My Cloth Diapering Adventures and Routine

We have been cloth diapering our little one for almost a month now. Honestly it is not as intimidating as it sounds! Before we started I was worried it was going to be a big deal and hard to adjust to. There was some trial and error at first to find the right combo of diaper covers to fit him correctly, but I bought a few different brands from online and was able to figure out what worked best for us.

The system I am using is prefolds and diaper covers. I bought several pocket diapers at first without knowing exactly what they were and they ended up being too big and too bulky for a little baby. I am planning on using them when he gets a couple months older. Right now the diaper covers and prefolds are working out great. I have about a dozen Gerber 3 ply prefolds (the colored ones) as well as about a dozen Gerber heavyweight 6 ply prefolds. The 3 ply are thinner and thus less bulky, but they also hold less liquid so we use those during the day when we are available to change a bit more frequently. The heavier prefolds are perfect for bedtime and I'm sure will work great when he is older and wetting more liquid.

They have been washing up very nicely with very minimal staining. Of course the white ones stain more easily than the colored so I hang those in the sun to naturally bleach them. Works like a charm!

 The majority of our time we are downstairs, so this is my diaper station for down there. I have all my clean prefolds ready to grab. We are using cloth wipes as well (much easier to just toss it into the bucket with the dirty diapers) with a homemade wipe solution. Those are right next to the diapers. When it's time for bed, I just grab a few prefolds and an extra cover to keep by his bed.

For the first couple weeks of cloth diapering, we still had some disposables left so I saved those for using overnight. At that time he was still only sleeping a couple hours at a time and I didn't want to fuss with figuring out a cloth diaper while super tired in the dark. Now that we are used to it (and he is sleeping a bit longer) it's no big deal for using the cloth at night as well.

Since we are on a tight budget (that's why I'm using cloth!) I did not want to waste extra money on a special "wet bag" to keep the dirty diapers in. I got a small plastic pail to keep upstairs, and a larger black trash can to keep downstairs by the changing area. Surprisingly you can not smell them! I can go two days between washing. If I do start getting a whiff of diaper, then I just keep the bucket in the laundry room until I can wash them. I also keep baking soda sprinkled in the bottom of the pails to help with odor.

I have about 10 covers that I am currently using, and about 8 pocket diapers that I am waiting to use. The covers I am using now are all adjustable up to 25lb so he should be able to wear them until potty training! He is about 14lb now and they are fitting great. I can definitely say that he has only had a couple blowouts in cloth compared to a disposable where he would blow out almost every time. The urine doesn't really leak, but the cover can get moist if you wait too long. That is why I try to change him about every 1-2hours during the day with the thinner prefolds. It has also been great for his diaper rash--no issues at all with it since switching to cloth.

And of course, he looks super cute in them!

For my wash routine, I first dump all the dirty diapers, covers, and wipes into the washer (I have a top loader) and set the machine to do a cold rinse/spin for a small load. That is done in about 15 minutes, then I add about 1/4c of washing soda and a cap of All Free and Clear detergent. Then I set my washer on a Normal cycle (small load), hot water, and two rinses. It is done in about 45 minutes or so then I set the covers out to air dry and toss the prefolds and wipes into the dryer (or hang in the sun if stained). That's it! It might change a bit when he starts eating solids in a couple months but we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Surviving Summer Vacation

 I haven't posted in 2 1/2 weeks but we have been a busy family! Summer vacation is in full swing here and it's a little trying with an almost-6-year-old who can't entertain himself very well. Add in a newborn who may sleep 5 hours at night, or may sleep 2 hours and that makes for a tired momma!

Bradley is a child who loves school, and loves the routine of the school day. I quickly came to the conclusion that we should replicate that at home to make the chaos of the summer a little more predictable. I love any kind of schedule being on maternity leave with a little one!

I made this loosely based on the day-to-day routine that we usually have already, but this one is obviously more structured and planned. I'm hoping to avoid the dreaded "I'm bored" by giving him a pattern that he can look forward to. I am going to print it and put it on the fridge.

There will be days of course that we are doing something else, or it's raining, or things come up but we will roll with the punches. If he wants to switch Art time with Outside time that is fine too! For the School Work slot we are going to have him work on learning things like telling time, spelling/writing, or math.

He is a very social person and since his little brother is too small to play with and there are no neighborhood kids his age, he tends to get slightly clingy to us and need us to entertain him. I started looking for things he could do this summer a few weeks ago, and I have him signed up for 3 different Vacation Bible Schools next month. I also found the summer movie schedule for the theater by us that has $1 kids movies every Tuesday and Wednesday morning!

Hopefully between VBS, movies, library trips, and our new schedule, this summer will be fun for all of us!

I will leave you with a picture of my littlest one snoozing in his rocker...

My 1 Month Old

Is anyone else amazed that little Jacob is already one month old?? I am!

at 1 month old you:

• sometimes take 2 good naps for a couple of hours during the day and catnap in between
• like to be held all the time...
• don't like to sleep on your back
• like your bouncy chair IF someone is bouncing you!
• like to pee on daddy
• sleep for 2-4 hours stretches at night
• have your days/nights straight, but you like to go to bed late and get up early!
• are wearing size 1 diapers (we are about to start cloth!) and 0-3mo clothes
• don't really like being in your carseat
• only have 1 pacifier brand that you like
• are starting to smile at us
• nurse every 1-2 hours during the day when awake

According to my at-home calculations, here is his current (approximate) stats:

Length: 22in

Weight: 12lb 

Here he is compared with Bradley at the same age:

Here is a pic of me and my babies on Mother's Day!

For the most part Jacob has been a decent sleeper at night. He usually goes down around 11pm in his crib and wakes up for feedings around 2am and 6am. He does not really like to go back to bed right away after the last feeding so sometimes I come downstairs with him until everyone else gets up for the day. By the time daddy gets back from taking Brad to school, Jacob is starting to get sleepy again and I can catch a bit more sleep!

We tried our cloth diapers on him a couple of weeks ago, but they are still a bit too big for his little legs and were leaking. We went back to disposables but I just got some different diaper covers that are smaller and should work for now until he grows into my other ones. We will try those out when we run out of the disposables that we already have. He has had a stubborn bout of diaper rash that we got some good cream for, but you can't use that with cloth so that's another reason we are waiting.

Life With a 3 Week Old

That pretty much sums it up! Ha! My little guy is doing good and growing by the day. He seems to have some sort of a schedule already that we go along with. Our day starts around 9 or 10am (depending on how our night was) and for the most part he stays awake all day except for an occasional cat nap for 30-45min here and there. He nurses at least every 2-3hr and loves to be held all day! Around 10-11pm he starts getting sleepy and I try to tuck him in for bed. Sometimes he is ok sleeping in his bed, but sometimes he will only sleep with us. He typically sleeps for about 2hr at a time with an occasional 3hr stretch at night. The main issue is that I can't turn my brain off to go to sleep! I lay there for what feels like forever just wishing I could sleep while he sleeps since my windows of opportunity are so short.

Nick has taken over getting Brad up and off to school in the mornings. If I had a long night then he will take over baby duty around 8am while I try to catch a couple more hours of sleep. Once I get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee then I'm good to go for the day!

His big brother spent the weekend at his grandparents so that is a nice break for us at home to just have one kiddo to entertain. Brad loves playing with his cousin so probably doesn't miss us at all! Speaking of big brother...I took him to the doc today for a nagging cough and they said he also had a double ear infection--all from severe allergies! Poor guy. So now he will be taking antibiotics (for the first time in his life!) and daily allergy medicine. Oklahoma strikes again!

It's a little hard to believe that in just a week Jacob will already be a month old! I do love his squishy newborn cheeks but this every 2 hour stuff is for the birds! I'm ready for him to be a few months old and able to play and interact with us. I know Brad will love it when he is able to connect with him more.

I'm sure this month will go quickly. Brad's school is winding down and May 22 will be his last day of Kindergarten! He can't wait to be in 1st grade. Then it's Memorial Day, and we will be opening our pool soon after that. I'm sure me and the boys will be out there all the time this summer to beat the heat! It's been in the 80s quite a bit lately and I'm already over it. I was not built for hot weather!

A Big Boy and a Little Boy

I want to start off by saying how proud I am of Brad! He has mastered the art of riding a bike WITHOUT training wheels! Nick took them off a few weeks ago and we worked with him on it for a few days until he got the hang of it. The hardest part was getting started but he eventually figured it out and now he loves riding his bike again.

 As for my other little one, his cord fell off a couple of days ago so that means we got to give him his first official "tub" bath! And he did not like it one bit. You would have thought we stuck him in boiling water by the way he was wailing! However we snuggled him good afterwards and he was a happy boy again. Clean babies smell so nice!

8 Days of Being a Family of 4

We are home and adjusting well to our new life! The doctor kept us at the hospital an extra night and day to watch Jacob's blood sugars. They had me supplement some formula after nursing until my milk came in.

Brad was very excited for us to come home Tuesday evening and he pushed the cart for us with our things to the car.

 

 Very first car ride!

 Holding his baby brother for the first time

So far things are going well. Nick has been a huge help with the baby, Brad, and the house. He cooks meals, cleans, goes grocery shopping, and takes Brad to/from school. I get about 5-6hr of sleep in intervals during the night and I get by pretty good thru the day. For the most part Jacob sleeps well and has a huge appetite that can be hard to keep up with.

We took him to the pediatrician today for his 1 week checkup and they were very happy with everything. He doesn't have to come back until he is 2 months old. His current weight/height is:

9lb 7oz

22 in

Happy Birthday!

JACOB ANTHONY PIERCE

....has arrived! And boy he arrived with a bang. Completely unlike his big brother and we are all so happy that he is finally here. Here is the story!

At 1:45am this morning I woke up with sharp abdominal pains. I started watching the clock to time them and the first one I counted was 5 minutes apart, but after that they were about 3 minutes apart AND my water broke. I got up and went to the bathroom and they quickly got stronger. I woke Nick up and told him it was time! We immediately called his mom to come over and stay with Brad so that we could head out.

I stumbled around the house to gather our bags pausing every few minutes to struggle thru the contractions. I was NOT looking forward to the drive to the hospital. We got the car all packed and as soon as my MIL pulled into the driveway we ran off! I told Nick to turn on the flashers and fly! Let's just say he made the usually 30 minute drive in about 15 minutes.

Thankfully I had already filled out the registration paperwork and as I barely made it thru the entrance they stuck me in an exam room while Nick parked the car. It was about 3am at this point. The contractions were super bad and I was very afraid it would be too late to get an epidural. They still had to page the on-call CRNA and wait for him to come in. Anywho they checked me as soon as I got in the exam room and only 1 hour after my contractions started I was at an 8!!!!!

At this point it was all I could do to get thru each one, and I could barely talk in between to sign consent forms. I kept my eyes shut and kept saying prayers to have strength. They wheeled me into a labor/delivery room and I could hear all of the commotion and workers around me getting everything ready. I heard the on-call OB come in (who I know and work with) and introduce herself but I could only keep my eyes shut and breathe. Then I heard the magical words: "Brian is here". Brian is the CRNA to do the epidurals and I obeyed everything they needed me to do to get it.

By this time I was at 9cm and Brian thought it would go super quick so he only did a spinal injection of pain medicine that would last about an hour. I did get relief and it was so very welcome....until it started wearing off! Jacob was having trouble getting past my pelvic bone (just like his big brother) so it drug out for a couple more hours. Around 5am-ish I started feeling the super painful contractions again so we called Brian back. He stuck me in the back again but this time for an epidural injection. After that I couldn't even feel the butt I was sitting on!

 I did some pushing around 6ish then we took a break so that Nick could help the nurses position me differently to help baby move around. Around 6:45am the OB checked me again and he had moved just right to get past the pubic bone. She had me push a few times and he popped right out with no trouble at 6:58am!

 

 They immediately put him on my chest while they rubbed him clean and Nick cut the cord. I snuggled him under my gown for awhile before he nursed, then after he was done they did his newborn bloodwork and shots in the room.

 

 When he came out everyone was commenting how big he was. I figured since he came out so much quicker and easier than Brad that he couldn't be more than 8.5lb. When they finally weighed him.........I was way off!

 9lb 9oz

21.5 inches

Wow! A big boy indeed. He got a nice sponge bath then we snuggled him up in some clean clothes and got moved to a postpartum room just in time for breakfast! We have had lots of visitors today and everyone is so happy to see our little angel finally here. He has been a wonderful baby so far with a huge appetite. Tomorrow morning he will get his last few newborn screenings done and get circumcised, then we will head home hopefully in the afternoon! We are so very blessed to have gotten to this point and we are so thankful for everything God has given us. We have overcome infertility and heartache once again and are proud to introduce our precious baby boy.

The Birth "Plan"

I had my final prenatal appointment today! I am 39 weeks and 2 days along and I am booked to be induced on Monday evening. I was pretty gung-ho about not being induced, but I think things will go much better this time since my girl stuff already knows what it's supposed to do.

Last week I was dilated to about a 2.5cm and 80% effaced. They booked me to come in Monday the 13th at 6pm to begin the Cervidil overnight, then Pitocin drip in the morning. Today she checked me and I am dilated 3-4cm AND I talked her into stripping my membranes (ouch!). She said my cervix is all ready to go and we can skip the Cervidil! Now we come in at 10pm on Monday and they will start the Pitocin drip after I'm checked in and have an IV. With any luck my little one will be born Tuesday morning or afternoon and maybe we'll go home early Wednesday!!

I work tomorrow and it will be my LAST day before I start maternity leave. Hopefully they have mercy on me because these loins are feeling heavy! I was pretty crampy right after the doctor visit but I think it's subsiding a bit. Of course I could still go into labor on my own at any point--which would be ideal--so we are ready for that too, but either way he'll be here by the end of Tuesday! I have already been having frequent contractions for the last few weeks. Sometimes they are about 6 minutes apart even! I know they are just Braxton-Hicks and aren't the real thing but I have been on high alert waiting for the real stuff to start! I never had any of this with Bradley--he was just a happy camper staying in there until we dragged him out.

My MIL Penny has graciously accepted our request to stay at our house with Bradley while we are in the hospital. That way he doesn't have to miss school and she can watch our house and cats. She will still bring him up to visit us of course and she won't have to make the hour drive from our house to her house while things are going on.

Thank you for following our intense and emotional journey to parenthood! We are in the final days now and my next blog post will be all about our new bundle of joy! Check back soon!

Crafts and Easter

Today I am 38 weeks and 5 days along! I have been trying to get a few last sewing projects out of the way, but one thing that just couldn't wait was baby's coming home outfit! I made a special onesie for him, and a shirt for Bradley.

I finally embroidered Brad's library bag that he uses during the summer for library trips while school is out.

A doctor I work with is due a week after me and she is naming her little boy Dash. Their nursery theme is Travel, so I made her some coordinating custom burp cloths!

 

And of course I couldn't go without making little Jacob his very own burp cloths!

 

 

Today is Easter and I hope everyone who celebrates was able to spend time with their family and remember the reason for the holiday. After our church service this morning we gathered up some food and headed over to my mom's house to join the rest of my family for a big lunch! It was moist outside but dry enough for the kiddos to run around looking for eggs!

 

 

This Thursday is my last checkup before my scheduled induction on the 13th. I really hope little Jacob decides to make his appearance before then! We have everything ready for him to join us and I can't wait to hold him and kiss his forehead.