Cloth Diapers

So, I was thinking about ways to save money. We will be moving back to MI in the next two weeks, I will be starting my new job again as a full-time stay-at-home mom, and honestly we are going to be poor. So, again, I was thinking of ways to save money and two things I have decided to do is #1 shop by using coupons and following sales trends and #2 start cloth diapering.
Have you ever had a sudden epiphany? Well you can kind of say that is what has happened to me.
For the past year or so we've used reusable shopping bags instead of the plastic bags they usually give you at grocery stores. Now, every time we shop without the reusable bags I cringe at the amount of plastic bags I walk out of the store with. Now that I've decided to use cloth diapers... I cannot wait until we can start. Little N has started the potty training process already. He peed on my floor at least 3 times today and removed his diaper every time he was wet. He sat on the toilet maybe 6 to 7 times. It has become frustrating because I feel like I can't encourage him. Just wait a few weeks little man, we will be moved and you can run around our new house naked for all I care! So... done with the rabbit trail.
Cloth diapering.
I've been on information overload for the past 3 days ever since I did the math and found out how much money it will save us. I've already made two orders and when we arrive at our new house in two weeks N will have 6 bumGenius 4.0 one size diapers waiting for him. I really, really, really, don't want to buy any more disposables. I might have enough to last us the next two weeks. Then when we arrive in MI, I'll be potty training N, so I'm thinking those cloth diapers might be enough.
Information overload.
I messaged a few cloth diapering friends on Facebook and received a lot of information about the different cloth diapering systems out there. The two that sound the easiest are the All-In-One(AIO) and Pocket Diapers. Most of them come in one size fits most so basically one diaper will be able to fit your babe from birth(depending on how big they are) to toddler hood. Sounds lovely. But with all of my previous children being under 7 lbs. at birth, I have then researched what diapers to use at the newborn stage. They have Pocket diapers and AIO's that fit babes that young but I cannot justify spending the money. I've decided to get at least 4 AIO, Pocket or Fitted diapers that I can use at night to make the night changes easier and possibly use during any outings that we head on during the first 2 weeks or so. Most of the One-Size diapers are suppose to start fitting around 8 lbs. So for the newborn stage I've decided to go old school with the Prefold diapers and diaper covers. It won't be a wasted investment. Newborn Prefolds can be used as inserts in the pocket diapers, burp clothes, or just saved for the next little one. You can use pins to pin them or a Snappi(which I'll be using). There are many different ways to fold a Prefold around your babe and then put a diaper cover or wrap on top of that and that's it! So what about the dirty diapers? I will absolutely be investing in something like this. They are a little expensive but I'm taking the leap. Laundering doesn't seem like it will be too difficult. I plan on line drying, outside as much as possible. Babe will be born in early August, that gives us a few more months in MI to use the clothes line outside. I'm so excited. I can't wait to start and my nesting instinct wants to be prepared as soon as possible. Like I've already said I have made two orders already. Kelly's Closet has a lot of deals that I can't seem to pass up. I've checked out Wee Bunz, Green Mountain Diapers and plan on buying a few things from each of them... as well as this site I found a positive review from a cloth diapering blog and the diapers are so cute and surprisingly affordable. So I've started on this journey and have decided that there is no turning back. I will make it work!

Your Best Birth

I picked up a book, Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, you might have watched A Business of Being Born, the documentary they did a few years ago. So far it's been a great read. One thing I found really interesting was a part about pain medication and discovered that with each of my births, my ideas of pain medication during birth has changed, somewhat dramatically. They cited another book by Penny Simkin called The Pain Medication Scale.
I'm not going to list everything here but the scale starts out with
+10 I want to be numb, to get anesthesia before labor begins(an impossible extreme)
to
0 I have no opinion or preference. I will wait and see(a rare attitude among pregnant women)
to
-10 I want no medication, even for a casarean delivery(an impossible extreme)
Of course with varying degrees in between.
When I was pregnant with my first I can honestly say I was at 0, I had no preference, if I made it without pain medication then good for me but if I felt like I couldn't I would get it. I was honestly very uneducated when it came to birthing, no research was done, I knew that I didn't want pain but never thought about searching for other ways to reduce pain other than the normal pain medications. Result= narcotics and epidural. Two hours into the induction I just could't stand the pain, of course I was just laying in bed and my loving husband was sleeping(he had just gotten off a night shift). So there was a feeling of lack of support and my loving nurse said "I can make all the pain go away". Who wouldn't cave in at that point? Overall I loved my birth, labor only lasted 10 hours, after the epidural I hardly felt anything, the only thing I would have changed was the coached pushing that lasted 2 1/2 hours. But at that time the pushing seemed normal, I had nothing to compare it to.
With my second pain scared me. I was scared that my labor would progress so fast that I wouldn't be able to receive my blessed epidural and would have to experience the pain I missed with my first. I had heard that second labors usually go faster than firsts and with my first only being 10 hours long..... Yes, I was scared. On the pain management scale I was a
+7 I want anesthesia as soon in labor as the doctor will allow or before labor becomes painful.
Sign me up! Was my model and I let those nurses know it. I got my way. Epidural, 7 hours of labor, 10 minutes of pushing, it was perfect.
With my third, epidurals were still in my game plan. They seemed to work for me. I was induced at 36 weeks because I had developed pre-eclampsia. Induction to birth was 12 hours. I went from 4 to 12 in one hour. Everything happened so fast that went I mentioned the idea of an epidural the nurse said "if I sit you up for the epidural your baby will pop right out" Maddened I thought, " then sit me up" I was told not to push, only because the doctors were not there. My baby was not handed to me right away, instead he was bundled up and rushed to the nursery because he wasn't holding his temperature. To this day I wonder why kangaroo care wasn't the first choice and blame myself for being knocked up on the narcotics given to me an hour before I gave birth for not having the state of mind to advocate for my child. His whole birth changed me in so many ways. I was first empowered. I can do it without an epidural! It's not necessary. Definately no more narcotics for me, I want to be in charge of my births, how can I do that when I can't think straight? The idea of no more pain medication led me to researching alternatives. Through home birthing mothers and documentaries I decided that now on the pain medication scale I am a
-9 I want medication to be denied by my support team and the staff, even if I beg for it
I first decided that if I ever gave birth in the hospital again I would need to fight for my rights. I would need some more support than just my husband, someone who would help me advocate when I was in pain. I wanted to be able to be free to move. Didn't the nurse tell me if I sat up my baby would pop right out? Yes, I wanted that. Through inspiring people and stories I've decided that a birth at home would be my best birth place and I am now looking forward to it. No drugs. Freedom of movement. A relaxing atmosphere. Sleeping in my own bed. The only thing I might miss is food being brought to me but I might be able to save so we can order out for the first couple days or convince my loving husband that he is responsible for it, he is already looking forward to changing the first diaper, he was always on diaper duty in the hospitals. Maybe I can change more diapers and he can bring me food in bed? We will see.

20 Weeks

Halfway there! Or... given my history of delivering before my due dates, we are more than halfway there! Yippee! A few of the things 20 weeks have brought:
The dreaded heartburn. I have not experienced a lot of heartburn but I started feeling some this past week and am now scared that it has begun.
Hiccups from the little one. Felt this for the first time this morning!
Increased Energy. Loving this!
Less to none morning sickness. Yay!
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of this little one. Did I tell you I went clothes shopping a couple weeks ago for the little one? I have hidden the clothes in my closet. I cannot show the girls because they will leak the news. I might leak the news. I don't know how I will make it 20 more weeks. I am beginning to love the idea of just not knowing anything. I've actually wanted to do this but the hubby wanted to know, so we know.
I went clothes shopping for myself this week. I still need to add some shorts, capris and jeans to the list. I bought a couple dress shirts for work. I will be managing from here on out, no more serving for me!
Lots and Lots of exciting things. In a little over a month we will be moving into our house. The planned delivery spot for this child. I am super excited about that. I've been going over paint colors in my mind. The little one will be sleeping in our room with us for awhile, I might make a nursery out of one of the spared rooms but I plan on making it a shared spot for baby and me. It will be an escape for me/baby area. Maybe I can work on my craftiness while the little one naps! Who am I kidding! I'll be napping too!

Middle of the Week Update

The little baby is taking some time off of moving. Or I just can't feel baby move. We had a lot of activity the past couple weeks so feeling nothing is not making me feel great. This weekend I was worried. We heard baby's heartbeat on Friday then Saturday and Sunday I didn't feel anything! I tried to eat some fruit and sit still but that didn't seem to work. Finally yesterday I felt a little bit of fluttering. Whew! I think since I've been moving around a lot, with work and all, that I just don't feel the movements or baby is just resting! I remember from previous pregnancies that I would feel a lot of movement for a couple days and then nothing for a couple days. I try not to get worried or think much of it. But it's always in the back of my mind.

Also, I'm starting to get heartburn. I was thinking the other day about not having any yet and how nice that was and then suddenly yesterday before work it started. I had heartburn really bad with M. I ate Tums like nobody's business. I really, really don't want it! Please stay away heartburn!

*You cannot imagine how hard it is to say her/him when I'm talking about the baby*

19 Weeks

We had our second pre-natal visit with the midwives today. It is sooo very nice to go into an office.. if you can call it an office.. and not have to wait 5-30 minutes for a doctor to spend 5-10 minutes with you. We arrive and are immediately welcomed, no waiting. I pee in a cup with L by my side, she makes a comment "You have to pee in a cup again!"(she was with me the first visit too), "the soap looks like pee!"(it's yellow soap) and "do children have babies"(she has to pee and was probably wondering if she should pee in a cup). The children play in a room right next to us that has a whole load of toys or they play in the office with us, there are also toys in there. We hear the heartbeat after hearing kicks, placenta noises and cord noises(all explained to me by my wonderful midwife), talk about where my placenta is located and how that might affect where I feel movement(very interesting) and attempt to get blood drawn(I have very small veins that decided not to cooperate). It was a great, laid back, 45 minute appointment. Baby is healthy, heartbeat 150. I'm healthy, blood pressure 93/70.

Other than that, I am trying to eat healthier. I hardly ever eat fruits and vegetables and yes, I know I should. So in the attempt to ward off pre-eclampsia I have become more aware of what I consume and try my hardest to eat more fruits and veggies and less sugar, high sodium foods and fried substances. One thing that is different is my daily dose of coffee in the morning. I started drinking coffee after N was born(my third) but I have deleted the sugar I used to add to it pre-pregnancy. I have learned to like it that way.

Well, that is all for this week. One more week and I am half way there!

It's Clear To Me

Today was a big day in my life... I found out I was pregnant with...... * drum-roll please*.....a baby! Just kidding. I did find out the gender of the child that is living inside me but we have decided to keep it a secret. So you, along with the rest of the world, will have to wait until my "due" date to find out what I am "having".

On a more serious note. My roll as a mother has become more clear to me.

And that's all I've got to say!

Here's to life!

Here's to babies!

Here's to keeping secrets!

*and if I was not knocked up I would consume some wine

to celebrate this momentous occasion*

The Secret Announcement

I was trying to remember the exact day I found out I was pregnant and I then remembered that I had written a poem on my other blog, I called it HOPE. Go ahead and read it. Now I'm glad I wrote it because I had forgotten when I had taken the pregnancy test. :-)

*Sorry.... for some reason I can't get the link to show up.

Just hover over that empty space after "I called it" and it will show.

Technical difficulties.*