Yesterday Rob was his usual awesome self and did SIX wash/dry cycles of our recently acquired prefold diapers to prepare them for their first use. Yes, SIX. Luckily, we have a washer/dryer in our basement, but this still means running up and down two flights of stairs throughout the day to get the job done. It would have taken me days to get that sort of task done at this point—I feel so out of shape! At any rate, I couldn’t sleep between 2:30 and 5:30 this morning, so I decided to go into the living room and read. As I passed the baby’s room, I see the cat snuggled up in the laundry basket with all of our freshly washed diapers. I couldn’t yell at him because it was so cute—and he managed to hop out of the laundry basket before I had a chance to snap a picture. I’m sure I’ll have many more opportunities to get a picture of him in the act.

One thing I want to share with some other mommies (you know who you are) is the very awesome “Top 100 Baby Purees” by Annabel Karmel. Rob got me a copy as a Christmas gift, and it was actually the first baby-related item that we purchased:

Our ambitious plan is to grow veggies in the garden, and then cook them, puree them, and finally can them for later consumption by the baby. If that turns out to be too much work, I’ll just buy the veggies from the store once the baby is old enough for solids, prepare the purees, and then freeze them. Either way, we really want to avoid the crappy cans of baby food at the store. I want to know what is going into my baby’s food, in the same way that I want to know what is going into my own! The store-bought baby food looks really gross anyway, and to be honest, some of the purees in this book look kind of delicious. The book contains sections on weaning and food allergies, and is organized into different “stages” of weaning, (e.g. 6 mos, 7-9 mos, 9-12 mos etc). The thing I like about the book is that some of the purees contain meat. I know that some people prefer to raise their children as vegetarians, but I am not one of them. The chicken with sweet potato and apple sounds especially delicious. The other thing I really like about the book is the introduction of spices. I think it’s great to introduce babies to foods that aren’t the typical bland and tasteless offerings that characterize what most people initially feed their babies. Cinnamon, vanilla, garlic, and parsley are just a few of the spices that are used in the recipes. These spices exhibit antimicrobial properties that are no doubt good for babies.

UPDATE: And another progress shot:

I just wanted to send a shout-out to everyone who made the baby shower. What a great time! I especially want to thank my folks, my mother-in-law Mary, and Grammie for coming from out-of-state for the big event. My good pal Sue deserves special thanks for coordinating such a wonderful event. She is the best! I also want to send a special shout-out to Uncle Jerry and Aunt Annie for all of their many generous gifts (the most recent addition of which is a carseat! Thank you!), and also to Grandma and Granddad in Florida for their generous gift (we have a stroller!) Real thank you notes, written legibly on real stationary, are to follow!

We started our childbirth classes this week. So far, no surprises. Most of it is stuff you can pick up from reading books, although I did learn a few things about posture that are pretty important. The take-home message is that all you pregnant gals out there should be sure to 1) sit up straight, and 2) walk (even for just 5 minutes each day), to avoid your baby assuming a posterior position. I guess I’m glad I walk about 2 miles each day! My posture isn’t that great, but I do practice yoga, which means that for a whole TWO HOURS EACH WEEK, I have nearly perfect posture. That should count for something.

One of the more interesting aspects of the class was not so much what our instructor was saying, but what she chose NOT to say. People would ask questions like “How does the baby know how to turn as it makes its descent through the birth canal?” or “How do our bodies know to make a baby that can fit through the pelvis?” To these questions, the instructor would answer “It’s really a perfectly designed system.” Of course, I would choose to answer the question “Because we are products of evolution.” I know (in defiance of all logic) that the E-word offends many people’s sensibilities, and that oddly, many of those people are of the procreating ilk. Regardless, I can’t tell you how happy I am that I am not a female spotted hyena: 

These poor gals give birth through the clitoris. Yikes! In one of the courses I taught this past semester, I lead a discussion on the evolutionary pressures that may have caused such a dramatic shift in reproductive anatomy and physiology. Needless to say, it was an interesting discussion. The take-home message here—–LABOR COULD BE WORSE.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I taught my last class of the semester on Wednesday, and gave the first of two final exams this morning. I was REALLY pleased with how my pharmacology class wrapped up. I felt like it was the first time that one of my classes was so well-executed that it had a distinct beginning, middle, and end that built incrementally upon itself. The topics were recursive (allowing the students to reference things from earlier in the semester) without being redundant. I got some great feedback, so I am hoping that my course evaluations are equally as favorable. I developed some great relationships with the students, and I will miss many of them. Two of my students baked me “last day of the semester” muffins for Wednesday, which was incredibly sweet of them. Earlier in the semester, they baked sugar cookies resembling Ecstasy pills as part of their presentation on MDMA. I am going to miss those students! I got hugs from students, requests for baby updates, high fives, personal notes stuck in my mailbox. It was a great feeling to walk away knowing that I did the best job I could (and that I learned a few things in the process).

I have to be moved out of my current office by May 16th to make way for a new postdoc in our department. It’s really strange to pack up all of my books and journal articles, knowing that I won’t be referencing them much for a few months. Unfortunately, the elevator at my work is broken, which means many trips up and down the four flights of stairs to get my stuff. I have a couple thousand catalogued journal articles, plus I don’t know how many textbooks. We actually have to buy a new bookcase for our house to accommodate all my work-related reading. Keeping the books in the basement is out of the question, given that some of them cost us about $200, and I’m not taking any chances on moisture or mold ruining them. Here begins the nesting portion of my pregnancy.