CDing again

I had planned to cloth diaper Missy, but really wasn't looking forward to having to do an extra load of laundry ever 3 or so days. I used 'sposies for the first few weeks to get me back in the groove again and still use them for overnight (till I get my courage up, lol). But getting back in the CDing saddle again wasn't as hard as I anticipated. It's really rather fun to cloth diaper and you get to be so much more creative than you can be with "go 'n throw" dipes (which really have zero room for creativity). And while babies are 100% breastfed, you don't have to "scoop-the-poop" as there are no solids, everything gets nicely washed away, so it's really no trouble. I wash about every 3 days, and have an ever revolving supply of soft, fluffy non-landfill-clogging diapers. And as far as the creativity side of things, here's what I've gotten to do so far:

The diapers are made from a large, soft sheet using the Rita's Rump Pocket pattern (I managed to get 10 from one large, flat sheet; queen or kin size, not sure). They were so fun to make and super easy too. This tutorial helped immensely when it came to adding the elastic. I can't wait to get a hold of some more flannel to make some more! I'd like another couple of sheets' worth at least. I stuff them with a trifolded small prefold (I have used premium diapers as stuffers too, but they're kinda big!, might be good for overnight) and they aren't too too bulky, easy to get on and off (just use one pin), I love 'em!

Update, here are a few more:















The pink (acrylic) diaper cover is my rendition of a Flapper Bottom soaker which turned out nice, but I still don't like it as well as the Warm Heart Woolies plain wrap that I made from recycled red wool. It's so pretty and so easy to get on and off, also is a good fit (this pic is so far from doing this soaker justice it isn't funny. It's a much deeper, darker red in real life and the color is nice and even, not faded looking like in this sub-par photo).








I also made an Ottobre soaker (.pdf; the Ottobre is my favorite pull-on soaker, very quick and easy to make, easy on/off, contains wettness well...) out of some chunky recycled wool which is my bullet-proof diaper cover (the blue and green one above is an Ottobre soaker, but the one I made most recently is a cream color). That with a premium stuffed RRP might be the ticket for night time when I run out of disposables.

She's here!

Ok, admittedly I'm VERY very behind, but all truth be told, I've been just a tad busy lately :).

The 23rd was indeed the day; I had contractions almost all night (got an hour's sleep a couple of times) and they gradually got stronger and stronger toward morning. I got up at 3:30 to eat some breakfast and was still very able to manage the contractions as they came. I kept track of them in my Palm with a program specially for that. Finally around 5:15 I was so drowsy I thought I'd try lying down again so I went and lay down on the couch in the family room. Dh got up to use the restroom a little while later and came looking for me. So since he was up, I went back to bed. I got a little more rest (the 2nd hour's sleep I think) and woke up when Eli did just before 7. I got up and helped Eli get breakfast and dressed...

Then around 8 I went in to take a shower and suggest that Dh start inflating the pool (we set it up in the family room). I had a banana with p-nut butter to eat and a glass of milk. Then around 9 a.m. I was feeling tuckered out again so went to lie down on the couch. I had called my midwife at 7 a.m. after what I thought would have been at least 9 hours of sleep for her, but turns out she had to be at another birth the night before from 12 midnight to 6:30 a.m. so she had just gotten to sleep (I felt bad). So then I called the other midwife and she said she's be on her way. She and the apprentice got here around 10 and by then things had gotten more serious. I was quite uncomfortable during each contraction, but they were still not real long at this point. She checked the baby during a contraction and she was doing fine. I was dilated to 5cm and -2 station at that point.

I was given the green light to get in the pool if I wanted to and oooooh, it felt SO good to get in. The water was delightfully warm and my contractions did slow down a little bit and were much more tolerable. At least at first... Then around 11 the contractions started getting downright painful. I couldn't help but groan thru them (though I'm always very ladylike if I do say so myself, LOL; Dh says I make it look easy... whatever!). I kept thinking "I can see how women want epidurals"... and "I just wanted this to be OVER!" There weren't many positions that were comfortable for me. And then at one point I had to get up to empty my bladder and had several contractions on the trip to the bathroom and back, which was NO FUN. I finally managed and back to the pool I hobbled.

Sometime around noon, I started feeling like I was getting close to transition and/or pushing stage. I checked myself and could feel quite a bit of head, still in the sack. I couldn't tell if I felt cervix or not. I asked the midwife if I could start pushing and she said "listen to what your body is telling you." So I started trying little pushes for the next 3 or so contractions. Then I got serious and on the next contraction (about 12:15 p.m.) I gave one good long push and out popped her head. Dh said she was blinking her eyes under the water :) Then on the next contraction I pushed the rest of her out and Dh caught her and confirmed right away that she was a SHE :) (She was born at 12:17 p.m.) The kids got to witness her entrance into the world from the doorway of the next room (they didn't really see too many details tho!).

Missy (short/nick for "Miss Magoo", lol) was covered in vernix and looked little. I didn't think she was a 9 pounder like I had been expecting. She didn't have a lot of hair, but 5 fingers, 5 toes (per hand and foot that is, lol), 2 adorable little ears, 2 pretty eyes (which we still don't know what color they'll be; kind of a dark grey/brown/blue/green color right now, lol, could be anything but for now I'll put my $ on brown), chubby little chin and knees..., and a precious little face. She cried as soon as she was out of the water, but then settled down. I kept her warm in the water and tried to stimulate her a little just to hear her cry some more (and clear out any wetness that might be in her lungs...). She had passed some muconium at some point in the past, but she never appeared to be in any distress, though we watched her carefully. After just a few minutes she showed signs of being open to nursing so I helped her latch on and she did great. Because she was nursing so well, I stayed in for a while longer. Then Dh cut the cord and took her so I could get out and take a shower. After I got dressed I came back in and nursed her some more. Then the apprentice did the newborn exam and she checked out beautifully. I caught it all on tape.

Here are her stats:

20.5 inches long
8 pounds, 9 ounces
born at 12:17 p.m. on November 23 (her due date :)
after 10 1/2 hours or so of labor (but only 2 minutes of pushing and 2 pushes to get her out)

I was SO glad when she was out, let me tell you. I was NOT having fun the hour or 2 before she was born.

After she I was born I basically felt fine, though a bit tired and a little "peekid" feeling. The midwife estimated my blood loss at 4 cups so I made a point to eat iron-rich food the few days after she was born to help me feel a little more perky. I felt shaky right after getting out of the pool and was a little unnerved by that, but that didn't last long and went away after a few minutes. Dh had done well to keep me well hydrated with electrolyte drinks all during labor. I ate a good lunch after the midwife and apprentice left, then tried to take a nap as Missy was zonked out after her trip; however my brain was so hyped up that I couldn't drift off. But I guess I did get some rest. Gigi held the baby the whole time I was "napping" which was a little over an hour. She didn't want to get up until I got back and my mom started talking about going to Wal-Mart for a few things we needed ("Can I go, please?!?" lol).

We were so pleased with the outcome, another little girl (awwww) making our tribe an even Boy/Girl/Boy/Girl. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried (we did sorta try for Gigi, but the rest... no). I think everyone was secretly hoping we'd have a girl so that Gigi could have a sister. I was also very relieved to see that she was normal and in good health as I'd had that "irrational fear" all during pregnancy that something might be wrong. This was partly fueled by the knowledge that I had been exposed to x-rays when I was holding Eli for his arm x-rays (this was before I knew I was pregnant) and also because I'd used a heating pad on my back one night when I was newly pregnant (also before I knew). So I am very grateful and thankful that our little girl is fine.

Since then we've been battling thrush/yeast which has been no fun at all. I'm taking probiotics to help my body fight it. I thought that I was over it, but now am feeling shooting pains in my milk ducts (a sign of ductal yeast) that I'm hoping is not yeast. Also Missy's tongue does have white on it that won't wipe off which is a sign of thrush so I don't know for sure that it's over. I may have to start my grapefruit seed extract regimen again (groan!)

Missy started smiling around 3-3 1/2 weeks, and is developing really great head control, she doesn't like it when we try to put her head down on our shoulders, she wants to be looking around. She started making little cooing noises last week which is really too cute.

This is the day! (I think, I hope)

I've been having contractions starting from about 4 yesterday afternoon (light ones then) to somewhat stronger ones in the evening and during the night. They've been averaging about 3 - 5 minutes apart lasting a minute or a little less. At around 3:30 I got up for something to eat and they didn't slow down any, but they aren't lasting quite as long. I'm SOOOO sleepy tho, thank goodness I got a bit of a nap yesterday afternoon. I'm using the dandy little Contraction Timer program for my palm to keep track of my contractions. Makes that part of tracking things so much easier! Still trying to let the midwife and hubby sleep as long as possible (of course in two different houses in two different parts of the state! Whew, just wanted to clear that up!). Can't decide if 7 hours is enough sleep for the midwife as she was planning to go to sleep at 10. Hmm. DH on the other hand didn't come to bed till after midnight so he'll need a little more time if I can manage it.

Ooooh baby baby

I'm still infanticipating... Things are good, I'm still able to get around just fine, I can get down on the floor no prob, up is a bit more of a challenge, but not bad. Still somehow managing to keep up with housework, taking care of the kids, Geo's homeschool, and my school. But I'm mighty ready for this baby to be here already! My ribs are hurting from the baby pressing against them, it's sometimes hard to get comfortable when I'm trying to sleep at night, and I've been fighting to get completely over a cold I caught a couple of weeks ago. The midwives say that the baby's head is still quite floaty and hasn't started dropping yet so it'll probably be another week or two. I was hoping I could somehow, through the powers of suggestion (and I've been suggesting very loudly) convince the baby to shave some time off of the 40 week duration thing, but apparently this baby has other ideas (want's to keep up with the Jonses of his/her brothers and sister, being fashionably late by a few days). But I know it won't be much longer now. Just have to somehow manage to stay patient and ignore any "What!? you're still pregnant?" comments which will invariably come my way in the next couple of weeks. I've already made it through the "Are you sure you're not having twins?" comments so this would just be gravy, lol.

Hiccups

I noticed the baby hiccuping for the first time yesterday :) I've also in the last 2 or 3 days felt the presence of relaxin which I am not too happy about. My hips and joints (especially when I sit too long) get to really hurting! It's about right I guess, the first 3 months are, in a word, Bleugh!, the middle 3 are smooth sailing, the last 3 are pain riddled months with decreased mobility thrown in to boot. Oh well, it's all for a good cause!

Potty Training?

I'm being very lazy about potty training this time around. Eli has shown little signs like he might be getting ready, but I just wasn't ready for the accidents that come with training so I've been procrastinating. But today I decided to put some "big boy pants" on him right after I changed a stinky diaper (so hopefully he won't be doing any of that in his underwear) and he stayed dry for about an hour or so. He wanted to go outside with Daddy so I told him he had to pee in the potty first so we went to do that. He decided he's not ready to pee like Daddy yet (standing up) and wanted his potty seat. When I sat him down, he tried and, sure enough, was able to go.Woo hoo, that's my boy! Now, I'm not harboring any grand ideas that this is some huge milestone or anything because he's gone in the potty before, but it's the longest I think he's kept his diapers dry in a long time, and he's always peed in his underwear in the past so dry undies is a good thing. I'll take what I can get!

20 down, 20 more to go

Weeks that is. Actually I'll be 21 weeks tomorrow so slightly less. I made it to the halfway mark! Things are going well with this pregnancy so far. A few weeks ago I was having early morning mid-back pain that would force me up at 6:00 a.m. or so. But that has recently eased up, not sure what has changed, but I'm not going to complain! My belly is getting to that slightly uncomfortable, makes-it-hard-to-breath stage, but the baby isn't so big yet that it's kicking my ribs or my bladder so I guess I can be thankful for small blessings. Also, thank God, the relaxin hasn't kicked in yet. I hope it waits for a good while! The baby is probably close to 12" long now and wiggles now and then. I love the wiggling part :)

Too tired for words (no not me)

The other day l'il bub was woken up from his nap by dad because he'd "slept long enough." Then dad and the older two went to run a quick errand and left Eli at home with me. Well, after a few minutes things got REALLY quiet and I went to investigate. I walked into the family room and this is what I found:


Then going around to check the other side of him:

Nothing sweeter than sleeping babies. Cracks me up the position he chose to cat-nap.

I'm baaaaaaccckkk!

Yeah, ok, I've been absent for quite awhile now, about 3 months, and in my defense, wasn't feeling great for most of those months. Why you might ask? Well let me go ahead and spill the beans all over the place.

Very shortly after I stopped blogging in March, dh and I found out that we were expecting baby #4. When I got a positive within seconds, it was almost too much to be believed. Dh and I were still sort of living in the fantasy that my cycle was just being a little crazy this month, it would come. But it didn't and, well, after the initial shock of it all wore off and we had mulled over what bad (in our minds) timing this was to be having another baby, we decided to leave it in God's hands and accept it as a blessing that God's Word says that it is. Now that I'm past the almost constant feeling-like-I-majorly-overate-and-need-to-relieve-my-stomach feeling, I'm actually really looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy and for the next addition of our not-so-little-anymore family.

Where did THAT come from?

We were all doing fine, healthy, happy, (minus a broken arm and toothache pain) when out of no where Eli got a runny, stuffy nose and Geo is dealing with a cough. Can't think that we've been around anyone who was sick. It was so sudden and unexpected. Poor Eli can't breath well at night so he didn't sleep well last night and hence, neither did I. But I did get a lovely nap this afternoon to make up for it :)

Blog-a-day challenge

Inspired by the Thing-a-Day challenge, and not feeling like I could actually create a new thing every day of the month but also feeling very bad at my lack of posting for the last eon, I've decided to take on a Blog-a-Day challenge and make myself blog at least once a day for the next month (hopefully I'll develop a good habit and it'll continue).

GRR #1 for the day: my yarn going to my Shetland Triangle shawl (a pretty example pic here) got broken by some little native so I spit-spliced it back together, ... all better :) (at least until GRR #2 happened and another little native or two pulled out my knitting needle out of half of the shawl and causing me to drop a stitch somewhere. Oh where oh where did that stitch go?)

Happy for the day: I learned about using CVS Extra Care Bucks to my advantage. I messed up by buying an extra toothbrush and toothpaste that didn't give me ECBs (because I didn't look at the offer closely enough, I'll keep better notes next time!), but I ended up spending a little over $14 for 12 rolls of TP, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 2 toothbrushes and some maxipads. I used two different CVS coupons that I found which came to $5 off my purchase, I got over $12 in ECBs which I can use toward my future purchases, and I have a gift pack coming in 8-10 weeks which will include 2 boxes of Cheerios, Colgate Total toothpaste, CVS brand pain reliever tabs, Benefiber, Execedrin Migrain sample, a pen and a pill sorter so I think all in all I did pretty good. I can't wait to get next month's sales flyer and start figuring out what goodies I can get next.

Geo went and picked up a free personal pan pizza for the Pizza Hut Book-It program. He read a whole book that wasn't part of school this last month. For February I'm going to have him read a few more books or a bigger book. We got started a little late in January and since it was the first month I tried that, I went a little easier on him.

He is really progressing in piano, he has started playing Away in a Manger and when it get's to the word Manger, he inserts a B flat in the left hand (no one showed him how) to make it sound nicer. He's really got an ear for it.

Eli has started calling me Baba. I say "say MMMMMM" and he goes "mmmmm." Then I go "ahhhhhh" and he says "ahhhhhh" and then I say "Mmmmmmaaaaaaaammmmaaaa" and he says "Mmmmm Baba!" He insists on calling me Baba even though he can make the sounds in Mama. What a funny monkey he is. He is also jumping like a frog, jumps pretty high, both feet off the ground, lands well, amazing.

Gigi is doing great with her cast. We have her bath routine downpat. I wash her hair in the sink (she lies on the counter and leans her head back into the sink). This way her cast is in no danger of getting wet. Then when her hair is dried off, I move her to the bath, wash her body while she keeps her arm raised so the cast doesn't get wet. I use a bucket to pour water over the soapy parts and quick as a flash, she's done and getting out again. This is not to say that I really look forward to the day that cast is taken off! But all in all she's doing very well. Hasn't slowed her down one bit. She has also start tinkering on the piano. She's learned how to play Jesus Loves Me on the black notes, and twinkle twinkle on the white notes. So it won't be long before she's rivaling Geo. She wants to learn how to read SO bad so she can get a free pizza too. I told her that I'd enroll her next year when she's in Kindergarten and she's excited about that.

My l'il boy is growing up

Eli will soon be 17 months old and what a fun little guy he is. He loves to play, has to be right in the middle of whatever is going on, he's inquisitive, curious, imitative ("talks" on the cell phone, tries to "take something apart" with a screwdriver [with us right there supervising of course], tries to turn on the stove burners, glad there's a trick to it!, tries to turn on the stereo, tries to use my computer mouse move the pointer around, tries to feed himself (messy!), is starting to try to go down stairs like a big boy, tries to play guitar...), spins around in circles until he's too dizzy to stand, he's a climber, he's fearless (kind of a bad combo)...

His favorite or at least his most used vocalization is "Dah!" like the first part of Daddy. He uses it for "Daddy," "look," "Mommy," "hey, where is everybody?"... He has kind of a low sounding voice for a baby and his plaintive "Daaahhh" is such a funny, sweet sound.

He isn't saying much at all (bah for ball, Dah), but he signs: baby, bird, dog, cat, down, more, please, eat/food, bread, banana, milk, shoes, and he meows like a cat :) That one's kind of funny. It sounds like "wow," with the word slightly drug out and the mouth wide open for the vowel part of the word. It does sound rather like a cat, but much lower than our cat's dainty and high-pitched "meow." Signs I keep trying to get him to learn are: Mommy, up, thank you, tree, diaper, bath, nice/clean, good, water, cereal, ball...

Splintzell Sprouts

Gigi calls Brussels' Sprouts Splintzell Sprouts and I think it's the most adorable thing (she loves them btw) and I don't want to forget it so I'm blogging about it here.

Oh, also, while I'm jotting things down (and was very remiss in not getting the exact days), Eli cut his incisors about a month ago (yeah, all of them at once), and his molars came in about a month before that.

He's getting so big

Our little Eli is starting to do SO many things. Not only is he running around everywhere, climbing on things, dancing to music, spinning around in circles till he's dizzy, and basically acting silly, he's also starting to try to talk (Ba for ball, bapoo for diaper, mo for more), he's learning to sign (can sign "more," "eat," & "thank you") and last night he apparently saw the moon for the first time and made sure to point it out to me. He stared and stared at it for the longest time, it was kinda cute.

Addendum 7/25/07: As of today he's also signed (copying us) car & dog. He's so into things, really understands what's going on. At supper I asked him to sign something with his hands and he immediately started signing eat and more.

The older two (after watching a couple of DVDs from the library) now know signs for: eat, drink, socks, shoes, hat, baby, flower, water, milk, sit, stand, off, on, open, close, book, help, want, more, cookie, boy, girl, mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, bird, fish, cat, dog, thank you, please, be, good, hungry, happy, play, stop, go, on, off, video, sleep and I'm sure a few more that I can't think of right now. Pretty cool. Sign language is definitely going to be a part of homeschool for us, like a second language or secret language or something :)

He can do it himself

Eli can now bathe by himself (i.e. Mommy & Daddy not there to hold him up) in the bathtub with either big brother or big sister. Of course Daddy or Mommy are right there watching the whole time, but he does a great job. He knows to avoid getting his face to close to the water and mostly just sits and plays with toys. He does such a good job. And I think he likes taking a bath with Geo or Gigi, probably makes him feel like a big boy :) Tonight he spent half of the bath time just laughing his head off, mouth wide open, big grin, and just giggling for all he was worth. It was pretty funny. My baby is almost 1 (sniff!). Can't believe he's that old already. Wish you could put a speed governor on time.

Sick again?!?

I don't know what we did to deserve this, but we're all (minus DH so far) sick again. I think we might have gotten it from someone at the church social this last weekend since it was a pot-luck style meal and lots of kids were there, but I can't be sure. It started with sore throat which is now gone, now we all have sniffles, then tonight I had a twinge of a headache that I ignored (big mistake) which was joined with stomach upset. I tried to go lie down at 10 pm but the headache had gotten so bad at that point (can't remember a headache that bad ever, maybe because I'm really not prone to headaches) that I couldn't go to sleep. I took some Tylenol, DH made me some hot tea which I sipped, I put some frozen stuff (mixed veggies?) on my head and went to lie down again with a heating pad on my feet (one of DH's migraine tricks, draws the blood away from the head) and before too long the headache was gone. But then Eli woke up with a fever and has been restless ever since. I never did get to sleep and Eli hasn't slept a wink (that I know of) since then. He can't breath well and I know he doesn't feel well. He's been nursing almost non-stop since he woke up and I'm not getting any sleep. I finally decided that if he's not going to let me get some sleep, that I'd come in here and let him play while I bum around on the computer till he finally starts showing signs of sleepiness. Our bankruptcy hearing is tomorrow and DH is worried about having to drive and hoping he doesn't get sick from not enough sleep so I made a bed for myself and Eli in the living room. Hopefully that'll work!

He's walking!

Well, I think I can officially say that Eli is walking! He still crawls some but is making a concerted effort to walk more than ever and is toddling all over the house. Still very unsteady on his feet, but he'll only get better every day. He doesn't seem overly phased by his achievement, but he does seem to enjoy trying something new.

Molar magoo

I was beginning to wonder why the last few nights haven't been especially restful when I discovered that Eli is trying to sprout a couple of molars. Poor guy, that can't feel good. Another thing that doesn't help is that he hates and I mean hates to get his diaper changed, especially in the middle of the night. It's a chore the 3-4 times I change his diaper. That's why I'm so very excited that my order of Haute Pockets are coming in the mail, probably next week sometime. I think I'll be able to stuff them well and because of the stay-dry liner, maybe I won't have to change his diapers so often during the night saving us all some sanity.

Eli is taking more and more steps, standing more, crawling like a spider (up on hands and toes, I call him a little spider monkey, lol), walking with a walker or pushing a small plastic chair across the floor... It won't be long before he's walking everywhere. It's started to be a problem with him getting into my kitchen cabinets so I'm improvising (till I can get some latches) with some heavy duty rubber bands which he can't get off the handles, it's working so far.

He has started playing with shapes sorters and actually gets them in sometimes by himself, likes to hit his leapfrog drum, loves things with bright lights (like cell phones, I also call him a bug because he's attracted to light), and is very playful. He's very observant and tries to copy things he sees like holding the phone up to his ear or brushing his hair or blowing on tubes like they are a trumpet.

Clap your hands all ye people

Little Eli is wowing us every day. Today he took 3 steps before plopping to the ground. Then during supper (lentil stew for him) he started signing the word "more" (and I think he said "more," but it sounded more like "ma"). At first he was signing something closer to the word "food" or "eat," bringing his hand up to his mouth, then he started (on his own), bringing his hands together. Then after supper, DH called me into the family room to show me that Eli was clapping his hands for the first time ever. I just get such joy in seeing my babies blossom into little, intelligent beings. I stand in awe of God's creative power in such diminutive creatures.

Post Script... A little later when I was helping Gigi with her bath, DH called my attention to our little spider baby; he was "crawling" down the hall on his hands and feet, a very funny sight indeed. Where was my camera when I needed it? I can just hope he'll do it again for me so I can catch him in the act.

Bye bye

Eli is learning how to wave, it's so cute. He kind of wiggles his fingers around when he sees us waving to him. I just love the cognitive things that are going on with him. You can just see the wheels turning, the light dawning about things. Like the other day he tried to open a cupboard door which he knew was supposed to open, but didn't because something was in the way. But it didn't stop him from trying and trying to get it to open.

We've started giving him some rice cereal and he LOVES it. Where's that been all his life? Well, nursing was pretty much cutting it, but not anymore, I guess.

His crawling is sometimes morphing into hands and feet walking especially over thresholds (I think because he doesn't want to hurt his feet). I also think that he really does want to be up on his feet, but just doesn't trust himself completely yet. It's kinda cute actually :)