Preparing to Harvest

The end of week 26 and the beginning of week 27 commences the third trimester – the last third of our growing season. We have approximately 14 weeks until harvest, give or take two weeks sans complications. Strange enough, I’ve become so accustomed to our little squirmbug kicking and turning, rolling and hiccuping within this abdominal hill of mine, that it is hard to imagine not having a baby growing inside of me. Although we are preparing day and night for our child to manifest – un-entombed, an external harvest, I hardly feel ready. I did, however, spend the day ordering diapers, and for all those who’ve been asking, and surely it’s no surprise folks, Adam and I are going cloth. Okay, for all you experienced moms and dads out there – stop laughing. This crop deserves only the softest sponges to soak up that extra saturation. I know, apparently we are attempting the impossible! But I think, after doing weeks of diaper research, we are developing a good system and set up… and with a little dedication and some routine, I trust we will stick with it. Cloth diapering is not what is used to be. There is an enormous selection of diapers with there own conveniences, styles, fit, price and cut out there. There are as many kinds of cloth diapers as there are hybrid pansies and violets. We are starting out mostly with your standard pre-fold 100% cotton diapers – this is the archetype cloth square that our parent’s parent’s used - but softer. We’ve also ordered a few fancy diapers and some awesome Thirsties Covers. If your curious, check out some of my links and see what’s out there – just browsing the possibilities has inspired me and seeded in me quite the excitement about CDing.

DISCLAIMER: There is a huge debate over whether cloth diapering or using disposables is superior. This is similar to asking would you rather buy organic produce shipped all the way from Mexico, or local produce grown under the pesticidal fumery that allows many farms to be more cost effective. Which orange, the Floridian or the organic Mexican, is better for the environment, which one should be cheaper, which one tastes better? The Washington apple, or the ones that taste better out of season - from on our parallel but across the world. We baby farmers ask these same questions about diapers. One argument is fiscally minded and assumes that CD’ing is cheaper than using DD’s because of the re-use factor. This can easily be true if you stick to a modest budget. However, Cosco sells a pack of 233 diapers for about 50 dollars. That’s a good deal. And with fancy cloth diapers, laundry investments and refitting your baby when he/she grows, DD can become the cheaper option. With cloth diapers you have more flexibility over your spending ($250- hundreds to outfit a child from newborn to toddler). We will most likely spend less than if we were to use DD’s. The other argument is environmental. DD’s are hardly biodegradable. Here in Washington, somewhere between one to 2/3rds of our landfill waste is composed of DD’s. They take hundreds of years to decompose. The very pricey biodegradable ones take only 50-100yrs (seriously!!) and a newborn baby will go through 2,000-3,000 diapers in their first year. But as disturbing as that is, I have to scale both sides. Cloth diapers are a huge drain on resources. Yet similar to the necessity of growing food there is the absolute necessity of diapering your child. The amount of laundry that goes into each child is enormous even without estimating the cost and worth of water when adding CD’ing into the mix. Laundry every day - and that’s CD’ing for us home-washing farmers. Using a diaper service? Then add the environmental impact of carbon emissions. For me the debate is nearly null and without a clear winner, especially if you take the most expensive and consumer driven approach to CD'ing. If you don't, then I think there is something to be said about being thoughtful about where your ecological, environmental and social impacts lie and CD’ing offers a family more opportunity to be less wasteful and more accommodating to their environs and to the comfort needs of their child, which vary from babe to babe. If this were a grocery store, CDing would allow you to buy organic and local at the same time.

The other question people have been asking me, and also laughing at me for is whether or not I am choosing to labor and birth naturally or use drugs. I really believe that neither one of these methods is better nor worse, it is simply what is most meaningful to the mother that ends up the best method. For me, presence trumps pain – and I’m terrified of goliath needles being plunged into my spine. I’m planning an un-medicated birth – and planning it, really. Adam and I have been reading about the birthing process. “The Birth Partner,” by world-renowned doula and Seattleite, Penny Simkin has captivated both me and Adam. Besides researching and reading, we are trying to find a doula and will be taking birthing classes next month! I am so excited!

My belly is growing everyday. We love to just watch the baby punch and kick inside, creating wee fleshy tremors on my skin. Every jerk and wriggle is worth any discomfort that pregnancy has brought. I have yet been so achy that I can’t hike or make it to the gym a few times a week, with the exception being after any extra long days at work. Also, a little prenatal massage has been helping!!! I love getting massages, so much that I fell asleep with a creek of drool running off my lip during the last one. On the fourth, we went on a 7.5 mile hike (see photos), where I was applauded by passersby for being the token pregnant lady on the trail. Adam, exclaimed that he felt like chopped liver. Wait until the baby is born, we’ll both be lampshades. But despite our impending transition into parenthood, where people will only come visit us to see our child, we have more excitement than worry, more happiness than stress and more love for this unborn baby than we know what to do with. We are truly enjoying this pregnancy despite our lack of preparedness at the moment. I’ll assume that most parents feel slightly under prepared from the moment their child is born and onward. Right? Anyway, staying in shape and relaxed has really saved me mentally and physically during these months. I hope I can keep it up through August and September! Our baby is in his or her most active few weeks as uterine space becomes a premium. Baby weighs about two pounds and could now survive outside the womb if it became necessary. Right now, although the brain is functioning, it is transforming from smooth to a more wrinkled organ to mark its developmental achievements. Simultaneously, the rest of her body is carrying out the opposite transition - her wrinkles are being smoothed out by cute pudges of baby fat - I'd like to think I'm helping this process along nicely! Baby is losing her lanugo-lamb like fuzz and growing the hair she will be born with. She is also practicing breathing and swallowing and gaining a sense of gravity. Baby loves to listen to Clair De Lune via head phones that hug my bump and enjoys Shel Silverstein poems, especially the The Yippiyuck.