What a circus! Rex met all sorts of new family and really got himself overwhelmed over the course of two days. Plus, of all times of the year, my baby boy got his FIRST TOOTH on Christmas Eve! And of course the second followed quickly. He pulled in a TON of loot from family and friends. Lots of toys, clothes and goodies! He really is a lucky boy to have so many people who love him so much! Overall it was a lot of celebrating and I think we've decided that next year we're going to try to cut back on some of the festivities and have a little bit quieter Christmas.
In the midst of all the crazy Christmas celebrations, we realized we needed to help Rex with getting to sleep. We really didn't know where to start so I went to the library and went crazy getting books. I got everything from the sternest Cry It Out (CIO) to the gentlest co-sleeping no cry methods. I was really just lost and looking for some sort of direction. Rex's sleeping habits are terrible and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. So this week we are starting to implement some training.
We've decided to go with a gentle CIO approach to helping Rex learn how to sleep better and by himself. The first rule we've learned in our research that ALL of the "experts" agree on is to create a routine. Some experts recommend a long routine that helps baby wind down slowly and get into the mood of sleeping and others say that as long as it's the same, it doesn't matter how long it takes. Our approach is somewhere in the middle! For bedtime we plan on a bath with calming baby bath in it, put on Jammies and then eat. Then we'll rock him and sing or read until he's sleepy and before he's completely asleep we'll put him in his Pack and Play in our room to fall asleep.
Our hope is that if he falls asleep by himself, he'll not be as afraid when he wakes up by himself and will be able to go back to sleep more easily without our coming to his rescue. Now, if Rex starts crying when we put him down in his PNP we will let him cry for 5 minute intervals until he falls asleep, or one hour. If he has cried for one hour with our 5 minute checks and hasn't gone to sleep, we'll pick him up and check to make sure he's comfortable and full and not hurting (those teeth get the best of him sometimes) and then rock him and cuddle him to make sure he feels okay. Then when he starts to get sleepy again, we'll put him back in his PNP to try the process again. We don't want to deal with the extra cuddling, but who knows what Rex will do when we start this? Ideally, this will only take a few days to really let him know that it's bed time and he'll start to get in the groove and it will get really easy to put him to bed.
The next issue we're dealing with is his naps. Sometimes he will nap just fine several times throughout the day, and those days are like heaven. Other days he will refuse to nap altogether! Then there are days where he'll take an hour long nap in the morning and then won't nap for the rest of the day without sleeping in my arms. We are hoping to train him to sleep regularly during the day as well as during the night. So I'm going to start making sure we wake up by 9 every morning. I'll let Rex eat and we'll hang out for a while and then I'll take him upstairs and rock him for a few minutes then put him down for a nap by 11. Hopefully that will start a positive chain reaction! I'm still doing research and trying to figure out a good schedule for him during the day. I'm going to try to be very watchful and make sure I pay attention to his cues to see when he's really sleepy and ready to go down. Hopefully within a week or so I'll be able figure out the best timing to put him down for naps and we'll have a real routine going for us.
Wish us luck as we start to train Rex to sleep by himself and for long enough to keep himself resting.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Coming up to Rex's first Christmas
So, as we approach Rex's first Christmas I realize I've been VERY busy! LOL. Rex has been growing so fast and is so big. He's 17 pounds and 26 inches long and 4 months old. He wears 6-9 month clothes comfortably! He's learned so many things. He loves to grab things and put them in his mouth, he loves to play with his toys and he really enjoys being in his exersaucer!
Cloth diapering has been going so well! We really do love it. We made a bunch of cloth wipes and we really love using them. They are terry on one side and flannel on the other. They clean up so much more than the disposable ones. Rex has outgrown all of his original covers so we only have 3 that fit him perfectly. We can use the larges we have, they are just a little baggy, but he's growing so fast it seems pointless to buy more just to have him outgrow them in a month or less!! Now that the sun is pretty much gone all the time though the diapers all seem dingy. I'm going to have to find ways to sun them without putting them outside. Because it's simply too cold for that!
The Holidays that Rex has had so far have been great. Halloween he was a cloud. He was absolutely adorable! Thanksgiving he wore a cute outfit that Gam Gams got him. He had a big ole turkey on his butt! He's got a couple of Christmas outfits too. One has a reindeer on the butt!!! The other makes him look like a little elf! I am so excited to continue on this journey of learning and teaching! It's been so rewarding and exhausting already and I can't believe how fast it goes!
Cloth diapering has been going so well! We really do love it. We made a bunch of cloth wipes and we really love using them. They are terry on one side and flannel on the other. They clean up so much more than the disposable ones. Rex has outgrown all of his original covers so we only have 3 that fit him perfectly. We can use the larges we have, they are just a little baggy, but he's growing so fast it seems pointless to buy more just to have him outgrow them in a month or less!! Now that the sun is pretty much gone all the time though the diapers all seem dingy. I'm going to have to find ways to sun them without putting them outside. Because it's simply too cold for that!
The Holidays that Rex has had so far have been great. Halloween he was a cloud. He was absolutely adorable! Thanksgiving he wore a cute outfit that Gam Gams got him. He had a big ole turkey on his butt! He's got a couple of Christmas outfits too. One has a reindeer on the butt!!! The other makes him look like a little elf! I am so excited to continue on this journey of learning and teaching! It's been so rewarding and exhausting already and I can't believe how fast it goes!
Friday, December 10, 2010
final2
Family Snowfall Red Christmas
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Monday, November 29, 2010
Christmas Card 2010
Classic Lime 5x7 folded card
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Breastfeeding my baby!
This has been a fun ride so far! Rex was able to breastfeed really well right after delivery. He latched on well and sucked for several minutes! Then he slept. and slept, and slept and slept! After that he had some trouble latching on well. He really did a number on my nipples. He had developed some kind of bad habit while sucking on his hands and fingers in the womb that he was carrying over to my breast on the outside. It took him quite a while to really get the hang of it, but before we got out of the hospital he had stopped whatever it was he had been doing.
Now, my nipples are almost completely healed and once he's latched on he's a GREAT eater. The only trouble now is that he is having some issues with getting frustrated really quickly when he's hungry and not being able to latch on because he's wiggling around so much and crying. It's almost as if I have to wake him up just before he wakes himself up and start feeding him to avoid him getting hysterical.
He is going a little long between feeding at times. Getting upwards of 4-5 hours between, but when he is asleep there is almost nothing you can do to wake him up. And the things you can do to wake him up make him so angry that he won't latch on, then as soon as he calms down a bit, he's sound asleep again! He's getting better at eating more frequently now that my milk has come in, but I'm still keeping my eye on the clock between feedings and getting worried when he's been sleeping for a while!
He is taking a pacifier because my nipples couldn't handle the sucking just for comfort in the beginning. Also, when he just wants to suck for comfort and I try to put him to the breast, he gets angry when milk starts coming out! It hasn't been affecting how he latches on, so I don't have any concerns about starting him on it so early. If he hadn't torn up my nipples so badly in the beginning I may have waited several weeks to ensure that Rex didn't have any trouble, but things are turning out okay so far!
In the next couple of weeks I will start to pump my breastmilk to encourage a healthy supply and to have a small store of milk for Andy to feed Rex at night and let me sleep sometimes!
Now, my nipples are almost completely healed and once he's latched on he's a GREAT eater. The only trouble now is that he is having some issues with getting frustrated really quickly when he's hungry and not being able to latch on because he's wiggling around so much and crying. It's almost as if I have to wake him up just before he wakes himself up and start feeding him to avoid him getting hysterical.
He is going a little long between feeding at times. Getting upwards of 4-5 hours between, but when he is asleep there is almost nothing you can do to wake him up. And the things you can do to wake him up make him so angry that he won't latch on, then as soon as he calms down a bit, he's sound asleep again! He's getting better at eating more frequently now that my milk has come in, but I'm still keeping my eye on the clock between feedings and getting worried when he's been sleeping for a while!
He is taking a pacifier because my nipples couldn't handle the sucking just for comfort in the beginning. Also, when he just wants to suck for comfort and I try to put him to the breast, he gets angry when milk starts coming out! It hasn't been affecting how he latches on, so I don't have any concerns about starting him on it so early. If he hadn't torn up my nipples so badly in the beginning I may have waited several weeks to ensure that Rex didn't have any trouble, but things are turning out okay so far!
In the next couple of weeks I will start to pump my breastmilk to encourage a healthy supply and to have a small store of milk for Andy to feed Rex at night and let me sleep sometimes!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
My Home-made laundry detergent!
I was doing research online about what kind of detergent I should use with cloth diapers. All the options available for purchase were really expensive and seemed like they weren't all that special. So I started hunting for a cloth diaper friendly recipe for a home-made detergent. I found several online and combined the concepts and mixed up a batch to try.
I decided it would be easier for me to use a powder detergent instead of a liquid one, mostly because that way I wouldn't have to find/save a jug to use. With the powder I was able to stick it in a plastic storage container and not worry about melting things together and adding lots of water to make it pour well.
My recipe is:
1 1/2 Cups Borax
1 Cup Baking soda
1 Cup washing soda
1 Cup (1 bar) ivory bar soap.
You grate the soap finely and then mix all the ingredients together. I don't measure how much I use for each load, I just sprinkle some in, but I know it doesn't take much. It rinsed out of my first load of diapers very well. I've got the second load washing right now, so I'm assuming it will do as well as the first load did.
All of the ingredients were available at my local grocery store in the laundry aisle and the baking aisle (the baking soda). I spent about 10 dollars for all of my items. I purchased big boxes of everything so I can make several batches of the detergent without having to go shopping in between. I figure that's a much better deal than 30 dollars for a detergent that really doesn't have a whole lot more ingredients and will do fewer loads of laundry!
I decided it would be easier for me to use a powder detergent instead of a liquid one, mostly because that way I wouldn't have to find/save a jug to use. With the powder I was able to stick it in a plastic storage container and not worry about melting things together and adding lots of water to make it pour well.
My recipe is:
1 1/2 Cups Borax
1 Cup Baking soda
1 Cup washing soda
1 Cup (1 bar) ivory bar soap.
You grate the soap finely and then mix all the ingredients together. I don't measure how much I use for each load, I just sprinkle some in, but I know it doesn't take much. It rinsed out of my first load of diapers very well. I've got the second load washing right now, so I'm assuming it will do as well as the first load did.
All of the ingredients were available at my local grocery store in the laundry aisle and the baking aisle (the baking soda). I spent about 10 dollars for all of my items. I purchased big boxes of everything so I can make several batches of the detergent without having to go shopping in between. I figure that's a much better deal than 30 dollars for a detergent that really doesn't have a whole lot more ingredients and will do fewer loads of laundry!
Washing my second load of diapers!
So we are officially using cloth diapers on our son! Rex seems to like them well enough and they are really easy!
We took the first couple of days and used the 'sposies that the hospital gave us, and a few out of a pack that our family gave us. We wanted to make sure that Rex's circumcision wasn't bleeding anymore and that he was pretty much done with the meconium before we started putting him in cloth.
Andy and I are both really impressed with the way they are working for us. Since this is our first child, we really didn't have any other expectations and so we're only judging based on using the disposables for a couple of days, but the cloth is just as easy! We are using disposable wipes right now, because we've been given quite a few of them, so we have the extra hassle of having the cloth diaper pail and a trash bag for the wipes, but once we run out of the throw-away wipes, we'll start using cloth wipes and not have that extra step.
We haven't really had Rex out of the house for long enough to have to deal with a diaper change, but a wet bag in the diaper bag is ready and waiting for a dirty diaper and I'm confident that there won't be any hassle for regular trips out of the house while using cloth diapers.
As for washing my diapers, I'm using a home-made laundry detergent (I'll have a seperate post about that) and washing once on hot and rinsing cold (as a reminder, I'd use a hot rinse, but my washer doesn't have that option) with the detergent, then doing another cycle without detergent, then either line drying or machine drying depending on when the load is getting done. I've washed one load and those are working great on Rex right now, so I don't think I'm going to modify anything unless I notice issues later on. Also, I'm exclusively breastfeeding, so I'm not doing anything special with poopy diapers. They go right into the pail like a pee diaper and get washed the same, since the poop from breastmilk is water soluble. Once we start feeding him solid foods (In months and months) we'll set something up in the bathroom to rinse the poop off into the toilet, then put the dipes in the pail.
If you haven't ever considered using cloth diapers, or you're on the fence, feel free to ask some questions. I don't have all the answers, because I'm learning as I go, but if I don't know an answer I'll try to find a resource that will have the answer, because it's information that I'll probably need as well!
We took the first couple of days and used the 'sposies that the hospital gave us, and a few out of a pack that our family gave us. We wanted to make sure that Rex's circumcision wasn't bleeding anymore and that he was pretty much done with the meconium before we started putting him in cloth.
Andy and I are both really impressed with the way they are working for us. Since this is our first child, we really didn't have any other expectations and so we're only judging based on using the disposables for a couple of days, but the cloth is just as easy! We are using disposable wipes right now, because we've been given quite a few of them, so we have the extra hassle of having the cloth diaper pail and a trash bag for the wipes, but once we run out of the throw-away wipes, we'll start using cloth wipes and not have that extra step.
We haven't really had Rex out of the house for long enough to have to deal with a diaper change, but a wet bag in the diaper bag is ready and waiting for a dirty diaper and I'm confident that there won't be any hassle for regular trips out of the house while using cloth diapers.
As for washing my diapers, I'm using a home-made laundry detergent (I'll have a seperate post about that) and washing once on hot and rinsing cold (as a reminder, I'd use a hot rinse, but my washer doesn't have that option) with the detergent, then doing another cycle without detergent, then either line drying or machine drying depending on when the load is getting done. I've washed one load and those are working great on Rex right now, so I don't think I'm going to modify anything unless I notice issues later on. Also, I'm exclusively breastfeeding, so I'm not doing anything special with poopy diapers. They go right into the pail like a pee diaper and get washed the same, since the poop from breastmilk is water soluble. Once we start feeding him solid foods (In months and months) we'll set something up in the bathroom to rinse the poop off into the toilet, then put the dipes in the pail.
If you haven't ever considered using cloth diapers, or you're on the fence, feel free to ask some questions. I don't have all the answers, because I'm learning as I go, but if I don't know an answer I'll try to find a resource that will have the answer, because it's information that I'll probably need as well!
My Birth Story!
My birth story kinda starts on Wednesday, August 11. I thought I had a high rupture of my membranes and had leaking amniotic fluid. I decided to go to the hospital that night around 10 PM and get the fluid checked out. My husband and I were there for two hours and after testing the fluid the doctors concluded that I had NOT ruptured my membranes. When we finally got home and in bed it was about 1 in the morning on Thursday, August 12.
On Thursday I was so tired that when I finally woke up I went to the bathroom and then went straight back to bed. As I turned over a little I noticed a little trickle of dampness that I thought was just a little bit of urine that leaked, so I turned more to grab some tissue off my nightstand. As I grabbed the tissue I had a huge gush of fluid. That time I KNEW that my water had broken!
Of course, I called everyone and went straight to the hospital. I drove myself to the hospital (Andy had gone to work with his dad so his dad drove him to the hospital, since it was almost directly in the middle of our house and the job DH was working on) and I got to triage at about 12. I sat around triage for a couple of hours just waiting for a room to be cleaned and opened up and for everything to get settled. I didn’t actually start having noticeable contractions (IE early labor) until 5 PM, but once that hit, things really went pretty quickly. When contractions started hurting I got into a Jacuzzi tub to relax. That helped for about 5 contractions (which were steady at 2-3 minutes apart and getting stronger) then I felt like it wasn’t helping and I was done hurting so I got some Nubain and relaxed again for a few minutes. When I got the nubain I was 5 CM dilated. By the time I was allowed to get more drugs (the epidural I was craving!!) I had progressed to 8-9 cm dilated! Not much longer after that I was dilated to 10 with a small amount of cervix left. My nurse told me to call her when I felt like I really needed to push, so I followed her instructions and at about 2:00 AM I had to push. I pushed for an hour and a half and Rex Arthur was born at 3:25 AM on Friday the 13th! Overall my real labor was about 10 ½ hours long from when I first started feeling contractions to the time Rex was born.
He was 8 pounds 6.3 ounces and 20 inches long. He was a big boy, and I have a sustained a tad bit of damage because of it, but it was so worth it. He is the sweetest little thing a person could ask for
On Thursday I was so tired that when I finally woke up I went to the bathroom and then went straight back to bed. As I turned over a little I noticed a little trickle of dampness that I thought was just a little bit of urine that leaked, so I turned more to grab some tissue off my nightstand. As I grabbed the tissue I had a huge gush of fluid. That time I KNEW that my water had broken!
Of course, I called everyone and went straight to the hospital. I drove myself to the hospital (Andy had gone to work with his dad so his dad drove him to the hospital, since it was almost directly in the middle of our house and the job DH was working on) and I got to triage at about 12. I sat around triage for a couple of hours just waiting for a room to be cleaned and opened up and for everything to get settled. I didn’t actually start having noticeable contractions (IE early labor) until 5 PM, but once that hit, things really went pretty quickly. When contractions started hurting I got into a Jacuzzi tub to relax. That helped for about 5 contractions (which were steady at 2-3 minutes apart and getting stronger) then I felt like it wasn’t helping and I was done hurting so I got some Nubain and relaxed again for a few minutes. When I got the nubain I was 5 CM dilated. By the time I was allowed to get more drugs (the epidural I was craving!!) I had progressed to 8-9 cm dilated! Not much longer after that I was dilated to 10 with a small amount of cervix left. My nurse told me to call her when I felt like I really needed to push, so I followed her instructions and at about 2:00 AM I had to push. I pushed for an hour and a half and Rex Arthur was born at 3:25 AM on Friday the 13th! Overall my real labor was about 10 ½ hours long from when I first started feeling contractions to the time Rex was born.
He was 8 pounds 6.3 ounces and 20 inches long. He was a big boy, and I have a sustained a tad bit of damage because of it, but it was so worth it. He is the sweetest little thing a person could ask for
My first adventure with new cloth diapers!
Well, we decided months and months ago that we would be using cloth diapers exclusively for our son. It's cheaper, safer, more economically friendly, and the right choice for us. Earlier in my pregnancy my mother in law kindly purchased the beginnings of a VERY good stash of gently used pre-folds and covers as well as a few pocket diapers and all-in-ones. I did need more prefolds and covers, so recently I went online and found a great deal on some 100% cotton Chinese Prefolds. They are brand new and even though I'm a novice in the world of cloth diapers I knew I needed to "prep" them to remove oils and to make them fluffy and absorbant.
I didn't really know what to expect when I was prepping them, so I turned to my old friend "google" and did a little research. There were a ton of different techniques and articles and tidbits of advice so I just compiled them in my head and decided to create my own system!
I prepped my diapers by washing them on HOT with a cold rinse (My washer won't do a hot rinse, but if it did, I would've chosen that) once with Purex Baby. Then I put them on the clothes line to dry. That took all day, so I was only able to get that first cycle done the first day. The second day I washed again, only this time without any detergent. I dried in the dryer. I repeated that hot wash, cold rinse, machine dry for a total of 5 washes including the detergent cycle. In the end they were fluffy, absorbent and soft. That's the whole point of prepping, so I called it good. Tune in again to see how my birth went and how our first adventures with USING cloth diapers has turned out!
I didn't really know what to expect when I was prepping them, so I turned to my old friend "google" and did a little research. There were a ton of different techniques and articles and tidbits of advice so I just compiled them in my head and decided to create my own system!
I prepped my diapers by washing them on HOT with a cold rinse (My washer won't do a hot rinse, but if it did, I would've chosen that) once with Purex Baby. Then I put them on the clothes line to dry. That took all day, so I was only able to get that first cycle done the first day. The second day I washed again, only this time without any detergent. I dried in the dryer. I repeated that hot wash, cold rinse, machine dry for a total of 5 washes including the detergent cycle. In the end they were fluffy, absorbent and soft. That's the whole point of prepping, so I called it good. Tune in again to see how my birth went and how our first adventures with USING cloth diapers has turned out!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Raising Rex!
I'm Heather. I'm married to Andy. I'm 38 weeks pregnant with our first son, Rex Arthur.
We will be exclusively cloth diapering our son. It will be a learning experience. I'm on my own in learning how to best keep my baby clean and dry. I'm going to chronicle the humorous, successful, and the disastrous attempts to teach myself how to cloth diaper.
I'm also going to be exclusively breastfeeding for as long as possible. When we start feeding Rex solid food, it will be food made fresh by me in my kitchen. I will share my experiments with recipes and ways of preparing fruits and veggies to be pureed. This will also be a learning experiment, but I have a lot more experience with food than with poop!
Andy finally put our new clothes line up, so I'm going through the process of prepping new diapers, washing clothes, and setting up our nursery. It's a good thing I have some nesting energy to spare. Welcome to this journey with our family. We'll laugh and cry and learn and we'll raise Rex!
We will be exclusively cloth diapering our son. It will be a learning experience. I'm on my own in learning how to best keep my baby clean and dry. I'm going to chronicle the humorous, successful, and the disastrous attempts to teach myself how to cloth diaper.
I'm also going to be exclusively breastfeeding for as long as possible. When we start feeding Rex solid food, it will be food made fresh by me in my kitchen. I will share my experiments with recipes and ways of preparing fruits and veggies to be pureed. This will also be a learning experiment, but I have a lot more experience with food than with poop!
Andy finally put our new clothes line up, so I'm going through the process of prepping new diapers, washing clothes, and setting up our nursery. It's a good thing I have some nesting energy to spare. Welcome to this journey with our family. We'll laugh and cry and learn and we'll raise Rex!
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