All Things Supercinski

When Josiah was a newborn, I wore him in a ring sling, the first baby carrier I ever made and have made many, many more since. I liked it okay then, but better when he was bigger. It wasn’t very comfortable for long periods of time for newborn sleeping.

Since then, I have found the most perfect baby carrier for newborns - the knock-off Moby Wrap. Doesn’t she look cozy in it? This makes caring for a newborn so much easier, especially since we are out of the house so much and at home I am doing things with Josiah. Annalise falls asleep within minutes of being in it and her weight is evenly distributed over my entire back. No straps digging in your shoulders like with a Baby Bjorn, and no one-sided pain like with a sling (though I think both are useful at times, just not when a newborn needs to be worn so often). The only downside of it is that there is a bit of a learning curve in learning to put it on correctly, but with some practice, it is really quite simple.

Here are some easy instructions for how to make your own wrap:
Purchase 5 yards of thin, lightweight fabric with a slight stretch to it. You can get knit fabric, cotton jersey or cotton gauze in whatever color or print you want. A little stretch is all you need - too much stretch and it can get too lose fast. I have one that is more stretchy, and no matter how tightly I put it on, Annalise sags lower and lower, especially if I’m up and down off the ground with Josiah.

Take your five yards of fabric and cut it into widths of 20-23 inches, depending on the width of your fabric. If your fabric is 45 inches wide, cut it in half, making two wraps, five yards long. If it is 60 inches (the $1/yard fabric at Walmart usually is), cut it into thirds and you’ll have three wraps. Get it?

That’s all. No sewing, no hemming, nothing. Knit fabrics roll up on the edge and don’t fray.

You can learn how to wrap it and wear it in all kinds of ways here. Your wrap won’t have a tag in the middle, but a very savvy friend of mine embroidered a little design in the middle of hers so she’d find it easily. Brilliant.

If your local Walmart has a fabric section, be sure to check their $1/yard bin–they often have thin fabrics with some stretch and you can make 3 wraps for $5. So find a friend and go make some wraps together!

Birth Story

The music is “With My Own Hands” by Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, from the Curious George soundtrack.

This update is a little late this week, things have been busy around here. Thomas got the bassinet and car seat out this weekend, and he finished cleaning out our last closets that needed organizing. We are just about as ready as we can be now. I haven’t washed all of our old newborn clothes yet, but we have a lot of basic onesies, pants and socks washed. I can’t bring myself to wash and fold all the newborn boy clothes, so if it’s a boy, someone will be busy.

My appointment with my midwife yesterday was uneventful. Baby’s head is down with only a slight wiggle in my pelvis, which is good. I’m carrying ridiculously low, which is a comment I hear almost everywhere I go, as if I didn’t feel it every time I sit down, or when my belly bangs into my legs when I walk up stairs. I’m experiencing a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions, and have been for the past several weeks, but they are getting stronger and more noticeable these days, often making me stop what I am doing if I’m walking around or something. A lovely self-portrait from today, the angle is a little off, but you get the idea:

Josiah is just almost as excited as we are, which is so sweet. I hope the excitement lasts. A couple days ago, after his nap, I told him that I had a surprise for him. He looked up with such excitement, and asked, “Our baby came out?” It almost made me cry it was so sweet. We talk about Our Baby a lot, and it is really helpful that two of our good friends have had babies recently. We checked out the best book about having a new baby - “Hello Baby!” by Lizzy Rockwell. It’s the only book I’ve found that shows a mother nursing a baby, not the big brother/sister giving the baby a bottle, and other little tidbits like showing a baby with an umbilical cord stump are helpful, too.

Josiah is unwavering in his belief that this baby is a girl, though we try to prepare him often that it could just as well be a boy. Out of curiousity, I asked him last night what Our Baby’s name is going to be and he answered, very matter-of-fact, “Our Baby.” Of course. This little video shows off Josiah’s new, professional haircut after I managed to butcher it last week, and he shows a little of his knowledge about babies.

The due date for Baby Super #2 is fast approaching and many have inquired of the sex of the child as well as the proposed names. After much deliberation we have finally settled on names.

First, the prizes:

• As the winner, you will receive the first non-family phone call announcing the birth of Baby Super.
• To show off your win to friends and family, we’ll send you two special prizes in the mail, both lovingly handcrafted here at “All Things Supercinski”. You’ll be able to use and wear these with pride.
• Your name announced as a winner right here on “All Things Supercinski”.

Winning is easy - just submit via email, the comments, the contact form, or the contest entry form the correct sex and name of Baby Super #2.

Here’s your hint - the two sets of initials are CAS and ACS.

You’ll have to determine which set is for which sex, but only include one guess in your entry, you must commit to either a girl or a boy. The S, of course, stands for Supercinski.

In the event of multiple correct submissions, the entry submitted first will be deemed the winner, other correct entries will receive honorable mention prizes, to be determined later. In the absence of a winner, one entry will be chosen at random to receive one of the handcrafted prizes above and mention on “All Things Supercinski”. One entry per person (multiple per household are accepted), first submission is only valid entry. Submissions received after the birth of Baby Super #2 are null and void and have no cash value. Contest may not be valid in all 50 states, void where prohibited. International viewers are eligible. Employees of “All Things Supercinski” and its subsidaries are prohibited. Baby Super #2’s due date is June 8th, but he or she may come before then, so hurry while supplies last!

So, to restate, you must correctly guess:

• the sex of Baby Super #2
• which set of initials Baby Super #2 will have
• what those initials will stand for

Valid submissions will look like this:

boy - Archibald Clarence Supercinski

Your Name
Address
City, State, ZIP
Phone

Play Ball!

And remember, you are all winners (except those who lose).

Sunday marked four weeks until my estimated due date. I say this all the time, but I seriously can’t believe we are getting so close! I have oodles of friends giving birth these days, and I’m next on the list, which makes it more real.

Things are going well. I’m feeling good, just really tired, and everything seems to wear me out more easily these days. Most of my clothes don’t cover my belly, or the bottoms dig into this low-lying belly so much that I can’t bear to wear them for long. This is why, if you see me in the next few weeks, I’ll probably be looking a lot like this photo–the maternity gaucho pants from Old Navy which I wear almost daily, along with a shirt, layered to cover skin.

We had our homevisit with our midwife today. Thomas came home for it, too, which was nice since he will be seeing a lot of her and her apprentice during the birth. Thomas and I were discussing the other night how different, in a good way, things will be this time. With Josiah, we were so focused on doing the labor part alone and staying home as long as possible to prevent unnecessary interventions (which meant driving to the hospital in transition, which I do not recommend), and this time, we get to have two extremely knowledgeable and supportive women here to help us.

We were busy last week getting everything ready for the visit and gathering all of our birth supplies. Some of the more interesting items include an unopened bottle of olive oil, shower curtain liners and, my personal favorite that I am so excited about, a pool. Here’s the birth kit box we ordered (all the fun stuff like chux pads, chord clamps, gloves, and so forth), along with the pool:

I think I’ll do a pregnancy update every week now until the end, unless it interferes with naps. Next week, we’ll discuss preparations for being a big brother!

This pregnancy has gone by so quickly for me - it’s hard to believe that we will have a new baby in about a month. Josiah is all moved into his room, and the top of my baby to-do list is getting clothes down from the attic and organizing closets. Easier written than executed. We are also gathering all of the supplies we will need for the birth that need to be here and ready by next week. Eek!

This was last weekend all dressed up for a friend’s wedding (thanks again, Josie, for letting me borrow your dress!) I am much bigger than I was at this point with Josiah. I’m outweighing Thomas by about 10 pounds these days and have out-gained myself from the last pregnancy by 5 pounds already. The funniest thing about that to me is that I’m eating so much healthier than last time.

I’m feeling pretty good these days. I’m definitely feeling the extra weight and heaviness which makes me exhausted by the end of the day, but the really bad back and hip pain is much more manageable these days, thanks once again to my chiropractor. (Did I tell you guys how much I really appreciate this woman?) I am still throwing up about once a week or so in the morning.

All these different symptoms and a strong feeling lead me to guess that this baby is a girl. I’ve got a 50-50 chance of being right, so we’ll see in the next few to several weeks! Any guesses? We are still working on names, hopefully we will decide soon, but you won’t get to know the winner until the baby is born, sorry.

Today is International Midwives Day, so I’ll take a second to once again say how much I appreciate my midwife. Her level of care is amazing to me. Our appointments last at least 30 minutes, but often an hour, and I appreciate that I can call her (and speak directly with her) when I have a question or concern. Though we haven’t gotten to the birth part yet, I am so impressed with the prenatal care I have received so far. I’m so thankful to have someone completely on board and extremely supportive of our desires for a natural birth. I’m sure you’ll hear more about her after the birth, so I’ll just stop now.

I finally finished my “essential” list of baby sewing items, I think. I just ordered some PUL so I might go ahead and make some diapers as time permits, but we’ll see. Preparations for teaching my first Bradley series are quite time consuming these days.

First, I ripped apart my old ring sling, added some brown backing fabric and made myself another pouch. I like my old pouch sling, but this one is a little roomier.

Then I made a new ring sling with a lighter fabric.

And a nursing cover…

I finally finished a mei tai carrier for myself. I revamped how I sew them (padded the shoulder and waist straps, added an adjustable crotch area so that you can carry baby forward-facing and put on a sleeping hood) and have gotten a lot of practice by making them as gifts. The first one is mine and the second one is one I made recently for a friend.

I gave my Moby Wrap away, so I need to get some material for that (or purchase some from a friend with extra?), but it takes no sewing. Now Baby will be adequately carried around while I chase Josiah!