10 weeks

So for 10 weeks, we've had this little magical life in our home.  Kind of crazy to think about it, actually.  In most respects, it feels like he's always been here.  Each day is a new adventure.  Today, I'm going to take a minute to brag about my incredible son...

• He rolled over (belly to back) one day shy of 6 weeks
• He's been smiling for real since about 7 weeks.
• At about 7 weeks he really started tracking objects with his eyes/head.
• He met Mickey Mouse at 9 weeks.
• 9.5 weeks he turned his head to look at sounds (namely when someone walked into the room and called out to him)
• One day shy of 10 weeks he started to try to reach out for things.
• At 10 weeks he started trying to grab things.
• 10 weeks and 1 day he was trying to pull things into his mouth.
• Now he's starting to "ask" for play time (though I can't recognize this request as distinctly as hunger and tired)
• I don't know when he started trying to stand, though he can stand fairly well with support for balance.
• He's sleeping through the night almost every night...his longest bout was 12 hours.

Yeah, he's pretty much the most amazing kid ever :)

gDiapers

So gDiapers have had a false start in our house.  Our first take was a day we went to the mall.  The pitiful family bathroom was disgusting at best.  Even though I had something to lay under Squirmy, the changing area was so gross, I would have thrown away anything that touched it.  Instead, I laid Squirmy flat in his stroller and changed him there.  He'd been in his car seat a good bit (from 12:00 until probably 1-1:30) at one point getting very upset, thus sweating.  When I took him out to change him, I couldn't tell if his lower regions felt damp because of a diaper leak or sweating.  It felt too minimal to be a diaper leak, but it was only his diaper area...

Fail #1 came in trying to change the wet liner of the gDiaper in the cramped and awkward changing situation.  I gave up and ripped the whole thing off of him and put a BG on him.  I'm glad I did for the rest of our mall adventure.  It turns out there are more than 1 nasty changing stations in the mall.  Seriously...GROSS!

So we get home and I try again with the gDiapers.  Things seemed to be going well.  Fail #2:  Hubby got home and couldn't figure out how to change him.  I was in the middle of getting dinner on the table, so I told him to forget about it and just put a BG on him.  He was relieved at the reprieve.  I noted that I needed to perfect the changing and teach him before I threw that curve ball at him again.

I was determined to make this work.  I tried again with gDiapers when I mistimed the amount of clean BG diapers I had left with the length of laundering.  Well...Fail #3 happened.  I ran to grab something (though now I can't remember what...gotta love baby brain).  I left Squirmy on our oversized chair in the living room (I promise he was more than safe and sound).  I came back to him screaming, covered in his own urine...which was also covering the chair.  Uff!  I don't know exactly how long that diaper had been on him, but he'd been sleeping the whole time and he doesn't tend to soil/wet himself while sleeping (trust me he makes up for it when awake...the ped said some kids are like that).

So I don't know what to do.  We have the medium size pants which are supposed to fit babies 13-28lbs.  Squirmy was 12.5 lbs by our scale a week ago but only 11.75lbs by the ped's scale 1/2 week ago.  I'm not sure if this is the problem...he's just not big enough yet?

As for the trouble changing him...I'm wondering if it would be easier to change the insert each time or prep the  extra liner and change out the liner AND insert each time.  

I know a couple of you out there are using gDiapers...any thoughts, experiences, woes, victories?

Cloth Diapers FTW!

Ever since Squirmy was born, his little butt would get red.  Mostly betwixt his cheeks.  Our pediatrician said it was normal for breastfed babies because their poo is so wet and much more frequent than formula fed babies.  Between the added wetness and added wiping, he said to expect it.  We kept a healthy supply of Butt Paste and Desitin on it to keep the redness down.  When I switched to cloth diapers I was a bit concerned that we couldn't use diaper creams on Squirmy (ruins the diaper's ability to absorb).  I kept meaning to research natural brands that could be used with cloth diapers.  But the thought kept slipping further and further from my mind.

We've been using disposables at night partially because we have them and partially because I didn't want to fumble with unfamiliar diapers in the middle of the night.  Today he was in disposables a little longer than normal because I screwed up the timing of how many diapers I had left vs the time it takes to wash them (once I start working some I really want to increase my stash).  I went to change his disposable diaper and his poor little butt was all red, just like it used to be.  I realized part of the reason I'd failed to look for diaper cream I could use was because he hadn't needed any.  I felt so bad for his little red tushy.

Our cloth diapers were finally clean and dry so I put him in his dDiapers to take another spin.  When I changed him, his butt was already less red.  He leaked something terrible with the gDiaper (need to investigate why a little more) so I put our trusty BG back on him.  By the next diaper change his butt was barely pink.

I knew cloth were supposed to be healthier and cause less diaper rash, but I didn't really realize how much of a difference they were making.  I think it's time to move to cloth diapers full time!

Cloth Diapers

When I was pregnant, Hubby and I considered using cloth diapers.  The environmental benefits seemed too great to ignore.  But mothers of my mom's generation warned us away and told us to do a service if we did go that route.  All their stories about what a pain it was and stinky and annoying and.... scared us away.  Diaper services were just as expensive as we figured disposables would be.  Just seemed like a lot of hassle.  So we gave up on the idea.

When Squirmy was about 6 weeks old, I noticed a lot of moms I knew were turning to cloth diapers.  I started looking into them again.  This time a whole new world was opened up to me.  We were no longer talking about pre-folds and rubber pants...we were talking about pocket diapers, all-in-one diapers, hybrid diapers, liners, soakers, inserts, and who knows what else.  I found this site describing the savings of using the various forms of cloth diapers.  In the midst of all of this, Hubby and I were trying to figure out how we were going to afford the expense of diapers each week as our finances got tighter and tighter with me not working.  It seemed like a no-brainer to switch to cloth diapers.  But which kind....

It seemed the most popular brand was Bumgenius amongst those I knew using cloth.  So we started there.  From all the research I could find, it seemed pocket diapers would be our best bet trying to compromise expense with cost.  We wanted one-size diapers so we didn't have to buy new ones as he grew.  Hubby wanted the least involved diapers to make changes easier on him.  Everything I read said the only All-in-one diapers that were worth buying were Bumgenius AIO Organic Onesize.  But, these are the most expensive option.  We didn't want to spend a ton, but convenience was high on Hubby's requirement list.  I took a peak at ebay to see if there were any deals there.  Jackpot!  I'd planned on buying 12 pocket diapers for $210.  Ordering through ebay I was able to get 12 of the BG AIO OS diapers for just $240.  We were pleased with the deal.

Despite assurances from friends that 12 would last me 2 days, we were only making it about 24 hours with 12 diapers, and that didn't include the disposables we were using at night (because we had them left and I wanted to get used to cloth before having to change them bleary eyed).  We really couldn't afford to invest in more at the moment...insert Babies R us gift cards.  The only brand of diaper they carry are gDiapers.  With gDiapers, you have reusable pants with a plastic liner and cloth or disposable inserts.  You don't have to change the whole diaper every time, just the insert.  Sounded promising so we invested the last of our gift cards in getting 2 diapers and 6 cloth inserts.  The disposable inserts (which have lots of neat green features) seemed like a good option for days when we're out all day (like a Disney trip).

So far our only complaint about the BG diapers is that they're bulky.  The bulk doesn't help our issues with having a very lanky baby who outgrows the length of his clothes without ever touching the width.  Our adventures with dDiapers haven't been as successful.  While less bulky, they are slightly more difficult to change.  Not impossible, but probably not a diaper we'll be using out until we get the hang of it better.  The extra laundry isn't so bad with our high efficiency machines and his waste being less than solid (he's breast fed).

It's a fun adventure.  It makes me happy knowing we're saving TONS of money over the course of his diaper lifetime (to the tune of $2,250ish), we're significantly reducing his garbage footprint, he's healthier without all the chemicals and with having breathable materials against his skin (very low probability of diaper rashes), and that he'll potty train faster.  :)

Another Chapter

So here I am in the middle of the latest chapter of my life.  I started this blog so long ago, it seems.  I was in undergrad trying to figure out which way was up.  Years later, I sit on my couch with my son asleep on my chest.  With a BA and MA under my belt, a husband by my side, our first house around me, and my first career on hold, I find myself drawn back into blogging.  So much has happened and changed in such a short amount of time.  I feel like I'm always starting a new chapter, a new adventure, the latest addition to the plot of my life.

Squirmy was born March 19, 2010 via c-section.  I was absolutely terrified of the surgery, but was assured it was the only way to have a safe delivery.  I think I'll always mourn not delivering vaginally.  Maybe next time...  Since that day, my life has been changed forever, as you might expect.  I've gone from being a Family Therapist to a Stay at Home Mom, from being on the go to not leaving the house most days, from paperwork to poopy diapers...and I wouldn't trade a single moment.

Several people thought I was ridiculous for hanging up my hat for the time being, "All that work to get your degree and you're not going to use it."  I have several answers to that...1.) At the time I got my degree, that's what I "needed" to be doing with my life, 2.) degrees don't expire, 3.) I use plenty I learned in getting my degrees every day, 4.) no degree would ever trump being a mom.

So instead of seeing clients, I'm conquering breast feeding, mastering cloth diapering, gaining my strength back (after not being able to lift or do strenuous activity for almost a year), getting rid of the baby weight, and figuring out life all over again.

Each day, a new page.  Each adventure, the start of a new chapter.  Each chapter, another part of me.