More on Cloth

We've been using cloth for about 3 weeks. I LOVE IT! I just wish I hadn't started with my last child. =)

I've made a few additions and subtractions to my stash. (See previous post.)

I absolutely HATE the Kushies AIOs. I will keep them on hand for emergencies, but you have to change the baby EVERY SINGLE TIME he pees. No forgiveness. That made me search for a better AIO for daddy to use.

I found Smartipants. They are AWESOME! Really!! And they are One Size (OS) which is even better! They have a microfiber insert and hold SOO MUCH. These are great for outings.



As for prefolds, I tried a Thirsties cover and just couldn't make myself like it. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. My favorite is the Econobum, a one-size cover. It took a little getting used to, but here are some pictures on how I use it with my boy. (With little girls you would want the most cloth toward the middle.)



Lay out the prefold.














Fold one side toward the middle.













Now the other side.














Fan out the top.














Fold the bottom inward (for maximum absorbency where needed.)












Place inside cover. Voila!

Cloth Diapers

I've been thinking about doing it for a long time. A few days ago I finally got up the nerve to order some. Here's what I got:

A 5-pack of Kushies All-in-One diapers from Diapers.com. I've read that it's smart to have a few around AND I was afraid Mike wouldn't help me diaper without them. LOL



Mother-Ease One Size (Introductory Offer). Actually, I had bought this a while ago. I was hoping to use it with *L* for naptime, but it was too small.



From Cottonbabies, I ordered 1 Thirsties cover and 2 Econobum covers...



12 Indian Prefolds...



... and 2 Snappis.



I really like the Econobum cover with prefolds. (I haven't used the Thirsties yet.) I haven't been able to figure out the snappi, the baby won't lay still long enough... hmm maybe I should practice after he's already asleep. =)

Post-Pavlik Harness

I haven't really had any different news since October 2009, when he was released from wearing the harness. Today *Z* had an x-ray on his hips at the Orthopedist. I'm not sure exactly *what* was measured on the x-ray, but the Dr said the baby's left measured 23 degrees and the right measured 30 degrees. He wants them to be below 30, so his right hip is measuring borderline.

He goes back in 3 months for another x-ray. Dr offered to refer *Z* to a pediatric orthopedist, but I declined for now. If he's still borderline at the next x-ray then I'll take him to see the pediatric orthopedist.

Worn Out

No More Zantac!

I'm so excited! On October 7 the baby started taking Zantac for acid reflux. (I have to add here that we didn't see his regular Pediatrician, we saw a Nurse Practitioner.) She told me to give him .6mL 2x a day. That seemed a little extreme to me. The baby's symptoms weren't horrible, they were just bad enough to make him - and me - uncomfortable. So he's only ever taken it 1x a day. Within 24 hours he was like a brand new baby! No more spit up and no more "colicky" behavior.

After a week or so I read a Zantac box at the grocery. It said that the medicine reduces the production of stomach acid, and I had heard that the body can become dependent on the medicine if taken too long. I really started wondering if there was something we could give him to neutralize the acid instead.

About 3 weeks ago I tried taking him off of the Zantac and he went right back to being a cranky spit up baby. A week later (of being on the meds again) we decided to change his formula. We tried Enfamil A.R. - it's made thicker for babies who spit up. It's been awesome! He's not been on any medicine for about 10 days.

THEN we got to wondering if it was just the formula in the first place. He was on Enfamil in the hospital and for about a week after. Then we switched to Good Start, since that's what WIC gives you in TN. Looking back, that's about when we started to notice the problems, but I associated it with getting used to wearing the harness.

So now he's taking a mixture of Enfamil AR and regular Enfamil. It's thick, but not super thick. He's doing just fine. After my can of AR is finished we're going to just give him the Enfamil and see what happens.

EDITED TO ADD: I tried reducing the AR just a little bit and he started spitting up again. I guess 1/2 and 1/2 is the right mixture for him.

Starting Early

Every man needs his remote! (Even if he IS asleep.)

My Babies

*B*


*C*


*T*


*L*


*Z*

Sleepy Bob et al

Pavlik Harness ~ Day 21

Very good news today!!

The Pediatric Radiologist did an ultrasound on the baby's hips and said that he saw NOTHING WRONG!!! Praise God!

We see the Orthopedist again on October 7 to find out the next step. I'm hoping he'll tell me to hide it in a box and let it die... but from what I understand there's a weaning process, so we'll see.

UPDATE: On October 7 the Orthopedist said that he could stop wearing the harness! He has to have an xray in January to confirm everything. Thanks for your prayers!

Sleeping Baby

Pavlik Harness ~ day 1

It's called Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), and my baby has it.

The first well-baby exam was at 6 days, and the Ped did the Barlow Test. During the test he found that the baby's hips were clicking. He said that his hips were loose and we needed to get an ultrasound to determine how bad it was and if we needed to do anything about it.

Ultrasound was done at 10 days and he had a follow-up with the Ped at 14 days (last Tuesday). He told me that I needed to take the baby to see the Orthopedist to see if he needed to wear the Pavlik Harness.

From what I understand, *Z* has a mild case. There is absolutely NO dislocation at all! He does have some subluxation though. That just means that the hip socket is not shaped like a cup, it's more like a saucer. We'll know more after he has an ultrasound with a Pediatric Radiologist on October 1. Since time is of the essence, the Orthopedist wanted to go ahead and put *Z* in the harness and follow-up after the ultrasound. We'll also know better exactly how long he'll have to wear it after this appointment.



The whole point of the harness is to keep his hips at a 90 degree angle. This will help the socket to form like a cup. Right now baby's hips are more like cartilage than actual bone, so making them form correctly isn't a problem at this age.



I'm allowed to take it off to give him a bath and change his clothes.

Baby Dedication

My husband's parents (and our 2 nieces) were in town so we decided to have the Baby Dedication while they were here.

L to R: Autumn, Amber, Gary, Sharon, Mike, Me, Susan (our TN Mama)


Pastor Jim praying over the baby.


We also dedicated the other children since we didn't have them done as babies.

We Have a Thumb Sucker

A Precious Gift

Wow, I can't believe that he's finally here!!



It was truly an amazing experience.

The short version:
I went in the night before (the 24th) so that they could start the "balloon."
It fell out at 4am, which meant that I was about 3cm dilated.
At 5am they started pitocin.
About 7am I started feeling some contractions.
8am the Dr. broke my water and said that I was almost 4cm.
9am the contractions started to become painful. I was given a "shot" of stadol. 5cm.
10am the contractions doubled in length and strength. I had to push. Almost 10cm.
10:15 I called my mom so that she could "be there."
A contraction or two later I started pushing...

and my baby arrived at 10:24am on Aug 25, 2009, weighing 7lbs 1oz and 19.5" long.

Home Sewn Baby Sling

First I have to get the technicals out of the way... I got the pattern and all of the instructions from here:


I bought my rings from Sing Rings, and my fabric from JoAnn Online. Hmm, it seems they are out of the fabric I bought, but the link takes you to the Snuggle Flannel, which is what I used.

Ok, the fun part! Here are some pics of my sling. :)

I wasn't using *my* machine, so I'll blame the ugly stitches on that. I put in 1 straight stitch and 3 zig zag stitches. I wanted to make sure it was NOT going to come apart.



I used gold thread for sewing jeans. I wanted it to be extra strong. I did run out of thread though, I had no idea that I would use an entire spool! So the very bottom hem is dark brown.



Here is me wearing it. I know it's not threaded right, and the rings should be closer to my shoulder. I just put it on to model it for Mike and then he didn't believe that I could use it for *L*... if I wanted to.

Baby's Coming Home Outfit

I found it!

Pregnancy: 26w2d

And now, a view from the top.

Hydronephrosis of Pregnancy

I've got it again.

When I was around 7 months pregnant with *L* I went to the hospital with excruciating pain in my back. I was hospitalized for 3 days so that they could monitor my pain and give me meds.

Before that I had NEVER heard of 'hydronephrosis of pregnancy'. Apparently it's not unusual, the nurses were all surprised that I hadn't had it with any of my first 3 kids.

Hydronephrosis is explained very well here. Basically the baby is kinking my ureters (the tubes going from kidney to bladder) and that causes my kidney to get backed up. Unfortunately, there's really nothing they can do since it will fix itself after the baby is born.

The things we go through to have kids... :)

It's a boy!!

Well, we all wanted a girl, but God knows the desires of our hearts better than we do. I was thinking about their teenage years... I'm going to have dd20, ds19, ds18, ds15, ds12. WOW!

She got a good picture of his legs stretched out... and I saw it. Then a little later, she said, "Do we want to know what it is?" I said, "Yes." So, she showed us his little boy parts. :)

He wouldn't be still long enough to get a picture, but we know what we saw. When she tried to get the picture, he crossed his ankles and hid his little boy parts. Boys are so stubborn.

Pregnancy: 17w3d

Oh my gosh! I'm huge already! I don't *feel* that big... the sad thing is that I have 5 more months to get even bigger!!