Fluff Frenzy

Photo Credit: Love and Whimsy Photography

I didn't know it was possible to become addicted to diapers. Cloth diapers, that is. We are in love with them! Who knew that cute prints and fluffy little bottoms would be something I didn't get tired of?

We've been "CDing" it (cloth diapering) for 7 weeks now and I love it even more than I did when we first started. There are some that would be skeptical about starting to cloth diaper, but let me expel some myths for you about cloth diapering.

1. "I'll have to use pins and old Birdseye cloth diapers. What a hassle, not to mention unflattering."

Nope. Truth is there are so many options out there for cloth diapering mommies and daddies now that it can actually be like trying to find a prom dress. They're all so cute, but which ones do I choose? We have a variety of cloth diapers to choose from, which I like. I'm glad we aren't an "all one system" family. My husband has his favorites and I have mine. Surprisingly, my favorites are prefolds! (These are the ones that are most similar to the cloth diapers our grandparents used. But the upgrade is no pins and they have the most adorable diaper covers for them!) My husband prefers the pocket diapers. These are diapers you can use just like a disposable, except they're reusable! Each night after the diapers are clean and dry, I stuff microfiber inserts into the pocket liners and then they're ready to use the next morning. You put them on baby just like a regular diaper! Diaper changes are fast and easy!

2. "I'll have to spend so much money up front. We just can't afford it."

Well, this might be somewhat true but not completely. When you figure in the cost of buying newborn diapers for the first month or two, you've about covered your cost. The beauty of cloth diapering is you spend it once and don't have to spend money again! (Unless you get sucked into buying more diapers because they're so cute...not that I do that...) Cloth diapering can be done as little as around $100, upwards to $400-500. It just depends on the system you choose. As I mentioned, we chose a mixture of diapers including all-in-ones, pockets, prefolds, and fitteds. To date, I spent around $300 total. That included about 24 different diapers, diaper creams, detergent, snappies and a wet bag. I would have spent this on disposables within the first two or so months.

3. "They'll be so messy. Eww. Can't deal with all the poo."

Seriously? Have you ever used a disposable? They are notorious for blowouts and leaks! Another great thing about cloth diapers is that they fit around your child better to contain blowouts and leaks. Unlike a disposable, cloth diapers have elastic in the back, containing blowouts and leaks better. And washing them is a breeze. Because Dominic is strictly breastfed, his dirty diapers are totally water soluble. At night, I just toss the whole wet bag of diapers in and wash up! No mess, no hassle. When he starts solids, I'll have a nifty little device called a diaper sprayer that will just spray the poo off into the toilet. No dunking and swirling required. And really, if you're afraid of poo, you might rethink being a parent if you haven't had kids yet. Poo is inevitable, as is spit up, vomit, and getting peed on. Get used to it.


4. "It's a total pain to wash all those diapers. And you're using up so much water!"
Wrong. It's easy. I actually look forward to doing my diaper laundry. I know that sounds strange since I dispise all other kinds of laundry. But doing fluffy laundry is fun! How can you deny that a full clothesline of diapers is stinkin' cute? And if we're talking about harming the environment, have you considered how many disposable diapers are just sitting in landfills, NOT breaking down? Billions! Sure, we use a little more water now that we're doing an extra load of laundry a day. But compared to the harm those disposables are doing in landfills, I think my conscience can rest happily knowing I'm not putting another diaper in our landfills.

Photo Credit: Love and Whimsy Photography

5. "They're not practical for out and about usage."
Sure they are! That's why amazing women (and men) around the globe have come up with new and improved cloth diapering systems that cater to busy parents. Packing up a few cloth diapers when I go out is no more impractical than carrying several disposables in a diaper bag. I have a little wet bag that I keep in my diaper bag that the used diaper can go into. Then I take it home and wash it up with the rest of the day's diapers. Now I realize that cloth diapering can intimate folks that are not used to it or have no experience with it. I haven't jumped ship entirely and abandoned disposables all together. If I were leaving my child in the church nursery, at this point, I'd probably send my baby in a disposable. But if it's just me, toolin' around town, we're CDing all the way! They're no more of a pain than changing a disposable and I can use my diapers all over again the next day!

As I stated in an earlier post about cloth diapering, we are not doing this entirely for the "green" reasons. Our driving force behind cloth diapering our son was to save money. Let's face it, times are tough and money's tight in a one income household. You've got to pinch pennies where you can. We've found that cloth diapering our baby is an easy and fun way to do this. I'm not against disposables for others. If that works best for you, go for it. But this system has been life changing for us and I wish I had figured CDing out earlier and had used them for Gabriel. We could have saved thousands of dollars, literally.

If you're throwing around the idea of CDing your babies, I'd encourage you to do a lot of research to figure out what system would work best for you. You might want to use a hybrid system like me, or maybe you've fallen in love with a particular brand. Give it a shot and try it out for a couple months. In the end, if you try it out and don't like it (which I haven't heard many that don't) you can always go back. All you've spent is a couple months worth of diapers. Check out great information websites like theclothdiaperwhisperer.com, kellyscloset.com, jackbenatural.com, and diaperjungle.com. These are just a few sites that have great information and are great places to purchase cloth. Or host a diaper party! I did this (see Febuary's posts for my experience with this), and loved it. It was so informative and allowed me to really decide what kind of system I'd want to invest in. Bottom line, consider it. My guess is you'll fall in love with it too. Then you may be trying to figure out how to come up with extra money to purchase more fluff for your baby...not that I do that either.

The Heart Expands

When I thought about my second son arriving into this great big world of ours, I knew I would love him. But I worried that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as my first son. Gabriel had been our world for the last 3 years. How would it even be possible to love another little being as much as we loved Gabriel? Well, on March 16th, both my husband and I found out that God has the amazing ability to double the size of your heart in a matter of moments.

Tuesday, March 15th started out like any other day. My parents were in town, anticipating the arrival of their second grandchild, and I was thankful to have them to help me with my rambunctious little two year old. That morning I woke up with slight cramping, but didn't think too much about it. I had a doctor's appointment set for 3:00 that afternoon and after visiting with her, we'd find out if this little guy was going to be making an appearance any time soon. After my lovely examination, I found out that I was still only dilated to a measly 1.

Now, Michael and I had been moving forward with plans to have me attempt a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), but at this rate, Dominic was getting very, very big. We couldn't wait much longer and my chances of having a successful VBAC were fading away. So, we decided that we would go ahead and plan to have another C-Section for March 17th. We chose the 17th because we thought it would be fun to have a St. Patty's Day Baby.

But Dominic had other plans.

That evening, Michael and I decided to have one last "Family of Three" date. We took Gabriel out to eat at our favorite Mexican Restaurant and then ventured out to Target to find a St. Patrick's Day onesie. As I was waddling around (yes, I really did waddle), Target, I noticed I was starting to cramp a lot. Little did I know that a couple hours later, I would start to have contractions. By 9:00pm, my contractions were about 7 minutes apart and by midnight they were sitting at 5 minutes apart.

Michael quickly called my parents to come over from their hotel to stay with Gabriel and he whisked me off to the hospital. I have to say, it was touching and funny to see my husband getting nervous and excited about the arrival of our baby. I was really going into labor on my own, something I didn't get to experience with Gabriel. By 12:30, we were checked into the hospital and the nurses began monitoring my contractions. I had bumped up to a 2, and the contractions were coming on stronger. After deciding that I was not going home and that I was indeed having the baby within the next 24 hours, things began to happen rather quickly. I received my epidural around 4:00am and was soon out of the pain of natural childbirth. Around 10am, I suddenly felt a POP! and I got to experience my water breaking. I know that might seem a bit much to share, but you have to understand, these were all firsts for me. I didn't to go through any of this with my first child. The doctor came into check me and I had made it all the way up to a 7! That was 3 higher than I made it to with Gabriel!

My doctor was wanting to monitor my contractions a little closer and decided to put a pressure monitor in, but as she was doing so, things went wrong. My blood pressure suddenly dropped, which was the strangest feeling in the world. I thought I was going to pass out. Immediately after my blood pressure took a nose dive, Dominic's heart rate dropped. I saw concern wash over my doctor's face and she looked at me and said, "Kristina, we have to get him out now." At that moment, I didn't care what they had to do or what goals I had set. I wanted my baby safe.

"GET HIM OUT!" I cried.

Soon 10 people were in my hospital room, rushing me to the OR. Someone threw the "Daddy Suit" at Michael and told him to get dressed. They quickly took me to the OR and started prepping for surgery. I've never seen people move so fast. I was completely overwhelmed and started crying. Was my baby going to be okay? Could they get him out in time? I had been told that attempting a VBAC was risky and I prayed that God would wrap his arms of protection around Dominic and I. Through my tears, I saw my doctor come over to me and although she was concerned, she was ready and confident that everything would be okay. She took my hand and squeezed it, telling me that Dominic was okay and that they were going to get him out as soon as possible.

Now, from where I was lying, it seemed as though it was taking FOREVER for them to get him out. But Michael told me that from the time they took me into surgery to the time Dominic arrived, it was a only a matter of about 7 minutes. It amazes me how fast and precise those doctors and nurses can be.

Michael was right by my side the whole time. I continued to cry, pleading with him to reassure me everything was okay. Not too long after that, I heard the beautiful wail of a newborn! My baby was here! And he was perfect! Michael joined in with me in tears of celebration and relief that we were now a family of 4! Immediately, I felt God expand my heart. I loved him unconditionally the second he arrived.

Dominic Isaiah was born at 12:48pm on March 16th. He was 9 lbs, 8 oz and 22.25" long. No wonder he wouldn't fit!! When he emerged, my doctor's first sentence to him was, "Well, Happy 3 Month Birthday to you, little guy!"

My doctor also told me that his cord had wrapped around his neck a couple of times and that the pressure of my contractions was difficult on him, hence the drop in heart rate. Thankfully, all was well and Dominic was in perfect condition.


As I sat in our recovery room together with my family, I was in awe at how good God was to us. We now had a beautiful, perfect, little family of four and I was forever grateful. Now begins the journey of raising my rambunctious toddler and an itty-bitty newborn. I love them both more than I ever could have imagined and I can't wait to see how much more I'll love them as time goes on.

D-Day - as in Due Day!

This baby has been the most stubborn little boy ever. Tomorrow officially marks our due date and we still have yet to see him arrive. I guess he's nice and comfy inside my belly. Both Michael and I are ready to meet him and are anxiously awaiting his arrival.

We decided early on that I was going to try to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) with Dominic if God should so allow, but the longer time goes on and the bigger Dominic gets, the chances of that happening is slipping away. As of last Tuesday, I was barely dilated to a 1. After much prayer and consideration, we decided that if he hasn't come by tomorrow, we're going to schedule a C-section for Thursday. He may still decide to come earlier, but we then have a definite date, and the chances of him getting bigger in utero lessens. He's already projected to be about 8.5 to 9 lbs now! So, right now, we wait. He's still moving around a lot and blessing me with contractions. :)

I also wanted to share a couple of pictures that my friend Shelley Foster took of me. She's an amazing photographer and surprised me with this little maternity shoot as a baby gift for Dominic. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful friend and very talented photographer. Enjoy!

Totally Hooked on Cloth

So Dominic's arrival is just a couple of weeks away (or it could be tomorrow, who knows). As I've shared with you, we're getting ready to cloth diaper our little guy this time around and I am already completely sold out to cloth diapering without even trying it. I'm addicted to the cuter than cute fluff that is available for babies and the idea of saving THOUSANDS of dollars on diapers makes me giddy with glee!

This coming Monday, I'm hosting a Cloth Diapering party at my house and I'm so excited! Kristi Rooks from Hip Green Baby is coming to give demonstrations on how to use cloth diapers and give a run down on what options are available right now for cloth diapering families. Not only does she sell some of the major brands of cloth diapers (FuzziBunz, SoftBums, Kissaluvs, Thirsties, etc), she also makes her own. Now, you all know I'm a sucker for people that craft their own things, so her innovation and devotion to making her own cloth diapers to sell brings a smile to my face. WAY TO GO! I've got 6 other mommies that are going to be attending and I'm hoping that they're going to fall in love with cloth as much as I have.

So far, I've purchased 4 Fuzzibunz diapers, 3 Bum Genius 4.0's, and 1 Thirsties Diaper cover (planning on purchasing some prefolds from Kristi on Monday). I ordered all of these from Kellys Closet, an amazing cloth diapering online store and resource center. They also have a fantastic blog called The Cloth Diaper Whisperer that I've started following. One of the deals that the store had was that if you purchased $59 in cloth diapers, you could receive a FREE cloth diaper (up to a $22 value). Well, I was going to be purchasing my initial stash, so I said, "Sign me up!" When all my sweet fluff came in the mail a couple of weeks ago, inside was a Sunshine Yellow Rumparooz. SOOO CUTE! I'm also planning on purchasing some SoftBums diapers on Monday. I've already seen Kristi do a demonstration at another friends house and she's amazing. I was very impressed with how knowledgeable she was about cloth diapering. I also appreciated that she taught us about cloth diapering in such a way that the fear often associated with moving from disposables to cloth lessened a great deal. I can not wait to put Dominic in these diapers. I've actually been considering putting Gabriel in a cloth diaper at night and moving away from using disposables all together for him, especially since he only uses one a day.

Don't be surprised if my blog starts to have more cloth diapering posts. Eventually, I'm even going to start making my own wipes. I'm all about saving a buck and transitioning to this style of living is going to save us hundreds!

4 to 6 weeks

It's officially happening. God is starting to prepare me for the arrival of a second child. The nights of full sleep, or even just waking up once to pee are officially over. It's now up to pee 3-4 times and rolling over every 45 minutes or so each night. My days of sleep and feeling rested are over, at least for a year.

And surprisingly, I'm okay with that.

33 weeks pregnant and measuring at 35. EEK!

Dominic's going to be officially joining our family in just a month or so and I'm starting to get a little nervous. People are constantly asking me, "Are you excited?" Well, yes. I'm excited to meet this new child that God has blessed us with and allowed me to be a mother of. But am I excited about losing time with my first child, losing sleep and possibly losing my mind from being busy and overwhelmed? Um, no. I'm a wee bit frightened.

But I have to say, I think I'm going into the arrival of this baby with much more mental preparation than I did with Gabriel. Here are just a few things I've learned from Baby 1 to Baby 2.

1. The first 3-4 weeks will totally suck. There is no getting around it. There will be no sleep. I will be completely exhausted. But it will eventually end and I will get into a rhythm.

2. I will absolutely take all the help I can get from family and friends. I am not super mom and God has put these people in my life for a reason. Sometimes that reason will be to take Gabriel on a play date or hold Dominic while I take a shower. I am not above asking for help.

3. The laundry and the dishes will pile up. Eventually I will get to them, but I am not going to stress out if my house is not vaccuumed and everything is not in it's proper place.

4. My husband is my biggest ally. We will work as a team to transition our family from 3 to 4.

And the biggest thing I learned from Baby 1 to Baby 2 -

5. If I start to get sad or depressed, it's okay. But I will immediately let my doctor know and take action to get out of my slump as quickly as possible. I will not isolate myself from others and will try to get out into the world as quickly as I can.

I realize that with Baby 2, new insights will be realized and if/when we have Baby 3, I'll have even more things to add to that list. Right now, Baby D is measuring about 2 weeks early, so the arrival of our newest little guy could be here in just a month. Hopefully the transition to having a new child and Gabriel's transition to having a new brother will go smoother than I could ever imagine. Here's to God stretching me.

On another note related to preparing for Dominic's arrival, we've been working hard on getting his room ready. Michael and I cleaned out our guest bedroom, strategically hiding more junk in the garage and attic. Michael's been amazing, painting Dominic's room and being his perfectionist designer self, adding little touches that will make his room unique. I've been sewing like crazy and putting together Dominic's bedding set. I decided to make his bedding this time around and am happy to say that it's turning out fantastic! So far, I have the crib skirt and one crib sheet done. I'm about halfway done with his blanket, but it's coming along great too. I've included a couple of snap shots of his room and bedding in progress. It's not finished yet, but it's really coming together nicely and should be finished in the next couple of weeks. Our little guy is going to be stylin'!

I also celebrated turning the big 3-0 with an amazing 80's themed birthday party that Michael hosted for me. It was so much fun! Seeing an 8 month pregnant girl dressed in flash dance attire is a sight to see, by the way. I didn't even think it was possible to get my bangs that high anymore. My friends were great, dressing up and really getting into the theme of the evening.


I know the next several weeks are going to fly by and before we know it, we'll be a family of four. Right now, I'm just so thankful to be surrounded by good friends and family that are willing to come on the ride with us!

The Final Countdown

Today marks my 31st week of being pregnant with our second child. I'm astonished that 31 weeks have already gone by and that in just about 8-9 more weeks, we'll meet our newest little family member.

Over Christmas, Michael and I came to the realization that subsequent children tend to get the shaft. I realize that a lot of this is accounted for by the fact that we're chasing after a two and a half year old all day, every day. But I don't want this baby to look back on the days before he was born and think, "Gee, Mom and Dad, thanks. I feel robbed." I haven't been as diligent about taking pregnancy photos to document my growing belly. My pregnancy journal is not nearly as detailed as I'd like it to be. We have yet to paint his nursery (although we're working on it this weekend), or buy him a crib or even a car seat for that matter.

But does that mean we love him any less? Absolutely not. We can not wait to meet this new little addition to our family and for Gabriel to experience what it's like to have a little brother. I'm sure after his arrival, we'll be very busy spoiling him with hugs, kisses and all the things we did to let Gabriel know we were so happy to have him in our lives. In the meantime, we need to get the ball rolling and prepare for his arrival a little more efficiently. I tried getting more efficient by taking a picture of my growing belly over Christmas!

Big baby at 29 weeks - already measuring 2 weeks early!

This pregnancy has been 180 degrees different than my pregnancy with Gabriel. First of all, I was extremely sick the first 15 weeks of my pregnancy - leading me to believe that he was going to be a she. Second, I haven't gained very much weight (praise God!). Third, I've been much more laid back (after my initial 16 weeks) about the safety and well being of this baby boy. Early on in my pregnancy I was very worried that something was going to happen to cause me to lose the pregnancy. I had several friend who were due around the same day I was that were losing their pregnancies and I was sure that I was going to be next. We experienced a miscarriage before we had Gabriel and it shook our world up for sure. But towards the 15-16th week of my ridiculous worrying and crying spells, Michael turned to me one night and said,

"Do you trust God, Kristina?"

I looked at him through my blurry eyes, tears still streaming down my face and was about to retort, "Well yes, of course I do."

But I stopped and thought about it. Did I trust Him? I knew I trusted Him with my marriage, with our finances, with our job situations, with our friends - with a whole lot of things. But did I trust Him with this pregnancy?

"No. I guess I don't. I want to. But I don't know how."

It took a lot of praying and encouraging from some solid Christian women as well as my amazing husband to teach me how to trust God with all things, including this new little life inside me. And the incredible part of my learning this was, once I put my trust in Him, my worries of another miscarriage went away. It didn't mean that I didn't understand that it was a possibility. But it meant that I could trust Him to take care of me - good or bad - and that in the end, His love for me would never fail.

Thankfully, this pregnancy has been very smooth and for the most part, very enjoyable. As the weeks go by, I get more excited about finally being able to meet my new son. It's going to be a change for sure, going from a family of three to a family of four. But it's something I wouldn't trade in for anything.

We can't wait to meet you, Dominic.

Reflecting

As I was rocking my sniffling little boy this morning, I was reflecting on how blessed I was. It seems odd to have this thought pop in your head when you're awakened at 5:45am to the sound of crying and your little one suffering from a runny nose and a fever. But in the midst of his tears and little whimpers, I thought about how much I have and how thankful I am to be where I'm at in life. Here are just a few of the things I considered myself blessed with this morning.

1. My relationship with Jesus - This is something I have been blessed with for a long time, but seldom have the courage to talk about. Sure, people know I'm a Christian, but what exactly does that mean? To me, it means that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ died for my sins and has redeemed me. He is my bridge to a relationship with God the Father and I'm so grateful that He guides me through life. I've lived the life without God in it. It's not worth it. Sin is fun for a while, but it definitely catches up to you. And when it does, God is still there, waiting for you to come back, to restore you. I'm grateful that I figured this out pretty early on in college. I'm not perfect, things are not always easy for me, nor do I have life all figured out. But the one thing I do know at the end of the day is that Jesus loves me, no matter what. And that when everything and everyone else fails me, He's always there - encouraging me to stay the course and to trust in Him.

2. My family - Really it doesn't get much better than this. I have the most amazing husband in the whole world. He loves me in a sexy dress and even when I've whipped out the tattered sweatpants. Nothing tells you a man loves you more than when he'll snuggle with you in ratty sweats, wearing no make up, and your hair looks like Woody the Woodpecker may have tried to create a home in it. My son is also incredible. Although parenting has not been an easy adventure, I have a pretty well-behaved, respectful, sweet, and handsome little boy. My prayer is that his little brother will be just a duplicate of those things.

3. My church - When people say they love their church, I often wondered what they meant by that. Do they love the building? The atmosphere? The programing? Just the pastor? When I say it, I mean I love the people. All those extra things are wonderful too, but it's the people that have become dear to my heart. I have made so many friends at our church. These people don't just talk it, they live it. They are there for you when things get tough and love you enough to hold you accountable when you're too blind to see mistakes you're making. They truly love people like Jesus does.

4. Our current situation - I've been a stay at home mom for about two and a half years now. It's been an interesting journey. I've loved being able to be with Gabriel and watch him grow and develop. It's crazy to think that we've been able to manage living off of just Michael's income. (Thank the good Lord for free TV online....) Although we don't have all the latest and greatest things, nicest cars, newest clothes, or the ability to go out to eat all the time, we really do love our life. God is putting a stirring in my heart to go back to work part time after the baby is born, which is exciting and frightening all at the same time. But as it stands now, I'm content with where He has us. Michael has a good job and I'm grateful I get to spend every day molding and training my son to be a good person and a man of God.

There are many more things I'm thankful for, but in the 15 minutes I spent giving Gabriel some much needed snuggling this morning, those are the four things that really stuck out to me. I may not have all the latest and greatest things, but I've got the essentials. That's all that really matters, right?

Cloth Diapering Adventure

In about 19 weeks, we're going to have a newborn again. Another adorable, chubby, sweet little boy! Just last Wednesday, I found out that Baby @#2 was going to be a boy. Which was surprising for both Michael and I, considering we were totally convinced this baby was going to be a girl. But it makes no difference to us. We can't wait to have a little guy with chubby legs, cute baby coos, soft baby skin....

However, we're not looking forward to little to no sleep, maybe getting in 2-3 showers a week, and loads of diapers.

When we had Gabriel, I always thought it would be "fun" to try cloth diapering. But I didn't think it was realistic for our family. Who has time to do laundry once a day or every other day, and ewww! Wouldn't it be gross? And what do you do when you're on the go? Aren't they super expensive?

Fast forward two and a half years with one child being in diapers. I think Huggies, Pampers, Costco, and now Target have made a small fortune on the amount of money I've spent on disposable diapers. Earlier this week, I had to go buy yet another package of diapers for Gabriel (as potty training is not going so well), and had a small heart attack when I realized how much per diaper I was spending lately. $.39 a diaper!!! Because I've got a football player in the making, my son has to wear a size 6, which is the biggest diaper they make. Which also means that I have to buy packages that contain the least amount of diapers for the same amount of money. After handing over my $15 to Target for my small box of "generic" diapers, I took a deep breath and affirmed myself that with this new baby we would be doing things differently.

My friend Lauren, who's also expecting, threw a cloth diaper party a couple of months ago and I was able to see all the different kinds of cloth diapering systems. Needless to say I was overwhelmed. But that wasn't going to turn me back to using disposables. So for the past few months, I've been researching all different kinds of diapering systems. Unfortunately, I still haven't made a decision on what we want to try. The initial investment for cloth diapering can really add up, spending close to $200-300 up front. But when you compare that to the amount of money spent on diapering a baby for two years with disposables, it's just a drop in the bucket. And, the benefits of cloth diapering as opposed to disposables are awesome too! Less diaper rash, no torn tabs, no more killing the environment. All I need to do now is make a decision on what few diapers I want to try before we take a huge plunge into a system. Here are a couple of the brands we're looking at pretty seriously. Any thoughts, suggestions, or experiences that you think would help us make an informed decision are welcome!

Soft Bums

Fuzzi Bunz

Thirsties