Cloth Diapering and Nursing

After much researching and debate David and I decided to give cloth diapering a try. This was a hard decision to make because I didn't want to have a baby wearing a huge bulky diaper and honestly, shaking a poopy diaper above a toilet does not seem that appealing to me. (and it still doesn't) We are hoping this will get us one step closer to allowing me to be a stay at home mom by helping us save some money. I have been keeping track of the amount of diapers used since Ezekiel was born. We used around 190 newborn diapers and around 100 size one diapers in a mere 4 and a half weeks! Now granted I did get great deals on those diapers and didn't pay full price for any of them, but I don't know if I will always be able to get the good deals in the future. So anyways we are taking the great adventure and are trying out cloth diapers. There is a local company in town called ecobuns (ecobuns.com). It is ran out of a ladys home and she has great insight on all the items she sells. Dana (SIL) and I went over to her house one day and she gave us a mini diapering class and explained all the in's and out's of cloth diapering. She showed us all the different types of diapers and how they worked and shared the pros and cons of each kind. We ended up being there for almost two hours going over things and trying to decide what way we wanted to go with for our diapers. I ended up buying prefolds and covers and Dana got AIO (all in one) diapers. So far we both love our diapers and have purchased more. I will still be using disposables for long days away from home and when we go camping just because we don't have the supply needed to make it through the longer periods. Here is a picture of my covers I purchased:
There is a new way of cleaning off poopy diapers too, Its a sprayer that hooks to your toilet. It is kind of like the sprayer that is in your sink but it is hooked to the water behind your toilet and you can spray off the poo into the toilet rather than having to shake it out and worry about dropping the diaper into the toilet. However they run kind of high as far as price goes so Willy (BIL) is making a home made one for about half the price for Dana and I to have on our toilets.

Zeke looks great in his diapers by the way...okay he doesn't like to get his diaper changes that much so that is why he is mad in the picture with the blue diaper cover on.


Elijah is still using disposable diapers at this point. We wanted to see how it goes first with Zeke and then make the decision to switch over with Eli or not. I might buy a couple of nice AIO's for him at night though instead of buying overnight diapers. Here is a picture of Eli because he is a cutie pie too! Did I mention he loves his fruit!
Switching topics now...

While browsing blogs today I came across one that I was able to relate to as a nursing mom. After I had Elijah I tried nursing and it didn't work out. He lost weight and didn't gain it back the way he should have so we had to start supplementing and it just kind of went down the drain from there. He ended up completely on formula. This time around with Zeke nursing is going really well, even though it took him 3 weeks to get back up to his birth weight. He latches on well and eats for a long period of time. I have to admit there are times when I just wish he was formula fed, it gets tricky when you have a 20 month old getting jealous and decides to jump, bite, kick etc, while you are nursing and knows you can't put him in time out or give him vinegar for biting because you are in the middle of a feeding. Hopefully this will calm down after a while. So back to the blog I had mentioned. The lady wrote about nursing in public and overcoming her fears of doing so. The article can be found at: http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2010/05/overcoming-fears-of-nursing-in-public.html This really hit home for me because I am just like she was. It is uncomfortable going out in public and having to nurse the baby. But I find myself gradually working up my nerves and becoming more comfortable with it. At first I was locking myself away from family and friends to go and feed Zeke, and I would miss out on 20-30 minutes of conversation and time with them. I enjoy spending time with people...I don't enjoy spending time alone by myself, locked away in a room. So I am gradually overcoming my fears and am starting to nurse more in 'public' I should say more around family while using a nursing cover. It is hard though to make sure Zeke is latched on and keeps latched on while hidden under the cover but eventually over time as he gets old he will hopefully start to get the hang of latching himself on with out a bunch of help from me and this will become even more enjoyable.
I do have to say that I am proud of the fact that Ezekiel has never had a bottle at one month old and Im pretty sure he won't get one for a while because things are going really good for us. I have pumped once, more to help ease some pain, and that milk is probably going to need to get tossed out.

And to end the post...Elijah is such a great big brother to Ezekiel. He always asks " Hold me?" when he wants to hold Zekey. He will sit so good on the couch and hold him, he will look at him and talk to him and give him so many kisses. Its the most precious thing in the world.

Way over due!

We have been super busy here the last two months getting ready for the new baby and then having the new baby. But I finally have time to update and hope to do so more frequently now that things have calmed down for us.

On April 23 we went in for our scheduled c-section (we were hoping I would go into labor on my own so I could do a VBAC but that didn't happen) we went in at 8 am and the section was schedule for 9. We didn't know what we were having so we were very excited at this point. Finally around 9:20 we heard that the baby had a ton of dark hair, which is way different from what Elijah had when he was born, then at 9:26 we heard the cry of our new little baby and David looked over the sheet to tell me that we had another baby boy! Ezekiel Henry! He weighed in at 9 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was a big baby and the doc said I probably wouldn't have been able to have him naturally if I would have gone into labor on my own. David was able to cut the cord and bring him over to me to see. I got to see him for a couple minutes then they went upstairs with the nurse. I went back into recovery for not quite an hour and was brought back upstairs to my room. Shortly after being in there Dr. Worpel came in and talked to David and I and told us that Ezekiel had wet lungs. Normally when you labor and deliver naturally most of that fluid gets pushed out of the babys body and because Ezekiel was a c-section he didn't have that chance to get that stuff out. So he was put on oxygen right away to help his heavy breathing and she said it could take 12-24 hours to clear up his lungs and then he would be able to come into the room with me and I would be able to hold him. They said if I started feeling better then they would wheel me down to the nursery to see him. Finally after 7 hours the nurse came in and told us that his levels were back where they needed to be and he could come down to our room and I would finally be able to hold him. He was put on limited holding (only mommy and daddy) until the next afternoon. They had to tube feed him once and then they bottle fed him for his second feeding and he did well with that so they let me nurse him for his third feeding and he has been nursing since then. No bottles yet! When we left the hospital he weighed in at 8.10 and 4 days later was still at the same weight so we had to go in for a weight check at 2 week and he was 8.12. He only gained 2 ounces in a week and was still below his birth weight. We go in on Monday for his 3 week check up and will see how he is with weight gain. Hopefully it has gone up enough that I don't have to supplement and give him a bottle. He seems to latch on well and will eat for 20-30 mins every 2-3 hours.

Elijah loves being a big brother and is always wanting to hold Zekey and hug and kiss him. The first thing he does every morning after I get him out of his room is run into mommy and daddys room to check on Zeke. He is starting to want to pick him up out of his bouncy seat and swing so I have to keep and extra close eye on him with that.

I'm feeling quite well since having the c-section. I can get around really well and I am no longer sore. I can even fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! We are hoping that over the next couple of months we can figure out some way for me to be able to be a stay at home mom.