First month in cloth diapers (picture heavy)

The first week & a half of Matthew's life, he wore disposables, and I was okay with that. After all, I was laid up after having a c-section (so I wouldn't be doing laundry for the time being), DH had *just* learned how to change diapers and we were both learning how to be parents. Yeah, I guess we still are learning that last one, but you know what I mean. I kinda also wanted to wait until his cord stump fell off, and thought that a week & a half was sufficient. Me <---- rookie.

Anyway, after the pack of diapers the hospital sent us home with ran out, it was decided to keep on with the disposables for a few more days, as I was still having a lot of difficulties getting around and disposables are easy. So DH went to Walmart and bought a pack. Which lasted a grand total of 3 days because Matthew poops a lot. But I'd said when he bought that pack that when it was done, we'd be doing cloth... after all, we had newborn diapers to use, so why not use them? So what if his cord stump hadn't fallen off yet? So with great trepidation, I strapped him into an infant-sized prefold and cover. I immediately doubted the decision to do cloth. And I do mean IMMEDIATELY. They were so so so big and bulky on him. It surprised me because going in, I knew that cloth diapers were bulkier than disposables and the thought didn't bother me at all. But when I saw it in action, combined with the fact that Matthew was screaming his head off, I had the first of many post-partum freak-outs that involved tears. And it wasn't just the prefolds that were big and bulky. His XS Bum Genius AIO's were that way, too. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures because it depressed me that much.

I felt so incredibly guilty that I had to talk and push DH into doing cloth only for me to end up hating it. I felt buyers remorse when I thought of the hundreds of dollars I'd spent on them. I felt bad that others had gifted us cloth diapers, and they might not be used. I felt like a horrible mother because Matthew usually doesn't fuss during diaper changes, yet here he was, freaking out. And later, when he didn't sleep at all because of the change, it made me seriously consider making DH go to Walmart and get more disposables. I admitted all this to DH, and he was supportive about doing whatever I wanted to do. He didn't make me feel bad about thinking of quitting so soon. So I made the decision to keep on cloth for a few more days and re-evaluate.

Over the next few days, I became okay with cloth, even though I still hated how bulky they were on him. I mean, cleaning them is easy. Actually putting the diapers on him is easy, too... just not as easy as a disposable. But one thing still bothered me a lot... enough to go back into disposables for a bit. As his cord stump still hadn't fallen off after 2 weeks, it was common to see blood on his diaper covers from where it had rubbed up against his cord. I didn't want it to become infected because it wasn't properly drying out, so DH went and got another pack. We also received more from my in-laws, so we had about a week & a half's worth of disposables, with the hopes that Matthew's cord would fall off in that time. It did.

But that brief break made me think that disposables weren't that great either. Matthew developed diaper rash pretty much as soon as we put him back in them. It didn't get bad, but that may have been because we started putting on the cloth diaper-safe ointment before every change. But I found it telling that he didn't get the rash until he went back into disposables. He also now hated to be changed, as where after that first day in cloth, he became okay with cloth. Could have been because of the rash. Who knows? Anyway, point being, after those disposables ran out, we went back into cloth, and haven't looked back. He also grew a lot so they don't seem *as* bulky as before, so that helps. It also helps that DH now really likes cloth and is excited to see how much money we'll save at the end.

So given all that, here's what I've found I like and what I don't like.

What I like:

Unbleached Indian Prefolds, infant sized
from CottonBabies
6 weeks, 11 pounds

I actually really love prefolds & covers now. Yeah, they'll always be big & bulky, but when it comes down to it, they're the only diaper I haven't had a leak from. Not a one.

Thirsties diaper cover, size XS
4 weeks, 9 pounds.

Thirsties Duo Wrap cover, size 1
4 weeks, 9 pounds.

Thirsties covers. I have covers from Thirsties and Bummis, and I vastly prefer Thirsties. Reasons why are listed under Bummis in the "selling" section. But other than those reasons, I do like how Thirsties has the Duo Wrap covers, which will last longer on Matthew than just a single sized cover since there are 3 different sizes you can snap to. I do have one Thirsties cover in size XS and one in small, and they both work great, too. But in their case, it's either they fit, or they don't.

Cloth wipes. I made about 20 of my own, flannel on one side, stretch terry on the other. They're the bomb, although I do need to make more since we tend to run short, what with Matthew still needing about 12 diaper changes a day.

Eh.... I can do without, but they're not horrible:

FuzziBunz OS Elite, smallest setting
4 weeks, 9 pounds

Pocket diapers. At this point in time, they're still a little big on him, so we get the occasional leak from around his skinny thighs. We'll give it some more time for him to grow into them. We have FuzziBunz OS Elite, BumGenius 4.0, Kawaii Baby, Lotus Bumz and FuzziBunz Perfect Size small. But so far, he's only tried out the FuzziBunz OS Elite. BTW, in the pic above, the snaps that adjust to the thighs are not set to their tightest setting. I re-snapped them after the picture was taken.

BumGenuis NB AIO.
3 weeks, 8.5 pounds

Bum Genius NB AIO's. The fit is fabulous. However, he gets leaks out the top, which is weird, because the waist is tight enough, the inner fabric isn't wicking out, the rise is just fine and we point his penis down. Could be we have a super soaker on our hands?

Kissas fitteds, size 0
4 weeks, 9 pounds

Kissas fitteds. They work well, but going along with the super soaker suspicion, these get completely soaked very quickly.

RagaBabe Easy AIO, size small
5 weeks, 10 pounds.

Sad to admit, my RagaBabe AIO. He must be super excited to wear it, because every single time I put it on him, he poops in it within 5 minutes. And I'm not even exaggerating... 5 minutes, tops. Every time. So it might work awesomely, but if he keeps this pace up, he'll out-grow it before I get to find out if it was worth the money or not.

What I'll definitely be selling:

Bummis Super Brite cover, size small
6 weeks, 11 pounds

Bummis Super Brites covers. The top part of the cover folds down easily, and so the velcro becomes exposed. The velcro on them is sturdy, which means that it's stiff. And it usually ends up rubbing up against Matthew's bare tummy and leaving red marks, which I do not like even if Matthew doesn't seem bothered by it (see pic above for said red marks). The PUL material is also noisier than I'd like... to me, it almost sounds like a plastic bag. The covers themselves work fine in that they've prevented leaks. But that's not reason enough to keep them when we have other options.

Grovia NB AIO

Grovia NB AIO's. Again, the fit is fabulous. But the way they're constructed (serged edges), it wicks any urine/runny NB poop right onto anything his diaper area is touching. So with this diaper, you pretty much have to change the diaper after an hour, tops, or else you're changing his clothes, your clothes, bedding, blankets and/or cleaning furniture. Too much work for only an hour's worth of "protection" IMHO. There are no pictures of him in this diaper, because he's only worn two of them once, and that was long before I considered taking pictures of him in his diapers.

So that's the run-down of how things stand at this point. Although we're starting to experience the dreaded "stinkies", much to my dismay. I think it's a build up of detergent. Can't comment much on that yet, because I'm still trying to find the best way to strip the diapers. Blue Dawn dish soap didn't work. I'm now trying baking soda. If that doesn't work, I'll order some RLR. As always, I'll update when I think I got it figured out.

Matthew @ 1 month

Time has gone by so quickly! It's hard to believe he's already a month old, as it seems as though it was just yesterday that I was pregnant. And at the same time, he's already changed so much. One of my pre-birth purchases was a newborn-sized romper (not 0-3 months, but truly NB size) and his first week, I put him in it when he and DH went to church. He was so teeny that he was swimming in it. A mere 3 weeks later, I put him in it again when we went to a friends' wedding. It is now on the verge of being too small. What can I say? He likes to eat. And on a related note, he is a champion pooper because of his love of the boob. :)

We've also gone through a few stages already, too. Like the lovely 3-week "I'm a cranky baby who gets painful gas every time he eats" stage, as well as the awesome 2-week "I'm going to stay up all day and all night because I'm cluster feeding" stage. I know we'll go through all these again numerous times, so I'm not looking forward to that. But it all does mean that he's growing, and that's good, so I'll just have to take one day at a time.

But for the most part, he's a really good baby. Very aware of things when he's awake, and he sleeps at night with only a few feeds. He mostly falls back asleep after them, too. Mostly. We do spend a few hours sleeping on the couch in the living room once in a while though, just so DH can sleep when Matthew doesn't want to sleep in his Rock n Play sleeper.

And the part I think is the best? Since newborns don't smile consciously, I have to wait until he falls asleep to see one. That's how I know he's truly sleeping... his eyes aren't always closed when he falls asleep (it's kinda creepy), but he almost always smiles a few times when he first goes out. It's so cute!

Name negotiations

Ah, names. As much as I talked big about not letting DH have any say as long as he kept coming up with insane suggestions, I really did want him to have some say in it. The day of Matthew's birth, I point-blank told him "his name will be Matthew". And that was that. Luckily, he likes the name, so there wasn't a fight there. So that left the middle name as DH's.

Problem was, I already had a middle name picked out, and I was completely in love with it: Sebastian. I thought I could have it because it is a known name, but unusual and not used a lot. That was DH's biggest argument... that he wanted his kid to have a "cool" name that almost no one else had. So I thought Sebastian was an awesome choice.

Yeah, not so much, in DH's opinion. So we started hashing out the same negotiations we'd been having for the past week or two, with me vetoing 99% of his suggestions. He finally got stuck on Star Trek names, as we're both Trekkies (he vetoed the name Data though). His first suggestion was Khalis, and honestly, I kinda liked that. He was so excited that I actually gave a green light for it, that I thought that's what it would be. But then he decided to push the envelope a bit. His next suggestion was Locutus. As in Locutus of Borg. *sigh*

I mean, it isn't horrible, but at the same time, I didn't want my son to be fodder for bullies because we, his parents, decided to give him a weird name. So I asked him to research the name to make sure there were no real negative connotations behind the name, and this is what he found that ultimately led me to okay the name Locutus:

"I am Locutus... of Borg. Resistance... is futile. Your life as it has been... is over. From this time forward... you will service... us."

Appropriate, don't you think? Anyway, he also found that the name is based off the Latin word, which means "spoken, or having spoken". So not a bad connotation.

But at the same time, I was still stuck on Sebastian. So I pulled the "I just had major surgery to have YOUR child" card, and told him that Sebastian would be a middle name, regardless of what he thought. He could have two middle names. I thought it was only fair since DH supplied the surname. :) So we'd each get 2 names. I was even nice and let him put Locutus first. Aren't I a nice wife? 

The name is so long, that when Matthew's social security card showed up, Sebastian had the "n" left out. Yeah, he's going to hate us for giving him such a long name. But at least he'll have good reason to learn the alphabet early. :)

Matthew's birth story

In true Jaime fashion, this will be long.

It all started on Friday, July 13, 2012. At that point, I was 39w4d. I woke up and noticed that I was having contractions... actual contractions! None of this lame Braxton-Hicks stuff. They were just barely a step up from BH's though, and very irregular, so I thought I had a few more days left, since a lot of women have irregular contractions for even a few weeks before they deliver. So needless to say, I wasn't timing them and just went about my day since they weren't very painful and I was feeling pretty good. I even went to Walmart, and later on that night, to a friends' house to play some games... although by that point, they were just a bit stronger. Still irregular and far apart though.

DH & I got back and watched a movie, and went to bed at about 2:30am. As soon as I layed down, WHAM! Painful contractions, and they were right on top of each other. It took me by surprise because all day and all night, they were never less than 10 minutes apart, and all of a sudden, they were 3-4 minutes apart. I tried to sleep, but by 3am, it was apparent that they weren't subsiding and that perhaps I should get up and start timing them. My hospital goes by the 5-1-1 rule... 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour. So from 3-4am, I timed so I could fulfill that requirement. The only thing was, my contractions generally weren't lasting a minute. A few were, but for the most part, they were only 30-45 seconds long. By 4am, I decided it was time to wake DH and get ready to go to the hospital. But first, DH called labor & delivery to ask if we needed to come in. Since I wasn't having contractions that were a minute long, they thought it was just false labor, but since they were so close together, they wanted me to come in and be monitored, just to be sure.

We arrived at the hospital at about 4:45am and they put me in an observation room right away and strapped some monitors on me (which really hurts while you're having a contraction BTW). They left me alone for 10 minutes to gauge where I was, and after the 10 minutes were over, the nurse came back in and said that when DH called, she initially didn't believe that I was having short contractions that close together, but after watching the monitors, she became a believer. Then she checked my cervix. Yeah, I was 6cm dilated. So the nurse told me that I got to stay! Yay! They then moved me into one of the sweet birthing suites and we settled in (aka DH layed down on the couch and tried to take a nap).

The things that happened over the next 4 or so hours went by like a flash. It seemed as though everything that happened, happened in just an hour. First, with almost every single contraction, I felt the overwhelming urge to pee. I was told this was normal because the baby was all up on top of my bladder and constricting things. This, along with the steadily intensifying contractions and my starting to hyperventilate, made me so uncomfortable that I requested an epidural. I have no regrets over this decision, as once I got it, things seemed to calm down for me. My epidural hadn't had time to fully set up though when my doctor appeared to check my cervix. But this point, it was probably about 7am, although I can't be sure because I wasn't looking at a clock. I was just about at 10cm... just a little bit of cervix was left. So she went back to wherever doctors go when they're waiting, and about 10 minutes later, a nurse came in and had me do a few practice pushes to see if I could get that last little bit. I did.

Now the fun part. The nurse left with instructions to let her know when I had the urge to push or if I felt like I needed to poo. Well, I never got either urge, although the urge to pee was still going strong. And before I go further, I must mention that my epidural had not yet completely set up. This will play a factor in what would happen later.

Anyway, about 20 or so minutes after the epidural, the nurse comes barreling into my room, telling me it's time to push. Apparently they can tell by the baby's heart rate when that is. So while my doctor is on her way to my room, the nurse has me start pushing. Then my doctor shows up while I'm still pushing and not getting anywhere. All the while, I'm watching the monitor that showed my baby's heart rate to be plummeting during each contraction. Almost every time, it dropped drastically... down to 50 bpm a few times. I knew that that was bad. Then they put an oxygen mask on me. Yeah, it was bad. Then after about 5 minutes (I think... like I said, it seemed to go super fast), my doctor utters the word "c-section". But she knew I didn't want one unless needed, so as a last resort, she had me try pushing a few times on each side and then on my hands & knees, just hoping that the baby's heart rate would come back up. Nope. So while I'm still on my hands and knees, she tells me that she strongly urges me to consent to a c-section since the baby was in trouble. I immediately agree, a consent form was slapped in front of me, and DH does his job and questions whether it was really needed or not. He knew my feelings as well and was just making sure that the doctor wasn't pushing an unnecessary c-section on me. But I assured him that it was okay, because I knew the baby was in trouble. So I signed.

But this is where it got scary for me. Because the baby needed to come out now, and since my epidural hadn't fully set up yet, they told me that they were going to put me out since they didn't have time for the epi to kick in fully, or time to set up a spinal. That meant that DH wouldn't be allowed in the OR. That scared the crap out of me. I needed and wanted him with me. But by some miracle, the on-call surgeon got held up trying to get to the hospital, and that gave them the 5 extra minutes they needed to set up the spinal. So DH did get to be there for me and the baby's birth. And another scary part was that while the nurses were getting me all set up in the OR, one of them had a doppler continuously on my belly... and I couldn't hear the heart beating. That was scary shit. So needless to say, by the time DH got in the OR and the surgeon was cutting me open, I was crying from fear. DH was talking to me, trying to distract me, and the anesthesiologist was doing the same. Within minutes, I feel a sudden emptiness, a suction, a cry and someone saying "it's a boy!" He was born at 9:49 am.

DH then goes over to the baby (because I told him to) and after they clean him off a bit, they bring him over to me so I could say hi. Then they take him back to the nursery while I got stitched up. I didn't feel them packing my uterus back in or the stitching/stapling back up. But when I was transferred onto the gurney, my stomach definitely felt that. Within seconds, I was telling them that I felt like I was going to puke, and a few seconds later, I was. Can I just say that those little dishes they put by your head to puke in are completely useless? Like I can aim when I'm laying flat on my back and can only turn my head to the side. I ended up puking all over myself, the gurney, the floor, and I'm pretty sure I got a nurse or two. Then I spent about a half hour in a recovery room near the OR where I proceeded to get the severe shakes. If it weren't for the fact that I was told that it was normal, I would have thought I was having a seizure. And then on the elevator ride back up to labor & delivery, my stomach decided to rebel again, though by that point they had given me something bigger to puke in, so I managed to keep it contained. I did feel bad for the laboring couple that witnessed this though. But there was nothing I could do besides look embarrassed.

Since I had a c-section, they moved us from the birthing suite I was originally put in, to a post-op room. It was still pretty nice though. DH was there with the baby when they rolled me in, and once they got me situated, I got to hold my son for the first time.

And we (I) had a few names to consider, but wanted to meet the baby first. He is totally a Matthew, so that's what we named him. I actually call him Bubba though... I think he likes it. His middle name... well, we still were debating that well into the second day. That story will be continued in another post. As will my hospital recovery and home recovery.

Anyway, it turns out that the baby wasn't moving down like he should and heart rate was dropping because the cord was wrapped around his neck AND his body. Must have been all those flip turns I did while swimming. I'm glad my doctor was on top of things because it could have turned out devastating. But he was screaming and pink when he made his appearance, and got the clean bill of health from the doctor.

So that's how Matthew came into the world. A little too exciting for my taste, but it turned out good, so I can't complain.