We're so close!

This week I have been officially on maternity leave. I have gotten everything checked off my to-do list and with the exception of buying a couple of gifts, I'm all set! I had another doctor appointment this morning and it looks as though baby will be staying put for at least a few more days. I'm about 40% effaced (the cervix has thinned about 40% and needs to get to 100%), 2 centimeters dilated, and she's stationed at -1. Station is measured from minus 5 to plus 5. Minus 5 station means the baby is floating above the pelvis. Zero station means the baby has dropped or engaged well into the pelvis. And plus 5 means the baby's head is visible at the opening of the vagina (also known as crowning). Before I went into labor with Chloe I was only dilated 1 cm so this seems like progress :)
Another task I took on this week was researching cloth diapers. We part-time cloth diaper Chloe (although she's in the process of using the big girl potty!) but would really like to use cloth full time for this little one. Since we haven't had the greatest luck with cloth, I decided to purchase a trial offer through Jillian's Drawers. For $10 we can try several different kinds of diapers and then decide which ones work for us. I'm really hoping we find a good fit cloth diaper! I've heard so many positive reports from moms who use cloth full-time and along with saving about $1500 per child, it's better for environment and the baby's bottom.
As an update to the most recent post, we have decided to give birth at the hospital rather than the birth center. This was a very difficult decision for me to make as there are so many advantages to the birth center. It came down to the fact that by the time we would have switched, I was already 39 weeks pregnant, leaving me with one week to get to know the midwives and the location. Since I gave birth to my first daughter at the hospital, I'm already familiar with the location and that gives me some comfort. We had a positive experience at the hospital and I can only hope this time around, they will accommodate my wishes for the baby immediately after birth. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the baby be placed with the mother after emerging from the womb to make skin-to-skin contact (and for all other hospital procedures to be delayed) until after the first nursing session. That is my wish as well.
Hopefully the next blog update will be some exciting news about the arrival of our little one!