Today I am thirty-five weeks pregnant with this sweet little girl. For about a month I have been having a mix of Braxton Hicks contractions along with some more intense contractions. The more intense contractions have really picked up over the last week, but still not enough to make me even remotely think that anything is going to happen soon. I'm more uncomfortable than anything, but that's to be expected at this point. I'm still having troubles sleeping at night, but not every night. Some nights I take an Ambien before bed and sleep beautifully and other nights I don't and I toss and turn, but I don't want to take Ambien every night and become dependent upon it.
My heart is still heavy for my friend's son. He had a biopsy yesterday on the Wilms' Tumor and they are hopeful to get the results back this afternoon and to learn more about what is happening inside his little body. They've been told so many different things since this first started last week and I'm praying they'll be able to know better what's going on now and will know which direction to take. It looks like chemo is the next step. That poor little boy's body is being put through the wringer and he and his family need a lot of prayer! Thankfully they have a wonderful support system of friends and family and it sounds like he's in a good hospital that is doing their best to take care of all of their needs.
Yesterday I picked up a double stroller from a lady on Craigslist. It's not the prettiest stroller, but it's in decent shape and will do the job! All I have left on the list of things we need are a breast pump and either a crib or a toddler bed. Not the cheapest things, but it's better than the first time around when we had nothing!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Prayers Needed
To me, my online friends are just as important as my "IRL" friends, so when one of them is going through something traumatic it hits me just as much as it would if it were my neighbor. I have a great online friend with a son who is one day younger than The Boy. Just a couple days ago her world completely flipped when she was told that her son possibly had cancer. After several different tests, they found out that her son has a football-sized tumor on his kidney known as a Wilms' Tumor - a rare form of cancer found mostly in children. Thankfully, the cancer has not spread but this poor boy is struggling with high blood pressure and there may be complications in having surgery to remove the tumor and kidney due to his placement of blood vessels in the kidney.
This little boy is a fun-loving, energetic, sweet boy who really needs your prayers. His entire family could use your prayers. Please and thank you.
This little boy is a fun-loving, energetic, sweet boy who really needs your prayers. His entire family could use your prayers. Please and thank you.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Fluffy Talk
Right now it seems cloth diapering has become "all the rage" online and off. I've been cloth diapering The Boy for over a year now and while at times I find myself becoming lazy and wanting to just switch back completely to sposies, I realize how much time, effort, and money we've put into making our child's bottom fluffy.
I've been really experimenting with the types of diapers and covers that work best for The Boy and have also been building up a nice newborn and small stash for Baby Girl. I've come to the conclusion that after I get this last batch in the mail (from a trade from a friend online) I will not need to buy either child cloth diapers for a long time and that is a relief! As much fun as it is to shop for fluff, being at stash nirvana is a blessing.
The Boy's stash is made up of mostly fitted diapers and a few pockets. My favorite diapers are his Cuddlebuns fitteds and his WoolDins fitted and bamboo prefold. They are soft, absorbent, and super cute! In fact, his WoolDins fitted is so thick I think he could easily go coverless in it, something we've never been able to do because he is such a heavy wetter.
For long naps and overnights we use Bum Genius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers and I have never had a major issue with these! Yes, we have had our share of random leaks but I find that they happen when it's approaching time for a good diaper-stripping. We have been able to go upwards of fourteen hours at night with a BG3.0 and have not had a leak. We do have to majorly stuff these and they become so bulky that he wears a lot of 18mo and 2T size jammies to fit over them, but who cares? He's going to be sleeping anyway. It's not like he's off to model his sweet tushie online.
Or is he? Yes, that is my son's fluffy-butt modeling his iced giraffes fitted diaper!
As for Baby Girl's stash, hers is mostly made up of prefolds along with a few pocket diapers and fitteds. I love using prefolds and they are so cost-effective, being the most affordable. On average, you can buy a dozen prefold diapers for around $20-$25 whereas it can cost nearly that much just to buy one fitted diaper.
Today I am trying something entirely new - receiving blankets as flat diapers! The fold took a little bit for me to get down, but I've got it pretty mastered now and The Boy is wearing one for the first time ever at this very moment. I'm really hoping this works out because if it has, I have just added something like fifteen "new diapers" to his stash!
The biggest drawback to cloth diapering that I have found is the amount of water used to wash his diapers. Honestly, it only adds an average of three extra loads a week, but once Baby Girl arrives it will probably be more like five loads. Our weather lately has been so inconsistent that I haven't been able to hang his fluff on the line as much as I'd like to and I guess I could be better about getting out there to hang it up or use my clothes bars. That would definitely save on dryer time and electricity. I actually do enjoy fluff wash. I love folding and organizing his stash each time. For regular fluff wash I use a detergent that is locally made and sold called Sunday's Wash and it is about $8 for 32 loads, but it works wonders and is so gentle on The Boy's bum!
Other products I use are Punkin Booty Bits for his wipe solution. The Boy gets a huge kick out of when I spray it on the wash cloth and on his bottom. It never fails to make him giggle! They have so many wonderful scents and are so affordable! For The Boy's wool I use Ewe Need It wool wash. It comes in many of the same scents as the PBB and works wonderfully on all of his wool!
I guess I could go on and on about fluff itself but haven't actually discussed why I chose to cloth diaper. Many reasons come to mind - less sposies in landfills, saving money, and it's fun! It's a great ice-breaker as well. I have come across some people that are a bit obnoxious when talking about cloth diapering. I am very passionate about cloth diapering, but I am not preachy. I fully admit that I do not know everything about cloth diapering. In fact, there is so much I have to learn yet about the many facets of this "hobby." If anyone is interested in cloth diapering, though, I am always happy to answer any questions!
I've been really experimenting with the types of diapers and covers that work best for The Boy and have also been building up a nice newborn and small stash for Baby Girl. I've come to the conclusion that after I get this last batch in the mail (from a trade from a friend online) I will not need to buy either child cloth diapers for a long time and that is a relief! As much fun as it is to shop for fluff, being at stash nirvana is a blessing.
The Boy's stash is made up of mostly fitted diapers and a few pockets. My favorite diapers are his Cuddlebuns fitteds and his WoolDins fitted and bamboo prefold. They are soft, absorbent, and super cute! In fact, his WoolDins fitted is so thick I think he could easily go coverless in it, something we've never been able to do because he is such a heavy wetter.
For long naps and overnights we use Bum Genius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers and I have never had a major issue with these! Yes, we have had our share of random leaks but I find that they happen when it's approaching time for a good diaper-stripping. We have been able to go upwards of fourteen hours at night with a BG3.0 and have not had a leak. We do have to majorly stuff these and they become so bulky that he wears a lot of 18mo and 2T size jammies to fit over them, but who cares? He's going to be sleeping anyway. It's not like he's off to model his sweet tushie online.
Or is he? Yes, that is my son's fluffy-butt modeling his iced giraffes fitted diaper!
As for Baby Girl's stash, hers is mostly made up of prefolds along with a few pocket diapers and fitteds. I love using prefolds and they are so cost-effective, being the most affordable. On average, you can buy a dozen prefold diapers for around $20-$25 whereas it can cost nearly that much just to buy one fitted diaper.
Today I am trying something entirely new - receiving blankets as flat diapers! The fold took a little bit for me to get down, but I've got it pretty mastered now and The Boy is wearing one for the first time ever at this very moment. I'm really hoping this works out because if it has, I have just added something like fifteen "new diapers" to his stash!
The biggest drawback to cloth diapering that I have found is the amount of water used to wash his diapers. Honestly, it only adds an average of three extra loads a week, but once Baby Girl arrives it will probably be more like five loads. Our weather lately has been so inconsistent that I haven't been able to hang his fluff on the line as much as I'd like to and I guess I could be better about getting out there to hang it up or use my clothes bars. That would definitely save on dryer time and electricity. I actually do enjoy fluff wash. I love folding and organizing his stash each time. For regular fluff wash I use a detergent that is locally made and sold called Sunday's Wash and it is about $8 for 32 loads, but it works wonders and is so gentle on The Boy's bum!
Other products I use are Punkin Booty Bits for his wipe solution. The Boy gets a huge kick out of when I spray it on the wash cloth and on his bottom. It never fails to make him giggle! They have so many wonderful scents and are so affordable! For The Boy's wool I use Ewe Need It wool wash. It comes in many of the same scents as the PBB and works wonderfully on all of his wool!
I guess I could go on and on about fluff itself but haven't actually discussed why I chose to cloth diaper. Many reasons come to mind - less sposies in landfills, saving money, and it's fun! It's a great ice-breaker as well. I have come across some people that are a bit obnoxious when talking about cloth diapering. I am very passionate about cloth diapering, but I am not preachy. I fully admit that I do not know everything about cloth diapering. In fact, there is so much I have to learn yet about the many facets of this "hobby." If anyone is interested in cloth diapering, though, I am always happy to answer any questions!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Thirty-Four Weeks
Today I am 34 weeks pregnant. Six weeks left until my due date. A lot has been going on with me in the last few weeks, more mentally than physically. First off, The Boy was driving me absolutely nuts last week! He is going through a very defiant stage that seems to also coincide with a very clingy stage. He has learned the art of the temper tantrum and will throw one for no reason. It honestly doesn't bother me most of the time. I know to just let him do his thing and ignore him and that works. It's more the noise of him throwing the fit that gets me. He has never thrown a tantrum outside of the house so far, so at least I haven't had to deal with public humiliation yet.
I've also been overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness, like I am a terrible mother and won't be able to handle two children when I can barely handle one. This week I have been making a conscious effort to spend one on one time with The Boy the way he wants to spend it (within reason, of course) and that makes him happy. If he wants to carry the crayon bucket around in his mouth, go for it. If he wants to eat finger paints, go for it. Today he has wanted to sit on my lap all day long and play with his easel. That one I don't mind because it doesn't involve pulling things out of his mouth and chasing him around. Plus I get to snuggle and enjoy a cup of "hot" while he is happy pushing buttons.
I am getting very anxious to meet the little girl inside of me. She moves so much more abruptly and regularly than The Boy did. She actually wakes me up at night. Most of the time I enjoy her wiggles, but sometimes they actually get painful and that's when I realize I'm in for trouble from her when she's born.
As for being 34 weeks, I am excited to be one week closer to her birth. Overall I feel great aside from random anxiety, complete exhaustion, and the inability to move at a pace faster than a slow crawl. I can't bend over to tie my shoes anymore and getting up from a sitting position or a lying position takes a lot of effort. I can't complain though; I feel so much better this time around!
On a completely different subject, somehow my blog had been marked as "spam" or written by a robot. I'm honestly not sure how or why they would think that. I've never known a robot to write so eloquently as me. But it meant that I wasn't able to post an entry and I really needed it last week as I went through a mental break down and several days of random crying jags. Those days are over for now, thankfully. We had a break from The Boy and some adult time this weekend. I'm refreshed and looking forward to the new things I can do with my son while it's just the two of us. I'm actually kind of looking forward to how our relationship is going to change when Baby Girl arrives. I picture us enjoying quiet time together (quiet time? The Boy?) while she sleeps and us sharing private jokes of our days together as he gets older. I have never experienced a relationship like that with my son and things I said I'd never do I've done and things I said I'd never let me kid play with I've considered buying for him. I just love to see him happy and can't wait to watch him grow from the early toddler stages into a little boy. He is so amazing and I am so blessed.
I've also been overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness, like I am a terrible mother and won't be able to handle two children when I can barely handle one. This week I have been making a conscious effort to spend one on one time with The Boy the way he wants to spend it (within reason, of course) and that makes him happy. If he wants to carry the crayon bucket around in his mouth, go for it. If he wants to eat finger paints, go for it. Today he has wanted to sit on my lap all day long and play with his easel. That one I don't mind because it doesn't involve pulling things out of his mouth and chasing him around. Plus I get to snuggle and enjoy a cup of "hot" while he is happy pushing buttons.
I am getting very anxious to meet the little girl inside of me. She moves so much more abruptly and regularly than The Boy did. She actually wakes me up at night. Most of the time I enjoy her wiggles, but sometimes they actually get painful and that's when I realize I'm in for trouble from her when she's born.
As for being 34 weeks, I am excited to be one week closer to her birth. Overall I feel great aside from random anxiety, complete exhaustion, and the inability to move at a pace faster than a slow crawl. I can't bend over to tie my shoes anymore and getting up from a sitting position or a lying position takes a lot of effort. I can't complain though; I feel so much better this time around!
On a completely different subject, somehow my blog had been marked as "spam" or written by a robot. I'm honestly not sure how or why they would think that. I've never known a robot to write so eloquently as me. But it meant that I wasn't able to post an entry and I really needed it last week as I went through a mental break down and several days of random crying jags. Those days are over for now, thankfully. We had a break from The Boy and some adult time this weekend. I'm refreshed and looking forward to the new things I can do with my son while it's just the two of us. I'm actually kind of looking forward to how our relationship is going to change when Baby Girl arrives. I picture us enjoying quiet time together (quiet time? The Boy?) while she sleeps and us sharing private jokes of our days together as he gets older. I have never experienced a relationship like that with my son and things I said I'd never do I've done and things I said I'd never let me kid play with I've considered buying for him. I just love to see him happy and can't wait to watch him grow from the early toddler stages into a little boy. He is so amazing and I am so blessed.
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