Will's here!

[Nantucket]

Hi everybody! William was born on Dec. 17th at 1.02pm at 7lbs 10oz; 21 inches! (I would attach a picture but can't quite figure out how to do it...) He is adorable and is generally good natured... other than at night when he refuses to be put down to sleep! We've been putting snuggling with him but neither of us feel comfortable having him co-sleep with us yet... we have a co-sleeper next to me so we just put him down there....

We labored at home as much as possible- by the time we got to the hospital, I was 5cm; ~4min apart. the rest of labor proceeded quickly but the pushing was the hard part.... pushing wasn't at all intuitive as i had thought it would be ... the doctor finally had to come in to deliver the baby with the CNM coaching alongside....

we were pretty happy with how the experience went.... they had to do internal fetal monitoring because WIll's heart rate dipped pretty low and there was meconium when they broke the water bag.... they had broken it cause of the heart rate... and because they thought it would help move the labor along.. i was so incredibly tired, they wanted me to have some energy left for pushing....

we had to stay in the hospital a couple of extra days because of jaundice and my milk hadn't come in yet, which contributed to my pp blues.... being a first time mom, still not very confident and feel like i don't know what i'm doing and that i am winging it...

but i do have a question for the group... being a newbie and trying to find my way around the cloth diapering, what is the wipes warmer people are talking about? is it like the ones from Target?.... can you use cloth wipes in those?... how many cloth wipes do i need? i've been using the 6 thirsties wipes that i bought after continually washing them..... the wash cloths seem to be a little big to use... should I buy more wipes?...... so many questions, so tired to remember them all.....

Nantucket...

[SheBear]

congrats! I love his name!

cloth wipes issue....Id suggest you have a minimum of 2 doz wipes, because--if you haven't already discovered it, you soon will--sometimes you'll be surprised by a diaper of such astounding mess as to necessitate your entire stash!

I want to have a minimum of 2 wipes at the ready for every change, and quite often for a poop I'll use more. But wipes are easy to make...just get a yard or so of soft cotton flannel and cut it into 8 inch squares. You can use receiving blankets, too...I always have more receiving blankets than I know what to do with! Use pincking shears so it won't fray as much, or if you have access to a sewing machine, just zig-zag or serge the edges.

If you don't sew them, they may not last as long, but you will still get a lot of wear out of them, and they are so much cheaper than buying wipes! with the edges finished, the will last a long time. I'm still using the same ones I made for ds1, 6 years ago, and they are in great shape!

And yes, you can use a wipes warmer with cloth wipes. We have the Prince Lionheart brand, and the 8 inch wipes fit perfectly just folded in half. I just wet them, squeeze out most of the water (or solution, depending on how fancy I feel! ) and put them in the warmer.

Hope this helps!

[clintonhillmama]

congratulations!
and don't worry too much about being a new mom - even with 2, i find myself still winging it. i think that's what being a mom is all about!

[Ms. B. Sprout]

Congratulations!

We did the stay-in-the-hospital/jaundice/delayed-milk thing too, with DS, and it is NO FUN. I hope you had good lactation support in the hospital -- I feel like that was essential when I went through that experience.

As for feeling like you're winging it, that's totally normal! You're doing great!

[VickV]

Congratulations, and welcome William!!

Definitely get more wipes - my favorites are just plain old flannel wipes. And yeah, you can wet them and keep them in the wipes warmer.

I'm winging it, too, FWIW - we made it up as we went along with Isabel, so we figure we'll do the same for Olivia

[bluesymama]

CONGRATULATIONS!
Welcome baby William!
:

[Nantucket]

I love MDC... thanks for the support ladies!! (sniffle, sniffle... still got the blues...

[kittywitty]

Congrats!!

I would definitely get more wipes. I don't know about the warmer, though, I've never used one.

[zjande]

CONGRATULATIONS & welcome to your new little man.

Don't worry about feeling like 1st time mama having to wing it- we all do at times whether we're first timers or not! Just love on that baby, listen to your instincts, & be proud of your new status as MAMA.

[cravenab00]

congrats on baby Will!

i always used those little baby washcloths, as long as they dont have the borders around them. i think this time i'll buy a couple packs of the gerber washcloths. i'd like to make some flannel ones, but we'll see if i have the time or patience for that

[bumblebeej]

Welcome Will!

I agree with 2 dozen wipes. Maybe even 3 dozen. 4 dozen wouldn't be too many in this house.

This is baby #5 and I have no clue what I'm doing yet. So, don't feel bad about that. I try not to think too much. Just do what needs to be done. Every single baby is different and it does take some time figuring everything out.

I hope those blues go away super duper fast!

[LaLibertad]

We got a wipe warmer as we found Bowie would pee the second a cold wipe would hit his skin. He doesn't do that as much with a warm wipe. I will use washable ones at some point.

Congrats!

[Elsaraw]

Congratulations!