The Diapering Adventure Officially Begins

When we came home from the hospital we were kind of afraid to just jump in with the cloth. He seemed so tiny and they seemed so huge. For like an hour I was like, "Holy crap. I've made this investment and I'm just going to use disposables forever." But eventually the diapers stolen from the hospital ran out. Then we quickly burned through half of the pack that my mom bought us. I got a little bit of rest and got a little bit braver so at his next changing we decided to dip a toe in and try out a fitted.



Alex and I tenderly snapped in on his little bottom and placed a cover over it. We didn't think a onesie would snap over it, but it did. They looked so silly (and huge!) at first, but now we're used to it. You can't really tell the difference if he's wearing a sleeper, but we haven't tried to put pants on him, yet. Anyway... Alex picked him up and he promptly responded by dropping a huge load right then and there. So umm... take two.

(I forgot to take another picture since he was kinda ticked off about pooping his pants. So this is from a later, calmer, diaper change. Also, before we put the cover on.)

We figured that me might as well dive in the rest of the way and put him in a prefold. It was WAY easier than I thought it would be. I figured that for a while we would have trouble adjusting to folding a diaper onto a squirming screaming baby, but it was no more difficult than putting him in a disposable. Prefolds are what he's been in since, with the exception of a couple of fitteds just for fun, and a trial run with an all-in-one. We haven't had a blow-out so far, and we had several in disposables.

I know it's early, and my first load of diaper laundry is still in the dryer. But so far... color me satisfied!

P.S.

Samuel's Birth Story

Details included. I mention my whoo-ha. You have been warned. Sorry if It's incoherent. I'm a little tired.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 am. Pitocin was started at 8:30. Pitocin was stopped around 8:35. (I ate 3 donut holes on the way in. Oops! The anesthesiologist was ticked but the nurse and doctor were pretty nice about it.) At 9:30 Pitocin was started again (A new anesthesiologist came on call and he didn't mind that I had eaten as long as they gave me a dose of Reglan.) and my water was broken. I should have stood up for myself and made them wait to break my water because the baby’s heart started to decel without that squishy barrier if I wasn't laying down. My plan that I had discussed with my doctor about getting to walk around and change positions went out the window. I had to stay hooked to the monitors and that freaking annoying blood pressure cuff and could only roll from side to side about every hour. The breathing techniques and my awesome husband rubbing my back provided some relief.

Around 2:00 I asked for some Stadol to take the edge off. It wound up making things worse. I was so high that things started to look like a cartoon. I couldn’t relax through the contractions anymore because I was so out of it and I started fighting them. I got the epidural around 2:30. I don’t really remember a lot that happened in that hour and a half until the Stadol wore off. I remember Alex asking if I was sure that I wanted it and reassuring me that it was okay. I thought that I was going to fall forward off the bed while they placed it and Alex held me up kept me calm. That man is my rock.

After I had the epidural and the Stadol wore off things were pretty peachy. The sensation of not being able to feel my legs kind of creeped me out. I could still move my left one but the right was completely dead. I kept laughing at how swollen they got from all of the fluids I was getting. My toes looked like sausages.

At three there was a shift change and I got a new nurse. Around five o’clock the baby’s heart rate started dropping no matter what position I was in so they put me on oxygen. I just hung out with my giant mask on and tweeted my updates from my phone.

At 6:30 the nurse checked me and I had shot up to 8 centimeters! She left at 7:00 and when my new nurse came in at about 7:30 to check me I was complete. They rolled me on my side and were going to let me him work his way down for a little while, but his heart rate didn't want to cooperate, so they called the doc and let me start pushing with the nurse. After pushing through about 2 1/2 contractions the nurse had me stop because he was right there (the delivery team was astounded by my mad pushing skills) and I spiked a temp. They called the doctor and told her and when she showed up a few minutes later, the pushing resumed. I pushed through two contractions and he was so close! (I loved having the mirror to see what was going on.) With that second contraction they couldn't find the baby’s heart beat on the monitor. The nurse started adjusting the monitors and the doctor was telling me to get ready to push with the next one. Well, the next second I heard they nurse say "Hey. It's 50. It's 50." We didn't wait for the next contraction... everyone started saying, "PUSH! PUSH! PUSH!" A few seconds later his head was out, and a couple more after that he arrived! Samuel Clay Sartin was born on November 25, 2009 at 7:50 pm. He weighed 7lbs 7.6 oz and was 21 inches long. I got to hold him right away and then after they cleaned him up Alex tried to hog him. :]

The cord was around his neck but he was fine and boy, does he have some lungs! I had to keep my IV in for a while in case I needed antibiotics but my fever went down right after delivery and never came back up. I have a second-degree tear and am pretty sore but the pain is well controlled with Tylenol and Naproxen and the numbing spray. The healing “down there” is going better than expected.

Things are going pretty well now that we’re at home. I’m exhausted and it’s a lot of work. Don’t get me wrong… I knew it would be… but only in an abstract way. There’s no way to understand unless you’ve been through it. My hormones are going nuts just cry for stupid reasons or for no reason at all. Alex and I are working beautifully as a team and I’m not ready for him to go back to work tonight. My mom has been coming over for a little while each day to help out but we’ve been limiting other visitors because it’s kind of stressful having people visit right now.

It gets a little easier each day. I stare at those tiny feet and marvel that just a few days ago they were kicking me from the inside. I’m so glad to finally have him here. I think we’ll keep him. ♥

A drive-by blog post.

We're home. Things are good. I just want to say that I am so thankful for my amazing, wonderful husband. I have no words.

Things went great at the hospital. Not totally according to plan but, His plan is the only one that matters, right?

I did tap out a quick birth story before I forgot the details. I might post it later after I find time to look it over... you know in between finding time to pee.

The Stash - Part 2

When we originally started discussing cloth diapers we thought that we were going to use disposables until our little one grew into the "one-size" diapers. But after doing all of the research I got really into it, not just for the cost factor, but for the environmental factor as well. (If cost was our only reason for using cloth we would probably just do prefolds and covers, with a few all-in-ones for the church nursery and grandparent visits.) So we decided to jump in head first and try cloth diapers with a newborn. That's what the entire previous post featured... our "newborn stash."

From about three months (or whenever he starts fitting into them) we'll mostly use BumGenuis one size pocket diapers with some prefolds here and there. These diapers feature snaps that make the size adjustable. They say they fit from newborn to potty... but they don't really fit newborns that well, from what I've read.




My good friend Jen got us started with our first two BumGenius diapers as an excellent shower gift. I purchaced four more from Target.com. They are kind of expensive, but considering how long they fit, it's worth it. Target sells them in packs of two for $35.99 and their color selection is limited. We plan on using our registry completion coupon to purchase several and get 10% off. I'll also be ordering some different colors from cottonbabies.com and jilliansdrawers.com. I can find them used for a little cheaper but think that since these will be used for longer I don't feel so bad spending more for the initial investment.

Each BG diaper comes with a regular insert and a newborn insert/booster. The regular insert has snaps to make the size adjustable or you can strategically place it to add more absorbency in the front for boys. The newborn insert can be used alone for a trimmer fit or coupled with the regular insert for extra absorbency.




I also have some extra hemp doublers that can be stuffed in a pocket diaper or simply laid inside any other diaper to give it added absorbency.

I can't remember how much I paid for these. Maybe like $5.00 for a pack of 3?

Accessories
When you change a cloth diaper you don't just throw it out, so what do you do with it? We purchased a regular stainless kitchen garbage can with the pedal-operated lid to use as a diaper pail. Some people just use a pillowcase as a liner. We splurged on two waterproof Planet Wise pail liners. Let me tell you, they really are waterproof. I threw them in the washer when I got them and when I took them out I had to dump the water out of them before tossing them in the dryer. I don't know why that fascinated me.

If you're out somewhere and change a diaper you have to put it somewhere until you get home. You can't just throw a dirty diaper back in your diaper bag. You could recycle plastic grocery bags but the best option is a wet bag. I bought two small Planet Wise wet/dry bags. There are cheaper wet bag options out there but I really liked the zipper and these had great reviews. I'd like to get two medium sized ones in the future.



We're also going to use cloth wipes. We may not use them all the time but at least we will at home.

These are specifically sold as wipes. They're $9.99 for a pack of 8. We got two packs using a gift card, but I don't think I'll purchase any more. Regular baby wash cloths are cheaper and work just as well so I bought several packs of those to use.

...So that's what we've got. I can't wait to actually use it all.

Adventures In Cloth Diapering: The Stash.

Soo... I'm going to attempt to blog about our cloth diapering experience. Most of my research has been done on message boards and blogs. I'm all up on the Eco-Friendly Family board on thebump.com. I looove reading tips and about people's experiences. I'm starting out with the best of intentions about blogging this whole thing, but we'll see what happens when we bring home an actual newborn. Let me begin by showing you our stash...

This is everything all together...

Now let me break it down for ya...

Prefolds
We have 48 of the "old school" prefold type of diapers. 24 size newborn. 24 size small. These require a snappi and a cover. (More on covers in a minute.) We've got 4 snappis that I forgot to take pictures of... so if you're curious click the link then click "more images" to see one in action. If we wanted to take the super-economical (and possibly more difficult route, depending on who you ask) we could use all prefold diapers. I picked the Green Mountain brand. They cost $1.75 a piece for the newborn and $2.00 a piece for the smalls. I bought 2 used snappis for $1.50 a piece and two new ones for $3.49 a piece. Looking back, I really don't know why I even paid full price for two of them. Maybe I wanted to feel them in the package? haha...

Prefolds are the style that people automatically think of when you say "cloth diapers." You have to actually fold them and secure them with pins or a snappi. Some people might find them more difficult, but I've spoken to several people who actually prefer them to the newer styles. We'll have to see how they work for us.

Fitteds
These require no folding and just snap on the baby. They do require a cover. I picked Kissaluvs Size 0 for the newborn stage because of all of the wonderful things I've read about their absorbency and excellence in containing newborn poop. We've got 10 of them. Most people say you shouldn't need that many if you plan on using prefolds and all-in-ones as well but I just kept finding good deals!


I bought all of these in excellent used condition for $5.00-8.00 a piece and received two as a gift. New they cost about $12.95 a piece.

Covers
These go over the prefolds and fitteds to make them waterproof. We have 4 Imse Vimse that I bought used for $5.00 a piece (regular $15.00 a piece) and 4 size one Thirsties duowraps. I got the Imse Vimse simply because they were so cheap and the Thirsties because they have excellent reviews. The Thirsties also have snaps that adjust the size so that they can be used for longer.


All-In-Ones
These are basically like disposable diapers that you wash. We've got 3 Thirsties AIO's in extra-small and three size small. They also have pockets to add inserts to make them more absorbent.




I bought them all used for $10.50 a piece (Regular $16.95 a piece.)

That big picture includes some other things but for now... I'm tired and this is loooong. More to come at a later date... stay tuned.

A non-update..

I've wanted to write but I've been scared of what will come out. My feelings change wildly from one moment to the next. One day I'm content to stay pregnant forever and the next I am soooo ready to have this baby. Yesterday I did lunges around the pre-admit office! haha!

I can't explain it...

I'm ready to have my baby. But I'm not ready to have him. Considering the fact that I can count on one hand the number of days that I've not been sick since the morning sickness started, I'm ready. But I'm not ready to to share him with the world yet. Right now I feel like we have this special bond. It's just me and him, you know.

Who knows, maybe in a week or so I'll be ready to give him an eviction notice. He'll come when it's time and I'll be glad... but right now I'm cherishing these moments... every kick and hiccup, and even the way he gets all crazy after I get sick in the morning.