Well, I just ordered my cloth diapers. Guess I'm committed to cloth diapering now.

I chose cloth for a few reasons... I hate to think of all the diapers sitting in landfills for centuries, and I've heard cloth-diapered babies get a lot less diaper rash. Let's hope that makes up for all the extra laundry I've just signed myself up for.

Things are finally coming along on the baby gear front... we now have a crib, change table/dresser, and a car seat. And diapers, soon. And we have to pick up a cradle from my grandma's house that we'll be using the first few weeks, when Matt can be woken up all night long because he doesn't have to go to work. My stepdad ordered us a Pack and Play so we can take the child to their house overnight (or elsewhere, I suppose, but they really want to have a tiny visitor so they're taking steps to enable that). Mom and I went shopping for fabric the other night and got some flannellette for sheets for the cradle, and jersey to make a wrap for carrying the wee one. Actually, due to the width of the fabric, we've got enough to make probably three wraps... I'm still undecided as to whether I should give the others away as gifts or just sell them on ebay. At least if I sell them on ebay, I can be relatively sure they'll be wanted!

We've got a few things left to get... a crib mattress, for one, and sheets for the crib for another. Some receiving blankets (which I might just make), and soft wash clothes... Should probably get a few more sleepers, and I've got to find a diaper pail somewhere. We're also going to have to get a high chair eventually, but I'm putting it off because I'm not over-fond of the bright, plasticky stuff that is the norm these days. I'd really prefer something that fits in with our dining room... ie. natural wood. The only readily available one I can find has a great big "Eddie Bauer" across the back when the cutesy cover is not on. Sure, I put up with the "Jeep" logo on my stroller - 'cause I can pick the stitches out if it really bothers me and for the price that stroller was (cheap!), I'm not going to let it bother me. But it would take a lot of sanding to get the "Eddie Bauer" out of that high chair. Plus there's all the frivolous things... a swing, cutesy outfits, sheet-matching curtains for the baby's room, a mobile, a rocking chair... Oh, and this diaper bag, which I am totally coveting but cannot bring myself to buy because I am outraged at the shipping cost. (How can it cost the same to ship to Canada and the US when it's coming from Quebec? Seriously?)

So that's where things are at... my mom lit a fire under my butt when she told me last week that the baby looks a lot lower, which generally happens to most women a bit closer to delivery than I'm supposed to be. Mom thinks he's going to be early. I told her that maybe I just gained weight on the bottom of my belly since I've seen her last, but to be truthful, my bladder does seem to have shrunk dramatically in the last little while.

I've also reached the "Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into" point. The prospect of a tiny, helpless person depending on me is much less vague and distant and is now much more immediate and terrifying.

Eep.