Family of the Cloth

Kashi Review

2011-11-03T23:01:00.006-05:00

For more than 25 years, Kashi has stood up for real food, offering a variety of naturally nutritious foods and education resources for everyone to enjoy. Kashi products are natural, minimally processed, and free of highly refined sugars, artificial additives, and unnatural preservatives. Kashi offers a variety of all natural foods--cereal bars, waffles, frozen entrees, and crackers--that are nourishing and satisfyingly delicious. You can find them on Facebook where they frequently offer coupons and new product information.

I was recently given the opportunity to sample Kashi's new TLC Peanutty Dark Chocolate Layered granola bars through the Moms Meet program. They're made with a signature blend of seven whole grains and feature the smooth taste of peanuts with rich, dark chocolate for a sweet and savory flavor combination the whole family can enjoy. Each Kashi TLC Peanutty Dark Chocolate Layered Granola Bar has 7 grams of fiber and 4 grams for protein, making it a delicious indulgence you can feel good about. Kashi also sent a box of their Cinnamon Harvest cereal that wakes up sleepy taste buds with bite-sized organic whole-wheat biscuits, lightly sweetened and baked with real organic cinnamon. It has the goodness of over 20 percent of your daily fiber requirements and over 2/3 of your daily recommended whole grain intake. And finally, I also sampled Kashi TLC Soft-Baked Ripe Strawberry cereal bars that are made with real fruit and wildflower honey for natural goodness you can see and taste. The strawberry bars contain 3 grams of fiber and 11 grams of whole grain in each serving - making it an ideal morning or midday snack.

My son loves cereal bars, and he was a big fan of the TLC Soft-Baked Ripe Strawberry bars. I usually like to make him breakfast, but the cereal bars are nice to have on hand for when we're running late and need a quick breakfast. They're also good for a light snack. And I like that they're not too sweet and that they contain whole grains and real fruit. And a huge plus is that they don't contain high fructose corn syrup, like similar bars. I would have preferred the whole grains to be from an organic source, but other than that, they were the perfect bar. Needless to say, these bars disappeared quickly.

The Peanutty Dark Chocolate Layered Granola bars are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. I don't know that I would have been a fan of the bars without the chocolate, but they really helped out the flavor and made it easier for me to eat something that I knew was healthy. The packaging is convenient and would also make for an easy, on-the-go snack or breakfast.

The cereal was delicious with just the right amount of cinnamon flavor. My husband LOVED the cereal and said that it was the best shredded wheat type of cereal that he's ever had. He loved the cereal with milk, and I liked it dry as a snack. It was delicious with simple ingredients. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate the cereal in my local stores, but I already put in a request at the grocery store for them to carry it. In the meantime, I'm buying it off Amazon.

Kashi TLC Peanutty Dark Chocolate Layered Granola Bars retail for $3.89 and can be found at most major grocery stores nationwide.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturers of the product.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2011-06-29T10:00:00.001-05:00

I guess this week's What I'm Loving Wednesday should really be called "Who" I'm Loving Wednesday, because I'm really loving Tim Hawkins! If you've never heard of him, you're in for a real treat. He's a Christian comedian, and he is hilarious! He pokes fun at church, prayer, homeschooling, parenting, and just about everything. Joshua and I have had the pleasure of seeing him live several times now, and he never disappoints. We recently sponsored an event through my husband's business and he was the featured guest. And because he lived here for several years, he even threw in a few local jokes.

Here are some of my favorite videos:

Chick-fil-A! This was recorded at a corporate event, and he called out the CFO - LOL!

Tim explains his favorite Bible verse:

Hand sanitizer in the church:

And one of my favorites that I couldn't find a video of is him describing the different types of prayers such as the thesaurus prayer: "Lord, we beseech thee, lead us, guide us, direct us..."

Have you heard of Tim Hawkins? Do you have a favorite song/skit/video/quote?

Baby Blessings Event: Bamboobies

2011-06-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

When I was nursing my first son, I went through several boxes of disposable nursing pads. Even though I was using cloth diapers at the time, I never gave nursing pads much of a thought. When I started to really think about it, though, I realized that all those nursing pads were going straight to a landfill. I was determined to find something better this time around. Many of the reviews that I read complained that cotton reusable pads were bulky and not very absorbent. I was determined to find something more eco-friendly that worked, so I was excited when Bamboobies sent me some pads to review.

I couldn't wait to try out the Bamboobies when they first arrived. Right out of the package, they are so incredibly soft, which is a great feature for those first few weeks when your nipples can be sore and cracked. The pads are made out of organic bamboo and bamboo fleece. It's like having a pillow for your boobs. Much better than some crinkly, stiff paper.

Bamboobies are the most unique pad that I've ever seen. I had assumed that the heart shape was just a gimmick and were designed to make the pads look cute. It turns out that the shape is very practical. Instead of a conventional round or contoured pad that wrinkles underneath clothing, the heart shape contours to the breast and prevents those annoying lines. They're prefect for wearing with my running tanks.

They're super thin, too, which was surprising since I was expecting something bulky considering it was made from cloth. The hemp core is very absorbent, and a special milk proof backing prevents leaks. The bamboo fabric wicks moisture away from the skin so that you're not stuck with cold, wet fabric next to your skin.

And if you do need something more absorbent, they make overnight pads which are super thick (and made from super soft bamboo fleece). I thought these were great for the first few weeks of nursing, but they're a bit too bulky for me now.

Buy It:

Bamboobies are available on their website. Family of the Cloth readers can use the coupon code FOTC20 for 20% off!

Win It!

Bamboobies is giving one lucky Family of the Cloth reader a gift certificate for $16.99! You can use the code for a free two pack of pads, or apply it towards any of the other larger sets.

To enter, simply visit buybamboobies.com and let me know how you would spend your credit. *This entry is mandatory and must be completed before any of the additional entries will be counted.*

For additional entries, you can do any of the following:

- Follow my blog publicly through Google Friend Connect

- Subscribe to my blog through email or a reader

- "Like" Bamboobies on Facebook (be sure to tell them that Family of the Cloth sent you!)

- Follow @Bamboobies and @Family of the Cloth on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can tweet once daily of the extra entries. Just leave the permalink of your tweet in a comment.

- Add my button to your blog. Just leave me a comment letting me know where I can find it!

Good luck!

This giveaway will end 7-19 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email or a new winner will be chosen. I received a set of regular pads and a set of overnight pads for the purposes of review. The reviews expressed in this post are my own and were not influenced by any outside source.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2011-06-15T22:06:00.006-05:00

My friend Ashley participates in the weekly "What I'm Loving Wednesday" series over at This Kind of Love blog, and I always enjoy reading her posts. I thought I'd give it a go and post some of the things we're loving around here. For this week, I thought I'd post some of Shepard's favorite things.

Shepard LOVES to read (which makes his reading specialist mama super proud!). His favorite books right now (that we read at every day at nap time and bedtime) are:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: Anniversary Edition

by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault and Illustrated by Lois Elhert. Cute story about the lowercase alphabet racing to climb the coconut tree. We love the bright colors and the cute rhymes. Shepard loves to point out the letters that he knows, and then we work on the letters he doesn't know yet.

The Pout-Pout Fish

by Deborah Diesen

Adorable story about a sad fish who spreads "dreary wearies all over the place" because he doesn't think he can be happy. With the help of his friends, he discovers his true destiny. We love the rhymes, and Shepard cracks up each time the fish goes "Blub, Bluuub, Bluuuuuub"

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My First Reader by Bill Martin, Jr.

Shepard loves identifying all the animals and making the sounds. Love Eric Carle's illustrations!

Baby Blessings Event: Organically Grown

2011-06-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

I've had the privilege of working with Organically Grown several times now. I'm proud to support a company that plays an active role in the organic revolution. There is a direct connection between what we wear and the effect it has on the earth.

Why chose organic clothing?

The Organic Exchange estimates that 170 million pounds of pesticides, and 25% of the world's insecticides are used in the production of conventional, non-organic cotton. And 7 out of 10 of these pesticides used are on the EPA's list of "known" list of "likely" or "probable" carcinogens. These chemicals result in work-force illnesses, water contamination, and devastation of farmland.

Organically Grown believes in your right to affordable, safe, stylish, high-quality organic products from apparel and home decor to personal care items. With Organically Grown there is no need to compromise between your budget and your conscience.

GOTS Certified

Organically Grown's newest line of clothing is certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) which helps to ensure organic integrity: from harvesting of the raw materials to environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing and labeling, in order to provide credible assurance to the consumer. And best of all, it's softer than ever!

There are so many adorable pieces in the new line for both boys and girls. I love the Pink Ladybug coverall (pictured on right) and the Little Lion bodysuit set (left).

Buy It:

You can purchase the new GOTS certified line at Organically Grown.

Win It:

One lucky Family of the Cloth reader will win an item from Organically Grown (Organically Grown will select the item).

To enter, simply visit Organically Grown, browse their collection, then come back here and leave me a comment letting me know your favorite item. This entry is mandatory and is required before any additional entries can be counted.

*Please make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win*

Extra Entries:

- Become a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect

- Subscribe to my blog through email or via a reader

- Follow @FamilyofCloth and @OrganicallyGrwn on twitter and tweet about the giveaway. You may tweet daily for extra entries. Just leave the permalink from your tweet.

- Like Organically Grown on Facebook. Be sure to tell them that Family of the Cloth sent you!

- Add my button to your blog (leave me a comment letting me know where I can find it)

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and older. Giveaway will end 6.23 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. I did not receive compensation for this giveaway. All information expressed in this post is the opinion of the author.

Baby Blessings Event

2011-06-08T22:33:00.003-05:00

Babies a blessing from the Lord, and in honor of Fisher's birth I've put together an awesome event I'm calling "Baby Blessings." So be on the lookout for some great giveaways in the next few weeks!

Scriptures for Pregnancy and Childbirth

2011-06-07T22:37:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in Fisher's birth story, one of my desires during pregnancy was to have a better birthing experience. Giving birth is hard work. Something I knew that I could only accomplish with God's help. Therefore, one of the things I found most helpful during my numerous prayers was to mediate over God's word. I compiled a list of verses and I would chose a verse or two to pray over. Scripture never fails to provide me with encouragement, and it became invaluable to me during pregnancy and birth when I needed a bit of encouragement. Whether it was dealing with the general aches and pains of pregnancy or during the tough moments in labor. I wanted to share my list of favorite verses in case anyone else can benefit from them as well.

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. - Deuteronomy 31:8

The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. - Deuternomy 33:27

"I command you -- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9, NLT

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. - 1 Chronicles 16:11

“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” 2 Chron. 15:7

I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. - Psalm 16:8

He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. - Psalm 18:16

In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. Psalm 18:29

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. - Psalm 18:32

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. - Psalm 28:7

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. - Psalm 32:7

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. - Psalm 34:4

Great is the Lord, who enjoys helping his servant. Psalm 35:27

Don't be impatient for the Lord to act! Travel steadily along his path. Psalm 37:34

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry.” - Psalm 40:1

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. - Psalm 46:1

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Psalm 56:3

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. - Psalm 91:4

Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His, we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. - Psalm 100:3

 I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you be defeated. He who guards you never sleeps. He who guards Israel never rests or sleeps. The Lord guards you.

The Lord is the shade that protects you from the sun. The sun cannot hurt you during the day, and the moon cannot hurt you at night. The Lord will protect you from all dangers; he will guard your life. The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever. - Psalm 121:1-8

The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go. Psalm 121:5

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. - Psalm 139:13-16

Bless the Lord, who is my rock. He gives me strength... He is my loving ally... my deliverer. Psalm 144:1-2

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. - Isaiah 40:31

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! Isaiah 43:1-2

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? ... Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? Isaiah 66:7-9

I will strengthen the weak. Ezekiel 34:16

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. - John 14:27

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. - John 16:21

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:18

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.- Ephesians 3:20

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7

I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13

"For He has not given your a spirit of fear, but of POWER and of LOVE and of a SOUND MIND" - 2 Timothy 1:7

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. - Hebrews 4:16

Take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet.... become strong. Hebrews 12:12-13

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. - James 1:3-4

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:7  

Fisher's Birth Story

2011-06-01T21:48:00.002-05:00

Fisher's Birth Story

I wanted to write Fisher's birth story since we got home from the hospital, but a certain two year old and a newborn who loves to nurse and doesn't like to be put down have kept me busier than I expected. It's amazing how quickly 6 weeks can fly by! But I wanted to go ahead and get this all down before I start forgetting the details. Even though I didn't get the VBAC that I had planned for, I know that Fisher's birth was a testament to God's faithfulness.

My last pregnancy update on the blog was at 40 weeks. I had assumed that I would go into labor on within a few days of my due date (Shepard came on his due date), so imagine my surprise when the days surrounding it came and went without a baby. I knew that I had limited time if I still wanted a VBAC, so I placed the issue in God's hands and asked him to keep me from feeling anxious. I focused alot on Philippians 4:6-7 that week (“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”). I had been having random Braxton-Hicks contractions for several weeks by this point, but I began to ignore them because they never seemed to lead to anything.

On Sunday morning (the 17th), I woke up several times during the night because the baby was so active. We went to church as we normally do, and I started having mild contractions during Sunday School. Unlike the previous Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had been experiencing, these contractions continued to come throughout the rest of the day. We went to lunch with Joshua's parents, and then went home and took a nap. After a nice nap, we decided to go to the park and do some walking in an attempt to pick things up a bit. The contractions definitely intensified while walking, but petered out once we stopped. We went out to eat afterwards, and after dinner, the contractions seemed to stop entirely. I went to bed that night feeling slightly disappointed. On Monday morning I woke up early in the morning with strong contractions. These contractions were more intense than the ones the day before and they were lasting longer and seemed to be occurring more frequently. I called my mom to give her an update. I also had Joshua stay home from work, because I had a feeling that this might be "the day." My mom decided to come pick me up and take me for a quick manicure to help keep me distracted.

I continued to have contractions throughout the morning, but they never intensified or got closer together. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 2 p.m., so I figured I would just wait and see what he had to say about any progress (if any). Mom and I picked up lunch, then she stayed with Shepard so that Joshua could go with me to my appointment. I knew that I would be having a routine ultrasound to check fluid levels, so I wanted him with me so he could see the baby. When the ultrasound technician put the wand to my belly, the first thing out of her mouth was a question: "Did you know that the baby is breach?" Say what?! I was completely shocked! I had been feeling hiccups down in my pelvis for the entire pregnancy and I had been so sure that the baby was in the correct position that I never even gave it another thought. I was immediately crushed, as I knew that breech equaled no VBAC. I did my best to hold it together through the rest of the ultrasound. When my doctor came in, the technician told him about the breech position, and he came over to tell me how sorry he was. Of course I immediately started sobbing. Huge, ugly sobs. My doctor was so understanding and told me how he knew how much I had wanted a VBAC and that he had wanted it for me too. The technician also told the doctor that the fluid level was very, very low and that there was indications of meconium in the fluid. Further nails in the coffin that was my VBAC. Due to low fluid and because of my prior c/s, my doctor didn't feel comfortable trying a version to flip the baby.

After the ultrasound, my doctor wanted to do a Non-Stress Test to check on the baby. The results from that came back normal, but with the meconium and the low fluid levels, he wanted me to be observed a bit longer, so he sent us over to the hospital. We had time to come home briefly to grab bags, then we headed up there. I was admitted to triage where they monitored my contractions for the next two hours. My doctor came by when we first arrived and told me that he wanted to either do the c-section that night or first thing in the morning depending on the results. After two hours, it was determined that the c-section could wait until first thing in the morning because my contractions hadn't changed. He would have ordered my c-section that night had I not just eaten before my appointment.

I held out hope that the baby might flip during the night, but I knew the chances were slim. Shortly afterwards, I was admitted to my own room where I was finally allowed to eat - it was around 9 p.m. by this point, and I was starving! I sent Joshua to get get some food for himself. Mom decided to stay with me, even though I told her she was welcome and get some rest. She didn't want to leave - gotta love my Mom! I was brought a turkey sandwich, baked lays, and a cookie, and immediately began eating. About halfway through my sandwich, my stomach turned, and I was no longer hungry. In fact, the thought of food made me want to vomit, so I had my mom move the tray as far away from my bed as she could get it. Almost immediately, I felt an incredibly strong contraction - one that was way more intense than anything I had felt up until this point.

The contractions immediately started to pick up and get more intense so I called my nurse to see what she thought. She did a quick check and determined that I was only at 2 cm. She told me to let her know if I started having a bloody show or lost any mucous. She also hooked the monitors back up so they could monitor contractions and the baby's heart rate. Around this point Joshua got back from dinner. The contractions continued to pick up and get more intense. I was doing great dealing with the contractions, though! I was so proud of myself! After I figured out that trying to breathe through them wasn't working (after yelling at my mom to stop telling me to breathe!), I started moaning through them, which really helped. I laid on my side and was having my mom and Joshua take turns applying counter pressure to my back. I was amazed by how much that helped! As the contractions continued to pick up, I called the nurse into my room several times to see what they were going to want me to do. Each time she told me to keep her updated on if the contractions changed any. I was a little frustrated because I felt like she wasn't listening to me when I told her that they were already changing. I knew I was in active labor, but felt like she wasn't recognizing it. Finally, around 11:30 the contractions were right on top of each other, with little to no time in between. Laying on my side was no longer working, and the only way I could get semi comfortable was to sit up on the edge of the bed with my arms around my husband's neck while mom applied counter pressure to my back. I was so mad at those stupid belly monitors, that I didn't even care if they were recording the contractions anymore. At this point I just knew that I was getting close. I asked my mom how much longer they would let me labor like this before they did something. I attempted to go to the bathroom and noticed blood, so again I called the nurse to let her know the change. When she saw how much pain I was in at this point, I think she finally took me seriously. She decided to do another check, so I had to lay down, which was not comfortable. At all. After the check she left the room without much of a word, then showed back up less than a few minutes later with the on-call doctor. The doctor told me that they were going to go ahead and do my c-section ASAP. I later asked the nurse how far I had gotten, and she said I was dilated to an 8, and had the baby been in the correct position that I would have been able to deliver soon after. She said it would have been the perfect VBAC birth, which was comforting, yet frustrating.

A team of nurses came in to place my catheter. Oh my word. I have never in my life experienced anything more painful than that. I would have gladly continued to labor for days than to go through that experience again. It was a difficult process because they had to go around the baby's butt and the catheter got stuck several times. I was trying to relax, but laying down on my back, while experiencing extremely intense contractions, and having the searing pain of the catheter was just too much. I'm not kidding when I say that I was literally screaming the entire time they placed it. I'm sure I was scaring the other women on the floor! I even made my husband and mother cry because they could see how painful it was for me. The nurses were so apologetic and told me over and over again how sorry they were that it was taking so long. Seriously, the most painful thing I've ever experienced. When that was finally in place my anesthesiologist came in to go over what the spinal would involve.

Let me take a side detour here to say that a member of our sunday school class is an anesthesiologist at the hospital, and I was super nervous that he was going to be the on-call doctor for my surgery. Since I had a prior c-section, I knew everything that's involved with it. Of course I knew that he was a professional, but I'd be lying if all the girls in the class don't joke about how embarrassing it would be to have him in the room during a procedure like that. I had asked the nurse in triage who the on call doctor was, and she told me that it was, in fact, Dr. T, and I remember feeling so relieved to know that he would be off duty by the time of my scheduled c-section that next morning. He came by while we were in triage to check on us, and gave me a hard time about me not wanting him as my doctor.

When he arrived in my room that moment, I told him that I was never more excited to see him than I was in that very moment! We had a good laugh about it. He asked me his list of questions while Joshua put on his scrubs and my mom left to go to the waiting room. I was wheeled back to the OR, and Dr. T was with me the whole time. They moved me to the operating table, and he began his work. He placed the spinal, telling me exactly what he was doing and explaining that I would feel immediate relief. I was laid down, the curtain went up, and I was prepped. Dr. T told me everything that was going on, and kept checking to make sure that my spinal had been effective. He was so comforting and I was so lucky to have him as my doctor. I can't believe I was ever nervous about him being there. Eventually Joshua was allowed in the room and the c-section began. I had the same sweet nurse as I did with my prior c-section (if you recall the last story, she was the one who talked sweetly to me and tried to calm me down). The on-call obstetrician was fabulous. She was very friendly and talked with us the entire time during prep and throughout the procedure (I wasn't ignored like last time while the doctors talked amongst themselves). We made sure to tell her that we didn't know the sex, and she was really excited to be able to reveal it. She told me that I would feel some pressure, and soon after she said "I think I see something…Yep, it's a boy!" After a few moments, she brought him up to my head so that I could see.

After they showed him to me, they took him over to check him out and run their tests. I remember being nervous because he wasn't crying. I felt silly, but I finally did ask if it was normal that he wasn't crying yet. I think everyone got a good laugh out of that, and one of the nurses said that he would be shortly. And within a few minutes, he began to cry. I hope it doesn't sound mean to be happy that your baby is crying, but I was very comforted by that sweet cry.

I sent Joshua with the baby to recovery while they finished taking care of me in the OR. Eventually I was wheeled back to recovery, and I was able to hold Fisher almost right away. The nurse helped me latch him on, and he took to nursing right away! What a blessing! After we were able to breastfeed, my parents came back to see us. They monitored Fisher for a while and noticed that his breathing was fairly rapid. They decided to monitor him for a bit longer before moving us to our postpartum room. After an hour I told my parents to go on home since it was fairly late by this point (around 3 a.m.). Finally around 4 they told us that they wanted to take Fisher to the NICU to continue to monitor his breathing. They told us it wasn't anything to worry about and that it was common for c-section babies to have rapid breathing. We finally settled into our room around 4:30, and aside from the nursing staff having to check my vitals every hour, we crashed until around 9.

I'll talk more about Fisher being in the NICU in another post, but I just wanted to say how much better this c-section experience was than my first. Maybe it was because I had been able to labor without drugs (until the spinal right before his birth), or maybe it was because the situation was beyond my control (the breech presentation), but I KNOW it was because I prayed throughout my pregnancy that I would have a better birth experience. And while I didn't get my VBAC, I know that the Lord was looking out for me and gave me the experience that He wanted me to have. And it was an answered prayer because my birth experience was definitely better. And maybe there was a reason why I wasn't supposed to VBAC. I don't know what that reason might have been, but I do know that He was with me the entire time and He was looking out for me.

A few pictures from recovery (Joshua is squeamish and didn't want to take pictures in the OR):

Getting to hold my sweet boy for the first time!

With Joshua

With my sweet Mom (so thankful for her!)

Thankful Thursday

2011-05-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!"

I'm sitting here enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet while Shepard watches a cartoon and Fisher naps in his bouncy seat. As I sit on the sofa, sipping my Dr. Pepper (a bad habit I can't seem to shake!), I can't help but have an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness. It was a rough morning, filled with one disaster after another (spilled milk on the carpet, both boys crying because they're hungry, diaper explosions, etc), but after all the rough moments passed, I stopped to count my blessings, and my mood suddenly changed. I thought it might be nice to list them out on this Thankful Thursday.

So this Thankful Thursday, I'm thankful for…

- a loving God who kept me and my baby safe during birth, who watched over and healed my son as he spent a few days in the NICU, and for blessing me with a medical care team who gave me a positive birth experience this time around.

- a wonderful son who loves his little brother and can't stop giving him kisses and bringing him toys. He has his rare moments of jealousy (mainly when he's not allowed in mommy's lap because she's nursing little brother), but who has been better than I could have ever asked for during what has to be a tough transition for him.

- a precious little baby who loves to snuggle and has the sweetest personality already. He is a champion nurser, and we've been able to bypass some of the problems that I had early on with Shepard. He may have had a rough start to life, but he is constantly showing me how strong he is.

- a loving husband and supportive family who have helped me transition into my role as a mother of two. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. My husband and mother stayed with me the entire time I was in labor, and were my strong support system. Then my husband was beside me the entire time I was in the hospital, only leaving for quick showers and trips home to see Shepard. He was my rock while our son was in the NICU and gave me more support than I can ever express. My mother and mother-in-law took care of Shepard during the four days I was in the hospital, and kept my updated on his activities. They brought him the hospital to see me, they switched off when one had an event to attend, and I never had to worry about him.

Have you stopped to count your blessings today?

It's a....

2011-04-25T18:16:00.005-05:00

BOY!!!

Baby Fisher arrived on April 19th at 12:54 a.m. via c-section (more details on that to follow). He spent a few days in the NICU, but all is well now.

Pink or Blue?

2011-04-14T00:18:00.003-05:00

Just for fun...

Guess Baby J's gender:

40 Weeks!

2011-04-13T23:07:00.000-05:00

Will update this later with a picture. Had Joshua take one, but it turned out horrible!

How Far Along: 40 Weeks + 1 day

Size of baby: Approx 7.5 lbs. and about 20 inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I honestly didn't look at the scale today at my appointment. I know I'm over 40 lbs, though.

Maternity Clothes: Yep, it's pretty much all maternity at this point. I'm so sick of wearing maternity clothes!

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here!

Movement: Lots and lots of movement. I think he/she is running out of room in there!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, most definitely. I also miss being able to move without effort. And my regular clothes.

Cravings: Nothing significant lately. Still loving mushrooms, though!

Discomforts: I'm 40 weeks pregnant, so everything is uncomfortable after a while ;)

Best Moment this Week: Hmm...maybe my doctor's appointment today? I'm glad that I have a supportive dr.

Birth Story - Part II

2011-04-08T21:51:00.002-05:00

I apologize for how long it took me to get the second part of my birth story up. I really struggled with this post. I didn't realize the depth of my emotions until I started writing, and while the writing process has been cathartic, I struggled with the idea putting my emotions out there for everyone to read. As I wrote and dealt with my feelings, I did alot of editing, and finally decided to post. I hope my story helps you to better understand what happened to me, as well as how I've come to terms with my (unnecessary) cesarean.

This post is a continuation of Part I of my birth story, which can be found here.

Coming to Terms with Happened:

If you know me, or you've been reading my blog for very long, you probably realize how much I desire to live as naturally as possible. I'm a fan of chiropractic care, I regularly take herbs, and I avoid medicines as much as possible. So to say that my birth didn't go as planned, would be a huge understatement. I had a certain vision in my head of how birth would go. I envisioned a normal, vaginal delivery with no drugs. I knew that a natural birth would be better for me, but more importantly, for my baby. I was deeply afraid of the pain, so I did go into it with the knowledge that I could turn to the drugs if I couldn't handle the pain.

I remember learning about the cascade of interventions (i.e. one intervention leads to another, which leads to another, etc, finally ending in a cesarean) during our hospital birth classes, I just never imagined that the cascade would hit me. I never imagined that I would become a statistic in the 32.9% cesarean rate. And further, I never realized just how much I would be affected by my cesarean.

In the hospital, I remember having a general feeling of disappointment in the way that my son's birth played out. I was disappointed in my body for not being able to safely bring my son into the world. I felt like a failure for having to resort to a surgical procedure to remove him from my body, and I was disappointed in myself for not being strong enough to deliver him. I was envious of the friends around me who were experiencing normal deliveries. I was thankful for my healthy baby, of course, but I couldn't shake the disappointment. I did my best to move on from the experience, and I took comfort in the fact that my cesarean had been a necessary procedure to save my baby's life. He could have died had they not been able to remove him when they did.

When I went in for my 6 week postpartum visit, I sat down with my doctor to discuss what had happened. I had been told in the hospital that the baby wasn't handling contractions well and that the cord was most likely wrapped around his neck which was leading to the heart decelerations. When the doctor reviewed the surgical report, he told me that there hadn't really been a cause. The cord was not around his neck, and the heart decels were "just one of those things that can happen." I brought up the idea of a VBAC (or vaginal birth after a cesarean). I had been encouraged when I found out that the old idea of "once a cesarean, always a cesarean" didn't necessarily hold water anymore. Unfortunately, my doctor dismissed the idea rather quickly by saying that it was far too dangerous and that he doesn't perform them. He went on to tell me that they used to do them all the time, but stopped when they started losing too many mommies and babies. I left the appointment feeling absolutely crushed. All along I had been under the impression that my cesarean had been necessary to save my baby's life. And that there would be a medical reason to explain why my body had failed. I had been clinging to the hope that my next delivery could go the way that I had originally intended. I left his office, and quickly headed to my car before breaking down into sobs. My poor husband, who had come with me to the appointment for support, was so confused as to what was going on. I did my best to explain in between sobs, and in the next few months, I tried to move on from my experience. I did my best to deal with the fact that I would never get to experience a natural birth.

So What Actually Happened?:

When Shepard was around 9 months old, my husband and I started thinking and praying about when to start trying for another baby. I had been researching birth options for months by this point, and had discovered the ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) website where I had initially learned how VBAC's were indeed safe, and that they carried less risk to the mother and baby than a repeat cesarean. I also learned that my doctor's argument against them was based on old research from a time with VBAC patients were induced with strong drugs that made contractions too intense for a scarred uterus. I began to get cautiously optimistic that I could birth naturally. Luckily, right around the time that I became pregnant with this baby, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a policy statement that said VBAC's are a safe and reasonable option for most women.

Early on in my pregnancy, I decided to watch Ricki Lake's documentary The Business of Being Born. I had heard glowing reviews that it offered a true picture of birth in America. I was contemplating my birth options at this point, and thought it would be a great starting place. I had attempted to watch it during my first pregnancy, but had quickly turned it off because I felt like it wouldn't apply to me. I decided to give the documentary a second chance because I had seen it referenced so often in my research. When I finally sat down to watch it, I broke down during this scene:

It described exactly what had happened to me. It seems silly to say, but watching this scene was a life-changing moment for me. I rewound it and watched it several more times before finishing the film. It was at this point that I realized that my body hadn't failed me at all - it was the medical system that had failed me (and my baby). It was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had been carrying around all of this guilt and shame, and here was my explanation as to what happened - finally!

My cesarean was caused by a cascade of interventions - the first intervention being the pitocin, which lead to artificial, excruciating contractions, which lead to me caving and receiving the epidural, which slowed down labor and lead to even more pitocin, which ultimately put too much strain on my baby and put him in distress, resulting in the "need" for a cesarean. All of those months I had spent blaming myself and my body for what had happened - and to learn that it hadn't been me at all -I felt enormous relief. And then I was mad. I was tweeting my thoughts while watching the documentary, and so many of my followers shared similar stories with me. While comforting to know that I wasn't alone, it made me even more angry to know that women are constantly put through these experiences. I was mad at the medical profession for relying so heavily on interventions that don't necessarily produce the best results. I felt anger towards my doctor for allowing this to happen to me. I had trusted him with my body, my health, and with the health of my baby. I felt taken advantage of - because he had taken that trust and pushed interventions on me when he knew how important a normal birth was to me. I began to question his reasoning for having me on pitocin in the first place. Why was I given a drug to speed up labor when I was progressing without it? Why was the pitocin increased so often? And further, why was the pitocin increased after my son's heart rate dropped the first time? Why was I not removed from the drug to see if that's what had caused the heart rate drop? And more importantly, why was it increased the last time (right before my c-section was ordered)? Why would he make those decisions? Why needlessly cut me open, forever altering my body and any future pregnancies for shear convenience? Ultimately, I don't blame my doctor, and I don't think he's some horrible monster. I am forever grateful to him for his care during a miscarriage before having my son. But that's not to say I'm not disappointed in him for what happened to me.

Most of all, I was mad at myself. Mad for not being more informed about the interventions that I was given. Mad for being so trusting. And mad for allowing labor to go in the complete opposite direction that I intended. Ultimately, I know that it was my body and my choice to place so much trust in my doctor. I had assumed that my doctor and the hospital staff would always be looking out for me and my baby. I had no reason to believe otherwise.

Wrap-Up:

After throwing myself into the research, I've been able to process many of the emotions and feelings regarding my unncesarean. I know that I'm not alone, and that my feelings are real and valid. I've grieved for my birth, and dealt with the trauma that comes from having an unplanned, "emergency" surgery. I've struggled and prayed through my emotions, and the more that I process them and turn them over to God, the ultimate physician, the more I feel like I can heal and move on. I plan to write a post detailing what things I plan to change with my upcoming birth, and I pray that I have a healing birth in the next few days.

38 Weeks - Almost there!

2011-03-29T20:15:00.002-05:00

How Far Along: 38 Weeks! Holy cow! Hard to believe that baby will be here so soon!

Size of baby: Approx 6.8 lbs and over 19 1/2 inches long (about the length of a leek)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Ugh. I feel smaller this time around, but I'm already up 35 lbs, and I'm close to the same weight I was when I delivered my son.

Maternity Clothes: Yep, it's pretty much all maternity at this point. I'm so sick of wearing maternity clothes!

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here! I've been thinking boy all along, but these last few weeks I've been having a strong girl feeling. But I go back and forth on that. Depends on the day you ask me ;) Guess we'll see soon!

Movement: Feeling lots of hard jabs in my ribs and the baby like to jam his/her foot into my side, which hurts, but is fun to see from the outside.

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, most definitely. I can hardly get comfortable and wish I could just flip onto my stomach. And I miss regular clothes.

Cravings: Nothing significant lately. Still loving mushrooms, though!

Discomforts: Everything is starting to get uncomfortable. Just sitting on the sofa starts to hurt, as well as laying down, getting up off the floor, etc. Basically everything hurts.

Best Moment this Week: Lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions. Not that those are great moments, but it makes me realize that the baby will be here soon! I can't wait to meet him/her :)

35 Weeks!

2011-03-08T21:37:00.002-06:00

How Far Along: 35 Weeks!

Size of baby: Approximately 18 inches long and 5 1/4 lbs - about the size of a honeydew melon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 25 lbs, although I really think it's more than that. I was told I had lost weight at my last appointment, but I think the nurse just wrote the number down wrong. I think it's closer to 35.

Maternity Clothes: Yep, it's pretty much all maternity at this point

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here! I've been thinking boy all along, but now I'm starting to get a girl feeling. Guess we'll see soon!

Movement: Feeling lots of hard jabs in my ribs - ouch!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach

Cravings: Nothing significant lately. Still loving mushrooms and ice cream (not together, of course)

Discomforts: Sleep is getting a little uncomfortable, so I started sleeping with a pillow between my legs which seems to help some.

Best Moment this Week: Got our double stroller this week. Makes it feel real to see those two seats.

28 Weeks!

2011-01-18T23:51:00.002-06:00

(Please excuse this horrible shot. I gave Joshua a hard time for taking it at such an awful angle)

How Far Along: 28 Weeks - Officially in the 3rd trimester!

Size of baby: 14.8 inches and 2 1/4 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 18 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I'm mainly wearing maternity jeans and pants but I'm hanging onto my non-maternity tops. They're almost all too short now, though.

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here! I think it's another boy, but we'll see!

Movement: He/She is pretty active, especially at nights. I often wake up in the middle of the night and feel him/her squirming around.

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach

Cravings: Mushrooms! I could eat them for every meal. Which is strange for me, since I usually don't like them very much. Have also had a few cravings for Dairy Queen Blizzards (which I've managed to ignore so far)

Discomforts: Lots of pregnancy induced heartburn. Yuck!

Best Moment this Week: I went through all of our baby clothes, pulled out all the gender neutral stuff, and got the new nursery ready. I'll post pictures soon!

Birth Story - Part I

2011-01-18T21:14:00.003-06:00

A few weeks before Christmas, I had the honor of attending the birth of my good friend Emily, who happens to be married to one of my favorite cousins. I served as their birth photographer, and was witness to an amazing, all natural birth at a birthing center attended by a midwife. It was an incredible experience, and I will be forever grateful to Emily for allowing me to be there. It has changed me in so many ways and given me much to think about for my upcoming birth. It also, unfortunately, had me reliving my son's birth and everything that went wrong that lead to my eventual cesarean. I've never written about this publicly, but the emotional hurt regarding his birth is still something that I struggle with. I've decided to post my story not only in an attempt to heal emotionally and get myself ready for my next birth, but also as a way to share my experience with others.

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy I ended up sleeping on the sofa at nights. It was easier to get comfortable there, and when I woke up a million and half times at night to use the bathroom, it was easier to go back to sleep out in the living room as my husband snores. The morning of my son's birth, I woke up around 4 a.m. with what assumed at the time was just a Braxton-Hicks contraction. I had never felt one, so I just assumed that's what it was, and a went back to sleep. I woke up around an hour later several more contractions, but still didn't think much of them. I tried to ignore them and went back to sleep. I woke up around 6:15 when my husband left to go running. I didn't tell him about the contractions, as I still assumed that they were just Braxton-Hicks. So my husband left to go running, and I went into our bedroom to try and go back to sleep. Well the contractions kept coming, so around 7 a.m. I decided that I should at least start timing them to see if there was any sort of pattern. Imagine my surprise when I found them to be around 7-9 minutes apart, and lasting for about a minute and half. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 9:30, so when Joshua got back from running, I told him about the contractions and told him we should just wait for the appointment to see if we needed to head to the hospital or not. In the meantime, I kept timing the contractions and packed my hospital bag (I had most of the stuff laid out on our dresser, but we lived less than 5 minutes from the hospital so I hadn't been too concerned about having everything ready beforehand). I got ready, straightened my hair, etc, which was all a little difficult to do with the contractions that were starting to get progressively more intense and lasting longer. I don't know why, but I still thought it was almost silly of us to take our hospital bags with us to the doctor's appointment. I was convinced I was only in early labor or that it would turn out to be false labor. I even told Joshua that we could go out to breakfast after my appointment. Around 9:15 we headed to my doctor's office for my appointment. The nurse called me back and could see that I was moving slowly. She asked me if I was having contractions, how far apart they were, etc. She told me that the doctor would check me and then let me know what our next step would be. I had to wait about 30 minutes for him to come to the room, during which time I had several more strong contractions. I remember thinking that it would have been nice to have had my husband in the room with me at the time. When the doctor arrived in the exam room, he checked me, and imagine my shock when he told me that I was 4 cm dilated already. He was able to see some bloody mucous and said that I was most definitely in labor and that we needed to go ahead and check into the hospital. I was shocked! I was certain that the contractions were going to taper off or that he would tell us to go home and wait until the contractions were closer together. I had always heard 5 minutes apart was when to go, and while my contractions were getting more intense, they were still 7-9 minutes apart. While I was getting dressed, my husband who had been in the waiting room the whole time, overheard the nurse telling the secretary that the doctor was going to get his wish after all (He had originally wanted to induce me that day, but I had asked to wait, hoping to go into labor on my own. The doctor was planning on going out of town the next day, and thought it would be easier if I delivered on my due date).

We headed to the hospital (which was across the street) and checked in. They took me straight to my room after doing all the initial paperwork. We settled into our room and they immediately started hooking me up to all kinds of monitors (blood pressure, baby heartrate, etc). At this point we decided to call our parents and let them know. The nurse came in to take my medical history and Joshua stepped out to call our our parents. My mom was there almost immediately as she was at a meeting not far from the hospital. It took Joshua's parents and my dad a little longer to arrive. My dad came in briefly to say hi, as did his mom, but mainly it was just Joshua and my mom in the room with me. Around 12:30 my doctor came in to check me, and I was still at a 4. He wanted to break my water in order to get things moving. The contractions picked up a bit after that. He also ordered that they start pitocin in my IV line. After the pit was started, I felt an increase in the intensity and duration of the contractions. He told me that I could request pain medicine whenever I felt like I needed it. I held off for a while, but those pit induced contractions where too much to handle. Around 2:30 I remember asking for something to help take the edge off. They gave me a dose of Stadol, but it didn't feel like it did anything at all. I remember being frustrated because I couldn't get out of bed much to move around. I remember trying several times to sit up or adjust my position, but I had wires everywhere. I had to use the bathroom several times, and it was always a huge ordeal, because I had to drag an IV pole with me, as well as call in a nurse to remove my belly monitor, blood pressure cuff, and finger monitor (can't remember what that one did - oxygen?). Even when I was free of the monitors, I still had the IV pole. My nurse, who I really did like, would wait for me to return from the bathroom and then immediately begin attaching me to all the monitors again. Around 3:30 I caved and requested an epidural. It didn't take long for the anesthesiologist to arrive and get started. I was worried about the pain, but was surprised by how easy it was. There was a tiny prick of the numbing medicine, then I felt a tiny jab on my spine, almost like two of my vertebrae were separating. It was definitely a weird feeling. Over the next twenty minutes I could feel the medicine staring to numb the left side of my body only. I could still feel everything on my right side. I freaked out a little and called the nurse assuming that the epidural didn't take on that side. She suggested that I lay on my right side in order to get the medicine flowing better. It helped, but it was very frustrating to lay like that because my mom and Joshua were sitting in chairs on the left side of the bed which made it difficult to talk to them. The monitors and computers were on the right side of the bed, so that prevented them from moving the chairs to the other side of the bed. It took a long time for the epidural to take on the right side, so I was stuck having to look at the monitors. Instead of struggling to chat, I decided I should try to get some sleep, but every time I would fall asleep, my blood pressure machine would go off, squeeze my arm, and then ring a little tune when it was done. It was going off about every 15 minutes, which prevented me from getting any real rest. The nurse came in several times with orders from my doctor to increase my pitocin.

I'm a little fuzzy on the times my doctor came in to check me, but I definitely remember when he came in around 5 to do a quick check. He had just ordered an increase in my pitocin, and the baby's heartrate immediately declined, but it recovered quickly. When he came back around 7 to do his check, I was at a 9 but not all the way thinned. The doctor informed me that the baby was coming out sunny side up and that he wanted me to do a quick push in order to get the head through a lip on my cervix. Well when he tried to turn the baby before I pushed, the heart rate dropped again, so he told me to hold off on pushing until the heart rate recovered. Well it took a long time. There was at least 5 minutes of silence in the room before it was back to normal. I was terrified because I could see on the monitors how low the rate was getting, and each second felt like an hour. At this point I was really scared and could see that it was something serious based on how everyone in the room was reacting. The doctor informed me that the cord was most likely wrapped around the baby's neck, and that it was the cause of the heart decels. He informed me that he didn't have a good feeling about it and that since the baby was already in distress, that it would not react well to pushing. He said he didn't want to chance it, and wanted to do a c/s to get the baby out ASAP. He told me not to worry that he would have the baby out soon, and then quickly left the room to get prepped for surgery, and that's when I got even more terrified. The nurse (I had a new nurse by that point) was on the phone with someone and was demanding immediate assistance in my room. It was only a few seconds before a team of nurses and other medical staff came rushing through the door with carts and monitors. I was given an oxygen mask and medical staff ran around the room barking out orders to each other. My mom was asked to leave the room, and Joshua was given scrubs to put on while another nurse started shaving me. There was so much commotion in the room, and all I could think about was how my baby was in danger. After my husband was in his scrubs, I pulled him down to me and we prayed for the baby, and before I knew it, I was being wheeled back to the operating room.

Joshua was not allowed to go with me at first, so I was by myself in a very cold operating room while a team of about 12 people busied around the room. I was freaking out and shaking so violently that a very sweet nurse sat down near my head and started trying to calm me down. She ordered another nurse to cover me in warm blankets. I could hardly focus on what she was saying, but I managed to nod a few times. Neither the calming words nor the blankets helped very much, though. I just remember laying on the table being scared out of my mind that my baby was in danger. I had not mentally prepared myself for a cesarean. I was convinced that I would have a normal, vaginal delivery. And I especially hadn't prepared myself for the thought that something might be wrong with the baby. My doctor came in and was informed that I was still shaking so hard despite all their efforts to calm me down and warm me up. He told the nurse to give me some anti-anxiety medicine and assured me that everything would be ok. After a few minutes, I could feel the medicine start take effect, and my body stopped shaking. The medicine helped me feel better, but I immediately began feeling like I was going to fall asleep at any moment. I was struggling so hard to just keep my eyes open. I was so loopy, but I remember hearing my doctor and the anesthesiologist chatting about the anesthesiologist's recent fishing trip. He asked me a few questions and determined that my epidural was still fine, and that there was no reason to put me under for the surgery. I was still struggling to keep my eyes open, so I tried to focus on the baby instead. I said a prayer and tried to will the baby to hang on until they could get him out. I had been so convinced all during my pregnancy that it was a girl, but I knew in that instant that the baby was a boy. Joshua was finally allowed into the operating room, and he helped me to try and stay awake by talking to me. I was so mad because I was having to will myself to stay awake for my baby's birth. Because I was so loopy and out of it, I'm not sure how long this whole process had taken. I'm sure it was much faster than it all felt, though. My doctor informed that I was going to feel some pressure and that the baby would be out soon. Next thing I know I hear a baby crying and my doctor informing me that it was indeed a boy and that he looked just fine. I was so relieved and loved hearing that cry! He told Joshua that he could stand up and take a look over the curtain, so he did, but he quickly sat back down saying that he saw too much red for his comfort. Eventually they brought the baby over to my head so that I could see. I looked over at my husband, and he was crying. He gave me a huge hug and just sobbed. He had been trying to be so strong for me and was just so relieved that everything was ok with both of us. They took the baby away quickly in order to do all of their various tests and get him cleaned up. Joshua went to inform our families, and I immediately passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and relief, but mainly from the anxiety medicine that I had been fighting the whole time. I was out for a good while (I was told it was at least an hour) and woke up in the recovery room.

At first I didn't see anyone in the room with me, but noticed that the little plastic bassinnet was close enough for me to see but too far to reach. After a few seconds I realized that my dad was in the room with me as well as a nurse. I asked to hold my baby but was told that I couldn't until his temperature had stabilized. That's when I finally noticed the lights he was under. Joshua came back to the room, and family members took turns coming in to see the me and the baby. My mom just hugged me and cried. Finally, I was able to hold my baby after what felt like forever. He had been crying when they moved him, but immediately stopped when he heard me talking to him. I don't remember how long we stayed in recovery, but they eventually moved us into our postpartum room. Joshua and my mom hadn't eaten all day, so my parents left for a few moments to get food for them and for Joshua. I had been starving all day (and not allowed to eat), but fortunately I wasn't hungry at all at this point, which was good because I wasn't allowed to eat anything anyway). Our families hung around for a little while, but it was past midnight by this point so they left to let us get some sleep.

Me waiting to get to hold my baby

Finally getting to hold him!

Our family of 3!

Stay tuned for my next post when I'll discuss my emotions regarding his birth as well as what I hope to do differently next time.

26 Weeks!

2011-01-04T23:19:00.002-06:00

How Far Along: 26 Weeks - Over halfway there!

Size of baby: 14 inches - the size of an English Hothouse Cucumber

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 8 lbs (I'm sure this will have gone up due to the holidays)

Maternity Clothes: I'm mainly wearing maternity jeans and pants but tops are still regular. Shirts are starting to get short, though.

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here!

Movement: He/She is pretty active, especially at nights. I often wake up in the middle of the night and feel him/her squirming around.

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach

Cravings: Mushrooms! Which is strange for me, since I usually don't like them very much. Also weird because I never craved anything with my first pregnancy.

Discomforts: Lots of pregnancy induced heartburn. Yuck!

Best Moment this Week: Starting to show more and more!

Giveaway: Organically Grown

2010-12-08T22:24:00.005-06:00

Most of us recognize the fact that organic food is better for us, but did you know that most conventional cotton also contains pesticides and other harmful chemicals? The Organic Exchange estimates that 25% of the world's pesticides are used in the production of conventional, non-organic cotton. Further, 7 out of the 10 pesticides found on conventionally grown cotton are considered carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency. Chemicals released into the environment contribute to work-force illnesses, water contamination, and the devastation of farmland. Organically Grown is proud to be part of the solution. They believe in your right to affordable, safe, stylish, high-quality organic products from apparel and home decor to personal care items. With Organically Grown there is no need to compromise between your budget and your budget and your conscience.

Organically Grown's Fall Collection is full of adorable infant outfits such as this adorable girl's "Penguins and Ruffles" 3-Piece Set (picture at right).

The rest of their collection is just as adorable. Check out this "My Little Cub" Take Me Home 3-Piece Set (picture on left).

Buy It:

You can purchase the adorable outfits above plus more at Organically Grown (affiliate link).

Win It:

One lucky Family of the Cloth reader will win an item from Organically Grown. Organically Grown will chose the item.

To enter, simply visit Organically Grown, browse their collection, then come back here and leave me a comment letting me know your favorite item. This entry is mandatory and required before doing any of the optional entries.

Extra Entries:

- Become a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect.

- Subscribe to my blog through email or via a reader

- Follow @FamilyofCloth and @OrganicallyGrwn on twitter and tweet about the giveaway. You may tweet once daily for extra entries. Just leave the permalink from your tweet.

- Like Organically Grown on Facebook. Be sure to tell them that Family of the Cloth sent you!

- Add my button to your blog.

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and older. Giveaway will end 12.23 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to an email notification or a new winner will be chosen.

22 Weeks!

2010-12-07T23:07:00.002-06:00

I originally saw this on Kelly's Korner, then a few other blogs, so I thought I'd do something similar here. I'm 22 weeks today!

How Far Along: 22 Weeks - Over halfway there!

Size of baby: 11 inches - the size of a spaghetti squash

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 8 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I'm mainly wearing maternity jeans and pants but tops are still regular.

Gender: It's a surprise! We'll find out when he/she gets here!

Movement: I've been feeling the baby move more this week. I've had a few strong kicks, but most of the time it feels like little twitches. I'm pretty sure the baby changed positions the other day, as my whole belly shifted and now I feel him/her under my rib cage.

Sleep: Most of the time I sleep ok. I'm waking up more lately due to being sore (from sleeping on one side too long).

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach

Cravings: Nothing specific

Best Moment this Week: Feeling the baby turn/change positions. I never felt that with my last pregnancy. It was really odd, but neat to know he/she is getting comfy in there.

Button Swap

2010-12-06T23:38:00.002-06:00

After my recent design makeover I lost all of fellow blogger's buttons. I had them saved in a file but my husband accidentally deleted it. If you're interested in swapping buttons with me, please leave me a comment with your blog URL so that I can get you added. My button can be found in the left hand column :)

I'm back!

2010-11-13T17:03:00.005-06:00

Yikes! It's been way too long since I've done a proper post. I've had alot going on recently, and I ended up letting my blog suffer as a result. I've missed blogging, and I'm anxious to get back into it.

We had an incredibly busy summer and towards the end we found out we are expecting baby #2! I'm due 4/12/11, and I'm already day dreaming about newborn fluff. I've had a fairly easy pregnancy thus far except for being incredibly nauseous for all of the first 16 weeks. I feel so blessed to be carrying around this gift that God is knitting together inside me, and I can't wait to meet him/her in April (we aren't finding out the gender). I'm also hoping for a VBAC this time around, so expect some posts about that journey. Here's a picture of our little bean:

Shepard, our 1st, is now 20 months. I don't even know how that is possible, as I still consider him to be my little baby. It seems as if he's getting bigger everyday! He's constantly on the go. Always exploring and investigating. I'm constantly amazed by how much he knows and how I see him learning new things everyday. He keeps me so busy during the day, that's for sure, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. He's such a blessing. Besides, how could you resist this sweet face?

Along with all the life changes, I've been praying about what direction I'd like to take this blog. One of my readers (and a sweet friend) told me once that I parent with purpose, and I hope to convey that in future posts. I love doing reviews and giveaways, so that will definitely remain (no worries there! I'm already lining up some fabulous giveaways!). But I also hope to start including more about our day-to-day lives, our faith, parenting style, and our journey with going green. I hope you'll all stick around and follow our journey!

Organically Grown Giveaway

2010-04-24T09:03:00.003-05:00

It's important to me to keep my family away from chemicals and pesticides, which is why I try to buy organic whenever possible. Not only is important for our food to be organic, but it also extends to our clothing. I'm always disappointed to see a lack of organic clothing in most stores. And what you do find ends up being extremely overpriced. That's why I'm proud to introduce you to Organically Grown, a wonderful online retailer of organic clothing.

About Organically Grown:

Driven by our positive spirit, and heartfelt commitment to a healthy planet, we founded the Organically Grown Group. We were raised to believe that we could make a difference, and affect real change in the world. As a young and innovative company, we believe in your right to affordable, safe, stylish, high-quality organic products from apparel and home décor, to personal care items. Organically Grown has begun to play an active role in the organic revolution. Our apparel is made from organic cotton, which is grown by safe, pesticide-free methods from plants that are not genetically modified. We support the organic farming community and organizations worldwide that are committed to a green, sustainable environment.

Why Organic?

As the awareness of the effect that pesticides and toxins have on the environment and individual health grows, more and more families are realizing the importance of choosing organic products. Making this choice is not only good for our earth; it is good for all of us. With your help, organic textile production will increase, becoming more of a standard in the clothing industry.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to choose organic fabrics for you and your family. Organic cotton has all the high quality, soft and cuddly texture with none of the harsh chemicals to irritate your child’s delicate skin. Our products are not only breathable and cuddly; they are also recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable. With products by Organically Grown, there is no need to compromise between your budget and your conscience.

Why Organic Cotton?

There is a direct connection between what we wear and the effect it has on the earth. According to the Organic Exchange, an estimated 170 million pounds of pesticides, and 25% of the world's insecticides are used in the production of conventional, non-organic cotton. 7 out of 10 of these pesticides are on the EPA's "known" list of "likely" or "probable" carcinogens. These chemicals result in work-force illnesses, water contamination, and the devastation of farmland. All of the problems are eliminated though organic farming practices. Organically Grown is proud to be a part of the solution.

Organically Grown's Collection:

Organically Grown carries a wide variety of adorable clothing for infants, and now includes a brand new toddler line. The collection is comprised of adorable two-piece outfits for boys and girls in sizes 12-24 months, and 2T-4T.

The infant collection contains some of the company's best sellers including three-piece sets with baby gowns, body suits, jackets, pants, blankets and hats, all on padded hangers and priced between $12-38.

Organically Grown also carries a variety of mens' and women's shirts, as well as home decor pieces. They truly have something for everyone. And the prices are very reasonable.

Buy It!

You can purchase Organically Grown from their website.

Win It!

Organically Grown is giving one Family of the Cloth reader a chance to win something from their new spring collection. To enter, simply leave a comment telling me "Why is organic important to you?"

Additional entries can be obtained by doing any of the following (be sure and leave a separate comment for each thing you do). Please leave your email address in you comment (or have it viewable on your profile), so that I can contact you if you win.

- Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter as @FamilyofCloth

- Follow Organically Grown on twitter as @OrganicallyGrwn

- Tweet about this giveaway, making sure to mention @FamilyofCloth and @OrganicallyGrwn. You may tweet once a day. Be sure to leave the permalink of your tweet.

- Become a facebook fan of Organically Grown

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Leave me a comment letting me know where I can find it.

Giveaway is open to US residents, and will close 5/8 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chose via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. All opinions expressed in the above content is my own, and I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Rockin' Green Winner!

2010-04-08T22:45:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to lucky comment #194!

Don't forget that you still have time to enter the AppleCheeks giveaway which ends 4/14!

AppleCheeks Review and Giveaway!

2010-03-23T14:46:00.015-05:00

FOTC was recently given the opportunity to review an AppleCheeks reusable diaper. These adorable cloth diapers, are a pocket style diaper that is proudly manufactured in Canada. After giving them a try for a couple of weeks, I have to say that these are one of our new favorite diapers. Read on to find out why.

Construction:

AppleCheeks are a pocket style diaper, with a layer of breathable, yet waterproof polyurethane laminate (PUL) on the outside, and soft, stay-dry microfleece on the inside next to baby's skin. Inserts are to be folded and "stuffed" in between the layers to create absorbency. The diaper's pocket opening is slightly larger than it's competitors, which makes it easier to "stuff." The larger opening also allows for the insert to agitate out in the wash. No more having to touch a wet insert!

A unique feature of AppleCheeks is that you can also use them as you would an AI2 system, meaning you can lay the insert on top of the microfleece, right next to baby's skin, and then reuse the cover, or "envelope" as AppleCheeks calls it.

AppleCheeks inserts are made from two layers of ultra-soft 70% rayon from bamboo and 30% organic cotton fleece. The inserts are approximately 12" x 15" and once they are folded into thirds, it gives you six layers of absorbency. AppleCheeks also offers a variety of boosters which bump up absorbency.

AppleCheeks are available in a variety of colors, most of which are bright and bold. No boring, bland colors here!

Fit:

AppleCheeks envelope covers have snug, yet durable elastic at both the waist and legs for a gentle and secure fit. They're designed to contain even to messiest of messes. There are two rows of easy to adjust snaps, allowing you to get the perfect fit for your baby. One of my favorite features has to be the extra wide tabs. The tabs help to prevent wing droop, which we seem to get with the majority of our side snapping diapers.

Envelope covers come in two different sizes. Size 1 fits from 7-20 lbs. (approximately), and Size 2 fits 18-40 lbs (approx).

Performance and Evaluation:

We decided to test this diaper right out of the package. I was a bit nervous, as the care instructions say to prep the inserts by washing them three times on hot before use (which will remove the oils and shrink them up a tiny bit). We didn't leave it on long, but it seemed to absorb just fine. After washing the insert the first time, I tossed it in with a load of towels, washed it again, hung it up to dry, and then tested it again. I put it on my son, dressed him (I have to say that it's very trim under clothes), and we went to the mall. I was very surprised when I changed his diaper, and although the front of the insert was wet, the back part was barely even wet! After the next washing, I tried it on my son during his nap. Same result! The inserts seem to absorb quite a bit!

I also tried using the diaper as an AI2, by laying the insert on top of the microfleece layer. I was nervous that since the insert doesn't snap into the envelope cover, that it might shift or bunch up. My son crawled and played all over the place, giving the diaper a true workout, and although it was slightly bunched up in the front (where it was wet), it didn't seem to affect the function of the diaper. The envelope cover could have easily been used again, maybe with a brief air dry. However, I prefer a stay dry liner next to my son's skin, so although it worked well as an AI2, I would much rather use the diaper as a pocket style.

I'm a huge fan of the elastic at the waist of the diaper! I haven't seen this with any other diaper yet, but what a great idea! My son is a skinny little dude, and the elastic at the waist really helps to keep the diaper from gaping at the top, which translates to fewer accidental leaks. The wider wings were also another definite plus. We get wing droop with some of our other side snapping diapers, but we had none with our AppleCheeks.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this diaper :)

Interested?

AppleCheeks can be purchased directly through their website, and they're also available from many of your favorite cloth diaper retailers. You can purchase the covers, inserts, and boosters separately, or you can purchase one of their MiniTest Kits (a cover and three inserts), or one of their starter kits (3 covers, 9 inserts, 1 storage sac, 3 wipes, and a free booster).

Want to win?

AppleCheeks is offering a FOTC reader a chance to win an envelope cover and insert!

To enter, simply visit AppleCheeks look around at site, decide what size and color diaper you'd like to win, then come back here and let me know in a comment.

For additional entries:

- Follow @AppleCheeksDipe on twitter

- Follow @FamilyofCloth on twitter

- Tweet about this fabulous giveaway! Just be sure to include both @AppleCheeksDipe and @FamilyofCloth and the #clothdiapers hashtag. You may tweet once a day. Be sure to leave the permalink of the tweet.

- Be a follower of my blog through Google Friend

- Be a follower of the AppleCheeks blog

- Enter my Rockin' Green Detergent giveaway

- Vote for me as a Top Mommy Blogger:

Giveaway will end 4/14 at 8 PM CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. FOTC received a diaper for review purposes only, and was not compensated or paid for this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Fluff Mom Monday

2010-03-22T08:03:00.001-05:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have?

My name is Jessica from The B Keeps Us Honest and I have an adorable 20 month old son whom we cloth diaper.

How long have you used cloth diapers?

I've been using cloth diapers for 19 months. We officially switched after my son was 1 month old.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

When I was pregnant I learned that many of my friends used cloth diapers. They introduced me to all the new designs and products available for cloth diapering. I choose to use cloth because of the environmental and financial benefits. Plus they are cute!

What was your first cloth diaper purchase?

I first bought a used diaper cover online. I think it was an Imse Vimse cover.

Tell us about your stash:

I have a great stash that ranges in size and style. We primarily use a prefold and cover but I do have a few AIO and Pocket Diapers. I won't list the entire lot from NB only my current. My current stash consists of...
24 Unbleached Indian Prefolds - Infant
12 Unbleached Indian Prefolds - Toddler (we're moving up in size.)
2 Bummis Covers
3 Imse Vimse Covers
1 GAD Cover
1 Kissaluvs Cover
4 Mommy's Touch AIO
1 WAHM Pocket Diaper
1 Kissaluvs Pocket Diaper
1 WAHM Swim Diaper

What is your favorite cloth diaper/diapering system? Why?

I prefer a prefold and cover. I feel it is less to wash. I mean to change a pee AIO that's so much material to wash when you can just change the diaper and reuse the cover. Although it does take longer to change and with an impatient toddler it's not always ideal.

Tell us about your wash routine
We wash our diapers every other day. Before bed my husband runs a cold water rinse/soak cycle with an oxy cleaner. In the morning I run a hot water regular wash cycle with Charlie's Soap. Then dryer to fluff and finish on the drying rack.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?
Very supportive. Many of my friends have started using cloth and often ask me about diapering options or tips. My husband is very supportive and a great diaper changer. Our families have learned our system too.

Any challenges you've run into with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

I haven't had too many issues with our cloth diaper experience. We had a build up issue and I stripped them according to an online tutorial. It was pretty simple.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering:
There are a lot of options. Try a few things before you buy a lot. Don't be freaked out about buying used. Borrow diapers from friends if possible. (if only to find you system)

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?
My favorite scripture is: Proverbs 3:3-4
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

The Inside Poop on Cloth Diapers - Twitter Party!

2010-03-21T13:13:00.004-05:00

You're invited to attend the "Get Real - The Inside Poop on Cloth Diapers" Twitter Party

Date: Earth Day – Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Time: 9:00-10:00 pm EST
Hashtag: #GetRealDiapers
Hosted by: The Real Diaper Association, Bamboo Bums Diapers, Diaper Daisy Modern Cloth Diapers, and The Eco Chic
Follow our hosts on Twitter: @RealDiapers @RDAHeatherMc @BambooBums @DiaperDaisy @TheEcoChic @EcoMomMedia

Sponsors: Diaper Shops, Snooty Booty Diapers, Sugar Dipes, Rockin’ Green Soap, Cutey Baby, SoftBums Diapers, Sweet Camo Babytique, Diaper Lab, Eden’s Baby, Goo Goo Gaia, Global Enfant, and many more to be announced.
Follow our sponsors on Twitter: @DiaperShops, @SnootybDiapers, @SugarDipes, @RockinGreenSoap,@CuteyBaby, @SoftBumsMama, @SweetCamoBaby, and more to be announced.

Event Topic: You are invited to attend a special Twitter Party all about diapers. In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day the Real Diaper Association, Bamboo Bums Diapers, Diaper Daisy Modern Cloth Diapers and The Eco Chic would like to explain how cloth diapers are making a comeback.

Actually cloth diapers have been used since the beginning of time and are still very popular. Today’s cloth diapers can be as simple as the pre-fold diapers your grandmother used or modern with Velcro closures and stylish patterns. Cloth diapers can fit any budget from frugal to the extreme; all of which can save you thousands of dollars throughout your child’s diapering years. Cloth diapers are healthieron your baby and do not contain toxins like disposable diapers. Cloth diapers are reusable and the perfect commitment for parents who wish to reduce their child’s environmental butt-footprint.

Registration: We are so excited to be able to open registration EARLY! Go enter by filling out our Survey Monkey form. Click here to take register.

Make sure to list Family of the Cloth as your referrer!

Don't know what a twitter party is? Find out more here.

Cleaning with Vinegar

2010-03-21T08:17:00.002-05:00

I have to admit that I'm not much of a germ-a-phob. Of course I try to keep things clean, but I'm not the mom with a gallon jug of hand sanitizer in every room. In fact, I very rarely use sanitizer (unless I don't have access to a place where I can wash my hands). I've been on a quest lately to use cleaning products that are more environmentally friendly. I hate cleaning with something harsh, and then having to baby gate my son out of the room and/or wash my hands before picking him up. I've been replacing some of my cleaners (as the run out) with cleaners that are plant based. I've also been making some of my own cleaners from vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, etc (not all together, of course). To my husband's dismay, I've cut out using bleach in my home. He loves the smell of bleach, and has a hard time believing it's clean if it doesn't smell like bleach. Did you know that chlorine bleach is unclassifiable carcinogen, it's highly toxic, and a high severe eye and skin irritant. It can burn the lungs if inhaled too long, which can lead to an infection. To read more about the dangers of bleach in the home, you can view this link at HealthyChild.org (one of my favorite sites).

I recently decided, however, that I needed to clean some of my son's toys. He puts everything into his mouth, and toys get dirty after a while. I gathered up everything I wanted to clean (all of the little stuff), and headed to the kitchen. I rinsed everything off, dunked them in soapy water, and rinsed. Surely that is effective, but I wanted to disinfect everything. I hit the internet looking for a "green" solution, and almost all the results I found said to dunk the toys in a solution of water and bleach. As I mentioned above, I don't do bleach, and especially not when my son is going to put it into his mouth. I eventually did find a "recipe" for disinfecting toys with vinegar and water. So here's what I did:

1/2 c. of vinegar per gallon of water

Fill sink with water (I used two gallons of water), and add vinegar. Add toys and allow to soak for 15 minutes. I got distracted and ended up letting them sit for an hour or so.

Rinse and air dry.

Allow child to resume shoving all toys into their mouth :)

Danny the Dragon DVD Review

2010-03-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough a few weeks ago to be able to review a copy of Danny the Dragon: Meets Jimmy by author Tina Turbin. You can read that review here. Along with the book, I was also sent a DVD, which contains a retelling of the book, along with sign language interpretation! My main area of research while working on my master's degree in literacy education centered around the unique literacy needs of the deaf and hard of hearing (HOH) students. Did you know that the average deaf or HOH high school graduate graduates with only a 4th grade reading level? Further, researchers believe that reading is the single most difficult academic hurdle that deaf and HOH students face. National initiatives such as No Child Left Behind mandates that all children be able to read by 3rd grade, but deaf and HOH students are consistently left behind their hearing peers. One theory on the low reading levels of deaf/hoh students is due to the lack of print rich media that is accessible to these students.

Author Tina Turbin, an advocate for literacy, created the Danny the Dragon DVD in order to give deaf/hoh students an opportunity to see the beautiful illustrations of the book along with signed interpretations. As I stated in my review of the book, Danny the Dragon: Meets Jimmy is a cute story of a little boy named Jimmy, who finds a shell on the beach that talks to him. Upon returning home with the shell, a friendly dragon named Danny (with red tennis shoes!) emerges from the shell. Jimmy and his family invite Danny and his guide Skipper to join them for dinner. After dinner, Danny and Skipper join Jimmy, his sister, and the neighborhood kids for a game of catch. After dinner, it is decided that Danny and Skipper should stay with the family overnight. Jimmy desires to know more about Danny and Skipper, but Danny tells him that he will tell him more later (which hopefully means another book is on the way soon!). The characters are polite and helpful, which serve as a great role model for young readers. The illustrations, done by artist Aija Jasuna, will help keep readers focused. And the sign language interpretation is not disruptive, but adds to the telling of the story.

Half of the proceeds of the DVD sales go to Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, and the other half goes towards other causes which support literacy and education for the welfare of all children. Author Tina Turbin provides a brief introduction at the beginning of the DVD which provides more information about Blossom Montessori school, and gives startling statistics about deaf/hoh students. And although the DVD was designed for deaf/hoh students, I still think hearing students would enjoy it, as well. It is not distracting, and if anything, I think hearing students would enjoy getting to "see" another language. It could also serve to help hearing students understand their deaf/hoh peers.

Overall, this is a great DVD! It's the first DVD of this type that I have ever heard of, and I wish more publishers would follow suit and create signed DVD books for the deaf. And I think it's wonderful that Tina Turbin is generously donating all the proceeds. If you've never heard of Tina Turbin, I urge you to check out her website (http://www.tinaturbin.com). She is a humanitarian, radio spokes-woman, as well as an award winning children's author. She helps many people in the allergy, celiac, autistic, and gluten-free "worlds," and she works hard to make these topics more known. She is a strong supporter of families, kids, and education. She founded the website http://glutenfreehelp.info, which is an awesome site with lots of gluten free recipes and information.

Rockin' Green Detergent Review and Giveaway

2010-03-18T21:28:00.005-05:00

Washing cloth diapers can be very intimidating. A quick google search on the topic will give you all kinds of differing advice on detergents, additives, and routines. It seems like everyone has their own method. Not to mention all the controversy over detergents and the fact that using detergents with particular ingredients can void the warranties on your cloth diapers.

Luckily, Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent makes the whole process extremely easy! Kim, the brains behind GADBaby.com developed Rockin' Green to work safely on all cloth diapers (as well as all of your regular clothing).

Rockin' Green detergent should definitely be on your laundry playlist! It comes in 2 "rockin" formulas for you to choose from (with a special "hard rock" version to be released this year) and several fun scents.

Rockin’ Green is:

Dye free
Comes in several yummy scents (& an unscented version for sensitive skin)
No fillers
No enzymes or optical brighteners
100% Phosphate free
Vegan
Great for sensitive skin
Easy rinsing formula
Approved for military use
Works wonders on microfiber stink!
Perfect for cloth diapers
HE compatible
Reusable packaging
Great for all water types
Economical at .13 cents a load!

And did I mention the yummy scents? An unscented option is also available, or you can choose from any of the following:

Fresh Linen- Blend of Lily and Jasmine. Comparable to Bath & Body Works Fresh Linen.
Baby Powder- smells like freshly powdered baby.
Cherry Almond- yummy cherries mixed with almonds. (Best Seller!)
Vanilla Lavender- a soft fragrance of yummy vanilla and lavender.
Monkey Snacks- A tropical blend of Banana, Coconut, Lime, Orange, Grapefruit, Bergamot, and Clove. Smells like Banana Laffy Taffy! (Best Seller!)
Cherry Lemonade- Blend of Cherry, Lemon, and Berry. Reminds me of a Cherry Limeade from Sonic!
Vanilla Buttercream- it’s like a cupcake without the calorie guilt! (Best Seller!)
Mango Sorbet
Grape Soda- reminds me of summers as a kid
Peppermint cocoa – it’s a peppermint hot chocolate on a cold winter day

So what did I think?

I contacted Kim when our diapers started getting a weird burned smell to them. She was able to troubleshoot my issue, and recommended an overnight hot soak with some Rockin Green, which worked perfectly. I have since been using RG, along with some Bac-Out, and I haven't had anymore issues. I ordered a big bag of Vanilla Lavender, and now my laundry room smells like a spa. I can't wait to try some of the other yummy scents.

{Giveaway Alert}

Kim is giving one of my readers the opportunity to win a full sized bag in your choice of formula and scent! All you have to is visit Rockin' Green's website, browse the list of scents and formulas, then come back here and tell me in a comment what you would choose if you won.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (be sure to leave a comment for each thing you do):

- Be a follower of my blog using Google Friend Connect

- Subscribe to my blog via reader or through email

- Follow @FamilyofCloth on twitter

- Follow @rockingreensoap on twitter

- Tweet about the giveaway (Be sure to mention @FamilyofCloth and @rockingreensoap). You may tweet twice a day for extra entries, just be sure to leave the permalink of your tweet(s).

- Grab my button and put in on your blog (just let me know where it is)

- Tell me a scent that you'd like to see Rockin' Green come out with next

- Enter my AppleCheeks giveaway

- Vote for me as a Top Baby Blog. You may vote once a day.

Giveaway will end 4/2 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. Review is based on my own purchase of the product. FOTC was not compensated for this review.

Fluff Mom Monday

2010-03-15T09:00:00.017-05:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have?

I'm Katie and Austin is my little fluffy butt. You can learn more about us at www.BabyBumbleB.com

How long have you used cloth diapers?

We've been using cloth diapers for about 2 months! Currently Austin is 3 months old. He was born 6 weeks early at 4 pounds. Once he hit a little over 7 pounds, he started wearing his Bumgenius Onesizes!

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

A friend of mine mentioned them for her daughter with sensitive skin. I don't think she stuck to it, but she had planted a seed in my head. When I barely pregnant I started researching! I couldn't believe how much money I would be saving. That was the biggest thing to me. $200 and diapered from birth to potty training?! Then when Austin was still too little to fit in them he started getting awful rashes and blisters. This made me buy some prefolds and covers and get OUT of those nasty disposables.

What was your first cloth diaper purchase?

My first purchase was 12 Bumgenius 3.0s!

Tell us about your stash.

Currently I have Bumgenius, Goodmamas, BananaBottoms, Flips, Econobum, BambinoMio, MonkeySnuggles, and I'm always adding and trading! Most of those are Onesize!

What is your favorite cloth diaper/diapering system? Why?

My favorite diapers are my Bumgenius. It's what I have the most of and what I know the best. With the fitteds I have to use a cover and Austin is still pretty little, so a diaper PLUS cover is a bit bulky still. I haven't gotten a chance to try my Flips yet, but I want to love them so much! We just got an AppleCheeks, and is now our absolute FAVORITE!

Tell us about your wash routine.

I do a rinse cycle and then a hot wash cycle with Grape Soda Rockin Green! To strip my diapers I just wash the inserts like 5 times in hot hot water. I did this for the first time this week and it seemed to work. We will see ;)

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

I told my husband I wanted to cloth diaper the baby. He said "ok". That was that. He's great and has never had a problem changing them. My mom was skeptical and scared I was going to make a big purchase and then not use them. But once she saw my major commitment to pumping and then breastfeeding she finally got on board with the cloth diapers. Everyone else thinks I am crazy. They all say "wait till he has formula poops" (umm, won't happen) or "wait till he starts eating solids!" It makes me want to make it work even more! So thanks y'all ;)

Any challenges you've run into with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

My baby is currently short and fat. His legs are so short so the diapers are really bulky and I hate that he can't really sit in them. I heard that the pear shape evens out around 6 months (which may be 7-8 for my preemie), so I'm just looking forward to that. Sometimes we have leaks but it is usually operator error. Any problem I have come across I've had help with or figured out on my own.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering.

Ask for help! It's so incredibly

overwhelming when you first start to research. I used to start researching and quit, go back,

quit, go back... I didn't make my purchases until AFTER Austin was born because I just DIDN'T KNOW! I had tons of help on Twitter (@graciekate) and I learned a lot and finally decided. Now that I have my

basis go-to diapers I like to try others here and there. DiaperSwappers is my BFF

Neglected

2010-03-12T21:52:00.003-06:00

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog lately.

I always have an abundance of topics to write about, but when I actually get a chance to sit down for a minute and blog (usually after bedtime), it seems like all of the topics slip away. Does this happen to anyone else? Or am I alone on this one? Surely I'm not the only mama who's brain goes to mush after bedtime. I usually tend to spend my evenings watching tv with the hubby, browsing forums/facebook, or reading a book. I always have good intentions to blog, but I'm just mentally spent most nights. I would love to change that, and bring everyone posts besides just product reviews (although I have to admit that those posts are my favorite!). For some time, I've maintained two separate blogs. This one where I mainly write about cloth diapers and other AP and environmentally friendly topics, and a separate (private) blog where I write about my son. I've been contemplating combining the two, which would make it alot easier on me as far as updating goes. I've also had a few topics on my mind that I've been hesitant to share. This blog is a great outlet for me, and I'm slowly becoming more confident in my choices as a mom. It's hard in the beginning when you feel like you're the only one around you who cloth diapers, breastfeeds, co-sleeps (although he's in his crib now, we did co-sleep for several months and still do when needed), doesn't CIO, etc. I'm also continuing my quest to be more eco-friendly, and of course, I also hope to continue to bring great product reviews (be on the lookout for some this upcoming week!).

Fluff Mom Mondays

2010-03-08T18:27:00.003-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have?
My name is Laura Cowan, and I am a WAHM: I am continuing my career as a book editor and freelance writer while I stay home with my baby girl. I missed the camaraderie of working in an office and wanted to create a place for media professionals to discuss industry issues, so I started a blog at a2editor.wordpress.com. It's in its infancy stages, but I have had some great conversations there and on Twitter (@a2editor), and I'm learning a lot by blogging.

How long have you used cloth diapers?
About 8 months: since we realized our daughter was not going to immediately grow into size small diapers and we bought newborn covers for her.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?
Initially, the cost of disposables, but when I started investigating ways to get free diapers, cloth diapers kept popping up, and I decided to try them. Then I learned that by cloth diapering I was saving two tons of trash from going into our overflowing landfills (per kid!), and there was no turning back.

What was your first cloth diaper purchase?
Prefolds and some newborn-size Prowraps and Bummis covers.

Tell us about your stash:
My stash is actually quite large because I wanted to try all kinds of diapers. I didn't want to pay for all this experimentation, though--after all, we got into cloth diapering to save money--so about 3/4 of my stash was acquired via baby registries and blog giveaways:

12 BumGenius OS pockets, plus hemp inserts to make these leak-proof (which bulks them up enough to relegate them to night-time use)
a few snap one-size pockets I use during the day, including a couple Fuzzibunz, Happy Heinys, and a Funky Diaper Co. diaper
30 or so Green Earth chinese unbleached DSQ infant-size prefolds
2 newborn-size Kissaluvs, 2 XS BumGenius AIOs (these were perfect in this small size but expensive)
3 premium-size Green Earth chinese unbleached DSQ prefolds I haven't used yet, planning for 15 total
a variety of Bummis and Prowraps covers in newborn and small sizes
a variety of adjustable-size covers such as Thirsties Duo Wraps,
Blueberries snap covers, and a Grobaby shell I use with prefolds

What is your favorite cloth diaper/diapering system? Why?
We love Thirsties Duo Wraps and DSQ prefolds! My husband actually refuses to use pocket diapers, because we've had leaks with those in the past, but a good diaper cover with leg gussets never fails.

My other favorite part of our system is our gentle and super cheap wipes solution I took from zany-zebra.com: roughly 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon Dr. Bronner's castile soap go into a spray bottle with a few drops of peppermint or lavender oil. We spray it right on baby's behind, but you could also spray a wipe or soak your wipes in this solution. You could add a carrier oil to condition baby's skin if you didn't use a spray bottle. Too much oil gums up the spray mechanism.

Tell us about your wash routine
I use 1/4 oz. of Allen's Naturally or 1 T of Rockin' Green detergent in my HE washer. My routine is pre-rinse followed by a "heavy duty" wash, which is pre-programmed to include a hot wash and two rinses. Since we're now in the semi-solid poop stage (TMI, sorry), I've doubled my detergent and added an extra final rinse when necessary. Sunshine bleaches out any stains.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?
For the most part. I'm grateful my skeptical friends listened when I said I wanted diapers as shower gifts. Now I'm a go-to expert among my friends, so I get a lot of shy requests to let people watch me change a cloth diaper. Of course I don't mind. Why wouldn't I want to show off my daughter's Pink Lemonade print Blueberries cover? :) The "Butt Pooh" decoration on disposable diapers can't hold a candle to my cute cloth diapers.

Any challenges you've run into with using cloth diapers?
Our BumGenius OS pockets leaked like crazy until I doubled them up with hemp inserts. Baby girl is a heavy wetter, apparently, so for the most part we stick with prefolds and Thirsties covers, which are much more absorbent than terry inserts and contain messes well with the leg gussets.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering
Try a variety of diapers from the most popular brands (Thirsties, Green Earth, Happy Heinys, Blueberries, Fuzzibunz, and Kissaluvs are my favorites) because moms' favorite brands are favorites for a reason, but you never know how a diaper is going to fit your baby or your lifestyle. And, different diapers work for different purposes and at different ages. You don't want to have a stash full of one kind of diaper that baby suddenly discovers how to take off!

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?
My favorite scripture is Jeremiah 29:11, which encourages me when the future seems uncertain:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (NIV).

How cool is that?

Danny the Dragon and Dreams Review

2010-02-28T22:01:00.003-06:00

If you know me, you know that I'm a huge fan of children's literature. My master's degree is in reading and literacy, and I am constantly on the lookout for great books for my son. So when I was recently contacted by a publisher asking if I might be interested in reviewing a children's book, I jumped at the opportunity. I was sent a copy of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy by Tina Turbin, which is the first book in what is sure to be a fun series. Along with the book, I also received an audio cd entitled Dreams, which is an audio recording of the book along with 10 classical tracks.

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy begins when Jimmy, who is visiting the beach with his family, stumbles upon a beautiful green and white shell. When he picks up the shell, he discovers that it talks to him. When he returns to his home with the shell, a dragon (with bright red tennis shoes!) emerges from the shell. Jimmy and his family are impressed with the polite dragon, and invite him and his guide, Skipper to dinner. Jimmy desires to know more about Danny and Skipper. Danny tells him that when he gets out the shell, that he grows bigger as he dries out. To fit back in, he needs to be sprayed with water. After dinner, Danny joins Jimmy and his sister for a game of catch. The neighborhood kids joined them as well, and everyone had fun playing. Jimmy invited Danny and Skipper to spend the night, and sprayed him with water so he would fit back into the shell. Jimmy asked again to know more about Danny and Skipper, and Danny replies that he will tell him later, which hopefully means we will learn more in future books! The illustrations are colorful and vivid, which will surely help keep young readers' attention. The characters are polite and helpful, which serve as a great model to young readers.

The Dreams audiobook includes a great audio version of the story, complete with sound effects, enunciated dialogue, and chimes to let you know when to turn the page. After the book, there is 10 classical music tracks, all of which were written by up and coming composers. The music is beautiful, and would be great for listening to while falling asleep after the story. One of the best things about this audio CD, is that profits are generously donated to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center, one of the many causes author Tina Turbin supports. For full author information, be sure to visit her website: http://TinaTurbin.com, as well as her other websites: http://www.glutenfreehelp.info/ and of course, the website for the book: http://DannyTheDragon.com

I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a good children's book. The characters are endearing, the illustrations are beautiful and vibrant. The audio version is a great accompaniment to the book. The classical tracks are a great addition, and are very soothing.

Diaper Sprayer Review, Giveaway, and Discount Code!

2010-02-18T20:47:00.007-06:00

The number one question I get when I tell people I use cloth diapers is, "What do you do with the poop?" I can instantly see people envisioning me dunking the diapers into the toilet and swishing them around. I don't know about anyone else, but that idea certainly doesn't appeal to me. A diaper sprayer is a must have product if you decide to use cloth diapers. It makes the whole process simple. Diapersprayer.com was generous enough to send me a diaper sprayer to review.

Ease of Installation:

The diaper sprayer was surprisingly, very easy to install. I was a bit nervous about messing around with plumbing by myself, so I enlisted the help of my dad. We disassembled the original hose, drained out the water, and set to installing the sprayer. We did run into a minor snag, though, when we realized that the sprayer came with a 3/8" compression connection, and our toilet had a 1/2" connection. A quick trip to Home Depot remedied the situation easily. Diaper Sprayer's website states that 95% of homes won't need this piece, but I was one of the lucky ones who did, so it's a good idea to measure your connection before beginning. A reducer can also be purchased from the Diaper Sprayer website. Aside from the quick Home Depot run, we did not run into any other problems. An adjustable wrench was the only tool we needed. The sprayer holder was also easy to install to the wall. Only a screwdriver was needed for that part, although you certainly don't have to install the holder.

Pros:

- Makes cloth diapering extremely easy!

- Easy to install

- Takes some strength to hold the sprayer down, which would help prevent a baby or toddler making a mess with it.

- Very strong hose and connections. No leaks.

- Long hose. I could easily stretch the hose over to the tub if needed.

- Can double as a bidet.

- T-valve on the sprayer hose allows you to adjust the water pressure

- All sprayers are covered with a one year warranty

- Anti-microbial protection through Microban

Cons:

- It would be nice to have a movable or less permanent option for the holder.

- Can sometimes be difficult to hold the sprayer down with one hand. I end up having to try several times while juggling the diaper with the other hand.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Buy It!

The sprayers can be purchased directly through their website. The company is also offering a coupon code to all Family of the Cloth readers. Enter the code "JJ2010" for 10% off + free shipping!

Giveaway Alert!

Diaper Sprayer is generously offering one of my readers the chance to win a free diaper sprayer! To enter, simply leave a comment telling me why you'd like to win.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

- Follow my blog publicly with Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter @FamilyofCloth AND tweet about the contest. You may tweet once a day for additional entries.

- Become a "Fluff Mom" on my weekly interview series. Contact me at familyofthecloth@gmail.com for the questions, then leave a comment saying you did. Only valid if the survey is returned to me. If you are a previous Fluff Mom, just leave me a comment saying so.

- Subscribe to my blog via email or through a reader

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Just leave me the address of where you put it.

- Vote for me a Top Mommy Blogger by clicking on the box below:

This giveaway is open to US residents and will end 3/11 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. FOTC received a sprayer for review purposes. No compensation was given for this post.The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Winners!

2010-02-08T21:17:00.007-06:00

Winners!

Baby's First Phone Call:

Flower Duet:

Bummas:

Congratulations, everyone! Email will be going out shortly. As always, winners will have 48 hours to respond to the notification email, or a new winner will be chosen.

Stay tuned for some new and exciting reviews and giveaways!

Fluff Mom Mondays

2010-02-08T18:37:00.002-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

My name is Andrea and I'm a mama to two little ones. Mickey who is 19 months and Josie who is 7 weeks. I've been cloth diapering both of them from the beginning and I wouldn't have it any other way!

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

I decided to use cloth diapers because I couldn't stand to know that I was contributing such a HUGE amount of waste to landfills...waste that would take hundreds of years to decompose! Hubby was right on board from the get go (thank God!)

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

The first cloth diapers we bought were Happy Heinys OS. I couldn't get them to not leak at first, it was really frustrating. Everytime I changed Mickey's diaper, I'd have to change his whole outfit. Then we tried fitteds and prefolds, those seemed to work MUCH better for us.

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash:

Stash...hmmm, let's see. Two dozen newborn unbleached Indian prefolds and 4 XS Bummis covers to start. About 7 Happy Heinys OS, a whole bunch of fitteds...Thirsties (my fave, not incredibly absorbent, but sooo trim), Happy Heinys sherpa fitteds, Crickett's hemp fitteds, Bamboozle, and lots of WAHM fitteds. I LOVE to try out new diapers...I'm still on the lookout for the BEST diaper. Hopefully I'll find that one day. ;)

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

Fave is Thirsties. They're soft, the colors are great, they are not too expensive, they're made in the US, and they dry REALLY fast. They may not be the most absorbent, but we just add a doubler in between the diaper and the cover, and voila! more absorbency!

Tell us about your wash routine:

I wash everyday. Cold, hot, double rinse. Pretty much the same as everyone else it seems. I tried soap nuts, but I wasn't real crazy about them. I just use regular free & clear laundry soap, nothing fancy.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?

Everyone has been really supportive. And if they weren't then too bad, it's our decision and I'm very proud that we made it! :)

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

The leaking in the beginning was the biggest challenge, that was soooo frustrating! But we just kept trying out new things until we found what worked for us!

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Just keep trying different things until you find what works for you. Don't give up!

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

"Dear Lord, The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal: You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal." - Homer Simpson. I just love that. I feel that God has been so good to me, I am truly blessed to have the family and friends that I have. :) :)

Fluff Mom Mondays

2010-02-01T16:00:00.011-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

My name is Rose and I have one daughter who is now 11 months old. We have used cloth diapers with her since birth and I am a huge cloth diaper advocate! I blog at Mommy and Sweet Pea.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

I wanted to use cloth diapers because I knew it would save us money and be healthy for our little one and the environment. I wrote about our story of getting started here.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

I bought some prefolds and Thirsties covers. I also got some Little Beetle fitteds that I loved!

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

Right now I have:

AIOS: 18 BumGenius one size, 5 Medium Thirsties pockets, 2 Medium VeryBaby AIOs, 1 Medium Fuzzibuns, and 1 BumGenius Organic

Fitteds: 8 Goodmamas, a Guerrilla Fluff fitted, a Muttaqin fitted, and a Nifty Nappy fitted. I also have 2 Kissaluvs fitteds on the way. I am also about to buy some more Goodmamas used. I don't need them but I love them!

Covers: 4 Medium Thirsties covers, 5 wool longies, and 2 wool shorties. The longies are Nifty Knickers (2), made by me (2), and made by my mom (1).

All of my newborn and size small stuff is currently out on loan to various friends. Hopefully I'll get something back for my next baby! I think it's great to share cloth diapers because most of them last through more than one baby, and that way you get to try different brands without paying.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

As you can probably tell from my stash, I use a lot of BumGenius and Goodmamas. The main reasons I have gone to using only AIOs and fitteds are the convenience and rash prevention. When my baby started crawling, she stopped tolerating holding still for a diaper change for more than a minute. So, I wanted the easiest thing to diaper her in. For us, that turned out to be either AIOS or pockets, or fitteds with wool. With these two options, you have a diaper and pants rather than a diaper, a cover, and pants to be put on at each change. I'm looking forward to summer and maybe using just a diaper on the bottom and a dress on top! My baby is also prone to rash, and using just cotton next to her skin turned out to not wick enough moisture, unless a very breathable fabric is over the top, such as wool. She never cries when she's wet so it is up to me to check her really often. Since we have stopped using prefolds and PUL covers, she has had a lot less rash.

Tell us about your wash routine

I use a bucket and a wet bag to store my dirty diapers until laundry time. I dump everything into a cold rinse first, with about 1/4 cup of white viengar. After the cold rinse comes a regular wash on warm or hot, with about 1/2 my regular amount of laundry soap. I use Arm and Hammer Free (no scents or additives). Sometimes I do an extra rinse after the wash. In the summer, we dry on the line outside in the summer, or for about 60-70 minutes in the dryer in the winter. I found the Thirsties pockets dry much faster if you turn them inside out when putting them in the dryer.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Yes! Although, I think some of my friends may be getting a little tired of hearing how great cloth diapers are. My parents used cloth with me and my siblings so they are fully supportive, but don't really get my obsession with the CUTENESS of the diapers.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

For a little while we were getting some stink issues with our microfiber inserts and fleece. I did a hot wash with 1/4 cup of bleach, and then some extra rinses and that has totally cleared it up! If it was sunny I would have tried sunning everything first. Since we didn't have to do that until about 10 months of using cloth, I'd say we've had very few problems! We did have some leaking in the past, but mostly when we were using the infant prefolds and she would pee several times before we got to change her, or when the diaper wasn't fitting around her legs properly. We have almost no leaks now.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Start out with 2 types of diapers, and if they aren't working for you, try something else. Read the blogs and the forums for ideas, and then go for it! Diapering can be fun and a positive part of your relationship with your child when you find the right option for your family.

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose....

Fluff Mom Mondays

2010-01-25T20:15:00.010-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

I'm Justine mommy to two little munchkins, Seamus who is 3½ years old and Kieran who is 9months old. I've used cloth diapers for just over 5months now. I also have a blog where I talk about my life and sometimes have some reviews and giveaways (family/children products) http://sliversun.blogspot.com/

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

I wanted to use cloth with my son but it just wouldn't work back then, we lived in a tiny apartment with coin-op laundry and the machines hardly ever worked. I had the chance again

to try cloth with my daughter, but it took some persuading to get my husband to agree to it. I wanted to cloth diaper her from the get go but dear ole hubby said no, that was until his hours at work got cut so badly that we couldn't afford disposables.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

Our first diapers were 2 prefolds that I made out of old t-shirts, then we got some Gerber prefolds and lucked out and found a Bummis cover at a consignment shop in town. I was then blessed by a couple ladies that I'd met off of a mommy site, one of them sent me an awesome Thirsties Duo cover and the other sent me a box full of fitteds and pockets. I've since found a love for pocket diapers and those are the ones I stay on the look out for.
I've also noticed how much garbage we were going through while in disposables and am so happy to not be putting more into our landfills

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

I have mostly pockets, some fitteds, and some prefolds. I'm trying to ween the fitteds out because right now I'm just not feeling the snappi love and only 2 or 3 of my fitteds have snaps on them. I love my pockets, I have a variety of brands, some WAHM ones, and some of the bigger known ones. I have about 17 pockets, 2 FuzziBunz(one OS and one Medium), 1 BG 3.0, 1 Whamies, 1 BumJoy, 4 Cooshie Toosh(I believe lol), 4 Kawaii Baby (though only 2 are usable right now, bad elastic), 2 Nubunz, 2 that I made out of fleece and flannel, and some other unknown WAHM ones. I have my 12 original Gerber prefolds that I've dyed and some I've added flannel to, to make them work a little better and I also have 6 Bummis Organic Cotton prefolds, and 6 newborn Indian prefolds.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

I love pockets, they are easy for me to do, and they are more trim fitting then my fitteds. I love that I can make them more absorbent at naps and night by adding to them, and thinner during the day. I really like my Whamies OS, BGOS and FuzziBunz OS. The FB OS did take a little for me to love it cause I couldn't get it to fit her right but after a couple days I figured it out and now love it.

Tell us about your wash routine

I first run a cold rinse cycle, then I add a tiny squirt of Dawn, some baking soda and then some Rockin Green, I wash on Hot and 2 rinses, sometimes I will run another hot wash and 2 more rinses if I have time.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?

They thought it was weird at first, but now my sister in law wants to CD her future children. My mom didn't think it was too weird because she clothed me for a little as a baby, she was just amazed by how much they've changed. And my brother...he calles me a hippie (lol)

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

We are battling stink right now, and I'm still trying to fix it, I need to try the vinegar route to see if that will help. I also wanted to use cloth wipes and it took hubby 3months or so after we started cloth diapering to let us fully switch to cloth wipes for her, it took a bad diaper rash and her screaming from disposable wipes for him to agree to the switch.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Try different kinds, what works for one person may not work for another

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

Some days it can be frustrating/annoying to wash diapers but in the long run its saving money and our earth.

Flower Duet Giveaway

2010-01-21T22:53:00.007-06:00

I don't know about you, but I LOVE fresh flowers! They brighten my day, so my husband will occasionally surprise me with a bouquet. I have no talent at arranging them, however. I usually just stick them in a vase and fluff them up a little bit, so when Casey (of Bummas Wipes!) sent me a copy of the floral arranging DVD that she made with her sister, I was excited!

I immediately popped the DVD in and learned their techniques. They are so easy to follow, which is great for a beginner, such as myself. They walk you through some of the basics, like chosing the best flowers and how to optimize freshness. They show you actual flowers, which really helps you see how to pick them out. FlowerDuet then goes on to show you how to create variations of the European Wrap or Hand-Tied Bouquet. After watching the video, I'm sure that I will be able to create a beautiful bouquet the next time my husband surprises me. You can check out a preview of the DVD by watching their youtube video.

{Buy it}

You can order a copy of the FlowerDuet DVD on their website.

{Win it}

One lucky reader will win a free copy!

Mandatory Entry (this entry is required and must be completed before other entries will count): Tell me your favorite type of flower, or tell me the mix of flowers you would chose for the perfect bouquet.

Extra Entries:

- Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter @FamilyofCloth AND tweet about this giveaway. You may tweet once daily. Be sure to leave to permalink of your tweet!

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Just leave me the address of where you put it!

- Enter my Baby's First Phone Call giveaway

- Enter my Bummas Wipes Giveaway

- Comment on any one of my non-giveaway posts.

- Vote for me as a top mommy blogger by clicking on the box

This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and will end 2/2 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. FOTC received a DVD for review purposes. No compensation was given for this post.The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Bummas Wipes Review and Giveaway

2010-01-18T22:49:00.005-06:00

I have a confession to make. I don't use cloth wipes.

I tried them once, early on, but they were single-ply flannel wipes, that smelled like wet paper when I put them into the wipe warmer. They didn't clean well, and they were a pain to use. I quickly abandoned the idea of using cloth wipes, and happily went back to the disposables. After using them exclusively for 10 months, there came a change in my son's poop that had me re-evaluating that decision. We were blowing threw disposable wipes at a high rate of speed, which seemed so wasteful. I also started to do a little bit more research into how disposable wipes are made. Just like with disposable diapers, the disposable wipes are made with plastic materials along with alcohol, perfume, chlorine,and dioxins (all nasty stuff that I don't want anywhere near my son). I hit the internet searching for a better option.

Bummas wipes are small soft, luxurious baby-sized cloths made especially for drying baby's bottoms (helping to keep diaper rash away), but they also have a variety of other uses (I love when one thing has multiple uses!) They can be wetted to replace wet wipes, or you can use them dry to block surprise squirts (especially from the boys), or anything else you can come up with. They are small enough to be used on the go, but big enough to wipe up large messes. They are soft and gentle on baby's skin, but they are strong enough so that you can use them over and over again without them pilling, shrinking, or fading.

I was excited when Bummas sent me one of the Wild Ones bunches to try out, although when it came time to give up my disposable wipes, I hesitated. In fact, I let myself run out of the disposable wipes before I even opened up the Bummas package. I created my own wipes solution and soaked all of the wipes, rolled them up, and put them into my wipe warmer. They are the perfect size, because they fit into the warmer without having to be folded, saving me a step! Check it out!

So how did they work?

I'm in love with my new wipes! I can't believe I let myself go this long before using them. They are so convenient. I just grab a roll out of my warmer and wipe up my son. And I love the fact that it only takes 1-2 cloth wipes, instead of the 8-10 disposable ones. They fit perfectly into my warmer without having to fold.

{ Buy it! }

Bummas wipes are $16.99 and are available for purchase on their website.

{ Win it! }

Bummas is giving one of my readers the chance to win a set of wipes! To enter, simply visit Bummas.com, take a look at all the color sets that are available, then come back here and let me know which one you would choose if you won.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (be sure to leave a separate entry for each thing that you do):

- Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter @FamilyofCloth AND tweet about this giveaway. You may tweet once daily. Be sure to leave to permalink of your tweet!

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Just leave me the address of where you put it!

- Enter my Baby's First Phone Call giveaway

- Enter my FlowerDuet Giveaway

- Comment on any one of my non-giveaway posts.

- Vote for me as a top mommy blogger by clicking on the box

This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and will end 2/2 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. FOTC received a set of Bummas wipes for review purposes. No compensation was given for this post. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Fluff Mom Mondays

2010-01-18T17:48:00.015-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have?

I'm Janet. I'm a full-time WOHM, working as an engineer in the auto industry, married for almost 10 years to Barry. I have one son, Alex, who is 19 months old. Alex was a preemie, born at 27 weeks, 1 lb 7 oz, and has a lot of breathing issues; he came home on a ventilator but is now only on it when he's not feeling well. We're hoping to be rid of all the tubes in the next year and a half or less.

Alex at 2 days old

How long have you used cloth diapers?
Alex's premature birth complicated our cloth diapering journey. We had a whole stash ready for Alex's eventual homecoming, and a daycare lined up that would take cloth (yay!). He outgrew the first stash before he made it out of the NICU at 9 ½ months old, so I got to buy a whole new stash all over again (which was a lot of fun, in all honesty), and his medical needs have made daycare an impossibility for the time being.

So, in total, we've been cloth diapering for about 10 months. I realized recently that the smell I most associate with hospitals is the smell of disposable diapers, so I think if we have another child, we'll be cloth diapering from the very beginning.

Over at http://ourlittleacorn.blogspot.com you can read about things going on with us – diapers, special needs, parenting, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Alex at 2 months and about 3 lbs

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?
We had always planned to use cloth diapers. I remembered using cloth diapers with my younger brothers, and then I found out there were such easy versions available now. We try to be environmentally friendly, and I had a lot of heartburn about how much trash disposable diapers would cause.

When I realized how much less expensive used diapers could be, or even that I could win diapers for free in various contests, the challenge of finding what we needed became a nice entertainment break from the NICU.

Furthermore, we had a horrible time with diaper rash in the NICU. It was apparent to us that Alex's skin needed more air, and that he needed to be changed more frequently, and disposables encouraged some of his caregivers to leave changes indefinitely rather than staying on top of it.

pic of Alex w/ Pocket diaper

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?
Our first purchase was infant prefolds, quickly followed by more prefolds, covers, some Happy Heineys, and two lovely Minkee Pockets that I can't remember the brand name of.

Alex's first day at home, 9 ½ months

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

Out of rotation:
a dozen or so small AIOs and pockets (mostly no-name; one BG 2.0, one of the minkee ones, I think 2 Happy Heineys)
2 dozen infant prefolds
2 dozen more infant prefolds dyed in various solids and tie-dyed, and 3
preemie prefolds, all of which are in use as burp cloths
2 or 3 small fitteds
a half dozen small and extra small covers.

There's also a handful of medium covers out of rotation. Most of these were bought used, but a couple were bought new with baby shower money when we thought Alex was coming home at 4 months old.

Current rotation:
7 covers - Out of that, one is heading towards worn-beyond-usability, and 2 more are going to be outgrown soon. Almost all of these were new.
3 dozen flats. All bought second hand, though 2 dozen were still new in package. We've mostly only used these when we took a long trip out of town recently.
26 premium prefolds (some dyed, some bleached). All bought used.
18 Imse Vimse contours - 3 new, the rest bought well used. Many of the used have holes, and ought to be patched. These are a really great "one size" diaper solution for our nurses who aren't so used to figuring out cloth diapers, since all they need is a snug cover
8 WonderWorks pockets - bought used, not our favorites. 2 more of these have serious leak issues and are out of rotation.
1 AI2 - It's cute, green, and embroidered, but I can't remember the name
off hand. I won this one.
1 Smartipants pocket - I love this diaper, and the snaps - I won this as
well.
16 BG3 - a white one that I won, the rest were bought barely used, in
yellow, orange, and 2 shades of green.

Addtionally, we've got several snappis (most bought used), a half dozen pins (which we only started using now that we've got flats), 3 hanging wet pails (2 of which get used as pail liners, one of which I won; the other hangs in the laundry room for any diaper changes that happen downstairs), and numerous smaller wet bags (almost all of them purchased new - we use them to segregate things in the massive diaper bag/emergency medical kit). We use cloth wipes too, most of which I made in a frenzy one weekend – they're either flannel/flannel or flannel/fleece.

I'm still shocked when I write this all out, because I never intended to have more than a couple dozen diapers total. But…it works for us. It gives a little flexibility on when laundry has to get done (and extras for days where things get puked on), and to do whatever works best for the day's plans.

Alex in July w/ diaper cover

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?
Our go-to diapering solution is prefolds and covers. We have 6 nurses who take care of Alex throughout the week, and most of them manage just fine; prefolds are more forgiving of diaper creams and such, and convincing some nurses that Alex doesn't need to be plastered in cream has been a challenge. They also seem more forgiving of washing routines. Our favorite covers are the new Thirsties Duos.

Alex w/ original Thirsties cover

Our out-and-about choice is pockets – mostly one-size BG 3.0s (largely because I caught a good deal on gently used ones locally), but my personal favorite is our one and only SmartiPants diaper – it fits perfectly, never leaks, and I love the snaps.

Tell us about your wash routine

Except in very unusual circumstances, we wash diapers every other day.

We do a double (cold) rinse. Then we wash on hot with about a half cup of a mixture of equal parts regular Tide, Oxy-clean, and baking soda, and a cup of white vinegar in the softener dispenser. We finish with another double rinse on cold.

We're in Michigan, so much of the year, line drying is out of the question. Even during the summer, we were often bringing still-damp diapers in off the line at dusk and throwing them in the dryer.

Alex, after a bath – see the bag of diapers in the corner?

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Mostly. Our family members are somewhat hands-off because of Alex's medical issues, but both my husband and I were cloth diapered, so it's not a huge deal either way. Our friends think it's funny that we're being so "trendy" but agree with the idea of less waste. A lot of people generally think we're crazy for using cloth diapers with a special needs child, because it's "just so much more work" but really, we find it's not – washing diapers is easier than running to the store for another package of disposables.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?
We've had some leaky diapers, and we've given up and taken them out of rotation. In this case, reviews when I bought them were great, but I'm finding more and more bad reviews on that particular brand after it changed ownership.

Our biggest challenge has been convincing nurses that putting a microfiber insert from a pocket diaper into a contour or prefold as a doubler is not good for Alex's skin. I try not to be too picky about how his clothes get put away, since the nurses often fold and put away his diapers and other clothes for us, but this is one thing that drives me nuts. We've got multiple signs up in the room, and we've talked with each of them, but sometimes it slips through the cracks.

Alex all dressed up for a New Year's wedding

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering
Don't go out and buy "a whole stash" of just one type of diaper. Buy a few of several different things, because no matter what your friend/sister/neighbor says, what works on their child may not work on yours, or it may not work for you at a certain point - either in terms of fit, or in terms of function, or in terms of your daily routine.

Also, don't assume some particular type of diaper is too hard or too easy just because everyone else says so. We love our flats, and would put them back into regular rotation if we were convinced the nurses could figure out how to actually attach them to Alex successfully :)

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

One of my new favorite quotes is, "I've met the villagers, and I don't want them raising my child." We try to be mindful of the influences in Alex's life, and try to ensure that we surround him with people who care about him and are interested in helping him grow up to be a caring, thoughtful, independent, and responsible adult. We are thankful every day for the blessing of his life, and that it appears at this time that he will outgrow all of the medical issues he faces.

Help Haiti

2010-01-15T13:13:00.019-06:00

With all of the devastation in Haiti, here is a list of the cloth diaper and baby wearing companies that are stepping up to help the victims during this tragedy. A list of charities and non-profits that are also accepting donations can be found here.

Diapershops.com:

Diapershops.com is conducting a raffle, with all ticket proceeds going directly to the American Red Cross International Response Fund-Haiti Relief. A $10 ticket can be purchased from now until January 23rd. Each ticket gives you a chance to win a prize package of diapers valued at over $269, or a chance to win 1 of 4 - $100 gift certificates to diapershops.com. Tickets can be purchased here.

Happy Heinys:

HH has been working closely with orphanages in Haiti for many years, and is collecting reusable diapers (any type) in new or excellent condition along with baby clothes to be sent to the orphanages. You can mail any donations to:

Happy Heinys

1529 N Cuyamaca St

El Cajon CA 92020

(please mark box for donation)

SoftBums:

Buy anything from SoftBums, and they will match your purchase and donate the same amount of diapers to Haiti. You can buy diapers for yourself, or donate your purchase.

Giggle Britches:

Giggle Britches will be donating one Happy Heiny OS pocket diaper for each one purchased between now and the end of the month. The one purchased can be for yourself or it can be donated as well.

The Natural Baby Co.:

From January 15-22, use the coupon code "HELPHAITI," to receive 10% off your order, and the Natural Baby Co. will match with a 10% donation to Yele Haiti (www.yele.org).

Cloth Diaper Superstore:

Purchase a raffle ticket for $10. All proceeds go to Samaritan's Purse. Four winners will be chosen. Prizes include a Gro Baby diaper set, Leslie's Boutique Wet Bag, Thristies Duo Cover, and Happy Heinys Bottom Wash.

Growing Green Bums:

GGB is going to donate all profits from sales thru the end of the month to Yele Haiti.

Sugar Dipes:

A portion of all sales will go to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief.

Hotslings:

Hotslings will be donating 50% of all online retail sales Monday January 18 to The Red Cross for Haiti.

* * *This list will continue to be updated, so please check back. If I missed a company, please add it in the comments section, and I will update the list accordingly. * * *

Fluff Mom Monday

2010-01-11T08:00:00.002-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

My name is Heather Boger. I have a 17 month old daughter. I own www.greenbabygreenmama.com, an organic baby boutique.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

The disposable diaper statistics! How many tons of garbage are created with each baby in disposables??

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

The first cloth diaper I ever bought is not sold at Green Baby Green Mama because it didn’t live up to my standards for durability!

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

My diaper stash includes Drybees, Fuzzibunz, and Thirsties.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

My favorites depend on what I’m doing. At home I like fitteds, overnight I like pockets, and on outings I use all in ones.

Tell us about your wash routine

Cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse. So easy.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Not at first! But my once skeptical Mother can’t stop raving about cloth diapers now!

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

At first I didn’t realize that you need to give them a really thorough clean once a month. To do this I just run a cold rinse, then a hot wash with detergent, then repeat hot washes with no detergent until you see no bubbles. It’s easier than it sounds!

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

The more diapers you have, the easier it is to cloth diaper!

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add:

Stick to it! It’s so rewarding to know that you are doing something so beneficial for your child and the environment.

Baby's First Phone Call

2010-01-08T15:15:00.013-06:00

The last thing I wanted to do after the birth of my son was to make a ton of phone calls to let people know all the details. I wanted to spend those first few hours bonding as a family, not on the phone. I had also been in labor all day, and I was recovering from an unplanned c-section. Most of our friends and relatives learned about The Boy's birth through word of mouth the next day.

I recently became aware of a new service called Baby's First Phone Call, which is an automated call tree that allows new parents to notify friends and family of the arrival of their bundle of joy without the hassle of making dozens of individual phone calls. What a great service, and something I wish I had known about back then!

Baby's First Phone Call makes it incredibly easy on a new parent. All you have to do is set up an account before the baby is born, and enter the names and phone numbers of all the people that you would like to notify when the baby is born. Once your baby is here, you only have to make one phone call where you will leave a personal voice-mail message. This is a great way to share the details of the birth, such as weight, length, hospital room number, or whether or not you would like visitors. The service then calls each number that you submitted, and plays your personal greeting. Callers also have the option of leaving a return message that can be heard by the new parents at their convenience. It's that easy! Baby's First Phone Call offers a variety of packages to suit your specific needs.

Buy It!

Baby's First Phone Call offers a variety of call packages to suit your specific needs. Visit their packages page to learn more!

Win It!

Baby's First Phone Call is generously offering 2 of my readers the opportunity to win a $50 gift certificate! Want a chance to win? All you have to do is visit Baby's First Phone Call's Call Packages Page and let me know what size package you think you would need. This entry is mandatory, and must be completed before additional entries count.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (please leave a comment for each thing you do):

- Follow my blog publicly

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Follow me on twitter

- Enter my Bummas wipes giveaway

- Enter my FlowerDuet giveaway

- Tweet this giveaway with the following message: "Win a $50 gift certificate to Baby's First Phone Call from @FamilyofCloth http://tinyurl.com/yalgjnc #giveaway" You may tweet once daily.

Contest is open to US residents. Giveaway ends 1/29 at 8 Central Standard Time. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to the notification e-mail, or a new winner will be chosen. Family of the Cloth did not receive monetary compensation for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

I Hate Cancer

2010-01-08T15:10:00.001-06:00

I hate cancer.

My family and friends have had their fair share of cancer, and I absolutely hate it. If you get a chance, please pray for my sweet friend, Lindsey. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. For the 2nd time. She is an amazing woman, with an incredible faith. She just underwent surgery where they found 13 of 16 lymph nodes with cancer. Her tumor was recently sent off to be studied and researched so that the best treatment plan can be developed. If you could specifically pray for this perfect treatment.

Please also pray Psalm 30:2 over her. "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."

W.o.G. Wednesday

2010-01-06T21:23:00.002-06:00

"The Lord makes me very happy; all that I am rejoices in my God. He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels."

- Isaiah 61:10 (New Century translation)

For my first W.o.G. post, I'm happy to share one of my favorite verses. I found this verse last year during one of my quiet times, and it jumped out at me. It's not always easy to maintain a positive attitude, especially with all of the demands of day-to-day life, but I am always be happy in the Lord. I can always rejoice in Him. He loves me so much that He has given me salvation and "wrapped me with a coat of goodness." What an awesome image of God's love for us.

Holiday Hiatus

2010-01-06T15:25:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year (a week late)!

I don't know about you, but I'm always excited about beginning a new year! It's always fun to start fresh. This year was filled with so many blessings (including the birth of our first child and moving into a "new to us" home). I took a small blogging break over the holidays (with the exception of the Fluff Mom Mondays series) so that I could focus on my family during our first Christmas season as a family of three. Now that the holidays are over, I'm ready to get back into the blogging groove. I have several new and exciting reviews and giveaways scheduled to begin soon, so be sure to be on the lookout for those. I'm also excited to bring you a new series on Wednesdays, called "Word of God Wednesday" (an idea I borrowed, with permission, from Monkeys on the Bed). I'm not big on New Years resolutions, but one of my goals this year is to spend more time growing in a closer relationship to my Lord and Savior. In order to help hold myself accountable, I plan to use these W.o.G. posts to share any scriptures or insights I may have come across for that particular week. I pray that these posts also inspire you in your own walk.

As the new year starts, I'm also committing myself to continue making "greener" choices for myself and my family. With all of the toxins that we're exposed to on a daily basis, I want to make good decisions about foods and products that I bring into my home. I'm starting small, with mini goals such as using reusable shopping bags (I'm forever forgetting them in the car), setting up recycling bins in the home, and replacing "disposable" items with reusable ones (such as napkins and paper towels). I already buy organic when I can, but I'm also going to commit to utilizing the local farmer's market when it begins in the spring. I also hope to bring reviews and giveaways of great "green" products.

I'm excited by all that God has in store for us this year!

Fluff Mom Monday

2010-01-04T08:00:00.003-06:00

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

Hey! I'm Margaret, a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, babywearing, SAHMama to a little 5 month old AppleBlossom and married to a fabulous Enginerd. We have been using cloth diapers since we came home from the hospital at birth and then got out of the bilibed. You can find me over at my

Creative Madness that Makes me Myself where I share my latest quilting activity and reviews of books, baby products (including cloth diapers), and anything else that finds my fancy.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

My sister is a homeschooling, navy wife, SAHM to five and she cloth diapers and so when I was expecting my AppleBlossom it was not even a second thought that when I decided to CD.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

The first cloth diapers that I acquired was the infant sized Bummis Organic Cloth Diaper kit that includes Bummis Organic prefolds, a few covers, fleece liners, a wet bag, and flushable liners.

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

After the Bummis kit, I got some Kissluvs fitted diapers (and this combination still seems to be my favorite). Then I was onto BumGenius Organic OS AIOs because they were such a great sale in getting rid of the velcro ones over the snaps. And then... more and more. To this day, my stash consists of 6 tiny g's (prototype gDiapers), 6 small gDiapers in one each of got chocolate brown, golly molly pink, gEarth, grasshopper green, go fish blue, ga ga pink, and 2 orange, 2 vanilla, and 12 gLiners - we use these with the gInserts that we toss although I would love to try the gCloth some day. Then also I have: One Bambino Mio nappy and cover in newborn dots, small white and medium dots, a single Bamboo Baby AIO OS with velcro in sage, 2 Blossom Pink and 3 Twilight Blue bG AIO OS with velcro, two total Imse Vimse AIO with snaps in small and medium, a FuzziBunz pocket OS in butter yellow, 3 FuzziBunz pocket small in sage, pink, lavender. Then... 6 white small Bummis Super Snap covers borrowed from my sister, and in small a green super brite, a white super brite, a froggy pond Super Whisper Wrap, Celery SWW, two white SWW, Flower SWW in small and medium, and then just recently a Medium Super Stars in Yellow and Sage. In fitted diapers I have a Mother-Ease Sandy's side snap in small, a Kissa's organic NB size fitted, 6 natural colored size one (older) Kissaluvs and a new berry purple V2 (from ThanksMama.com). Lastly I also have a Kushies ultra AIO sized Infant. We are still using the small size on my itty bitty. Yet I have dreams of what I want to acquire for my medium stash consisting of more Kissaluvs in size one (as soon as the purse can afford it!) Bummis covers and we'll see what else seems to be my cup of tea.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

My favorite is the Kissaluvs fitted diapers with Bummis covers although I do like the Bummis prefolds as well. AppleBlossom is a heavy wetter and she seems to be the happiest in her Kissaluvs. We use them for naps and nighttime, nothing else would work during the night with her quantity. She is an interesting wetter and holds it and goes all at once in a large volume. This we assume will come in handy when we get to potty training. I do love the Bummis prefolds, they fit perfectly in the covers and they are ever so soft. I do plan on getting a good few for our medium stash as well. We've never had a problem with leakage of fluid or otherwise with either diapering format.

Tell us about your wash routine.

For washing, it's prewash cold with Charlie's Soap if they're really dirty, just water if not, then wash cold with CS, wash warm or hot depending on the load, and into the dryer twice. We've also started using OxyClean with Vinegar to work on ammonia buildup, but that's still an experiment in progress.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

As with my sister being in cloth diaper routines it was nothing new to my family. DH was all on board with both the idea of savings with cloth as well as avoiding the chemical exposures with sposies. Other individuals are give and take. One thing that we often get from various people are questions on where and how to get started, I'm always more than willing to let people know on how to start their cloth diaper addiction.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

I really have not come across any challenges in my effort of using cloth with my baby. It just makes more sense and works out that way. We're lucky.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering:

My best advice for someone new to cloth diapers is to try out a sample of various types of diapers before investing in a stash. No matter what you buy it will be money well spent and you'll still have savings over what you would have spent on sposies. But, if you get the ones you really want, you'll be so much happier in the long run than with some types that you only kinda like. For example a fabulous store Diaper Junction has a 30 day trial of all sorts of types available and I highly recommend it. I did not know about it in time to do it, but because of my sister's experience I had a pretty good idea as to what I would want.

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add:

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." - C.S. Lewis

Fluff Mom Monday

2009-12-28T08:00:00.005-06:00

This week I'm excited to introduce Autumn Beck. You may have heard of her awesome cloth diaper blog: All About Cloth Diapers. I know that her blog was a great resource for me back when I was pregnant and researching cloth diapers. Her blog is a wealth of knowledge, and she personally responds to each question she receives on her blog. She has four kids, and here is her cloth diaper story:

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

Hi! I'm Autumn Beck. My husband and I have been blessed with 4 children and are praying for as many as God blesses us with! We are a Christian homeschooling family. Haley is 7, Haven 5, Paisley 3, and Sterling 9 months. We love camping! One of the pictures is from Lost Maples State Park in mid-November. Sterling was not as excited as us with the hike. And yes, when we camp I take cloth diapers!

I began using cloth diapers in 2005 when my first son was 15 months old. From there I cloth diapered Paisley from birth, as well as our current cloth diapered baby Sterling.

Cloth diapering Haven was extremely easy. I had limited funds and a very limited stash. I did the best with what I had. Along came Paisley and I realized that every baby is different! After all the research I did and trial and error I realized I needed to start a blog to help other families cloth diaper their babies. In 2006 the only place I found cloth diaper information was Diaper Swappers. If you've been there you know finding an answer to a question is like finding a needle in a haystack.

In March 2008, I launched All About Cloth Diapers. I never (never!) imagined that it would be the success it is. I have been blessed with many friendships, advertisers, and of course cloth diapers. I feel that what sets me apart from other cloth diaper blogs is the pure educational content that I provide. All reviews are detailed and honest. It's also very important to me that I answer every question personally that I receive. The comments at the end of every post are as content rich as the post sometimes!

(To the right you will see a picture of Autumn's adorable son, Sterling. What a cutie!!)

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

My good friend had been using cloth diapers and kept telling me about them. I wasn't that interested and besides when I searched online I was so overwhelmed by the choices. When I changed Haven's diaper one day and saw gel crystals all over him I was convinced. I called up my friend and she told me exactly what to buy.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought? I bought a dozen prefolds and 6 proraps colors covers from granitesmith on ebay. I still recommend her store today!

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

I managed to survive the hunger/obsession/addiction that all cloth diaper moms experience. Now, with Sterling being my 3rd to cloth diaper I've found my favorites and I stick with it. We have 9 bum genius organics aio, 6 M Sbish bamboo fitteds (the Magic diaper), 2 day packs of Flips stay dry, lots of wool longies (knit, crochet, interlock and recycled), and then my random diapers: rumparooz, anne marie padorie aio, bottom bumpers and thirsties pocket aio, Marvel and a few Kissaluvs.

(Autumn's cloth diaper stash!)

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

That's an easy one: Bum Genius Organics AIO. I have tried dozens of different styles, brands, systems and Bum Genius Organics beats them all. They are the trimmest, most absorbent, best fitting cloth diaper and they're one-size--which I love. The only time I don't use them is on a newborn and at night. I have actually left a Bum Genius Organics on my son for many hours and not had a leak. They are my go-to cloth diaper if we will be in the car for a while or if I know other people will be holding Sterling (wouldn't want a leak on someone else!). Reliability isn't always easy to find in the cloth diapering world. Oh, and in case someone wonders about what body type Bum Genius Organics work best on I say all. Paisley wore them and she was a shorter baby with huge thighs and belly. Sterling is the opposite, he has stick legs and a tiny waist. The fit is perfect on both body types.

Tell us about your wash routine

Prewash cold w/ 3 big squirts of Bac-Out

Cold wash w/ Kirkland's Environmentally friendly detergent

2nd rinse- cold

Dry for 80 minutes on high heat.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?

Yep, I've not experienced a negative reaction yet.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

I am blessed to not be experiencing any problems at this time. However, I have had a child that was sensitive to suede cloth and serging. That was fairly easy to figure out. That same child also developed a nasty rash that was only remedied by using Apple Cider Vinegar.

Daily I receive emails or comments with questions about challenges. I answer these questions promptly and with as much information as I can find and provide in order to offer a solution to parents frustrated beyond belief.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Stick with your convictions. When it gets tough (which it will at some point) don't forget why you began cloth diapering. Your child's health doesn't become less important because you are having stink problems. The environment still needs help despite the leaking at night you are frustrated with. Your budget is still tight even when you go on vacation and don't want to take cloth diapers.

Of course on the flip side, don't beat yourself up if you choose to use disposable diapers for a brief time. Make sure that your husband is fine with it and then get back into cloth diapers as soon as you are able. When buying a disposable diaper choose the healthiest you can find. I have a pack of Flip disposable inserts in my closet just in case they're needed.

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

Romans 8: 28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Thanks, Autumn! Be sure to visit her cloth diaper blog: All About Cloth Diapers!