Coth Diapering

It always comes up in conversation (especially with a little girl often in a dress)......are those CLOTH diapers??? 

Yes, yes they are. 

No, I haven't lost my mind.  No, we are not dirt poor.  No, I'm not super mom.  No, it's not really that big of a deal.  No, you don't have to touch poop (or anymore often then you would with a disposable).

Moving on.

I started using cloth diapers when Bear was 4 months old.  I bought my first set from Craig's list for $50 plus $10 shipping.  I bought a few more over the next year (cheaply made - but cheap!).  Yes, they saved us a ton of money.  I used disposable diapers any time we went somewhere and at night but my diaper bill was very low.

What do I do with the "dirty" ones?  Well, the wet diapers get thrown into a medium sized trashcan lined with a pillowcase.  When it is full, I pull the pillowcase and take it to the washing machine.  The "dirty" diapers get taken immediately to the bathroom and dipped in the potty to removed any solids.  Then I wrap the very wet diaper into a towel and set on the top of the dryer.  I never notice a smell in the laundry room. 

Washing:  When it comes time to wash the diapers (usually every other day with my stash) I toss them in the washing machine.  I do 1 cold water rinse, then set the washing machine to hot wash/cold rinse and add the appropriate amount of Rockin Green Diaper Detergent (this stuff works great on clothes also).  When that is done I run another cold water rinse.  Then into the dryer or onto the clothes line they go. 

I only used cloth with Bear until he was about 16 months old.  At that time his bladder was so big that he would leak very quickly.  So we went back to disposables until he was potty trained at his 2nd birthday.

When Abby was born I used disposable diapers until she was about 4 months old.  The diapers I had left from Bear were sized and at 4 months she could finally fit into them.  However, they had been used when I bought them, and then used for Bear so several of them weren't usable anymore.  My stash had gotten quite small.  I made a stop at Mommy and Me boutique in Effingham and over the next 3 months bought 18 BumGenius 4.0 diapers.  I LOVE BumGenius diapers.  I cloth diaper ALL the time now.  I carry a wet bag in my diaper bag.  Diapering while out-and-about is the same as it is when home.  I use cloth at night with no issues at all.  I bought a case of Size 3 Pampers in October and if it wasn't for the washing machine kicking the bucket I would still have almost a full case (I still have half a case).  The BumGenius diapers are all one size.  The 18 diapers I bought in October-December will last Abby until she is potty trained (and they work on a baby as small as 6 lbs).  Since Abby is our last baby I will be selling my stash when she is potty trained so I will make some of my investment back then (most BumGenius diapers can be resold for 50% of new price).

Cloth diapering and using the laundrymat aren't an issue either.  I manage the diapers here at home the same way and then wash them in town with the rest of my laundry.  The diapers don't make a full load in the big machines alone so I wash them with towels or sheets. 

So now that you are properly freaked out, I'll tell you that I also use cloth "women's" products as well.  But that's for another post.  LOL

Our Miracle - Abigail Caroline

So here is her birth story.

We got to the hospital for her induction (scheduled due to the fact that they think she weighed heavy) at 6 a.m. May 11, 2010.I was immediately hooked up to pictocin and all that jazz. The dr. came in and broke my water about 8 a.m. He became concerned because her arm was above her head and instructed the nurse to watch it.
*****sidebar - 2 of my nurses for the day had been nursery nurses at St. Anthony's when I was born 6 weeks premature 32 years ago and they remembered me. I was there for 4 weeks then and that was pretty rare. LOL One even brought in a picture that she had of me right before I was dismissed. It was great!*******
Around noon the contractions were fairly intense and every 2-3 mins. apart. The nurse kept coming in and pulling the baby's heart rate sheet off the monitor but I didn't pay much attention.....I was otherwise occupied. LOL The nurse decided to check the babies position and how much progress I had made. Big problem....baby's arm was still above her head and BIGGER problem was that every time I had a contraction her heartrate went from 150 to 50. Every 2-3 mins. She called the doctor. He got there about 1 p.m. checked me and immediately called for an emergency c-section. He said that if I would have been a 10 he would have delivered me but I was only dilated to a 5.....her arm was the only thing coming out. LOL

So.......I quickly signed papers, got shaved, got my catheter, met the anesthesiologists, etc. Was wheeled down the hall......crying. I told my mom I loved her (only 1 could come back to OR with me). Norman donned his scrubs. They gave me a spinal block which wasn't nearly as bad as I might have imagined although he had to do the actual needle stick while I has having a contraction (they had turned off the pitocin but I was still contracting although not as frequently). Norman was brought in, cutting was started.........Abigail was born at 1:21 p.m. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and her arm was delivered last. LOL She rated a 9 on both apgar scores. I was stitched up and returned to recovery. I didn't really have any problems with the spinal. After 1.5 hrs I was moved to my regular room. Norman brought her in to me after I got settled in recovery. She is beautiful. She has the longest little feet and toes :)

C-section recovery is not fun. Although all the baby books tell you that you will stay an extra 2-3 days in the hospital after a c-section, that isn't so in Effingham. LOL I was booted out exactly 48 hrs. after her birth. The pain is excruciating. And this is from the lady who delivered the first 3 without any pain medication. LOL Norman says I have a very high tolerance for pain. So I have been sitting mostly. Getting out of bed is agony. Friends say to walk and I am trying but I am bent over at a weird angle and it is terribly painful. I am hoping for improvement.

Abigail is wonderful. She is the most precious gift from God. I am so thankful for L&D nurses who were watching that monitor and knew what they were looking for. We could have lost her so easily. Also, the nurses in OR were great.....although I didn't find out until afterwards they kept having to give me epinephrin in my IV because my blood pressure kept going low. The OR was such a calm place though....you wouldn't have ever known that there was an emergency or that anything was wrong with me in there. That really helped with my anxiety level.

So we are very thankful to be through this and so very thankful that we are safe and healthy. Everyone is adjusting and Norman is taking wonderful care of all of us. We have been very blessed and protected by God this past week.

Back to School

Lee was back to school this week so that means we went back to the books here at home too. I thought that I would give a run down of what was accomplished this week. Keep in mind that our little snowstorm canceled school on Thursday and Friday so we had a short week :)

Greg - 4th Grade
We are one chapter from being finished with Caddie Woodlawn. I guess we will finish it up next week :) Amazingly he has been able to see several birds and gotten good use out of the bird field guide that he got for Christmas. In history we are studying 1865-1890's - and all the exciting things that changed our world during that time. In science we are studying feathers.

Bear - 2 years old
This would be tot school. This week Bear has spent quite a bit of time working his Melissa and Doug puzzles, play doh and pegs. We used the pegs to sort colors. He also loves to build towers with blocks and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Very cute.

Baby
We have been very blessed today to find out that the baby is a GIRL :) According to the ultrasound she is about 13 ozs. We are eagerly anticipating her arrival in a few more months.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Sorry

I do apologize about the lateness of my posting lately. I wish that I could say that I have been terribly busy, but really it is just the normal stuff around here. LOL Honestly, I just find facebook a lot easier to use and spend my writing time over there.

We had a birthday last week! Norman Matthew (aka, Bear) turned 2. He loved his birthday. I think that his favorite part was when the waitresses at Ryans sang the birthday song to him. We had a small party with friends and family and then went trick or treating. Bear got tractors and horses and seemed very pleased with all the attention. For Halloween Greg was Akmed the Dead Terrorist (from Jeff Dunham comedy) and Bear was a dinosaur. Lee put a mask on and carried Bear around for us.

I have been feeling well. Poor Norman has had some medical issues (severally abscessed tooth-infection spread all the way up his jaw!) but seems to be back to normal now. It was a very long couple of weeks for him though.

My pregnancy is progressing normally. I always hate this part when I start to feel better but can't feel the baby move yet. It is almost like it isn't real. LOL At the 12 week doctor's appt. yesterday though, my doctor said that everything is progressing normally and honestly, this isn't my first rodeo :) I am looking forward to feeling the baby move soon though. Norman bought a cute little pink Minnie Mouse onsie and hung it up in the living room....hopefully for good baby girl vibes :) LOL He is so funny but it sure would be a blessing to have a girl this time. I need someone to hang out with while all the testosterone people go do hunting/fishing/playing stuff. LOL Course, I will get the girl that wants to do all those things. Oh well....we will love whatever we get. God has truly blessed our family.

Surprise

For those of you who are observant blog readers, you have noticed the new ticker in the left hand side-bar. For the rest of you...........
.............
.............
............
I am PREGNANT!

No, this wasn't planned. In fact, 2 weeks ago my dh had a vasectomy. We decided that "we" were done having children. It wasn't that we wouldn't have loved more, it just looked like more fertility treatments were in our future and we just didn't want to do that again. Our family seemed complete and we were both at peace with the decision after much prayer and discussion. Almost immediately after, I started feeling blah. Really blah. Go to bed at 6 and sleep like a rock and please don't wake me up ever kinda blah. And it didn't go away. I had taken a pregnancy test a few days before dh's procedure because my cycles are whacky anyway and it was negative so I refused to take a test again for another week....
Blah turned into "I really don't feel good....peeing all the time.....eating peppermints". I really should have know. LOL So I tested on the 30th of September and got a positive. Spent the last few days having bloodwork and an ultrasound to confirm.....and I am over 7 weeks along! So I was pregnant when I took the last test, it just didn't show. This is the furthest along I have ever been when I found out I was pregnant.

It took a few days to adjust to the news but we are now delighted and excited and overwhelmed (ME!) at the thought of a new little one.
God is GOOD. His plans are always better than ours are. We are so excited to be seeing the way He is working in our lives right now.
So prayers our way for a healthy baby and safe pregnancy are appreciated. It looks like I have a due date of May 20th, 2010. Sounds like a good day to have a baby, doesn't it?

Cloth Diapering

I have a lot of people ask me about using cloth diapers. I have used cloth diapers with little Bear since he was 4 months old. I really enjoy it and don't find it to be that much work at all. We do use disposables at night (so I don't worry about leaking) and when we are away from home. A mega pack of disposable diapers will last us close to a month and since I usually manage to get them for free (from CVS or Walgreens using coupons and rebates) that really isn't an expense for us.

Candy has recently posted a great cloth diapering article.

When I first started using cloth diapers, I bought some from a lady on Craig's list. I got 20 diapers and covers for $50. The diapers were homemade and she sent the pattern, but I just haven't had the time to work it up. I am still using some of these diapers (Bear has gotten longer, not wider). I have also purchased some diapers, doublers and covers from Baby Best Buy and think that they are a great value....especially if you buy them in bulk. I just spent $76 - shipping included - for another 12 diapers, 12 covers and 18 doublers. I fully expect these to last through potty training.

If we are blessed with another child I will absolutely use cloth diapers. I feel silly for not doing it with the older too!

Norman Matthew

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Norman Matthew was born on Oct. 30, 2007 at 11:42 a.m. He weighed 7lbs 15ozs and is 20 inches long. Delivery was relatively quick.........the doctor almost didn't make it to catch him!!!! I have some recovery issues, but otherwise we are home and doing good!

Baby update

******Sing along to the tune of We are Going To the Chapel******

We are going to the hospital and we're gonna have a baby.......We're going to the hospital and we're gonna have a baaaabbyyyy........

Anyway, sorry, I have been wanting to do that for 9 months so I decided that now was as good a time as any :) My doctor's appt. went well. Little guy looked fabulous on the ultrasound. He weighs 7lbs 5 ozs. My amniotic fluid went from 28 (something - I don't know the unit of measurement) to 32. My doctor says that's still ok.....but regardless, with too much fluid and a bigger baby there isn't any room in there for him to grow. So I am scheduled for an induction at 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday Oct. 30. I was 50% effaced and dialated to 1.5 centimeters so I could go before then.....but that is d-day if I don't.

I know that I should be frantically nesting, but I am not. I am tired and I am resting. We have a busy weekend and fall has hit with a vengence here, so all I really want to do it huddle under the covers and drink cocoa.....so that's probably what I am going to do.

I will probably be online some this weekend, and I will need to post my Walgreens deals tomorrow. Rest assured that I will post baby's birth announcement as soon as we get home. I appreciate all the prayers that have been answered even before I got pregnant this time. All of my blogland friends are very, very precious to me.

With that said, I hope that everyone has a wonderful day!
Blessings,
Carie

36 Week Appointment

Hello everyone!

It is time for my weekly doctor's appt. update. I think that it is sad that this is the only thing of note I have to write about. I guess you now know how very pathetic and boring my life really is LOL.

Anywho......the doctor's appt. went well. Baby looked good. Amniotic fluid was at the same level as last week which I guess is good (if it would have gotten higher that would have been bad). They didn't take measurements of the baby this week, that will be done again next week.

Doctor said that if I didn't go into labor on my own in the next couple of weeks that he would induce 1-1.5 weeks before my due date to try to avoid a HUGE baby. I really appreciate that! I hope and pray that I go into labor on my own before then though.

I have another appt. next Wednesday so as long as nothing exciting happens around here before then, I will update after the appt.

Blessings to All!

35 Week Appointment

Off we went to the doctor this morning for my 35 week ultrasound and doctor's appointment. The ultrasound went well. Baby weighs approximately 6lbs. 12ozs (that is way above the 5.5lb average). He has an above average sized head and stomach and below average size femur bones. What that means is that he is short and chubby LOL The other problem that they found was that I have way too much amniotic fluid. Apparently, this poses no problem for the baby or me, but it could cause me to go into labor early. At this point I don't think that it would hurt anything, but they are going to monitor me more closely. Therefore, I will have another ultrasound at my appointment next week. The 3-D pictures that we received of little guy are so cute!!!!! He is adorable! I know that I am biased, but I can't wait to meet this handsome little fellow.

My mil found use a crib mattress so now we have the crib all set up, sheets on, and ready to go. She also found us a high chair. Hopefully we will pick up the rest of the "must haves" after payday on Monday. My mom gave me a Walmart gift card which we will use to get the rubbermaid dresser for little guys clothes. Soon enough we will be all set!

Blessings,
Carie

33 Week Checkup and Other News

I had my 33 week appointment yesterday morning. Baby looks good, is head down and head a nice heartbeat. At my next appt., in 2 weeks, I will have my group B strep test and another ultrasound done. Then I will have weekly appts. until the end. It is almost here!!!

I have been very emotional lately. My optimal goal in life for today would be to lay in bed and cry all day. For no apparent reason. But I have decided that would be no way to live so today I am going to try to:

unload and reload the dishwasher
finish making my grocery list and categorizing coupons
show Greg the basics of learning to knit (he has been begging for months)

Not a very ambitious list, but if I can manage that at least I will have accomplished something. Maybe tomorrow I will be more "together".

We have taekwondo tonight so maybe being around other people will help.

I hope that everyone has a great day!
Blessings,
Carie

Doctor's Appointments

Yesterday was my 31 week check-up. On the way into town I commented to dh that my doctor had never had to deliver a baby during any of my appointmets.....he was always there, on time and ready. I spoke too soon!!!! We got back into the exam room and were the next up and we could hear him in the hall giving instructions. He had to go do an emergency c-section! So I got to see the physician's assistant. She is a very nice lady. Baby is head down, but transverse at this point. Gregory was transverse when I went into labor with him and the nurses manually turned him straight down. I don't want a repeat of that procedure....it is very painful. So hopefully the little tyke will settle fully head down sometime in the next few weeks.

Norman also had an appointment. The doctor is scheduling an MRI to see if they can find the source for the back pain he has been sufferering with all summer.

Otherwise we are both healthy as horses :)

29 Weeks

Today was my 29 week doctor's appointment. Everything is going well. From now on I will be having my appointments every 2 weeks. I guess that will make things go faster :) The downside is that the doctor said that I couldn't travel farther than 1 hour from my hospital after 32 weeks. I was hoping to go on an overnite trip to a taekwondo tournament in Edgewood, KY (south of Cincinnati, OH). I guess that is out now :( But that's ok. While the guys are gone I guess that I will keep myself busy around here.

Physically, I can definately tell that the pregnancy is progressing. I always get carpal tunnel when pregnant and it is in full swing. My sciatic nerve is also making it very difficult to sleep, sit and walk. I am uncomfortable, but it isn't anything that I can't handle.

We heard the baby's heartbeat on our home doppler today for the first time! That was exciting. I was beginning to think that it would never work. So we have something to entertain us now. The baby was still feet down, but the doctor said that we had until about 35 weeks for him to turn. I sure hope he feels inclined to do so sometime soon.

Guess that is it. I am having a lazy day today. I think that I will work on a cross stitch bib that I started this spring. Have a good week!
Blessings,
Carie

26 Weeks

Hello everyone!

My doctor's appt. on Wed. went well. When I commented to the doctor that I has having many slightly painful contractions he ordered an ultrasound to make sure that everything was ok. Everything is ok and we got some more wonderful pictures of our darling baby boy. He is still a boy for those of you who were wondering LOL! He weights 2 pounds, which is a little big for his age, but everything looks great.

I haven't got back the results from my gtt test yet, but I did get a card from the doctor's office that said I was low on iron so now I am taking supplements in addition to everything else. I feel compelled to eat a large breakfast so that all those pills aren't swimming around in there by themselves!

As a side note, the state of IL hasn't balanced their budget yet. Norman, and all other state employees, got notice on July 31 that they may not be getting their Aug. 15th paychecks on time. They could delay payment indefinately until the budget is balanced. In 2003 I think, it took until Oct. althought they continued to pay us during that time. So we are in limbo. We have some in savings and a good payment history with all of our bills so we will be good for at least a month and various friends have offered assistance if it goes beyond that. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! They are more like family :)

This is our wake-up call I guess that we need to get our financial affairs into better order. So I guess we will be working on that as soon as the paychecks start coming back in. I know most of the tricks for frugal living, but I am open to more suggestions and any ideas on how to bulk up that savings account. I know that I have a few blog readers................................any ideas anyone???

We are getting ready to leave for a taekwondo tournament in Lawrencevile IL. This will be a nice short drive. I hope that everyone else has a great weekend!
Blessings,
Carie

And our baby is a............

Boy!!!!!!


The ultrasound made our baby's gender VERY obvious......the ultrasound tech wasn't even looking and saw his "private parts" LOL

I have to admit that I am a little disappointed.....I had truly hoped that this time would be a girl, but we are very excited about our new little one and so very grateful to God that he seems to be healthy. He is head up, which explains all the kicking in my pelvic region. I really wish that he would flip and kick at my rib cage for a while :) His growth seemed to be right on track for his gestational age. We have several pictures to keep us content until he decides to make an appearance. Now we just have to come up with a name!!!!!

Blessings,
Carie

Baby Clothes and Stuff

Beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine have greeted us today. It truly is a beautiful day.....straight from the hand of God.

After worship services and a pie social this a.m. we came home. I have zig-zag stitched some fabric that I bought at JoAnn's to make receiving blankets. It is now in the washer and heading to the dryer to be shrunk. After that is done I am going to iron and sew the blankets together. I ventured out into the garage after that was started and fetched 2 rubbermaid boxes of baby clothes that I had stored. About 2/3 of them were definately boys clothes, sized 0-6 months, but the other 1/3 was "universal" clothes (yellow/green/white sleepers, gowns and onesies), receiving blankets, a crib sheet, burb rags and a few pair of socks. That is all going into the wash next. I will probably wash the load of boys clothes also and then return them to the rubbermaid tote. That way they will be ready if I need them and if not I can go ahead and donate them to the crisis pregnancy center.

I am beginning my 14th week of pregnancy and really feeling everything coming together. My tummy is tender in spots where it is starting to grow. I may make it into my maternity clothes yet :)

I will try to be more diligent about updated! I have a doctor's appt. on May 14th and will try to update everyone then :)
Blessings,
Carie