Quick Cloth Diaper Update

Most of you probably won't care about this, but I feel like I should post a quick update on how the cloth diapers are working out for us. I was thrilled about them last time I mentioned it, but we have had a few problems since then and I don't want anyone to take my earlier recommendations without knowing the whole story.

After a couple months without problems, Claire's Flips started leaking about one or two times per week. Also, even when they didn't leak, her diapers often smelled of urine because the insert would be soaked through to the cover (Nick would say "She smells like a New York subway!"). I finally realized that the manufacturer recommends to use two cloth inserts for toddlers, and I had been only using one. Once I started with two, we didn't have any more leaks. This is something to keep in mind because you may need to purchase twice as many inserts with this system once your baby grows into toddlerhood.

There has been another problem with all of the different brands and styles that I've tried (I purchased some one-size pocket style diapers in addition to the Flips). Claire has very sensitive skin, and the waterproof outer covers rub against her upper thighs, irritating her skin quite a bit. I can't think of any solution to this other than perhaps putting cotton panties on over the diaper. However, we've stopped using the cloth diapers altogether for now in an attempt to simplify my life while Liam is in the newborn stage. I will probably continue using disposables until Claire potty trains, hopefully within the next couple months. I'll try using the cloth diapers on Baby Liam once he is about 3 months old and no longer going through a million diapers a day. Hopefully the covers do not irritate his skin like they did for Claire.

There's a possibility that this has been a failed experiment and a waste of money. I really didn't mind washing them -- I had a good routine going -- but the main problem was the cover rubbing against Claire's skin. I hadn't read about that happening on any forums while I was researching the topic, so I would imagine that most babies don't have that problem.

Have any of you tried cloth diapers? What did you think?

Babywearing

I received several different styles of infant carriers and slings when I was pregnant with Claire. I tried each one and never felt completely comfortable wearing them; either I was afraid that she was not secured safely or the awkward positioning hurt my back. Eventually, my mom made me a "Moby" style wrap (google it for instructions - so easy to make!). It's basically just 15 feet of cotton fabric that you can wrap around your body in a variety of ways. You can carry a newborn against your body, which is great for Kangaroo holding. For older babies, they can be facing outward or carried on your back. Toddlers can even be carried on your hip with this wrap (although I've never tried that -- too heavy!).

I'm a huge fan of "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo, and the Babywise philosophy does not advocate wearing your baby 24/7. However, I've found that with an active toddler at home, I have much less time to hold and cuddle with Liam than I did when Claire was a newborn. While wearing him, I can get things done around the house or play with Claire and he still gets some Mommy cuddling time. Just thought I'd mention it for other moms who may be in the market for a new sling!

June Garden

Let's check out my veggie garden in June. Now, I don't bother weeding around the perimeter of the garden -- so just ignore that, ok? :)

One of the two zucchini plants.

One of the two groups of purple beans (like green beans, only purple).

One of the four rows of basil. Still just little guys!

A few of the nine tomato plants. They are starting to get yellow flowers now.

Four rows of radishes. They are popping out of the ground -- but I don't think I've ever eaten a radish in my life. I don't know what to do with them! Between the rows are rows of carrots, but you can hardly see them. For some reason, my carrots aren't doing well this year.

One of the hills of cucumbers.

You can see nearly the entire garden in this picture. I'm standing where the lettuce and mesclun were planted...none of which came up! I have no idea what the problem is; we've had tons of lettuce every other year.

From left to right: One of the three bell peppers, a row of shallots, and two of the eight broccoli plants.

My special little garden helper!

Brother and Sister

Let me just say, I really admire newborn photographers! I'm having a tough time getting shots that show how cute this little guy is.

You may remember that Claire's nickname was "Baby" for her first two years of life. We thought that might be confusing when the new baby arrived, so we've been making an effort to teach Claire that she's a big girl. Now, she refers to herself as "BigGirlClaire". For example, "BigGirlClaire eat snack? BigGirlClaire play outside?". It's pretty cute. Nick and I now refer to her as BGC when she's not around because we're weird like that :).

A big yawn :)

A little smirk.

Baby Liam has been the sweetest little thing ever! He sleeps really well (but likes to stick to a 2-hour feeding schedule at night...hopefully that starts to stretch out a bit soon, but at least he's sleeping between feedings!). He rarely cries and is easily soothed. He has been a wonderful addition to our family.

A proud daddy showing off his swaddling skills!

Baby Liam

OK, now I haven't taken ANY pictures yet. We seriously only have a couple shots that Nick took in the hospital. I promise I'll post some really cute ones soon!

Liam Hurley Sabey arrived on Friday, June 18 at 3:42 a.m., weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces. He is perfect in every way!

Just a warning...this is a birth story, so get out now if you don't want the gory details!

On Thursday at 5:00 p.m., just over a week before my due date, I was cleaning the bathtub (a chore I'd put off for weeks), and all of the bending and twisting was probably a good idea...my water broke! I rushed around packing my hospital bag (another task I'd been procrastinating) and we headed up to Memorial North. I was checked out at the triage center and it was determined that I was having contractions 5-6 minutes apart and was dilated to 3 cm.

Because my water had already broken, I was admitted and told that if things didn't start picking up after about 6 hours, I would need to be put on pitocin. Nick, Claire and I hung around the hospital for the next few hours, waiting for my family to arrive to take Claire home. I never sat down and just walked, walked, walked, trying to keep those contractions coming!

At 11:00 pm, I was only dilated to 4 and my contractions hadn't picked up at all. In went the dreaded IV and the contractions definitely increased in intensity (and pain) once the pitocin started. At this point, I lay down in bed and tried to get some rest between contractions.

The pain was getting worse as time went on. By around 1 a.m., I was only dilated to 5. I started getting VERY cold and my entire body was shaking. This made it impossible to rest between contractions and I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I moved to a birth ball and was wrapped in 4 warm blankets, which made me feel a million times better. The mood lightened a lot and Nick and I started goofing off -- I discovered that laughing through the contractions made them much more bearable!

Around 2:30 a.m., my contractions were spacing out again and they increased my dose of pitocin. The pain became nearly unbearable at this point, and I could hardly breathe through the contractions. My nurse was certain that I was in transition because the pain was so bad, but I was only at a 6!

At 3:00 a.m., I moved back to the bed and things started happening fast! Suddenly, I felt the urge to push very strongly and could hardly contain myself from doing so as the nurse checked again...in just about 15 minutes I was already dilated to 9, and the nurse said to go ahead and push! After 19 minutes of nonstop pushing - and lots of screaming - baby Liam was born. He was so beautiful!

Thank you to all my friends who encouraged me to attempt a natural birth. Although the pain was almost worse than I could have imagined, everything went much more quickly and the recovery is going better than I'd expected.

Welcome, Baby Liam! We love you!

Funny Faces

Claire has always been a kid who makes funny faces...

"Surprise!"

"Sad"

"Pirate face" (including a hearty "Arrrrrrrrr!")

And this is how Claire sleeps 100% of the time...with that cute little bottom up in the air and cuddling with DaddyMonkey (her special animals at the moment are named DaddyMonkey, MommyMom, and BabyMonkey).

Claire's New Room: After Pictures

...and here is Claire's new room! (See previous post for before pictures). She loves it and adjusted very well to the move.

Nick painted the walls, and my mom hemmed the curtains and covered the little table shown here.

All of the furniture in the room was free: hand-me-downs from our wonderful family and friends!

The desk was Nick's childhood desk, built by his grandfather.

My mom transformed a thrift store CD storage container into a super-cute dollhouse.

Nick's talented sister, Danielle, made these collages featuring old pictures of Nick's grandmother.

A close-up of one of Danielle's pieces. I bought several mismatched wooden frames from Goodwill and painted them yellow (another project my mom helped with!).

Nick's other sister, Elise, created this piece of art. We're lucky to have such a talented family!