Homebirth Mama's March 2nd...

[homebirthing]

I thought that it was time to start another thread. The other one was getting long!

I am done buying all of my cloth diapers. Anyone want to share our stashes and what you are planning on doing through the meconium days?

[2BMamaof3]

I was given oodles of cloth diapers for infant and size small...I think we are good.

For the meconium days...I am planning on using disposables. I am pretty much going to be THE ONE responsible for diapers...and I know the first two weeks DH will not be washing diapers. SOooooo we will be using 'sposies for the first week at least. Then it is my goal to use cloth.

I respect all of you for using cloth for whatever the reason...mine is purely financial. I have educated myself about all of the chemicals...etc...but ...well...frankly it is cheaper to cloth diaper and THAT is what makes me want to do it this time around.

Tabitha...I sure wish I had an extra 10 or 15 bucks lying around...ha!...but I don't. I will wish you mucho money vibes though!!!!

Take care all!

Abby

[homebirthing]

My husband is great about doing the diapers. But I like to do them and get to stay home, so I do them about 70% of the time. I am sure when #3 gets here, he will take over for awhile. Kettie is potty training right now, so hopefully we will only have one in diapers. Here is what I have (for you diaper crazy ladies..maybe it is only me!)

Newborn...
24 Lukes Drawers newborn hugs
10 firefly SOS diapers
2 newborn fitteds from a freind
12 UBCPF
6 hemp prefolds
4 Bummies SWW newborn
2 AJ wool soakers in turquiose and violet
2 Buckeye Bottoms custom cover

and these are sorta inbetween sizes

10 SOS hand dyed prefolds
3 Bummies SWW in prints
3 Buckeye Bottoms custom fitteds
1 Buckeye Bottom custom AIO
4 fitted from freinds
4 Lukes Drawers
2 Kissaluvs


Then I have a ton of larges from tehe girls, so I don't have to buy anything else except some more mediums! We are going to use disposables for the first week or so.

[cottonwood]

Sarah, thanks for posting your stash! I need some guidance myself -- but the diapering forum here is overwhelming. If you cloth diapered before, what were your favorites?

We have done about half and half, just because I have never found really satisfactory cloth products. I tried a bunch of commercial covers from Ecobaby -- hated them all, which was demoralizing since I'd spent so much money on them. Finally I found Polar Babies covers which are not by any means perfect, but much better. Then the diapers, the best fitting and softest ones were used cheapo polyester-filled prefolds that had been washed a million times, but of course they weren't at all absorbent. I had some chinese prefolds but they were too big and bulky and not soft at all. But, I am optimistic, I have since found that there are SO many WAHM products out there, some of them have got to be good. It is just exhausing wading through them trying to decide!

[Mummoth]

Is anyone elses DC contributing ideas to their birth plan?

Roland (2 years):

-Wants to help his daddy cut the cord (I'm not entirely sure he knows what he's asking... he just likes scissors)

-Wants to play in the sprinkler while I'm labouring in the yard (I might take a few passes through it, too!)


I'll be using disposables, at least to start. I tried cloth diapers with Roland. He just had a slow leak, he'd be wet after 15 minutes!! I ended up using disposables with him until he was nearly 1, and since then we've gone back & forth several times. I have a whole suitcase full of cloth diapers, so I'll give them a try again.

My husband isn't supportive of cloth diapering. No, thats wrong... he's willing to talk about how great they are with his mom, and let her pick at the disposables, and the wipes, and tsk tsk at me over it. However, he's not willing to do any of the work involved in cloth diapering, or take any of the blame for us not using them, even though he's the one who insists on going back to disposables every time we try cloth.

I've got to pick up some small diaper covers. I only had the crappy pull-on-like-underwear kind when Roland was a baby. I like the velcro Kooshies ones better.

[2BMamaof3]

OOOOOHHHHH, youmeant what KIND of diapers do we have.

Well, I have about 4really nice pull on wool soakers, a bunch of pre folds, a TON prowraps and some freshies trim wraps (which, in my opinion are the BEST!).

Ummm...yeah.



Abby

[amyrobynne]

I'm planning to cloth diaper, even through the meconium. I bought a yard of microfleece and cut it into hourglass shapes to use as liners. If it's easier to toss those than clean them, it'll be worth the few bucks I spent on it. Hopefully they'll clean up without too much trouble, though.

I've got:
24 uncpf (DSQ)
7 Kissaluvs 0's
4 newborn hemp fitteds from SPB (one's velour, 2 are prints, one plain hemp)
1 newborn hemp fitted from BizzyBHive
2 medium AIO's from LL

4 BSIWW's
2 Prorap covers (one snap, one velcro)
2 ME Airflow small covers -- these seem way too big

I can't believe I'm 11 days over. COME OUT BABY!

[chrissy]

hey homebirthing mamas!

oh amyrobynne, your baby will be here so soon!! great diapers you have for him or her.

i've been feeling too gross to post much, but i think i am now starting to feel somewhat better.

uh oh, poopy bottom, more soon

[Spark]

Chrissy, it really is TMI to tell us about your bowel trouble. I mean, go use the toilet, woman! Seriously though, I'm glad you're feeling better. hopefully, you'll just keep feeling better and better each day! MS just BITES!

amyrobynne -- Labor Vibes to you.
You sound ready. Now, let's hope that baby is ready, too! There's some interesting reading about "overdue" and "postdate" babies that makes it sound like a GREAT thing. How that extra time in utero makes the babe smarter, healthier and happier than earlier born coutnerparts. Since my son was born before his due date, I'll choose not to believe it all, but... if I went overdue, I'd be telling myself, "My baby's going to be smart, healthy and happy!"

I do cloth diapers. I do it for cost reasons. I don't have anything fancy per say. (Allthough, I dream of cute little girl dipes to be used in the summer by themselves)
I have:
4 NB covers (A Better World and Wisper Wrap)
6 Small covers (Wisper Wrap)
6 Medium covers (Wisper Wrap)
6 Large covers (Wisper Wrap) will probably buy ones with snaps though, when we get to that size. My DS pulled his off so much we switched over to sposies.

Bunch of prefold diapers
1/2 Bunch of "vintage" prefold diapers that my DH wore

We'll use the "vintage" prefolds for meconium days. My DH is well versed in cloth & he'll probably be doing the dipes for early postpartum.

We will use disposables for travel or long errands or new babysitters. Seems to work best for us.

Lots of ctx over here. I'm wondering when I'll know I'm actually in labor. I suppose I'll know it's labor sometime before I'm pushing the baby out! :LOL

[chrissy]

Claire, :LOL It wasn't my poopy bottom silly! It sure sounds like your body is getting ready for Cicely to make her appearance.

Harriet, how fun about Roland playing in the sprinkler while you are in labor! What a great plan!

I am planning to use cloth from the first diaper. Like Amy, I'm going to buy a bunch of fleece and make liners. If they're too yucky with meconium I'll just toss them. With Noah I had planned to do cloth after the first week or so and just never got around to it. I didn't start using cloth with him until he was 8 months or so.

I've been buying little diapers for awhile now since it took a little while to conceive and here is what I've got for the new baby so far:

*Diapers*
2 newborn Nanipoo's
1 size 0 First Class Baby
5 newborn Bizzy B Hive
6 small hemp diapers made from the Honeyboy pattern (not AIO's, just diapers)
1 small Firefly
18 size 0 Kissaluvs
12 size 1 Kissaluvs
24 infant cpf's
8 xs Mother-ease Sandy's
3 small Mother-ease Sandy's

*Covers*
1 Polarbabies fleece cover
1 small wool cover with a leaf applique on the butt
1 small Angelwraps fleece cover
3 small Nikky wool covers
1 small Bummi's
4 small El Bee Baby wool covers

*AIO's*
1 newborn Bizzy B Hive AIO
1 small Ella's Pocket
2 small Fuzzi Bunz

Phew, that's a long list.

So, I had an appointment yesterday at the Birth Center. I was hoping they'd do a few backup appointments for me for any labwork I needed. They said no. Oh well. I had a quick u/s which made it all seem so real to me. I hadn't really had a period since before Noah was conceived so I couldn't really get a handle on the fact that I really was pregnant. I kept wondering if it was all in my head. So it was great to see my little baby alive and well with a beautiful beating heart. I was 10 weeks exactly and she (trying that out) measured 10 weeks 1 day. The midwife was nice but I did not connect with her like I did with my real midwife. Also she said a few things that kind of freaked me out. Oh well, I'm not going back.

Tabitha, I'm going to take a belly picture tonight and email that and my u/s picture to you for the site, okay?

It is so sunny and beautiful here today! Hooray for spring!!
Love,
Chrissy

[dnr3301]

You're all soooo organized with the dipes! Me, we just have about 3 dozen kissaluvs,a dozen newborn prefolds, 8 fuzzibunz, and a bunch of random wraps. I haven't gotten as obsessed with the wraps as I did with the diapers. I also have a couple dozen size 1 kissaluvs and about one hundred bigger prefolds (when my diaper service went out of business, they let us keep whatever we had in the house).

Today is dd's 3rd birthday! Gotta go plan dinner and what, if anything, we are doing tonight.

[mamaroni]

Wow, the diapers. I am new to cd'ing. I just switched my ds (at 20 months) and have had fun buying stuff for the baby. I had planned to do prefolds and covers and kissaluvs, but maybe I'll get a pack of sposies to have on hand as well.
I have about:
36 infant prefolds
5 various nb covers, one wool soaker
12 kissaluvs 0's
2 prorap AIOs
1 bumkins AIO
1 fuzzi bunz
1 knickernappie
2 happy heiny

Most of this was purchased on the MDC TP, and I wanted to try some different things. I'm finally getting into a good system with ds, and really liking it. Dh even commented that he likes it. Wait until he has to deal with a prefold and a snappi! I also have probably 5 or 6 size M items, also purchased on the TP. And I'm buying very boring things for ds (white bumkins, white fuzzi bunz) that dd will be able to use as well. I probably should practice the prefold/snappi thing on dd's dolls.

Some of you read my post this morning about my mw, and the miscommunication about our visit. I'm in a much better place about that now, and comfortable with how things are. I am going to her house on Friday morning, w/o the kids, and will get it all worked out.

I just read on our March thread that Saturday is a full moon. Hmmm, that would be a good night to have a baby, no? Dh said this weekend would be perfect, and I agree (except that the person designated to help with ds will be out of town).

Amy, you sound so "OK" with being 10 days over. Good for you! You know it's going to be any minute now, literally!

Sarah, that is quite a routine you've got there! I am pretty organized, and dh is super helpful, but we're not that routine about things. I do laundry every other day or so, make dinner just about every night, and keep things pretty picked up on a regular basis. Lately, I've been working on stocking the freezer and pantry with meals we can eat after the baby comes. Now, I'm trying NOT to get into them before the baby comes! I've also been keeping up with laundry on a daily basis.

I had a massage today, which was wonderful, and scheduled one for next Wednesday as well, assuming I'm still pg at that point.

[amyrobynne]

Mamaroni, I'm so glad you've worked things out with your mw! I hear ya on keeping out of the food--my mom had someone make us a week's worth of meals as a shower present and I told her to keep them at her house because otherwise we would have eaten everything already!

I've been having ctx every 10 minutes since 7pm last night. I slept reasonably well, waking to some ctx, but hopefully things will really get going today. Thank you baby for not waiting until tomorrow when I'd have to go in for an u/s!

[Phoebe]

Hi everyone,
I haven't posted here on the Homebirth Mama's thread before but I'm due to homebirth baby #1 in oh, about 2-3 weeks! I'm so excited about the experience to come! I'm getting a little nervous since the whole laboring process (not to mention the caring for baby process!) is so unknown. I have been so confident and had such a wonderful easy pregnancy. My only worry is that labor and delivery will surprise me to a point beyond what I can handle. I will be fine though...just the "I just realized this baby has to come out at some point" syndrome!

About cloth diapers...
I bought my stash a couple of months ago. That's another area I'm hoping I'm prepared for.
I have:
36 UBCPFS
2 AIOs
3 or 4 fitteds
2 pocket
some liners
snappis
about 6 various covers
and cloth wipes

I bought a bit of everything. Figured I see what works the best and go on from there.
My only delima is how to use the wipes? My bathroom is waaay
too small to have a diapering station in there so I'm trying to think of a way to wet them. Spray bottle? But then the wipe will be cold.

One question...
What is the big deal with meconium diapers? It sounds like the "meconium days" pose problems from cloth diapers...at least that's the impression I got from previous posts.
Why is that?

Hope everyone is having pleasant pregnancies!
Amy

[tabitha]

hi mamas

wow amy i hope its happening for you today! youll have a babe to hold real soon!

of course were cding from birth. doesnt make any sense for us not to- ds was in a cd first thing in the hospital. meconium wasnt a problem for us? its dark & sticky but i found it washes out much like everything else. i look forward to putting soft cloth on cassi's bum first thing!! along with countless other things i cant wait to do for the first time with my baby girl!

so,since i sew my own diapers, i cant really say i have a cool stash but here is what i have/ plan to sew:

what i am making:
48 newborn fitteds
24 small fitteds
5 newborn wool covers
5 small wool covers

what i have/ bought:

12 unbleached infant prefolds.
1 nb hand knitted wool soaker from Cass's Cozies (i have 2, one nb and one toddler that match for tristan and cassi!)
various diapers & covers handed down from tristan, a couple of SOS and so on...
One small Squash Fuzbaby Diaper Garder Fitted! (i got banned from buying diapers for purchasing this on ebay! :LOL)

and.. we use cloth wipes for ds and for us in the bathroom so i am just doubling our supply if those.

we dont use synthetics, so its all wool for us. we may make some thin silk liners if we feel we need them.

its good to hear a lot of you say your cding! i mdc! i have found cloth to be pleasing on every level. a lot of people ask me about it like it is a chore- but it pleases my soul to wash & reuse soft cloths for ds's most sensitive area. it is pleasing to hold him in my arms with my hand on a cloth diapered butt than a rustly paper & plastic one. there are just so many reasons i love it.


thanks all for your kind words & thoughts pertaining to my sitiuation and my thread about the stress i am feeling. i am trying to be easy w/myself and recover from this sinus cold (ds has it,too ) before i think about it too much. karl is out of town now as well so i need to be gentle with myself. thanks again!

tabitha

[Mummoth]

Well, last night, I was wearing some pyjamas that don't really fit me anymore, and the baby was wiggling around like crazy (I had coffee after dinner... maybe that contributed! :LOL ) and I actually SAW it move!! So I called DH in to look. Of course, the baby stopped & DH had to wait for a long time before he got to see it, too. DH likes seeing the baby move, he doesn't ever seem to feel even the big kicks. It was so cool!

[dnr3301]

I still haven't decided how to deal with the meconium days. I think I'll end up using disposables, just because my SIL has a few left over from when she had her baby, but if we run out, we won't buy more, so we could end up with the cloths as well. I went to the fabric store on Tuesday and bought a bunch of fleece-terry and flannel to make washcloths. My SIL has a surger and I can't wait to see if I have any skills at all.

For all of you who are impressed with Sarah's cleaning organization/routine, you should just see her house- it's beautiful and just as clean as one would expect given the effort she obviously puts into it. Me on the other hand, if I can walk through the living room without hurting myself by stepping on a lego, I'm pretty happy. I'm not exactly embarrassed by unexpected company, but sometimes I feel like I should be:LOL .

Had my appt/home visit with my mw on Mon. Can't remember if I've already posted about it. Don't think so. My BP is up a bit, but when I lay down it's down dramatically. My MW thinks I get really really nervous when I get it taken (this is what I think as well), and I don't have any other signs of PIH, so she's not worried at all about it. The CNM I saw with my first pregnancy really did a number on me about BP, ever since then, it goes up the instant I see a white coat or a BP cuff. Grrrrr.

I woke up early this morning and seduced my dh then when I got up for real and went to the bathroom and wiped, it was a little bloody! Yay!!! Maybe that means something is finally starting to happen. I can't remember how close I was to having Athena when this started happening, but it makes me feel closer than I felt yesterday, iykwim.

A friend was going to take dd off my hands for a couple of hours today, but instead we are heading out to an indoor playground for a few hours. I'm a little disappointed, but I will live.

[2BMamaof3]

Harriet,

My belly was totally rolling around last night too!

I had the most amazing birth dream last night. Unfortunately there was a very sad part too...

In my dream, DH died and I was just devastated (as I would be). 2 days later (in my dream) I gave birth to a little girl with dark hair and eyes (???) named Sarah. I gave birth in a hospital with the OB/GYN that treated my ectopic (which means I gave birth in Minnesota). I just told him to F off and I gave birth by myself in the middle of an emergency room exam room on the floor and I just lay there. I remember telling him I wanted the cord to stop pulsating and it took like 30 minutes for it to stop!!! I was just so enamoured with the new life and so sad DH wasn't there.

It was a happy but very sad dream. I'm not sure what to make of it. But the birth part was AMAZING. I just squatted down, caught my baby and burst into tears.

Hmmm...

Abby

[Spark]

amyrobynne YEAH! HAPPY LABOR VIBES! WISHING YOU A BEAUTIFUL HOMEBIRTH, HEALTHY BABY AND GREAT JOY IN YOUR HEART! MAY THIS BE IT!!! (did everyone else miss her post? Where are the labor vibe wishes?)

So, it's interesting, amyrobynne is perfectly lined up for this labor prediction site based on weather. She's north of the epicenter is, but still within the higher probability of labor. Check it out... http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USN...x&prodnav=none Hmm, I wonder if it really works. Another woman on March boards started labor today and she's in the area, too.

I could not get Jude's meconium out of his diapers. Maybe I'm just tar poop deficient! We ended up with stained rags.

[tabitha]

my happy birth wishes are right up there with the first post this morning,but ill repeat them here in case Amy is reading!

heres hoping this is your baby's birth day! what a great day to give birth!

imliving vicariously through you mamas so ready to give birth. soon, it will be our turn, cassi & me!