus was that baby number two had (has) a dairy intolerance, and wearing him was one way to keep fussing (and I hope his pain) at a minimum, especially in those first two months when it took so long to figure out what was wrong to make him cry all the time.  

(be kind--this is only about a week after birth, and I was so. tired.)

And another way to manage two:

Most often I have used a soft structured carrier in the past, as it is easy, fast and comfortable, but I also own a wrap (or two, hah), a ring sling made from a wrap, and a mei tai.  I really enjoy wrapping tiny newborns as it is a great, secure way to keep a new baby close.  I can't find any wrap pictures of baby #2 though (and I didn't wrap often with #1).  

Most of the carriers pictured above I made myself, but this time, I'm not so inclined to do that.  My birthday present from family members (they sent me money and I picked out the wrap) was a gorgeous purple wrap with tiny stars on it.  

My other carrier wish is a Tula carrier in Tulip print or a Tula wrap conversion carrier.

stock photo courtesy of Tula

Obviously I'm drawn to purples this time.

Some benefits that we have experienced from baby wearing are:

• convenience
• less fussiness
• mother-baby (or parent-baby or caregiver-baby) closeness
• hands-free (or mostly) breastfeeding on the move--great with toddlers and other children
• promotes healthy physical development (avoid flattened head syndrome, encourage good neck muscle development, promotes good digestion by being upright--good for a reflux or allergy baby)

Outside Resources about Babywearing

Here is an article with references about other benefits (or maybe, the lesser-known benefits) of baby wearing.

API's information on baby wearing is available here.

The Babywearer is a great go-to site for all things baby wearing, including a huge forum with tons of information about all different aspects of baby wearing.  

And here is a jumping off page about the different kinds of baby carriers and how to choose what is best for you.  Also information on how to make sure your carrier is safe and well-made.  

These are some of my favorite brands of baby carriers:

Tula (soft structured carriers)

Natibaby (wraps)

Didymos (wraps)

Sleeping Baby Productions (ring slings)

Boba (commercially available carriers--you can normally get these pretty easily at Target, Babies R Us, etc)

23 weeks and all is, well....

I've reached the 23 week mark.  I had a totally unremarkable appointment with my OB.  Hilariously, the first medical assistant who was so terribly clueless from my 10 week visit came in to find the baby's heartbeat.  The second she walked in I actually turned a snort into a cough and knew it was time to buckle up.  She had two dopplers with her because "one of these things just don't work right but I don't know which one it is."  Of course, she uses the broken one on me first.  Of course she does, right?  I wasn't concerned at all this time because A) I could feel the baby moving and B) her incompetence is a given.  Baby boy was fine with a heartbeat between 141-145 she was "guessing."  How does this woman have a job still?

I ran out of Zoforan on Tuesday and didn't bother refilling because I felt like I was controlling my symptoms okay with just one of the pfinnergin at night.  By Thursday evening, when I had a fun dinner scheduled with friends, my body caved.  I called my sister on the way home but most of my conversation included "oh no I'm going to throw up in my car."   I made it home without puking and took pfinnergin asap.  It wasn't enough.  The sick fest started at 2am.  When the husband took G to school at 7:30 all I could do was turn on the playstation and let the bear have at it.  I tried some homeopathic remedies suggested by Tracy and was well enough to be upright and drive to the following places:  CVS to get more zoforan, McDonalds to get the bear some food as it was 2:30 and he hadn't eaten since breakfast.  I also got myself a coke to wash down the medicine.  Then continued on to G's school to pick up.  Sure enough - the meds kicked in by the time I got home and I was able to rally and even cook dinner (though not eat it).  I felt fine Saturday morning and skipped meds which set me up for another horrible Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Lesson:  I cannot go off the meds yet.  With them, I'm awesome.  Without them I'm a pool of human laying on a bed gagging.  Go away sickness.  GO AWAY.

This kid is remarkably active.  In fact, I don't remember either of the other boys being this active this early.  We're moving from simple squirms to full on kicks.  The last ultrasound at about 19 weeks had him at 12 oz, I think?  He's probably over a pound by now!

I picked out some fabric for blankets to make him and I'm  hoping to knit a sleep sack and some lightweight newborn size hats.  My knitting skills are, um, lacking so we'll see about that.

17 weeks left to go.  I can only hope that this nausea goes away at some point before the baby comes.

Welcome to the third trimester!

Take a deep breath.  Or not.  Cause I can't.  And I haven't been able to for about two weeks now.  I saw my chiropractor a few weeks ago and complained about the inability to breath deep.  He did an adjustment to my diaphragm and it helped for a bit, but its not financially possible for me to go every time I cannot breath--cause thats every hour or two.  And let's be fair.  I can breath.  I am getting enough oxygen.  I just feel like I cannot inflate my lungs all the way, and thats a hard thing for me to cope with.

I have a short torso, I'm 5'4" and around 110 lbs, not pregnant.  I gain a lot of weight with my pregnancies, and there's just not a ton of extra room in my body for these babies that I seem to grow.  My body is doing what nature intended, and I fully believe that, in most normal cases, our bodies do not grow what we cannot birth, but…its hard, mentally, to know that I'm not going to be able to breathe deep for another 12ish weeks.  When we get started in the morning, I go upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.  Then I have to build in a few minutes to sit down and rest because just doing that leaves me short of breath and tired.  At least its not hot anymore-the weather is finally cooling down.

I had an appointment with my midwife about two weeks ago, and all was well.  The baby's heartbeat was in the 140s, my weight gain was normal for me, my blood pressure was normal for me (which is on the low side), and I was hydrated.  Pretty standard prenatal appointment for me.  At this point, I think, uneventful is best.  Another appointment right before Thanksgiving.  Really, only about 3 months left in this pregnancy, that sometimes I forget about in the craziness of daily life.

My kids are in LOVE with my belly and the "new baby" in it.  They are constantly kissing and touching my belly (which is hard for me--I don't like hands on my belly much), and talking about the new baby.  My son says its a baby boy, and my daughter says its a baby sister.  I guess one of them is going to be disappointed in about three months.  We have a solid girl's name chosen that my daughter helped pick.  We are still working on a boy's name.  My 3 year old suggested Lightening McQueen.  Right.

22 weeks

22+ weeks and I wish I could tell you the nausea was gone. I've had lots of really good days but I still need medicine about every other day to remain functional. If I go too long without medication then I get "behind" the nausea and it takes days to catch up again.  It's frustrating and exhausting. I'm far enough into my second trimester that I should feel good, right? I remind myself often that I'm more than halfway there and that I am improving. All things being equal though, I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  Having a 6.5 and 4 year old it is absolutely remarkable how I just cope with feeling awful and continue on with life. They have places to be and things to do. They don't care that all I want to do is lay down and watch bad TV until I finally feel human again. So I just ignore it, take the medicine and carry on.

When I do manage to eat a decent meal the baby gets super excited. I can really feel him moving around and it's so fun to feel the movements. I get excited then tell the husband to put his hands on my stomach so he can feel the baby but I guess the baby gets stage fright because as soon as anyone touches me he freezes up. For now it's just between the baby and me... one of the special things about being pregnant.

We are starting to talk about changes we will make around the house to make room for the baby. Moving furniture and so forth. Today I bought a few sweet decorations for his room and fabric to make his baby blanket. We won't actually move stuff around until January but there's nothing wrong with collecting a few things along the way. It helps me feel closer to him. I'm also hoping to start knitting some baby hats and a sleep sack or two. I'm a very very novice knitter but I love the feeling of knitting so it's a hobby I really hope to develop skill in.

Doctor's appointment scheduled for this week. Nothing eventful. Just a regular old check up. I can already tell you what will happen. I'll pee in a cup. Nurse weighs me and takes my blood pressure. She'll ask if I'm feeling the baby move, if I'm having headaches or swelling and ask if I'm taking any medications. Then we'll go to the room. She'll listen to the baby's heartbeat on doppler. Then I wait for the doctor to come in, doctor measures my stomach asks if I have any questions and that's it. If they're having a supper efficient day I can be in and out in 15 minutes. After this appointment I'll have another in 4 weeks and then likely be on the every 2 week schedule after that.

I guess not having a big report is good news. What we all want are uneventful pregnancies. So far, so boring. For that I'm truly grateful!

Girls dress from men's shirts!

So I picked up a couple of shirts on clearance from a local store the other day with plans to make a dress for my daughter.  What I came up with astounded me!  Sometimes I am frustrated with what I am trying to make, and sometimes I end up really surprised and happy--this time I was very happy!  I had posted a picture and a lot of friends asked for a tutorial so I made another one, and took lots of pictures this time.  This will be my first tutorial, so I hope it makes sense!  

From this (two men's extra-large shirts)--------------------------------->to this (a girls size 5-6 dress with fabric left over)

I started with two men's extra large shirts on clearance for $2.50 each.  Total cost was less than $6 with tax.  

I used a dress that I liked the fit of to trace the shape onto tissue paper to create a basic pattern for the top.  I just traced the arm hole shape, the side length, and the neckline, and cut the pattern out.  Then I placed it on the first tshirt on a fold, and cut out the top.  Cut three pieces of this (or, I used a scrap of coordinating knit fabric, so I cut two of the green pieces and one of coordinating pink printed knit).   This should all be cut from 1 shirt.  

I set one piece of the green cutout aside( which is the back of the dress), and layered the other two (the front part) together to create the cross top part.  They are stacked wrong sides together to get a symmetrical crossover.  I used a piece of chalk to draw a slightly curved line from the top corner of the shoulder to the bottom corner of the arm hole, and then I cut on that line (through both layers of fabric). Then I laid out the back of the top, and put the two front pieces together to be sure they all fit together well.

I pinned together the right sides of the fabric at the two shoulder seams, and sewed and pressed these seams.  

To finish the collar area, I cut two strips of fabric from the first tshirt, near the hem (but I cut the hem off first) about an inch thick--I did it here so it was easier to keep it a fairly straight cut.  You must do it in this direction of the fabric because you need the ribbing to work for you a certain way.  Then I sewed the two strips together to make one long strip, and I pressed it in half, right sides out.

This part is a little bit tedious.  Take the strip you just pressed and start to pin it to your top, right sides together (picture A).  You want to stretch the strip just a little bit (picture B) because that will help with the shaping of the neckline.  (I had to repin my collar piece because I started pinning it backwards for the way I sew).  Sew all the way around the collar (picture C), and then iron the seam so it lays flat (picture D).  Then topstitch around the collar to finish it and make it look nice (picture E).  

Now, onto sleeves.

I used another shirt to measure the length of the sleeves.  Line up the opening of the sleeve of the dress top at the top of the first tshirt still, with the length of the sleeve going right to the hem.  You want to use the hem so you  don't have to finish the sleeve hem later (picture A).  Use a marker to trace the arch of the shoulder seam (the top of picture B), and then use the sleeve of the tshirt (like the grey one I used to measure the length of the sleeve) to measure and trace the width of one side, making sure the fold of the sleeve is in the middle, lining up with the seam from the dress top (picture C).  Cut that line and the shoulder seam, and fold it in half to trace and cut the rest of the sleeve out (picture D).  Then cut another identical sleeve, using the first sleeve as a template (picture E).  

Now pin the sleeves on.  The easiest way for me to do this is to lay the dress top flat, right side up and start in the middle at the shoulder seam, to pin the sleeve on, right sides together.  Follow the curve of the arm hole, and stretch the sleeve to fit in this space just a bit.  Pin both sleeves on, and then sew the seams on the wrong sides of the fabric (so the stitches don't show on the right side of the fabric).

Last steps for finishing the top: layer the crossover pieces together (I had to make sure I had my accent piece where I wanted it, which was the inside layer), and line up the seams of the sleeves and sides, and sew on the wrong sides of the fabric, all the way from the sleeve hem to the armpit and then down the side of the bodice on both sides.  Trim any extra fabric, and turn your top right side out.  Take a minute to admire your work.  In my opinion, this is the hardest part, and you are about 70% done!

Now to make the skirt.

Take the second tshirt finally, and fold it in half, lining up the hem so its straight.  Cut across the tshirt, right at the bottom of the arm holes (or however long you want it) so you just have a tube of fabric with a hem at the bottom.  Use your machine to put a basting or gathering stitch all the way around the top part of this piece of fabric.  Gather the skirt and pin it to the top, right sides together.  Make sure your gathers or ruffles are even at this point (I use the side seams of the tshirt to match the side seams of my dress top to be sure there is equal fabric at the front and back of my dress).  Sew around the skirt, on the wrong sides of the fabric, and then turn your dress right side out, and top stitch the seam to finish it (I make sure the underside of the seam is up to be caught in my stitching while I am doing this--does that make sense?  It helps with shaping and how the dress lays).  Clip any stray threads, and rip out the basting stitch if it strikes your fancy (or bothers you, the way it does me).  And thats it!  Your upcycled dress is finished!  

I hope this makes sense.  If there is a part that is confusing, please don't hesitate to ask me for clarification or help!  

Also, here is a good overview of basic tshirt construction that might help explain or clarify some things I have tried to explain!