Preparing for the baby

I've slowly started to get ready for the baby. I bought a few things on Craigslist and my goal is to keep things to a minimum. My cousin in LA has been giving me some tips, and I'm pretty impressed with how simple they have kept things. He lives in a small 2 bedroom in downtown LA and so space is limited.

In terms of diapering, ideally I'd like to do a combo of going diaper free and cloth diapers. But I feel pretty overwhelmed about it. I read Diaper Free Baby last year and it changed my paradigm about diapers. I really like the idea of it, but it seems like a lot of work. Does anyone have experience with this?

Another book I read last year that shaped my view of parenting is Bringing Up Bebe. It's an American journalist's thoughts about parenting in America as compared to France. It's very interesting and paradigm-shifting. I've been thinking a lot about how parenting has developed in the U.S., especially in our generation, compared with prior generations and other countries as I think about how I want to parent.

In terms of the birth plan...I'm going to a midwife practice at a hospital. I'd like to go natural, but I'm not opposed to getting an epidural if I can't bear the pain. But since that's the plan we'll need to take a class and also think about getting a doula to help me manage the pain.

I've been getting lots of questions about whether I will work. As a new grad, it will be nearly impossible for me to find a part-time job, so I will have to work full time. Also, nursing is such a hands-on profession and it takes about a year of full-time work to become proficient at your job. The nice thing is that it will be shift work so I'll work 3x/week. I may work nights and weekends too, so that helps as well. The job market for nurses is pretty tight in Denver, but I feel less stressed about it now that the baby is coming. If it takes me longer to find a job, that will give me more time at home with the baby.

I'm doing my senior practicum rotations at Childrens Hospital in the emergency department, so I think I'll get lots of preparation for the baby there. 7 weeks of school left. I'm ecstatic.