Chronicles of Cloth Diapering

Disposable diapers... I love them! But frankly, I am not relishing the idea of spending $40 a pop every time baby needs diapers, or running out of them at some inconvenient hour. Since I'm planning to stay home with little Drew, I've started to flirt harder with trying cloth diapers (I'd likely do both disposable and cloth).

After doing some hard research, I found that cloth diapering does not have to be all diaper pins and prefolds like in my mom's day. I spent countless hours on DiaperPin.com looking at reviews from the many WAHM (Work at Home Mothers). There was so much lingo and acronyms to decipher it was ridiculous! Why won't people write about their diapering experience in layman's terms????

That's when I decided to dive into cloth diapering. Maybe my cloth diaper mission would help another poor, stressed out mommy like myself! I don't want to totally reinvent the wheel but I just want to make cloth diapering practical and easy to understand.

After deciding to dive, I realized one big road block....my husband! I did not realize he was so against the unknown. He feels comfortable with disposables since he diapered his daughter in them, and cloth diapering is out of his comfort zone. He thinks it disgusting and difficult!
After much reasoning with, he is grudgingly willing to support me in my mission to try out cloth diapering (I'll definitely report on his views of each diaper). Check out the pic of Phi and Drew thinking hard about cloth diapering!

I want to do cloth diapering and I need to make sure that it is done inexpensively. I searched craigslist, eBay, Diaper Swappers, online outlets and sales for the best prices on highly reviewed diapers. Below are a list of diapers I will be testing over the next couple of months:

• Thirsties Covers
• Chinese Unbleached Prefolds
• Snappis
• Happy Heiny's One Size Cloth Diaper
• Happy Heiny's Hemp Fleece Cloth Wipes
• New Hampshire Milk & Honey Bun Drops
  
• gDiapers
• Thirsties Pocket All-In-One Diapers
• Thirsties Fab Doublers
• Snap-EZ Pocket Diapers
• Snap-EZ Eco Soakers
• MonkeyBuns Bamboo Fitted Diaper
• Monkey Doodlez Micro Doodlez All-In-One Diaper
  
• Sweet Pea One Size Diaper
• BumGenius Diaper Doublers

I'll be rating the diapers in a couple of different categories including retail price, efficiency (leaking and whatnot), and Daddy friendly (ease of use). I'm hyped to be doing this experiment and hopefully it will not only be fun for me, but it will help other moms!

Check later postings for my ratings and my video diary of this cloth diapering experience!

Mamma Says...

Did your mom ever tell you that you would lose all of the baby weight quickly while eating anything you like if you breastfed? Well, I am here to tell you that it is not true!

During my pregnancy I was one of the lucky ones. I gained a little over 25 lbs. probably due to my aversion to some foods in the first 2/3rds of the pregnancy. Check out my white trash prego pic!

After Andrew came, the weight came off fairly quickly. I was within 7 lbs. of my original weight and just had a little belly pooch. Everyone was so complimentary.

My problems began shortly after when my husband and my mom were back at work and I was left alone to fend for myself. My eating patterns were totally off because of my lack of sleep. The baby seemed to be awake whenever I wanted to eat. Then, my appetite came back! Dun, Dun, Da!

I was hungry all of the time and I made some horrible food choices. It is so much easier to warm up a frozen chimichanga than to make a chicken salad especially with a baby in tow. It takes less time to open up a candy bar than to cut up some fruit for a snack. Not only that, but the junk food tastes better! Yumm....ice cream!

Then to top it off, the holidays came and there was nothing but buttery baked goods and prime rib. Need I say more?

Not only has hunger and poor eating habits been an issue, but lack of exercise is also a contributing factor. Currently it is very yucky outside, so I don't get to take Andrew out on walks with the stroller. Even if it was nice, I feel extremely lazy (probably because of my food choices and lack of exercise) and I don't know if I'd want to get up, get Andrew packed away, and go. It is so much work to go anywhere these days! For the last week I've been telling myself that I need to workout to a video, but it has not yet happened.

These extra pounds are not okay; I'm coming up with a plan. Soon all of the junk food in the house will run out (probably because I'll eat it), and I will not buy more. I will let the baby cry and make healthier food. I will exercise at least three times this next week. My health is important to not only me, but to my kidos!

So I, ten lbs. heavier, am here to tell you that your mom lied. You cannot eat whatever you like if you are breastfeeding. I believed my mom, and now look at me! Oh wait, I'm not posting a picture because I don't want want proof!

May I Say, "Moo"?

Have you ever felt like a cow???? Some people put on their clothes, look in the mirror, and see their reflection only to think that they look like a fat cow. I may sometimes look like a cow, but only in motherhood have I felt like a milk cow at a dairy farm! Once you breastfeed, you may feel that way too.

I remember being home with Andrew the first month and a half and he wanted to eat every hour or two. At first it was very frustrating; he wouldn't latch correctly, and he wouldn't allow me to sleep for three hours straight. Instead, he would play around with my nipple which would turn into a messy situation. I know, TMI!

Not only was I was exhausted, but neither he nor I knew what we were doing. I wasn't comfortable. I wasn't sure how to hold him. I think he even brought me to tears once or twice. My husband wanted to help, but there was not much he could do since he didn't produce milk. Why do women volunteer to do this whole cow thing?

I wanted to do what was best for my baby, and what was best was breastfeeding. I stuck to my guns and continued feeling milked dry.

On December 30th, Andrew let me sleep for almost five hours straight. The next night was the same. Some nights he let me sleep six and a half hours straight.

All of a sudden, I was a whole new Beth! I loved this breastfeeding thing. He was getting it; I was getting it. It was becoming more comfortable, maybe even beautiful.

Now, I understand this breastfeeding phenomena. I feel totally close to my baby. When I leave him to go to a movie, I rush back home before the credits scroll down the screen; not out of obligation, but because I want to see him. I don't want to be without him. I think breastfeeding has connected us more deeply than feeding him formula from a bottle. I'm proud to be a cow!

One Minute To Spare

I have a couple of minutes to post now; my stepdaughter, Allison, who is nine years old, is keeping Drew busy playing tummy-time.

Isn't it funny how after becoming a mom, even the simple tasks become difficult? For instance, I should be nicknamed Bad Breath Beth these days.... I swear, every morning when I go to turn on my Sonicare toothbrush, Drew wakes up. I always end up drooling toothpaste onto the bassinet as I try to pick up Drew in one hand and manage the toothbrush in the other! I usually give up on the toothbrush.

I now choose to do things during times when I think he will sleep. I squeeze in a shower here and an email there, hoping that he will continue his slumber. Usually he wakes up before I am done. I have learned how to vacuum one handed, cook one handed, type one handed, and, yes, even wipe one handed! I know, gross!

Even right now, Drew somehow knows that I'm no longer in the living room and he is giving Allison a hard time! I read somewhere that babies know their mothers' smells from being in their womb. That doesn't make sense though....they can't use their nose in the womb! They would suck up fluid if they sucked in through their nostrils!

Whoa, sorry about that tangent!

Also, whenever my husband and I try to have a life and go out to dinner, Andrew decides he is hungry too....always at the wrong moment. He sleeps through us perusing the menu, ordering, conversing and waiting for the food. Once the food is delivered and I lift up my fork, WHAAAAAAA! It never fails. It's like he has a sixth sense or something.



The strange thing is.... I love it! I don't mind being kept busy by lil' Drew. Even when I get to "escape" and go to a movie or a play with a girlfriend, I always rush back home immediately after. I never thought I could love a little twirp as much as I love this one. I wouldn't give up this mothering thing for the world!

Breaking In Baby?

I know it sounds strange, but my thought as I brought home my firstborn from the hospital was that it was time for us to break him in, like a new pair of Jimmy Choos. Right away, he may be uncomfortable with this new world surrounding him, but soon, he would fit right in. Boy, was I wrong!

After a few short nights (literally "short" because of the lack of sleep), I realized that I, as the new mommy, was the blistered foot wearing the new Jimmy Choo. How could I not have known? The twelve plus hour back labor should have been my first clue! My life was now the uncomfortable one.... what with a vaginal tear, cracking nipples, hemorrhoids, and a complete lack of sleep... I was feeling broken.

In speaking with other mothers, I found that almost every mom has to go through the painful "breaking in" process full of blisters and Band-aids before "shoes" become comfortable. My goal is to provide you with a few tips may help you break in your new shoes and strut down the street with style, comfort, and ease.

Got to run- keeping in mind I'm running with style, comfort, and ease- my little man has loudly announced his alertness...again!