I explained how we were doing our diapers a couple of months ago, but since I’ve had some time on my hands and plenty of room to spread out a project, I’ve amended things little. I’ve used scrap fabric and about a dollar’s worth of elastic to make about 20 fitted diapers. So, for about 5 cents each, I’ve made what we could have bought for about $14 each on Amazon, plus the new diapers are much prettier, easier to use, and don’t leak poo as readily! I tweaked my pattern several times for ease of sewing and ease of wearing, so if anyone would like my pattern, let me know and I’ll be happy to make you one!
Success!
I harvested the first of our garden’s bounty last night, a radish! It was a little on the hot side for my tastes, but Andy said it was good, so I guess that’s good!
On another note, the green beans (and sometimes the laundry that’s been hung on the line) are covered with these bugs.
What are they and what do I do about them?
Unsolicited Parenting Advice, Part 3
Don’t ask your mom how long it was before she stopped losing so much hair. She might (of course, this is only hypothetical) say to you, “How old are you again? 27? That’s how long.”
Unsolicited Parenting Advice, Part 2
Making homemade hamburger buns while your 3 month old (however cute she may be) naps just might be too ambitious an endeavor.
Progress and a Belated Thank You
First, a picture of our now in progress garden:
As soon as the weather warms up a little, some plants will go in, but it’s looking like that could be at least the weekend. A huge part of that was done by Andy’s dad on Saturday afternoon, so THANKS Jim!!
Second, we received an awesome baby gift awhile before we moved from the Nicholsons and I know they read this occasionally, so thanks Don and Kathy!
Since Meg’s a girl, I know I won’t have any problems convincing Eagle Scout Andy that she should be a 4-Her (not that there’s really any comparison!)!
Unsolicited Parenting Advice, Part 1
There are a few things we’ve learned in Meg’s short 2 months and since no one really likes to hear other people’s opinions about raising their child unless specifically asked, I’m just going to put it out in internet-land in case you do want to know.
When Googling a problem or an ailment (like my recent “well water breastfeeding runny poop”) ALWAYS click on the link to the forums for other people’s experiences. Read the posts, then do the exact opposite of what they say. Those people are idiots! Hilarious, but idiots.
Cloth Diapering
This is yet another baby-related post. Since we’ve both pretty much been home for the past 3 weeks, we don’t have much else going on, but I’ve been listening to a lot of NPR while breastfeeding, so there will most likely be some other commentary coming soon! Also, I’m determined to see Hot Tub Time Machine sometime soon, so Andy will review that when we get around to giving Meg up to one of my sisters for a couple of hours!
We decided to use cloth diapers early on in pregnancy, mostly because we’re cheap and disposable diapers are super expensive, but the “green” aspect is also nice. I perused Amazon for reviews of different types of diapers and diapering systems and ordered a few sample packs of different types, including a couple of All-In-Ones and different types of covers and inserts. In the end, we decided to go mostly with prefold diaper inserts and Thirsty Duo covers, both for price and ease of use. We’ve had lots of questions about how cloth diapering is going (several people doubted we would actually stick with it, but we haven’t used a disposable since the hospital!), so here’s what we’re doing:
The whole process needs a prefold diaper, a cover, and a Snappi.
The prefold gets folded into thirds, which we do when we take them out of the laundry. Then the top part is sort of unfolded a little and goes around Meg’s back and the rubber Snappi is used to keep the diaper together the way pins used to be used.
Not my best job, but when you’re dealing with a squirmy baby, sometimes you have to take the best you can get.
Finish by covering the prefold with a cover!
So far, we’ve only had a couple of “blow outs” and are washing diapers about every 3 days. We put in a “doubler” liner at night when Meg sleeps longer and we don’t want to wake her up to change her to help prevent leaks. I think I might be able to make some more of those myself, just like the wipes I made. Otherwise, we won’t have to buy anything else until Meg weighs 18 pounds, so we should be set for awhile. I ended up finishing the rest of our supply of diapers and covers at Cotton Babies in South County and have been really pleased with their helpfulness and willingness to only sell you what you want and not a bunch of other stuff! Also, it seems that their in-store prices are quite a bit lower than their website (the Thirsty Duos are $12.75 in the store!), so unless I find a better source in Iowa, we might have to make a run back to St. Louis to restock when Meg is bigger!
Another Lesson On Taking Things As They Come
My plan for pregnancy and labor was to treat the whole thing as a natural process, not as treatment for an illness. So, I was adamant that I didn’t want to be induced, didn’t want an epidural, didn’t want to spend very much time in the hospital, and so on. Then, Meg passed her due date by 10 days, my blood pressure shot up, and I started having regular contractions that weren’t productive, throwing all of my plans out the window. We went in to my doctor’s office last Thursday for another fetal nonstress test and amniotic fluid check, which looked fine, but my doctor was not all that excited about letting me go any further without at least having an induction time and date scheduled. So, he called the hospital and they were ready to get me started right then and there and we were quite anxious to get the show on the road, so across the street to St. Mary’s hospital we went!
We got checked in and set up with Pitocin around 1:30 pm on Thursday, at which point the regular, but not painful, contractions I was having became very painful and very regular, so away went the plan for no epidural. However, even though I was having regular contractions, they apparently weren’t really doing much to move things along, so I had to wait until after midnight to receive the epidural, then things sped up quite nicely. I started working on pushing about 4:30am Friday, then Meg was born at 8:57am, after the doctor threatened to get the forceps out if I couldn’t push her out in 10 more minutes.
There are many more gory details to be had, but I’ll save those for anyone who wants to know! I think I’ll choose to remember things as above for now!
All in all, I wouldn’t change a thing, even though pretty much every plan I had was changed. Meg is here and healthy, I feel pretty good, and now we can get back to other things “as planned!”
Thank you, Trader Joe’s lady
Friday night we took our “it’s Mardi Gras and we only have one car to use” trip to Trader Joe’s together and as we were checking out, the very friendly employee gave us this gem about the pig and the chicken:
“Sure, the chicken contributed to breakfast, but the pig really committed.”
Now, everyone go find a way to use this one in conversation this week!
Chocolate Cheesecake
Earlier this week when I was looking for something to make, I remembered this really easy recipe from an old Arch UMC cookbook, but I couldn’t find it. After a frantic search of my recipe box, I finally located it and promptly made it! So, just in case I ever lose the recipe again, I’m putting it here for your enjoyment and posterity’s sake.
Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
16 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Process:
Separate 1 cup of the cake mix and set aside. To the remaining mix, add 1 egg and oil. Mix well and press into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. In a mixing bowl (an electric mixer really does best for this one), cream sugar and cream cheese. Mix in 3 eggs, then add milk and the 1 cup of cake mix. Pour over mixture in pan and bake in a 300 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate to serve cold with Cool Whip (real whipped cream would be a waste for this one).