Monday, September 28, 2009

A newborn is without her mom.

I used to belong to local boards on thenest.com. I stopped posting a long time ago but it took me a long time to stop lurking. Because when I start caring about people, it's hard for me to stop. I finally forced myself away and that's been that.

Until today.

This weekend, one of the ladies became brain dead after suffering an amniotic fluid embolism and disseminated intravascular coagulation while delivering her beautiful, full-term, and healthy baby girl. Yesterday, she was taken off of life support.

I'm in shock about this. I wasn't close to her at all, but she was a beautiful, kind, good-natured, and loving woman. She deserved to become a mom so much, and I was so happy that she was going to get her happily-ever-after.

I'm going to link to other people's blogs and posts about this. They've set up a paypal account to accept donations. There's some talk of collecting donated breastmilk for Gaby if you're local to Southern California. They're also having an Inland Empire yard sale to raise some money, and Matt Logelin of the Liz Logelin Foundation is also offering support and advice.

http://elmwoodcourt.blogspot.com/2009/09/for-gabby.html
http://dishbaby.blogspot.com/2009/09/jewelyn.html

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Life is crazy.

Lukas is crawling and cruising everywhere. 8 months old and has 8 teeth. Solids still aren't a huge hit but he's slowly getting there. Loves the boob so much.

He helps me with dishes, laundry, and sweeping! He also helps feed the dogs/cats and thought playing in the water dish the other day was great fun!

We took Lukas to the LA County fair recently, and he had so much fun. He loved watching everything, but especially liked it when we let him practice-walk and when it got dark so he could see all the lights! I can't wait until next year when he's old enough to enjoy it a little bit more! :) Unfortunately, I decided to carry the kidlet all day so my shoulders/neck are pretty sore. Still, it was awesome.





Oh, and my husband wants a divorce.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Solids

We started offering Lukas solids a month ago.

I believe in delaying solids until six months at least. We chose to start a little earlier based on how long Lukas had been meeting other developmental milestones that indicate a readiness for solids, and because he was a late baby - born two and a half weeks past his due date!

Lukas is more into solids now than a month ago, but I don't offer every meal - or even every day. And when he eats, it's less than a teaspoon combined. It's fine- solids are for fun and to experience tastes and textures. His nutrition comes from nursing, and the majority of it needs to continue to come from nursing until he hits a year.

So far, Lukas likes: cucumber, sweet potato, white potato, waffles, french toast sticks, homemade bread sticks, pasta, broccoli, chicken, apples, avocado, and carrots.

He does not like: bananas, watermelon, peaches, and white apricots.

We learned that plates and bowls are toys and not meant to hold food. We also learned that not all babies make a huge mess with food. Sure, there's some food smeared on the table and his chest when he's done - but it's not a gigantic mess by any means.







And if you can't tell, we're not offering jarred baby food, nor am I making homemade purees. Lukas is eating finger food. So if we're eating food that's appropriate for him, he gets to eat some, too. Sometimes I put the food I'm okay with him eating to one side of my plate and let him take his own food; sometimes I hand him something to try; and sometimes I put food down on his high chair or the table for him.

Monday, June 1, 2009

It's official. I'm a boobnazi.

I now believe so strongly in natural and attached parenting. I have become an advocate for natural family planning, natural birth, breastfeeding, cosleeping, baby wearing, not circ'ing, etc.

And honestly, I believe that at least half the people who "couldn't" breastfeed, really could have if they'd sought out or accepted support and been willing to stick with it even when it was hard. And I was there. I wanted to quit so badly at three weeks because it hurt. I screamed every time I nursed my newborn. I was a hormonal mess. I promised to give it another three weeks before I considered quitting, because I knew I didn't want to. And by six weeks? It was easy. It wasn't painful anymore. It wasn't awkward. It was normal and right.

I think that being able to provide the best possible nutrition to your newborn is your responsibility as a mom. There are so many resources available to help new nursing moms develop a positive breastfeeding relationship. There's an endless amount of support and help available on the internet, and there's your local La Leche League plus lactation consultants or the hospital you birthed at. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of bad advice out there - but if you're committed to it, you can do it.

I don't think people who didn't breastfeed are bad moms, but I don't understand justifying why you didn't breastfeed if you're so pro-formula.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Happy Cheeks.

One of my absolute favorite one-size pocket diapers is made by Happy Cheeks.

I love this diaper. I reach for it first after washing the diapers. It's trim. It's well-made. It launders beautifully. I've never had a leak. I typically stuff it with a couple of thin hemp inserts and that does the trick for us and my heavy wetter.

The only two "cons" about this diaper are:

1. It says it's one size, but I don't think it would come anywhere close to fitting a thirty pound kid. I'll have to reevaluate this when/if L outgrows it, but it seems to be more like a "medium" than a small or a large.

2. The maker has decided to take a permanent internet/diaper making break. So you won't find this diaper for sale new anywhere. If you're interested, look for it in good or excellent used condition and go ahead and pick it up if you get the chance.

I paid $12 PPD for this diaper.

DSC01168

Lukas is three and a half months old and about sixteen pounds in this photo.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Prefolds, Snappis, and Covers.

So we found the prefold love. I don't know why I didn't start with prefolds. They are easier than you're led to believe. Snappis are easy to use. Covers can be re-used several times before washing. They're cheap. It's wonderful. They wash easily.

DSC01275

The only problem with prefolds is that moisture doesn't wick away from baby's skin. I'm told this is easily remedied by laying a scrap of fleece in-between the diaper and the skin.

Monkey Butt Soap Bits

I was the lucky winner of a sample package of Monkey Butt Soap Bits in a raffle on a journaling website I belong to. I'd been trying to navigate the world of cloth wipes and solutions at the time, and as luck would have it - I got to try this for free. (Well, almost. I paid shipping.)

First, these smell so good.

It took us a while to try these out. I have 13 yards of bamboo fleece to turn into wipes, among other things, and I haven't made a single thing. I finally gave up because using disposable wipes with cloth diapers doesn't work. I threw a dozen baby wash cloths into the wipes warmer and poured some solution over them.

My son's sensitive bum doesn't react to this solution. It does a good job and doesn't leave him feeling sticky (like throw-a-way wipes do). I'm happy that it's a natural product.

I would buy these in a heartbeat, and I plan to when I run out. :)

Monday, April 27, 2009

Prefold Love?

Problem: Lukas wears Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive diapers in size 2. He is quickly outgrowing them. We have tried half a dozen different diapers in size 3 and he either reacts to them or we absolutely hate them.

Solution: I need to cloth diaper 100% of the time. Nobody else is truly supportive of this, especially my husband, so it means I will now be responsible for every diaper change. No more getting my husband to change one a day.

I have enough OS fitteds and OS pockets to do it but I'm annoyed with snaps and annoyed with the bumgenius diapers. So I'm going to try prefolds and covers. I skipped that idea entirely because I knew the husband would never help if we did that. Since he won't help, period, I can now explore it.

I love fitteds. I love goodmama's. I can't afford fitteds. The goal is to eventually make my own, but it'll take a couple months to gather supplies, etc.

So for now? Prefolds.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Co-Sleeping

I never intended to co-sleep. We have several large dogs, lots of cats, etc. It just wasn't going to work.

But it's not natural to place your newborn babe in a separate bed. His whole life before birth was spent inside your womb. He was never alone, you were his constant companion. He listened to your voice, the beat of your heart.. From the moment he was born, he could recognize you as his mom. Why would you doom him to spend his first nights outside your womb, away from you?

Lukas taught us right away that sleeping alone wasn't going to cut it. We humored him, wondering if our dogs could share their bed. Our (poorly trained) dogs were able to give Lukas and us our space, and sleep off the bed. For a few nights, anyway. Then they started sneaking back into bed and sleeping at our feet after we'd passed out, exhausted as only a new parent can be.

Three months later, our living arrangements are kind of odd so the dogs aren't sleeping with us at all, but Lukas is still at my side.

And when people ask us if we get any sleep? We smile and give all the credit to co-sleeping. My husband is never woken up by the baby, and Lukas never even wakes up fully to eat.

Does co-sleeping spoil Lukas? No. You can't spoil a baby. We're instilling trust into our child. He's learning to feel safe, secure, and confident in his life. These are skills he'll need as he grows up and begins to socialize. They'll help him on his journey throughout life.

In the end, it's what works best for us. He's happy, and we're happy.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Why?

I'm trying to find my niche in blogging. I rant and ramble a lot but I need a stronger focus. I'm crossing my fingers this will work.

Why am I "a little bit crunchy"?

Becoming a mom changed my life.

I chased a VBAC. In the end, I did not get my "oops the baby came too fast" unassisted birth I contemplated, nor did I get an all-natural hospital birth. But there's always a HBA2C down the road for me.

I breastfeed my newborn. I co-sleep. I hold him when he wants to be held. I wear him in a sling or a wrap when we're out. I cloth diaper.

Well, I cloth diaper sometimes. I'm working on that one still. We're only three and a half months into it, so I have time.

I'm learning more about organic foods and textiles, and discovering our carbon footprints.

This is my journey. For myself, for my son, for the world.