Materials:
- 24 (2 dozen) infant Indian prefold diapers, purchased on ebay from granitesmith. Cost $37.98 (not including shipping).
- 1 “serious starter” tie-dye kit from Dharma Trading. $23.95 (not including shipping).

Reasons for choosing what I did:
- I chose the diapers I did because we like prefolds for babies. Babies are constantly doing their, uh, thing, and this is an economical and easy way to get started on cloth until they slow down in growth and can have some serious use out of other fancier schmancier diapers (goodmama, I’m looking at you!). Plus, they’re durable and can take a beating, and can be used for years after the diapers are done with their intended purpose. Score.

- Procion dyes - I was looking for something with a good reputation and that would be good for cotton. And they were fairly cheap in price. I can dig it.

Preparing the diapers
Before I started the dying process, I prepped the diapers by washing them in hot with a bit of detergent, and drying them on hot as well - I did this a few times until they were fluffy. The washing releases the oils that are a natural part of cotton. Here is a picture showing prepped and unprepped diapers. The unprepped are the ones completely flat.

Right before I tie-dyed, I did a pre-wash to get them damp enough to take the soda ash, a chemical agent that enables the reaction between the dye and the fabric. Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area!

Pre-dye Prep
I laid out all of my materials so I could mix as I went along. Included in the kit was the soda ash, the urea (the little ball like things) to mix with the dye, the dyes themselves (the three powders - blue, yellow and red), rubberbands, and the synthrapol detergent (this is a final wash to set the dyes).

After the prewash was done, I banded up each and every one of the diapers. Some of them I accordion-folded and then rubberbanded them together, some of them I grabbed bunches and rubberbanded them haphazardly. Some I pulled a cone shape out of the middle and rubberbanded them down like a stick. Some I folded up neatly and banded that together. Then they went into the bucket (outside) of water and soda ash. They soaked there for awhile, and I got ready to dye.

No pictures of the dye mixing process, because a) it’s sort of boring and b) I didn’t want to get any dye on my camera. I followed the directions in the packet - 2 tsp of powdered color to 1 tbsp of urea and (I think) 8oz of warm water.

Also, no pictures of the dye application process. This was messy. I sat on the back porch and dyed every which way. I dyed some with all three colors. I dyed by mixing up colors and making green from blue and yellow. I just barely managed to finish up the three bottles worth of dyes for the diapers (and two organic cotton onesies I got as well). I bagged them up and twisted them shut and put most of the into a box, to sit and cure for 24 hours. I put some in a glass pan covered with saran wrap because I couldn’t find another box and didn’t want to use anymore bags.

24 hours later…
You can see what the dye process looked like. I saturated heavily here, and used the rubberbands as loose guidelines for color. In the first one below, I alternated red and blue based on the bands. The lower, I did the same (but as you can see there are fewer bands).

Now, we rinse! I rinsed with cold under the sink faucet. TONS of dye came out, so the color lightened a little. Then I unbanded them and kept wringing the dye out until it was mostly clear. I did this with all 24 damn diapers. Yoinks, were my hands achy.

After rinsing and before going in for the final wash:

After the wash with the synthrahol and set out on the back porch to dry:

You can tell that the colors are really vibrant - and it’s really hard to predict how much of the dye seeps down and cooks in, or how the folds and bunching of the fabric alters the actual design, such that it is.

Sorry, tried to get a little fancy here:

This one started out really red, as you can tell the right side was closest to the top and direct application of the dye. It fades slowly to the left.

All done!
They’re all dry now!

My personal favorite from the batch (above) is the one on the left with the red center. With that one, I pinched the center, banded it off a couple of inches at a time until it was like a tube. Then I squirted each section with alternating colors.

More:

My favorite one up close:

And the two organic onesies:

The one on the left is the newborn size, which differs from the 6 month size only in the narrowness. Weird.

And now the finished stack, ready for, er, December and the little one to come!

This book, though, is so cool. I had the previous version when I was pregnant with Matthew, and it was fun to find out day-by-day what to expect - babywise and mamawise. For instance - Day 45: “By today or tomorrow, your baby’s nipples will become visible. By now, your baby’s trunk and limbs will begin to make spontaneous movements, as the connection improves between its brain and its tiny muscles and nerves…. Your baby now measures between 1/2 and 2/3 of an inch in length (13-17 mm). It might be tight, but two babies the size of yours could play in the cap of a liter-size plastic bottle.”

And yesterday, day 79 (for the mama): “…if this is your second pregnancy, you may be starting to show already [me: HA! "may"?]. Your uterus is likely to expand out of your pelvis sooner the second time…”

What I also love is that this book, in a pretty frank and quiet way, normalizes the birthing experience. It brings in birthing rituals from different cultures that really humbles all of the ultrasound technology and medicalization of birth that is so common in the US - but doesn’t do it in that crunchy “if you don’t birth in a grass field you are not a mother” obnoxious oneupsmanship sort of way. Tell me this is not inspiring and humbling and something to consider when birthing:

[blockquote]In the Yucatàn, other women besides the midwife and woman’s mother may be called in to give mental and physical support during a difficult labor. Traditionally, they encourage her, sometimes scold her, always let her know she is not alone, and tell her that the business of giving birth will soon be done, because they have all experienced what she is going through.[/blockquote]

I found this particularly useful as a second-time mom-to-be - there are plenty of tips for second/subsequent pregnancies and parenting tips that I am sure I will not remember now but may look back to another day. I’ve jotted down notes a lot more in this edition than I have in the previous one. The neat thing about this journal is that you personalize it to your pregnancy - you start at the back of the book with your EDD and then date the pages backward. The one problem with this is that I am not good, apparently, at backwards counting and have already made a few mistakes - so heed my advice - use a pencil. The other thing that’s sort of awkward is that it counts the weeks oddly - like right now, I am at 13 weeks and 2 days. Under today’s date - I am in week 12 or LNMP (Last Normal Menstrual Period) Week 14.

I highly recommend this book - it is a lot of fun to journal in and every few days I will leaf through, correct my dating errors (oops) and tell Josh, “Hey, the baby is practicing inhaling and exhaling now!” or “The baby is developing a penis now, if s/he is meant to!”

(Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book and will be receiving a $20 honorarium for reviewing this book. For more information on the book, visit the publisher’s website, Storknet’s review and NYT’s review)

Here is Matthew, stripped down to a diaper after a cold bath so we could both cool down yesterday afternoon. We’re in the middle of a “heat wave” here in the Bay Area - temps in the 90s. Of course, we have no AC, just a couple of fans I got from our last heat wave, and we really don’t need AC - it’s going to be back to normal in the 70s tomorrow, which is the kind of summer I am really in the right state of mind for. Josh is calling me a true Californian already. It’s true - I am a delicate flower! But dude, one of the reasons we moved here is because of the weather.

Witness: Chicago, IL, July 24, 2005.

At any rate, I am looking forward to tomorrow and the return of pretty happy weather. I am so superficial.

I am 12 weeks pregnant this week, which is kind of unreal; I feel like I just found out yesterday. This pregnancy is going by super fast. As is everything else in life right now. So, a list.

• Every time I see pictures of happy couples getting married I get a little verklempt. Note to Californians who want to destroy other people’s happiness: take it from me - one half of a straight couple who was married in Massachusetts after TEH GAYS were allowed to do so - the earth has not shattered and our relationship is not marred by same sex couples getting married (but we are constantly annoyed and irritated at straight couples who don’t want to extend the same privilege to their peers, so to hell with you).
• My friend from high school Alex came up to visit from southern California this past weekend - it was so nice to catch up! And as Josh mentioned to me at one point, “It’s weird that someone’s here whose known you longer than we’ve been together.” hehe.
• Pregnancy updates: I’m in maternity clothes full-time now. Some are amazed I have a belly so far; my response, not meant to be self-deprecating, just honest - I’ve always had a belly, now the uterus is pushing it out. At the last ultrasound last week, the baby’s neck fold looked great, and s/he is all of 4 centimeters long. Insane. Next official ultrasound is the Big One where we can find out the sex if we so choose (I am undecided this time) and that is July 29th. That doesn’t seem like it’s very far from now at all!
• I broke my favorite cheap little lens for my camera awhile back. Luckily, its replacement came today. I am excited to take pictures now especially that summer time seems to be full force at least on this side of the bay (still chilly all the time in San Francisco) and we can reliably count on nice and sunny days.
• Beedies update: I am now on insulin pretty much all the time. I am on a nighttime insulin, NPH, a long-lasting insulin that should keep me even at night and on a daytime insulin, Humalog/Lispro, that is rapid-acting and should take care of my meals. I am still on Metformin, but an extended release type, one in the AM and one in the PM. I am kind of in love with insulin - I wish I’d started taking it a long time ago!
• Matthew turns 2 next month. Mom is coming out to spend time with us for his birthday, as is Josh’s parents, so that will be fun. Busy, but fun.
• Two stories that should just Shock You immensely (thanks, Alice!): Report:Exams reveal abuse, torture of detainees and Two Bipartisan Reports Detail Administration Misstatements on Prewar Iraq Intelligence, and Inappropriate Intelligence Activities by Pentagon Policy Office. These should be filed and cross-referenced in the “No Shit, Sherlock” files and the “Why isn’t anyone caring more about this bullshit?” files. Gah.

And to end things here, a gratuitous aforementioned uterus-pushing-up-belleh-chunk pic:

Oops, I said that, didn’t I? Damn.

Luckily, there is a Josh in there, who is being the sweetest person ever and not holding my mistakes over my head like he ought to. God bless him. Ants. Ugh.

In less antsy news, thank you for your kind wishes about our impending arrival! Sometimes I think to myself, “Holy crap, what have we done to poor Matthew?” and then I think, “He’ll love having someone to gang up on us with.” So we’re even. He’s not really sure about what is going on, but from time to time we tell him that there’s a baby in Mama’s belly but he will always be Mama’s baby. Here is a case where my sentimentality about him will probably end up confusing him. I have halfheartedly looked for books out there, but I’m not sure he’s old enough to appreciate a book right now on the topic. At any rate, I am sure it will be easier to talk about when he can see my belly get bigger and maybe feel the baby kick.

Crazy. I can hardly believe we’re doing this again.

Due date is 12/29/08. I think we are either totally ecstatic or a tiny bit insane. Probably both.

Deep down, though, he is still my little schmoo and I will look back wistfully at these days when I am his favorite person and he loves to randomly kiss, hug, and cuddle me. I can’t cuddle him when he’s 30, can I?

Yesterday was a deliciously napful day. After Josh put Matthew down for a nap, we settled in to watch an episode of News Radio on DVD. Halfway through, I started conking out, and by the time I woke up a couple of hours later, Josh had done the grocery shopping and put them away.

Today, I woke up a little earlier than I would have liked (and it’s my morning to sleep in, which seems like the greater injustice!). We met Jera for brunch at the Thai Buddhist temple and ate oh so much food, and then hit the farmer’s market. It’s been a lazy Sunday afternoon - the best kind - and really, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Maybe a pony. Ponies are good.