Cloth Diapers and Co-Sleeping

We get asked a lot about how the cloth diapers are going, so I figured it was about time to write about it.

I'll start by saying, I LOVE THEM! They are even easier to use than expected, and washing them has been completely manageable. When Hazel needs a change, putting a cloth diaper on her is no more work than putting on a disposable. I also really love how they keep the smell down. Since Hazel is a breastfed baby the smell is very minimal anyway, but I can't stand how disposable diapers and wipes smell. I do not care for that baby powder weird smell at all. In fact I hate it. I'm apparently in the minority on this one because all disposable diapers smell this way. This terrible smell is avoided in her cloth diapers because they are not scented :). As far as wipes go, we've been using cloth, and this is the only kink in the system so far. I decided to use baby washcloths. These are not as soft as I would like and make Little Miss' rump a bit red, so I'm going to switch to flannel or bamboo which are softer fabrics. For now we're using Pampers sensitive wipes because they are fragrance free and I don't have to deal with that terrible baby powder smell. 

As far as washing goes, we've been washing every 3-4 days. Not bad at all! I don't rinse the diapers before I wash them. I just throw them straight in the machine poop and all. I think I mentioned in my earlier post about the diapers that poop is sterile. Unless she has some kind of stomach bug, the small amount of healthy normal bacteria found in poop isn't going to hurt our washer or us. I will say that I am using disposable at night, but we are transitioning to all cloth all the time. It was easier in the really early days not fumbling around in the dark while we were getting the hang of the cloth. I really like the Velcro ones for night because they are even easier to use, and that's an added bonus at 3am when I am barely awake :).  

I also really love how Hazel looks in them. They make her rump look really cute. 

Having Hazel has truly brought out my inner hippie. I found that when I was pregnant I wanted nothing but the best for her and that included a greener tomorrow. Hence the cloth diaper route. Not only are we saving cash, but helping out the environment too. You know the whole, "Act local think global" thing. Well when she arrived my inner hippie really came out, and all I could think about was not only do I want a greener tomorrow for Hazel, but I also want to make sure she felt her needs we're being met. In my learning about breastfeeding there was a lot of talk about co-sleeping and its benefits to mom, baby, and the breastfeeding relationship. I wasn't sure if Joe and Hazel and I would co-sleep, but I was intrigued. I think, like the rest of the American society, it has been burned in my brain how dangerous co-sleeping is and how it can cause bad sleeping habits for baby. These reasons are shown to be bogus by supporters of co-sleeping, and for good reason. There are so many benefits to co-sleeping and when done correctly baby is in no more danger than when they are sleeping alone in their crib. Many pediatricians these days agree that the first 3 months of a baby's life outside the womb are considered the fourth trimester. Co-sleeping with Hazel allows her to be close to me and feel comfortable while she adjusts to the world. Co-sleeping also helps with encouraging and establishing a good breastfeeding relationship. Instead of having to get out of bed to get Hazel as she cries from her crib, I can just roll over and nurse her as we both fall back to sleep. I get more sleep and so does she. It's win-win. I have to say, when Hazel first came home, I was a nervous wreck about having her in the bed. I thought for sure she would suffocate or we would squish her, but that didn't happen. In fact, I think, like all co-sleeping supporters believe, I have a sixth sense of where she is in the bed and if something is not kosher. I also love that I am not waking up to a screaming kid. She lets me know she's hungry by grunting or trying to nurse on my arm or shirt. We have nice calm breastfeeding sessions in the wee hours of the night instead of me trying to calm her then get her to nurse. We have a happy restful mommy, and a happy calm baby. I am totally on board the co-sleeping train and recommend it to anyone with a new baby.

I am proud to say I am a breastfeeding, co-sleeping, cloth diapering mama :)

Cheers!

Here some pics of my co-sleeping beauties :)

Snuggles :)

Who wouldn't want to wake up to this face??

Hazel and daddy...swoon

So comfy

This face! 

Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!

Newborn babies can't do much on their own- They can't eat or walk or talk on the phone- But every parent is sure their creation is without a doubt a tremendous sensation.

 Jennifer Davis

Isn't that the truth! I fell hard for Little Miss as soon as she popped out, and I'm falling harder and harder for her everyday! I've got about 4,000 photos of her on my phone and 3,000 of them are basically the same image in a different outfit. I've started a photo stream with my family that I send daily pics to, and I have to restrain myself from sending a new picture every 30 seconds. She is the smartest, happiest, prettiest baby I know, and I know every new parent feels this way. 

It's been a fast month for us. Which is a big change from the pregnancy that seemed like it would never end. I can't seem to comprehend what happens to my days. They are flying by, and I am trying my hardest to find a way to slow them down. When I do find a way I'll share my secret ;). I figured since it's been a whole month and 4 days with Hazel in our lives I'd share some of the things Joe and I have learned as new parents and how she's doing. 

To be honest the things we've learned is a small list. Not that we are pros, but we are just taking everything in stride and do what this post's title says to do :). She has been a pretty easy baby up to this point, so we have been quite lucky. At her one month check-up the doc asked if I had any questions, and the only one I could think of is when is it OK to get her ear's pierced.

She has been nursing well since day one, and I am so thankful for that. I know a lot of women have trouble. I will say one thing I think that helped is that I did a lot of reading about proper breastfeeding techniques, and made contacts with my local La Leche League consultants before she arrived. In doing so, I feel that it gave me confidence that I could do it, and do it well. I also think it helped me to feel comfortable and relaxed in my choice.  That made all the difference in those first two weeks when Hazel was pretty much attached to my boob. I can totally understand why some women give up so early, or feel like they are not successful breast-feeders because it is very time consuming and a little disheartening feeling like you have no freedom or a moment to yourself. There was a moment in the middle of week two I broke down in tears and just begged her to let me eat just one meal and I would let her nurse all night if she wanted to. I just kept reading my handy book, Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher & Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, that reassured me everything Hazel was doing was normal for that time and that it would pass. Once we got passed week 2 she started a nursing rhythm that is still changing. I am still nursing her on demand, but we are slowing figuring out her rhythm and the demand is much more manageable and even more enjoyable. I look forward to that time together, especially when we are out. It gives us time to shut ourselves off from everyone and have our time together.

We've also been lucky with her sleep schedule. She is up about every 4-5 hours during the night, and about every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day. That has almost been true since she entered the world. I tell everyone who asks that I am getting more sleep now than I was the last two months of my pregnancy. I didn't realize how miserable I was during that time until she was out. She is also very easy when we are out and about, and even at her fussiest she is pretty easy to calm.

Joe and I have really been enjoying ourselves with Hazel. Just this morning I asked him what he has learned in this past month and he said how attached he is to Hazel and how fast that happened. I have to say he has been amazing. I have also been lucky in that sense. He was on board with the cloth diapers, he is a huge supporter of breastfeeding, and he has just jumped right in head first to daddy hood. I don't know how people do this on their own and I am thankful everyday that he is so comfortable and helpful with Hazel. Joe has quickly mastered the art of working from home and taking care of baby.

I'm baffled at how fast she is growing. Everyone tells us how little she is, but I can't get over how big she is getting. She's already over 2lbs more than she was when she was born, and 2 inches longer! Every day she does something new that is totally awesome, and I love watching her grow!

Here are a few pics of Hazel's first month!

Cheers!

16 Days

I never thought 16 days could go by so fast! Little Miss is growing like a weed, and the days are flying by! She's already put on a whole pound since she was born. She's weighing in at a whopping 8lbs 5oz! I find this fascinating since they want baby to be back to birth weight by two weeks. She's well above that. 

Joe and I have really been spoiled with this little girl. She came out a breastfeeding champion, and is an awesome sleeper. In fact she actually sleeps too well at night, and I have to wake her to feed her. She's not a huge fan of that, but she gets it honest. Daddy is a big advocate of sleep. I'm just hoping it keeps up as she grows. She is also one of the calmest newborns I know. She rarely fusses, and when she does she is easily calmed. Even the pets have taken to Hazel well. It's all been a little too easy, and as someone who is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, I've definitely got my guard up ;). 

Joe and I are both very much in love with this little girl. The learning curve hasn't been as steep as we thought, and every day seems to be easier and easier. It's hard to remember what life was like before Hazel, and I find this facinating as well. How one little person can make such an impact in such a short time. So far the three of us are having tons of fun :). 

Feel free to stop by for a visit, if you would like!

Cheers! 

                       16 days old!

     Mommy is a little obsessed with hair 

                          bows.....

                  Making funny faces :)

                 Happy happy, baby 

Hazel Elizabeth.....

Well it's officially been a whole week since the arrival of Little Miss, and I still can't believe it. Time is flying! In fact, last night, I was literally crying over how fast time was going, thanks hormones.....

Since it's been a week I thought I'd write a post about how she entered the world. I'll try to spare gory details :-). 

I woke last Thursday for my usual 4am pee break. Did my business and came back to bed. I checked the clock to make sure I still had some sleep time, it said 3:50am, so I laid back down. As soon as my head hit the pillow I felt a gush, thinking I had finally lost bladder control, as I'd heard some women do, I hopped out of bed, and felt another sizeable gush. This was not me losing control, my water definitely broke. I was in shock! I could not believe my water actually broke! So, I waddled to the bathroom to avoid ruining our carpet, and calmly woke Joe, from a dead sleep, letting him know it was go time. I have a tendency to break important news to Joe when he's in a dead sleep. I think it makes things more fun that way. 

We showered up, I called the doctor on call to let them know to expect us. She told me to take my time, so we did. We got the pets situated, made sure we had everything we needed, I even contemplated doing my hair and makeup. I'm vain, don't judge. Once we had everything situated, we were on our way. We dropped the dogs off at my mother-in-law's house, who Joe woke from a dead sleep to inform her it was go time, and off to the hospital we went. On the way I called the rest of the graspndparents to let them know today was the day!! Or so we all thought. 

We were admitted around 7am, after the nurse informed us I has grossly ruptured. No duh, lady, I was leaking like a sieve! We found out our favorite doc was now on call, Dr. Martin, and we were super stoked about that. It was going to be a perfect day! 

When we got set up in the labor and delivery room, the nurse examined me and said I was 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. I remember thinking "What! That's where I was on Monday!!" By this point it had been about 3 1/2 hours since my water broke and I was having no contractions. We were informed that pitocin would be started soon. That did not happen. I had no signs of infection, so Dr. Martin was comfortable with seeing if things would progress on their own. 

Fast forward 12 hours later. In that time I had made several laps around the labor and delivery floor, heard several babies being born, saw 3 women actively in labor, and still no progress. Not 1cm more, not 1 contraction. It had seemed that Miss Hazel had changed her mind. Dr. Martin stopped by for a visit and let us know that pitocin would finally be started. Yay!! 

I'd been warned about the contractions from pitocin, and going in I was never against getting and epidural. I figured we'd let things play out and go from there. I lasted about two hours on the pitocin drip without an epidural. Towards the end of that two hours my contractions were coming a minute apart and lasting a minute. They were bring you to your knees painful. I mean this literally. I was literally brought to my knees in pain. So, our code word was said to get the epidural. We had chosen a code word so Joe would know I was serious about the epidural. The code word was, pickled eggs. Pickle eggs was weakly said, and an epidural was ordered. 

I had been terrified of the epidural the entire pregnancy. Labor never bothered me, actually pushing a kid out never bothered me, but the epidural scared the bejesus out of me. To make matters worse, I had the worst anesthesiologist ever! He was rough, didn't give the lidocaine time to numb, and I felt everything. I mean everything. In the middle of the procedure I was having contractions and I almost screamed for him to stop because the contractions were more bearable than what he was doing to me. It was torture, but I made it through and the epidural took over and it was smooth sailing from there. Smooth, very slow sailing. 

When I wussily asked for the epidural, I was only at 2cm. I progressed a whole centimeter in two hours. This was going to be a long, long night. We were informed earlier by Dr. Martin that as long as the baby and I were doing ok, no signs of infection or stress, they would let me labor as long as I needed to even if that meant going past the 24 hour rule. I think Joe almost passed out from exhaustion at that point :-). I remember thinking, this kid is definitely not coming today. 

Fast forward 2 more hours. 15 hours since my water broke, Joe was starved, I was starved and exhausted, so Joe went to eat some dinner and let me rest. I was at 4cm. Little Miss was just taking her sweet time. By the time Joe got back from eating his dinner, which I'm sure was the most amazing meal on the planet, I was at 10cm! He had been gone maybe 30min. He came back to me hooked up to an oxygen mask and a delivery table all prepped. This was it! She was finally coming! 

Not! I was at 10 but Little Miss was at 0 station. Only half way ready.... I couldn't push just yet. Dr. Martin delivered two more babies in the two hours it took Miss Hazel to get into position so I could push.  Now the clock's reading 11:45pm, I'm falling asleep between contractions and the nurse informs me it's time to push. I remember thinking, "Is she serious! I can't keep my eyes open and I'm starving! Can we do this after a quick nap?" After pushing for what seemed like an eternity, but was only about 30min Hazel made her grand entrance at 12:17am March 21st! She was finally here!! The first thing I said when I saw her was "Joe, she looks just like you!" The first thing Joe thought when he saw her was "Ten fingers, ten toes. Oh my god! What's wrong with her head!" Joe must of had a look of horror on his face because Dr. Martin immediately said the cone head will go away in a couple days. Poor Joe, I had forgotten to warn him about that part. 

Little Miss was weighed. She was 7lbs 5oz and measured 20.5in. Joe and I had made some guesses about her weight and he guessed spot on. She was a perfect little peanut! I was ecstatic. She was finally here. It had been 39 weeks 1 day and a 20 hour labor, but she was here!

The grandparents were brought back to meet her, and then we were finally sent to our recovery room. It had been over 24 hours since I had eaten and slept. The nurse raided the kitchen for me and brought me the best freaking egg salad sandwich of my life, Cheerios, graham crackers and a granola bar. I ate every last crumb of my feast and passed out. 

I was up bright and early the next morning to Little Miss sleeping next to me and Joey passed out on the couch. I was in pure heaven :-). 

Here's some pics of Hazel's first days. 

Cheers! 

Fortnight

Well here we are at the 38 week mark. Little Miss' due date is just 2 weeks away! I'm hoping she stays put a bit longer so I can selfishly have more time at home with her. The longer she bakes the less likely I have to return to work before summer break :). Although, she did follow through and stay put on my birthday, so I don't want to be too greedy ;).

I was recently going over all the progression pics and I can't believe how much my body has changed. It is definitely unrecognizable right now. The belly is taking over everything, and my swelling has become so bad that my boot cut jeans have tuned into skinny jeans! I broke down tonight and purchased some compression stockings hoping they will help alleviate some of the swelling. It's hard walking around when you feel like your ankles and feet have fused together.

People, I should say strangers, seem shocked when I tell them that I am still working, and I commented to Joe today that I don't think I'm too large until I see the look people give me when they see me. Apparently I'm huge. We were walking around the mall today and I got some looks that were enough to make me want to stay in hiding until this kid comes out.

I decided to put together a little collage of the progression of Little Miss growing, and hope that I will be able to get back to that tiny specimen of a girl in the top left pic. I mean, I can't even remember what she looked like!

That's all for now!!

Cheers!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Little Miss and I had our 36 week appointment on Friday. She is doing just great, and I am finally measuring on time! No more 3 weeks ahead baloney. We had a growth scan at our 35 week appointment and Hazel was measuring right on track :-). Doc says we're looking at a 7-8 pounder at birth. Knowing that these measurements can be off by a pound or two, I'm hoping if they are that it is in the minus column ;-). It was a lot of fun getting to take a peak at Hazel again. You could make out chubby cheeks! Unfortunately the printed pics are quite dark, so I won't be posting them :-(.

I've been dealing with some pretty serious leg, ankle, and foot swelling which has been a blast! The good news is I don't have any other symptoms to suggest anything serious is going on. The bad news is, once I stand up my feet and ankles swell to roughly the size of an elephant's. I no longer have two pair of shoes that fit, but one, and that pair is actually ripping at the seams. Joe and I ventured out today to purchase a pair to get me through the next four weeks. Let me just say, they are some styling shoes! I have to confess, I am a bit of a shoe whore so this sacrifice has been a little hard to deal with ;-). I can't wait to get back into my cute heels, and boots, and flats. 

Lots of folks, including Joe, are convinced I'll go early, but I am pretty confident Little Miss will be staying put until the 26th or longer :-). 

Well that's all the updates for now :-)

Cheers!

Getting, slightly, sentimental

Since we are in the home stretch, I thought I'd look back and think about things I won't miss when this pregnancy is over and things I will. I'll start with things I won't miss:

1. I won't miss the constant numbness on my left side, especially my left hand. Washing my hair one handed is becoming a bit of a chore. 

2. I won't miss the almost crippling sciatic pain that comes from left field. 

3. I won't miss not being able to sleep however I feel comfortable. 

4. I won't miss not being able to recognize my feet and ankles. They've officially become one. 

5. I won't miss not being able to breath every time I eat. 

6. Lastly, I won't miss the heartburn. 

Things I will miss:

1. I will miss the feeling I get every time Little Miss squirms, hiccups, rolls, or kicks. 

2. I will miss feeling her little feet, hands, elbows, and rump poking me. 

3. I will miss it being just us two. This is the only time it will be just Hazel and I. Once she's out, I'll have to share her with the world. I'm not quite ready for that. 

4. I'll miss forgiving myself for every piece of food I eat. The extra scoop of ice cream, or the handful of Cheez-its, or the second (read third) helping.

5. I will miss not feeling guilty about taking a break, or an hour nap, or just sitting back while those around me work. 

6. Lastly, I will miss the belly. The in-the-way, beach-ball sized belly. I'll miss rubbing it, marveling at it, and watching it grow. 

I'm so looking forward to holding this little girl, but I can't help but think about how precious this time has been. While these 8.5 months have been chugging along at a snail's pace, I am slightly sad they are winding down. It still feels like a very long time until we meet, but I will be enjoying what we have left.  

Cheers!