Will Sits

A "Will Grows Up" Filmstrip

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9 Weeks

10 Days

first longies :)

Well, we are officially waiting until I'm healed from the c-section before we start cloth diapering, but in a fit of annoyance over poor fitting newborn disposable diapers (and a puddle of pee that missed the diaper entirely) I put the razz in his first prefold last night, with the first pair of longies I knit him for a cover. I'm really pleased with the outcome. I can't wait to get better so we can get to the cloth diapering full time!

more pics

Baby Pictures!

wow, snow storms really do make babies!

Or at least they make your water break! Mine broke at 1 this morning, with 6-8 inches of snow down and not a plow in sight. I was having a few contractions per hour over night, but nothing very strong, so at least we didn't have to worry about driving in that! This morning, they stopped completely. They got going again after a while and they seem to be a bit stronger now, but still not much to shout about. I keep telling the Razz that at this point, it's much better if he comes out on his own soon, because he'll probably be born today whether he wants to or not. I mean, they're not going to let me go that long with my water broke. I'm pushing off the moment when we actually tell the doctor that my water broke to increase my chances of getting started on my own, but there's only so long you can let it go. I mean, "yo, doc, yeah, umm, my water broke 4 days ago" is not really a great way to start a conversation. And I don't really want my doctor mad. I mean, she *is* the one with the needles and IV bags afterall.

The Carseat Thing

OK, consumer reports just crash tested a bunch of carseats at slightly higher speeds than required for the national safety standard. By slighly, I mean the standard calls for tests at 30 mph, and they did frontal crashes at 35 mph and side impacts at 38 mph. I'm really annoyed by their write-up at the moment. They tested each of 12 seats against front and side impacts, while secured using the LATCH system and again while secured with the car safety belts. As a result, they recommend only 2 seats, which performed well in all of these tests. Now, I understand we're using a math model here, and those are the two seats that performed the "best" but take a look at the RATINGS, and tell if you notice anything.

Anything?

Perhaps you notice that the Evenflo Embrace, an inexpensive and readily available seat, performed BETTER than the Graco Snugride with EPS foam when installed using the vehicle safety belts. Now, I know I'm only going to install my car seat one way...so, why should it matter to me that it would perform poorly if I installed it the other way? It shouldn't and it doesn't, and I think it's crazy that they didn't acknowledge that fact at all in their article.

Another glaring oversight is the fact that they tested the Snugride with EPS foam, but didn't point out that most of the snugride models don't have the EPS foam. They didn't give enough information about how different seats failed to help us sort out whether that makes a difference or not. One thing we can deduce, however, is that at least the Snugride base should be safe, since a separation from the base or an overrotation shouldn't have anything to do with the EPS foam. The third criterion for failure was grave injury detected by sensors on the dummy. The EPS foam may have made a difference on this one, but at least we can be pretty sure the seat won't be flying around the car in a crash.

Oh, but wait, there's more. The Graco Safeseat with EPS foam failed miserably. Another factor not pointed out, though, was that it was tested with a 30 pound dummy while the other seats were tested with a 22 pound dummy. This is because the dummys selected were of the maximum rated size, and the safeseat has a higher weight rating based on the less rigorous national standards tests. This is a reasonable choice, but the distinction should be pointed out. It's completely possible, though we can't know from these tests, that the safeseat would be safe with a 22 pounder, even though it failed with a 30 pounder. Small difference, you say? Well, there's not much difference between 30 and 35 mph either, but the extra 5 mph meant catastrophic failure for the seat most highly recommended based on the 30 mph tests. And it, of course, brings up another issue: Is my baby safer in the infant car seat at 10-15 pounds than at 22 pounds? I would love to see another round of tests where they test many sizes in the range. Maybe my baby is totally safe from birth to 12 or 15 pounds. At that point, maybe it's time to switch to a convertible seat. As usual, these tests leave a lot more questions in my mind than answers.

34 Week Belly Picture!