20 Weeks

Halfway there! Some days it feels like the baby is never going to arrive and others like the past weeks have passed in the blink of an eye. I am anxiously awaiting Friday's ultrasound.

The last couple of weeks I have been feeling pretty good. The energy has come back, sleep is good, my appetite is pretty normal although no crazy cravings or ravenous episodes yet. The best part is feeling baby movement frequently. The moving began two weeks ago. Al keeps asking me what it's like. Try describing to a man the unique sensation of little baby doing its thing:) Pretty funny stuff. The best I can explain it is that it feels like popcorn popping in the bottom of my belly. At times, it feels like there is a butterfly fluttering around, but popcorn is more like it most of the time.

Thinking about the future, as if the responsibilty of being parents wasn't enough, I have decided to try and go green meaning that I want to make the attempt to cloth diaper. Yep! That's right. Call me crazy. First of all, we would be saving several hundred dollars a year. Truth be told, my conscience cannot bear the thought of tossing thousands of diapers into a landfill where they will take 500 years to decompose and release toxic chemicals all the while. Regarding the poo factor, there are liners. If mothers of generations past did it(and washed those wretched poo catchers by hand), then why can't I with the modern conveniences of a washer and a dryer?

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? Unfortunately, this is a controversial subject. I still have some time to keep on researching. For now, with all the information in favor of them and all the research against them, it seems to me that the best thing to do is to 1. delay them just enough time so that they can build up some immunity on their own which is what is done in other countries in Europe and Japan 2. get the shots only one at a time 3. avoid the ones with thimersol and heavy metals(about 3 of the shots given routinely contain them, but vaccine makers are beginning to take out those potent metals and preservatives). On the delayed schedule, children still receive their shots in time to start school. I'm glad I still have several more months to gather information and decide.