DIY: Small Wetbags

This is an easy peasy craft, and, with coupons, is SUPER cheap compared to buying small wetbags for your diaper bag. You can use them for soiled diapers or clothes. You can even take them to the beach/pool and throw the wet bathing suit in it so you don't get your diaper bag wet (and it is a ton cuter than using grocery bags!). In total, I spent $20 for the material to make three wetbags and I bought myself a new rotary cutter (I already had thread so I didn't need to purchase that, but you can use any color bc no thread shows on the finished product anyways). The wetbags I was looking at were about $10 a piece and the prices can go up to about $20 depending on brands.

My wetbags are about 12x10-10.5in (width by height.. right? lol)

Supplies:
PUL fabric
Regular cotton fabric
Zipper
Thread, pins, scissors, the usual

I was lazy and bought the 3-pack of cute prints of PUL by babyville at Jo-ann's. I am fairly certain you can buy PUL cheaper by the yard or possibly online, but I was lazy and a few cents or dollars was worth the convenience of having pre-cut PUL. It is 21x24in.

Most basic cotton fabric for quilting or whatever comes b/w 42-45in in width so I got 1/2 yd of one fabric and then a fat quarter that is 18x22in so I had enough cotton fabric to make three bags since I had three pieces of PUL.

The babyville packaging says to iron the PUL on the non-shiny side of the PUL on the cotton setting with steam evenly before using.

Step one: Cut the PUL and the cotton to be 21in by the length of the entire zipper fabric (so not the size of the metal zipper part (which mine is a 12in zipper), but from end to end of the whole piece (it adds about an inch and a half to the total width, but I didn't measure. I just marked the end of the zipper piece and cut)

The white fabric in this tutorial is the PUL fabric and the zebra is the cotton

Step two: Place the cotton fabric on top of the PUL so it is touching the non-shiny side of the PUL. You want the right side of the fabric up and the shiny side of the PUL on the opposite side (so when we fold it in half, the shiny side is the inside of the bag and the cotton fabric is showing the pretty side)
Step three: Once you get it lined up pretty well, pin the zipper right side down (take note of the picture so you can see what I mean)

Notice how the top of the zipper is facing the right side of the cotton fabric. This is so the rough edges of the fabric don't show

Step four: Sew this side of the zipper on after pinning

Step five: Next, you are going to pull the cotton and PUL straight and pin down each side (this is so the fabrics don't shift when we fold it over. You don't HAVE to do this step, but it should make your life easier.

Step six: Fold the fabrics up so that the cotton is on the inside and the PUL shiny side is facing out. Pin the zipper the same way you pinned it the first time.

Step seven: Sew what you just pinned. Make sure you are only sewing one side of the zipper, cotton and PUL and not accidentally sewing all 6 layers together.

Unzip the zipper a bit to make things easier when we go to turn the bag right side out.

Step eight: Line up the top fabrics where the zipper is sewn on and pin down the edges. Try to pin VERY close to the edge bc you don't want holes in your bag (we are going to sew on the inside of the pins so that the pin holes won't be in the bag)

Step nine: Sew

Step ten: Trim the excess seams (not too close to the seam bc you don't want to cut the thread or get rips/holes) and turn the bag right-side out. You now have a cute wetbag!

If you get patterned PUL and cheap solid cotton fabric, you can see the pattern through and I think it is pretty cute!

37w1d

I am writing this post from my phone, so I will have to add the fruit and probably fix formatting a bit another day.

Baby Jill is now considered full term. Basically, from what I understand, that means her organs should be able to fully function on the outside without any medical help. Obviously all babies don't come out completely healthy and perfect so I am assuming that a majority of babies are good to go at 37w with no NICU time. This is a huge relief to me bc I'd be a wreck if I had Jill now bc Keith is gone and I wouldn't know what to do if he was gone and Jillian had to be in the NICU. Keep baking baby girl! You aren't welcome in the real world for a few more weeks!!

I can finally say that Keith is gone. It was really tough saying goodbye this time. He got to come home from work before they left for a few hours so we went out and got lunch and did a couple errands and I was completely fine. I thought he'd leave and I might even get away without crying. Then, he got in the shower right before I had to take him to base and it hit me. I couldn't stop bawling. Telling myself that it was only a few weeks wasn't helping. All I could picture was me giving birth to Jill and him missing out on the end of my pregnancy and the magic of meeting her at the same time as me. On the way to base, he kept rubbing my belly and talking to Jill trying to get her to move for him. It was breaking my heart imagining that this could have been the last time he'd get to do that. I cried a lot on that car ride and on the way home by myself and on and off the rest of the night.

Waking up the next day was much much easier! I should have known that the first night would have been the hardest. I am doing much better now that it has been a few days. It isn't like I haven't done this many times before. I sleep alone a few nights a week when he works long duty shifts anyways. This is totally doable. My main thing now is just boredom. I am alone with the dog 24/7. So far, I have used the time alone to be very productive. I have been slacking on cleaning lately bc I knew I'd be bored when Keith left. The length of my "done" list is insane. I think a part of me is nesting bc I have been cleaning things I hadn't really thought of cleaning before (like scrubbing the wall behind the trash can or the legs of the table and the chairs). So far, I have scrubbed the microwave, the kitchen cabinets, the kitchen floor, the outside of the fridge (I did the inside not long ago), the entryway floors, the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms (including behind the toilets), I dusted the heaters (we have base board heaters), scrubbed the bathroom floors, cleaned our tv stand in our room, wiped down the base of the bed, took apart and cleaned the vacuum, cleaned out the laundry room completely (we always seem to have stray crap in there), put away probably 5 loads of laundry, and I am still not done! My to-do list is awfully short now though lol. I plan on picking up the random things around the house, vacuuming really well (like using the hose to clean under the heaters and in corners I don't usually get when just doing basic vacuuming) and then I will room by room shampoo the carpets. The carpets will probably take me a while to do since I'm sure it'll be taxing on my body to push around our huge carpet cleaner. I also think I will clear off the kitchen counters and clean out all of the nooks and crannies and I will wash a few of Jills bottles once I figure out where I can store them (we have the worlds smallest kitchen with no cabinet space at all.. We still have a decent amount of our dishes packed away).

So, that whole long post about moving to NY and strollers and shit was all a waste. True to Navy/military fashion, plans were changed again. Actually, Keith gave me the news only a few hours after I posted earlier this week.. Tonight, Keith told me in an email that we have actual orders (which is like the final word on something and means it is official and not just talk) to report to Charleston, SC in early June. Hopefully, that means we will be moving in early May. You are supposed to get 30 days of leave when you transfer, but who knows. I try not to count on too much until it happens lol. I guess I will be keeping that huge jogging stroller and getting Jillian a bathing suit! I wish I knew what size to expect her to be bc I saw the cutest bathing suits at the mall the other day!

So moving down South and moving a little less than 2 months later than I expected has me super excited! Hopefully we will have a good routine with Jill down feeding-wise by the time we have to make the 15hr drive with her (I am sure it'll be much longer). I am hoping that gives me plenty of time to build up a decent stash of breast milk to make traveling a bit easier. It should also give us time to take leave and go to IL so Keith's family can meet the baby.

Well, not much else is going on and it is getting pretty late so I need to try to sleep. I plan on writing my shower thank you notes finally tomorrow (I had been really slow at getting the list of gifts from my friend and I have been hoarding tasks to make the weeks when Keith is gone go by faster)


How far along? 37w1d
Total weight gain/loss? I weighed 146.5 this morning. I'm guessing that could be from all of the exercise I got in NYC?
Stretch marks? The itchiness under my bump is officially stretch marks. Thankfully, they aren't purple, but there are 4 or 5 of them
Sleep? I am still miserable. I am trying to sleep in on purpose to get as much sleep as possible before a baby prevents me from ever sleeping in again
Best moment last week? I found out I'm GBS negative! (Lol last week was clearly not terribly great)
Movement? She hasn't moved a whole bunch today and yesterday, but I have also been moving around a bunch so I might just not be noticing it. It isn't so little that I'm concerned or anything though
Food cravings? My cravings have pretty much stopped the past few days/week
Belly button in/out? The top third or half of my belly button is usually out, but if she changes positions then it pops back in.
Braxton Hicks/contractions? Nothing that I've recognized
What I miss: The bump not making things like washing dishes or getting laundry out of the washer super awkward
What I am looking forward to: Keith coming home and getting this human out (in that order)!
Milestones: my last milestone is her birth.. That is crazy!

 

36w3d

I officially suck. I think this is the longest I've gone all pregnancy without updating. OOPS! I seriously haven't had anything to really update so I just let it slide by.

I feel bad sometimes when all I have to do is gripe and complain here lol. So here is my paragraph of bitching. Feel free to skip it. Let's face it.. 3rd tri sucks. I no longer feel like I have this cute little bump bc I'm freaking huge. I can't sit still for long bc I get insanely uncomfortable and have to keep switching positions. I can't sleep very long through the night. Jillian is currently beating the shit out of my ribs (okay, usually her movements are all cute because I can see and feel her little tush or feet and make me smile so I will take the few beatings I get every once in a while). I have KILLER crotch pain at this point. I can't do a lot of things (like roll over in bed) without grunting or crying out (for some reason this makes it easier.. maybe I will be a screamer in labor lol). Oh and a new thing that started yesterday.. my lower belly itches like mad! I think (but I can't get a good look) that I am developing stretch marks down there. It feels like it, but I can't see very well (even in a mirror bc it is the underside of my belly and I can't pull it up anymore).

So this past weekend, Keith and I took a babymoon/Valentine's Day trip to NYC. Yes, we have lived here an entire year and have not once gone to NYC together lol. Actually we haven't gone anywhere but Providence together even though we're pretty close to Boston too. It was pretty difficult and I found myself tired and out of breath quite a bit, but he was really patient with me and my breaks to sit down or get a drink. It was seriously the best weekend. We mainly just walked around and explored. We went to the huge Apple store on 5th Ave and FAO Schwarz and walked a lot around Time Square. We went to a Ninja-themed restaurant and saw Spiderman on Broadway. Our hotel was literally right outside of Grand Central which made things SO much easier for me bc we took a lot of subway rides instead of walking when we went from place to place (although we walked ALL day in Time Square which was rough). Our hotel was really nice and we just had loads of alone time. Seriously, my favorite parts were just laying in our hotel bed with Keith rubbing my belly and talking about our future. Annnnd now I'm getting all teared up.. I'll take this opportunity to blame it on the 3rd tri hormones lol.. yeah..

I don't feel like uploading all the pics we took. But here is a pic of me and The Biebs at the wax museum (we laughed and had SO much fun there!)

So, we still don't have written orders to our next location, but we have tentative word of mouth ones which makes me feel a lot a lot better. I was relatively bummed to find out that we are NOT moving to South Carolina anymore. We are going to upstate New York.. we know we have to report there around the 2nd or 3rd week of May, which means we will likely be moving about a month prior if Keith gets to take his 30 days of transfer leave. Once we get the orders and separation date on paper, we can start scheduling our move. While I am not thrilled about the Northern climate, I am trying to get stoked on the move. I am also bummed we won't be moving closer to family like we thought, but we won't be leaving all of our friends that live here in CT almost completely (because 3-4 hours back to Groton is WAY better than the 15 hours from SC to Groton to see friends). We will also be a few hours closer to Chicago. Everyone says how great/gorgeous it is up in Saratoga Springs (our new destination) so I'm hoping we enjoy it. Now, I'm thinking of selling my jogging stroller and getting a new and smaller one since we won't be taking trips on the beach like we thought before lol. I didn't buy myself anything nice with our re-enlistment, so I'm thinking of asking Keith for a nice stroller soon.

We also know exactly when Keith will be home for his paternity leave. Jill can still come at any time from now on, but it is nice to know at least one side of the equation. It is always weird/difficult to talk about huge things in my life that are also related to underway schedules lol. I obviously cannot give out dates for security reasons, but it is difficult to talk in broad terms all of the time when I know exactly what time periods it is going to affect me. I guess we will just say that we are cutting it close and I'm a little bummed that he will be missing the end of this pregnancy (especially when things are getting difficult for me to do on my own). At least this time I will be able to email him a bit. Last time he left it was unexpected and I had no way of communicating with him. Not an ideal situation for a first time mom in her 3rd tri that can't travel the 11 hours back home to be somewhere more familiar and to be around family!

Alright, no more updates on baby gear or diapers for a while bc I have told myself that I am DONE! Of course, I will still buy her little things here and there (like headbands), but I am officially done buying almost everything. My crafts will start back up when Keith leaves (I'm trying to save them to keep me busy while he's gone) and I know the first thing I'm going to attempt are wetbags for my diaper bag. They are one of the very few things that I must have before Jill gets here and I decided to try and make my own. If they don't turn out, then I will have to buy a few :P

Here are some shower pics:

Crammy got me this awesome book! Porn for new moms!

So there is a little story behind this tuxedo onesie for Jill. Keith and his best man bought Tuxedo tshirts to wear under their tuxes for our wedding. I just realized when trying to find a pic that we don't have a good pic of them wearing them at my wedding where you can tell how goofy they are lol so I will post the one from our wedding and then one from a friend's wedding where they were both groomsmen :P

Our wedding in Dec '11

Friends' wedding in June '12

How far along? 36w3d!
Total weight gain/loss? I had a big weight gain the past few weeks.. 148 (started 140 and was 120 at my lowest this pregnancy)
Stretch marks? I already talked about the few I think I'm getting under my bump
Sleep? I am still miserable. I am trying to sleep in on purpose to get as much sleep as possible before a baby prevents me from ever sleeping in again
Best moment last week? NYC!
Movement? Lots of movement and belly jumping. She's getting big so I see and feel outside movement with almost every movement (including her hiccups which make my whole belly jump)
Food cravings? Honestly nothing in particular lately. Maybe soft-baked cookies
Belly button in/out? The top third or half of my belly button is usually out, but if she changes positions then it pops back in.
Braxton Hicks/contractions? Nothing that I've recognized
What I miss: Sleeping 8-10 hours in a row
What I am looking forward to: Full term!
Milestones: Full term on Saturday! I can't believe how close it is to meeting her! It doesn't seem real.

35w0d

36w0d