Cloth Diapers

People keep asking me how the cloth diapers are going,so I figured I might as well let you all know that we're still loving them! We had to use disposable for the first few weeks until her umbilical stump fell off, but we've been 100% cloth since then. It's actually kind of fun! Most of the time we use prefolds and covers, but at night we use pockets.

Does that sound like Greek to you? Basically, a "prefold" is a big square piece of fabric that's been prefolded and sewn together so it's super absorbent. Then it's held together with a plastic thing called a "snappi," so you don't have to use pins (like in the old days). Here's a photo of a prefold and snappi that I found online:

Since a prefold is just 100% unbleached cotton, you then have to put a cover over it so it's waterproof. We've been using the Thirsties Duo Wrap covers, which have worked *great.* (FWIW, I much prefer the covers with the snaps, as the Thirsties velcro/aplix seems really weak to me.)  This website shows how to fold a prefold and put on the cover.

At night, however, we've been using pockets. The prefolds work great during the day, but they get soaked through in about 3 hours. And since I don't want to be getting up every 3 hours to change Rose each night, we've been using a double-stuffed pocket. What that means is we take a pocket diaper and then add an extra layer to the pocket to make it super absorbent. Here's an image explaining the pocket diaper:

We've been using the bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers, and they've been great! I actually bought a few other brands (Oh Katy, FuzziBunz, RumpaRooz) before Rose was born because I heard that not all pockets fit every baby well. All the other ones that I bought have leaked, but we've never had a problem with the BGs. (I'm still holding on to the other ones though, just in case we have problems with the BGs down the road.) So now we've been slowly adding to our stock of BGs, especially since those are the diapers we'll be use during the day once Rose is in daycare. (Oh, and FWIW, I've been enjoying the BG velco/aplix because it's easy to get the fit right on our tall lady, although about half our stash is snaps since I hear that toddlers can rip the velcro off easily but they stay "stuck" in the snaps. Just thinking ahead for the days when her dexterity is more advanced...)


Well what about the laundry element, you ask? Well, I'm lucky to have an awesome husband who does all of our laundry - his clothes, my clothes, sheets and towels, and now Rose's clothes and diapers. He's awesome. But since he's going to be out of town for several days next week (more on that in an upcoming post), I had to learn how to do the diaper laundry. Uh oh.

But actually it's not that bad! Everything gets tossed in to the washer with an extra rinse cycle, we use special cloth diaper laundry detergent, and then the covers get hung up to dry while the prefolds go in the drier.  They even look pretty while they're being dried.  :) So if you're thinking about using cloth, I'd be happy to talk your ear off about how much we love it!

Rose's first Twins game!

Last night Rose went to her first Twins game at Target Field! We made it through the 7th inning stretch - lots of fun, but just a bit overstimulating for such a little girl. Thanks, Elaine, for the wonderful gift!

shoulda seen it comin'

Note to self: Don't brag about Rose's sleep or you just might jinx it!

Remember two nights ago when she slept in her crib and only woke up once in 11 hours? Yeah, that was a good night.

Well, last night she woke me at 11:30, 2 and 4. BUT, I only had to feed her at the first and last wakenings because she had lulled herself back to sleep by the time I got to her crib at 2:01am. AND, having had to get up at 2am made me realize that Mike wasn't in bed.

Missing husband alert!

He was, in fact, lying in agony on the couch. Apparently he's had a sore throat for the past 3 days but didn't want to tell me about it in case I'd limit his time with Rose. (Awwww.) But last night things came to a head and he was miserable! Poor guy!

Maybe it was a good thing that Rose woke me at 2am, because then I could get Mike some acetominophen and some Throat Coat tea. And maybe it was a good thing that she woke me again at 4 so I could get him some water and take his temperature again.  Yeah, that's right. A good thing.

So I still think we have a wonderful baby, even if I did get woken up three times last night.

A banner day!

We did it... We finally got up the nerve to have Rose try sleeping her crib at night. We figured we've been making good progress at having her nap on flat surfaces (i.e., not in our arms), so last night we took the plunge. She went to bed around 7:30pm, as usual, and basically* didn't wake up again until.... (are you ready for this?)....3:15am!!!! That's a new record. Wow. Then she fell back asleep again until about 6:30, her typical wake-up time.  I am so impressed with her! We have such a great sleeper!!! (Knock on wood that I didn't jinx anything by typing that!) Three cheers for Rose! Let's see how it goes tonight...


*I say "basically" because she usually fusses for about 30-60 minutes at bedtime, so Mike and I are used to intermittently reassuring her during that time.

In other news, Rose and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art today and she *loved* it! I kept showing high-contrast paintings and she would look for a minute and then get a *huge* grin. It was great!

Finally, Rose's other favorite thing is bath time! She just "graduated" to sitting in her tub without the infant sling - she's getting so grown up! I think we're going to have to start looking into swimming lessons soon. :)

She loves being splashed...

...even in ways that I would not tolerate!

We have such a wonderful daughter! :)

Two-month pediatric appointment

Rose had her two-month appointment today! I was super anxious about it since I knew she would be getting several shots. (See the CDC's recommended immunization schedule, which Mike and I feel very strongly about following, here.) Thankfully we were able to work it out so all three of us could go, which was great because then we all got to meet her pediatrician, since our previous pediatric appointments were with the nurse practitioner.  Luckily we both really liked Rose's doctor, and I think she also liked Rose. :) 

We did find out, however, that Rose has a little reflux going on. We debated the pros and cons of various treatment options, including doing nothing, continuing with gripe water, eliminating dairy from my diet, or giving her baby zantac. After weighing the different choices, we decided to go with a month-long trial of the zantac - let's hope this helps her tummy feel better!  Speaking of meds, we also found out that we should be giving her a vitamin D supplement. Between all my meds, Lucy's kitty Prozac, and now Rose's two meds, our house is a veritable pharmacy!

In addition, we also got Rose's official measurements today! She is 12# 6.4oz (85th percentile) and 23.5 inches (86th percentile). Her head circumference is 15.5" (66th percentile).  Her weight was at the 50th percentile (or so) at birth, so she is definitely a little milk monster, even despite the discomfort caused by the reflux.  Finally, our pediatrician said she seems to be hitting all her early milestones on time, and is all-in-all a very happy and healthy baby!


Oh, and all those shots I was so worried about? They were over in about 3 seconds. Rose let out a god-awful howl, but she calmed down very quickly - we had her swaddled during the shots and she started to breastfeed as soon as they were over - and Mike and I also calmed down pretty quickly.  :) Whew! Let's hope her 4-month appointment goes as well!


And since I can't "publish" a post without including a picture, here she was getting her bath last night.  She loves bathtime so much that she cries crocodile tears whenever she has to get out of the tub! :(

Updates -- and Nine Weeks Old!

I realized that I haven't been keeping you, my loyal blog readers, as updated as I would like. I'm sure you've all just been dying to know how the breastfeeding and sleep situations have been going recently...

Breastfeeding
No news is good news! We seem to have turned the corner around six weeks. (Looking back, I can't believe it was "only" six weeks of feeding hell! It felt like forever!) The past three weeks have been pretty much pain-free, and I no longer dread the next feeding - in fact, now I have to be careful not to rely on breastfeeding as my main comforting tactic!! Good thing she still loves to "comfort suck" on her penguin pacifier. :)

I've also started pumping once per day to try to build up a back-up supply of milk for when I return to work. So far we have about 20 3-oz bags in the freezer, which is nice peace of mind in case my milk supply starts to dwindle once I get back to work.  In an ideal world I'd like to give her breastmilk for the first year, but we'll see how the transition to daycare/work goes. I'm definitely not opposed to supplementing with formula, or even switching to formula if we need to - I'm just proud that we've gotten this far with the breastfeeding!


Sleep
This is another area where we're continuing to make progress. Rose has had 3 nights in the past week or so  where she only got up once!! Each night she went to sleep around 7:30 or 8, then woke up around 1:30 or 2, then got up for the day around 6ish. Not bad! And even on the other nights when she wakes up twice (around midnight and 3am), I decided it's "doable" and I'm not going to stress about it any more.  Such an improvement over the 3+ times she was getting up, even just two weeks ago!

We're also working on getting her to sleep in her crib, since I'm pretty sure our daycare won't be able to hold her for the entirety of her naps each day and I don't think their regulations allow for naps in a bouncy seat. (We're still keeping her in the bouncy seat at night - I don't want to mess with a good thing! Once she's regularly waking only once or regularly sleeping through the night, then we'll work on nighttime sleep in the crib!)  Over the past week or two I've been trying to give her the "opportunity" to nap in her bassinet or in her crib. It seems to be going well, as long as she's swaddled. Fingers crossed that this all continues to go well!

 

Daycare
And speaking of daycare, Rose starts on July 23. (I go back to work on July 16 and my mom will be watching her that week. Thanks, Mom!!!) We got a huge packet of information to read and forms to fill out before she can start. As I was filling out the forms, it really hit me that we have a daughter and we are responsible for her!! All of the sudden everything became another level of "real."


Weekly Photos
Finally, Rose turned nine weeks old today!  Here are my favorite pictures from her weekly photo shoot this morning:

Have a great week, everyone!

Oh the places she'll go!

Rose got mail from the president and first lady!

Yep, I agree.

Study Suggest Blogging Reduces Stress For New Moms

Posted by emily on June 20th, 2012 at 9:38 pm

I remember the day I stumbled upon my first “mommy” blog. It was early 2005, and I specifically remember typing “mommy blog” into the search bar located in the corner of my computer screen.

I came across a women named Cecilia, living in the pacific northwest with her husband and two children.
Within the week, I started my own blog. That was seven years ago, and I haven’t looked back. Blogging has definitely helped me through my darkest parenting days.

A Brigham Young University study that will appear in an upcoming edition of the Maternal and Child Health Journal, suggests that blogging has a positive emotional impact on first time mothers with one child under the age of 18 months.


The study tracked the social media activity of 157 new moms, to determine how time spent on the Internet correlated with overall well-being.

“It looks like blogging might be helping these women as they transition into motherhood because they may begin to feel more connected to their extended family and friends, which leads them to feel more supported,” said Brandon T. McDaniel, graduate student in human development and family studies at Penn State. “That potentially is going to spill out into other aspects of their well being, including their marital relationship with their partner, the ways that they’re feeling about their parenting stress, and eventually into their levels of depression.”

Sigh, I love blogging. And I couldn’t agree more with the finding in this study.

I mean, I still have days when I’m completely stressed out. And moments I feel I’m doing everything wrong, especially when it comes to parenting. But on the flip side, I’ve found immense support in the “mommy blogging” community, reading about other parents struggles and experiences.

Do you blog? If so, leave your blog address in the comments, so we can be friends!

Read more from Emily on her blog, DesignHER Momma. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter , and Pinterest.

Graduation!

Six weeks ago Rose and I started a "New Mama" class at Amma Parenting. Today we graduated!

I can't believe how quickly the weeks flew by. My classmates were strangers a little over a month ago, but now we've all shared in the challenges, terrors, and delights of early parenting - it's been so wonderful to have an outlet and to not feel so alone during these stressful weeks! 

The first week of class we shared birth stories, then next we talked about the emotional adjustment to parenthood. The third week we covered sleep tips, then we talked about body image and relationship changes. The fifth week covered return-to-work issues, and today we reviewed take-away "nuggets"...

...and things we're proud of.

If I had known ahead of time that we'd have "homework" to get together outside of class once per week I'm not sure I would have signed up. But those weekly outings (lunch at Panera or a walk around the lake or whatever) were invaluable for increasing my confidence for breastfeeding in public and for knowing that I could handle whatever difficulties might arise when away from the "safety" of home. I'm also surprised that the value I found in the class (bonding, confidence, etc.) was totally different from what I was expecting (education, structure, etc.) - yet so much better! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the class to anyone else with a new baby.

Here's Rose (have I mentioned before how much she likes to be held? She freaks out when she's set down!) with her classmates:

Clockwise from Rose's position:
Valerie (mom=Jackie)
Luke (Melanie)
Braden (Jill)
Blake (Ashley)
Kaden (Sarah)
Henry (Erica)
Mason (Casey)

P.S. Our little milk monster is now up to 12# 2oz!  (No wonder she doesn't fit into most of her 3-month clothes any more!)  We'll find out her height and weight percentiles at her 2-month appointment next week.

Happy Father's Day!

I think Mike had a wonderful first Father's Day!

Here were the highlights (in my opinion):
-Mike got to sleep in
-He got a special Clover coffee at Starbucks
-We walked around Centennial Lakes in Edina
-We did a little shopping at Whole Foods
-Lunch (with a free beer!) at Pizza Luce (Thank you, Jane!!)
-I held Rose while she was fussy in the afternoon
-He took a nap
-Mike made delicious ribs for dinner
-He opened one present per hour during the day (as he requested!)
-I put Rose to bed

And some photo highlights:

Eight weeks!

Right now she likes:
+ being upright (esp. when outside)
+ smiling
+ trying to suck on her fingers (she's so close to doing it!)
+ trying to laugh (again, she's so close!)

And she does not like:
- any delays to her meal times
- hiccups
- getting out of the bathtub
- bedtime

Lessons learned

I think you all know me well enough by now to know that I'm always looking for the meaning in events. In my mind everything happens for a reason, even if the reason isn't immediately clear. Recently I've been reflecting on the huge number of lessons that I've been forced to learn during our  journey to meet Rose.

Miscarriages = Trust your body
As much as I wanted those pregnancies, they weren't genetically viable. I know no child is perfect, but I'm incredibly relieved that we aren't raising a baby with significant physical and/or mental disabilities. At the time I hated my body for "failing" me, but now I'm starting to see (and to actually believe) that my body was doing exactly what it needed to in those circumstances.


Infertility = Patience
As much as I wanted a baby right away back when we first started trying however many years ago, I'm glad I had a few more years to get established in my career (and for Mike to decide on a career that will actually make him happy and fulfilled!). I'm also glad we had more time together as a couple because it's made our relationship even stronger and allowed us many experiences (travel, weddings, funerals, concerts) that we might have otherwise had to miss.

Pregnancy = Trust your body
(yes, I've had a hard time learning that lesson and apparently needed some repetition!)
After two miscarriages, I had a really, really hard time relaxing at all during this pregnancy. I don't think I started to let myself believe we'd actually end up with a baby until well after 30 weeks. Similarly, I was trying not to worry too much about getting my figure (such as it is) back after delivery, but I should have just trusted myself there too. Maybe someday I'll fully trust that my body really does know what it's doing!

Labor = It's okay to ask for help
All during pregnancy I was determined to have a "natural" birth, just to prove that my body could do it. (Yes, here I was actually trying to trust that my body knew what to do!) But after 24 hours stuck at 3cm and exhausted from back-to-back contractions interspersed with full-body convulsions, I also knew that my body just couldn't keep that up much longer. (Seriously, I wonder if Rose and I would have made it if we lived several hundred years ago?) Sometimes I push myself so hard trying to prove that I can do something that I end up hurting myself in the process (e.g.,  being involved in a million extracurriculars in HS as well as pursuing the IB diploma -> getting sick all the time because I was so worn out). So I broke down and got the epidural. A part of me felt like a failure at the time, but I really and truly think now that it was the best decision I could have made. Who knows if it might have prevented a c-section (from too much time passing since my waters broke) or prevented post-partum depression (from being too exhausted and hormonal) if my labor had dragged on much longer? And it was a good experience to ask for help, which I am often loathe to do.

Early parenthood = Be present
Breastfeeding was so incredibly painful for so long that I couldn't even bring myself to think about the AAP's recommendation that babies be breastfed for one year.  Sometimes I had to focus on just getting through the current feeding, trusting that just because the pain was nearly intolerable now didn't mean that it would be so bad next time. Similarly, after being awakened for what seems like the 18th time in one night, I have to remind myself that not every night will be like this and eventually I will get a solid eight hours again. (Some day. And in the mean time, I can also ask for help from Mike/friends/parents during the day so I can rest!)  Finally, when I start to worry about dropping Rose off at daycare in a month, I have to remind myself that I won't be dropping off the Rose of today - I'll be dropping of a three-month-old Rose who will be at a much different place developmentally than she's at now. So rather than worry about whether the breastfeeding pain might come back or how many times I'll be woken up tonight or how daycare would handle her current state, I'd rather focus on the adorable girl that's sleeping peacefully right next to me:

Here's to enjoying the present!

Dear Sleep,

Dear Sleep,

Oh how I've missed you: Those long, uninterrupted hours together. Those relaxing weekend afternoon visits. Those days of only leaving you when I was fully rested and ready to face my day. I appreciated it so much at the time, which leads me to mourn your loss even more so now.

I expected to grieve our parting in the early days of Rose. Everyone knows that newborns have not yet learned the beauty of you, my dear Sleep. But eventually everyone learns to cherish your visits, and I had high hopes that we would get there quickly.

For awhile I thought Rose was starting to hear your siren call as well. Four-hour stretches, then five-hour stretches - even two six-hour stretches! But alas she has rejected you these past three nights, choosing only to see you for two- to three-hour spurts again.

Sleep, I'm hoping we can soon return to our glory days together again. (Or at least the 4+ stretches together! Right now I'd even settle for seeing you that long!) Last night I was ready to give up breastfeeding since the prospect of eight uninterrupted hours with you was so very tempting. So, so tempting...

Please don't go far, Sleep. I'm hoping for many long, uninterrupted hours with you again in the not-so-distant future.

Your long-lost friend,
Steph

"Are you Mom enough?"

I've been stewing over this Time magazine cover/article ever since it came out on Mother's Day weekend. (Yep, not kidding about the timing.) So even though I'm several weeks late to the party, I'm going to weigh in with my two cents.

Basically the premise of the article is that "good" moms will follow the three main principles of "attachment parenting," which are:
1. Breastfeed forever (or at least until their kids go to kindergarden)
2. Cosleep (in the same bed, not just the same room)
3. "Baby wear" (i.e, hold their babies 24/7, and never use a stroller)

I think these "rules" come from a very well-intentioned place - Yes, parents should breastfeed whenever possible, and hold their kids most of the time, and keep them safe at night. But I get so angry at how extreme some people are in holding these views - and even angrier when I think about how much I tend to buy into them without any question... because being a parent in 2012 apparently means that I "should" do all of those things, right?

I'm proud that we're finally breastfeeding without much pain (knock on wood)... but if I ever heard of another mother going through everything we did to get to this place, I would never for a second think of her as "less of a mom" if she opted for formula instead.  Two of the moms in my New Mama group are using formula, and it sickens me to think of how scared they were to admit it to the rest of the group! Does society really expect us to believe that they love their kids less than the rest of us do, simply because they can't breastfeed?

In the vein of admitting "faults," I'm going to go out on a limb here and proclaim to the world that Rose has been sleeping in her own room since she was about three weeks old. (Quelle horreur!) We planned to keep her in our room (in her bassinet) until she was several months old, but you know what? She is LOUD when she sleeps. And you know what? Every extra minute of sleep that I can get makes me a better mom for her during the rest of the day (and night).  So am I less of a mom because we're not cosleeping?

We're also breaking a lot of the other modern-day parenting rules, none of which I'm supposed to admit to if I want to be considered a "good mom" in this day and age:
*She sleeps in a bouncy seat or in my/Mike's arms. (Because if we can't cosleep, we should at least put her in her crib, right?)
*We wait a couple seconds/minutes to respond to her noises at night (to make sure she's really awake and not just "talking" in her sleep).  (Because she should never be allowed the slightest sense of discomfort, right?)
*I love our stroller and Rose hates her Moby wrap. (Because being in the stroller means I don't love her since she's not attached to my body, right?)
*I'm sticking with the breastfeeding as long as I can, but I'm going to be pretty happy when she's weaned. (Because I should want to breastfeed forever and should only be sad when I think of stopping this wonderful bonding experience, right?)
*I can only narrate my every move and stare at her beautiful face for so many hours before I get insanely bored - so part of me is actually looking forward to going back to work. (Because I should only feel sad and I should stress to everyone that I'd much rather stay home if I could, right?)


And I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them in my still sleep-deprived state.  (But I shouldn't mention any of the drawbacks to early parenting, just the joys, right?)

Isn't it sad that I feel uncomfortable "admitting" these things? If I sit back and try to be completely objective, I still do think I'm a pretty darn good mom - despite the fact that societal expectations would apparently tell me that I'm "failing" Rose for all of those reasons.

So here's a novel idea:
How about we all try to let go of unrealistic parenting expectations, stop holding ourselves up to unattainable standards, and start giving ourselves credit for being the best parents we can possibly be?

Maybe then we can all be "mom enough."

Woombie

So far Rose seems to like her new Woombie!

Our weekend in Appleton

We had such a wonderful time in Appleton last weekend!

We started our drive around 10am, after Mike was done tutoring at the high school. Rose was a wonderful passenger, waking only when we got to Wausau and we were hungry for lunch anyway! We all had a delicious meal at the Red Eye Brewing Company, then got back on the road again. (As an aside, Mike has decided that his favorite class of restaurants is "Bars You Can Bring Your Kid To." Brewpubs fit this category perfectly!)

Once we got to Appleton we had a few minutes to visit with my parents, then all my family started to arrive. My parents had about 30 people over for meatball sandwiches and chianti! Yum! Then we all went to the local minor league baseball game. We had great seats right behind home plate, but unfortunately they were also right below the loudspeaker! So much for our plan to let Rose sleep through the game... We ended up having to leave after the second inning. :(

Saturday we had the morning "off," so Mike and Rose and I took a long walk downtown. We then spent the afternoon / early evening at my cousins' high school graduation party. Congrats to Ashley and Amy!!!

Sunday morning was Rose's "Zero-th" birthday party at my parents' house. It was such a lovely event! My Dad even found the same gorilla that traumatized me for my 10th birthday party and hired him to visit Rose! Definitely the last thing I was expecting to see... and thankfully Rose was far less traumatized than I had been in fourth grade.  :)

Then Monday we had to leave at the crack of dawn so we could get back to Mpls in time for Mike's first Psych101 class. All in all it was a wonderful weekend! Here are some photo highlights.

Rose with her great-grandparents:

Rose with her maternal grandparents:

Rose with her extended relatives:

Rose's cousin Jimmy:

Taking a break from the festivities:

Present opening:

The gorilla!!!

Our first family portrait:

Thank you, family, for the lovely weekend!!

Seven weeks!

Rose turned seven weeks old yesterday! We spent the weekend in Appleton, so I'll post a longer summary (with lots of photos!) later, but for now here is her seven-week portrait:

Who is THAT baby?

Protective Lucy