I would like to take this time to thank all the moms out there who responded to my post where I asked for help and advice on CD’ing. Your information and knowledge in this area is greatly appreciated. I didn’t realize there was so much information out there about CD’ing. The internet is full of information but I like the first hand knowledge. It’s honest and I can trust the information because it’s coming from someone who has experienced it. Between EcoBuns and you, the readers who responded to me, I feel comfortable and sure of the decision that my wife Rebecca and I are making.
Thank you again for the kind words and helpful advice. I know I will have more questions in the future and especially around September 1st when Lola is born. The stories will become more frequent as I document my experience with cloth diapers so stay tuned. Coming up fairly soon though is a giveaway brought to you and part by Jabber Log and EcoBuns. I will be posting up the specifics within the next few days so keep reading and tell your friends. May the cloth be with you. (I know its dorky but I like saying it. 8)
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One of life’s greatest moments…Birth.
It’s 9:58pm on August 30th 2011. So much has happened since yesterday and my life has changed once again. Out of all the greatest moments I have experienced there is one that tops all of them; the birth of my children. The most recent addition to my family is Lola Mae. My little girl has finally arrived and this time yesterday my wife was in labor. Rebecca had been having contractions for most of the day yesterday but nothing significant or close together. We ran some errands and went to the airport to pick up her mom. Rebecca told her mom how she had been feeling and that she believed that something might happen tonight. I was excited and remembered that the day prior, Rebecca mentioned that within 24 hours she would go into labor. I wondered if she was right and when her contractions got closer and closer the evening of the 29th I knew it was going to happen.My wife had labored for a while at home and when her contractions were less than 5 minutes apart for more than an hour I called the on-call nurse. We had been told to head on in and I tried to remain calm. It was definitely surreal and although it felt like I was dreaming the sight of my wife’s painful contractions told me this was reality. We got into the car and headed to the hospital. It’s about 5 to 7 minutes away from where we live and even though the speed limit is about 35mph the whole way, I was slightly over the limit.
“Um…babe?”
“Yeah”
“We don’t have to rush there. We’re not that far.”
“Yeah…uh…I know.”
I had not realized that I was hauling butt to the hospital. I was already sweating bullets and I thought about how this was going to go down. I couldn’t wait to meet my baby Lola. We arrived at the hospital and walked up to the window.
“Are we trying to have a baby,” asked the nurse.
“No ma’am, my wife swallowed a basketball and is hunched over in pain because she can’t get it out.”
Yeah…that wasn’t my actual response but I did want to say something to that effect. Instead, my wife and I let out an awkward chuckle and nodded our heads and we were pointed to the front of the hospital. The hallway to the front is not that far but it felt like forever. Rebecca stopped at one point with a bad contraction and I couldn’t help but feel bad. Once we got to the front of the hospital we mentioned to the people at the front desk that Rebecca was in labor. They told us to head up on the elevator and when we got in we forgot what floor the birth center was on. I felt like a fool and jumped out of elevator and asked which floor it was. The ladies laughed at me and told me it was the third floor and Rebecca and I were off.
Once we got into our room the nurse checked my wife and she was dilated between a 5 and 6. As for me I was dilated at a 9 but this isn’t about me, this is about my wife. Her contractions were getting closer and closer and more painful as time passed. She was having back labor and it seemed as though the only thing that helped ease the pain was me rubbing her back. I was happy to oblige and eventually my wife tried out the jacuzzi tub. She seemed to enjoy it but in the end it wasn’t working. What did work was the back massage and standing rather than laying down. Rebecca started feeling some pressure and I knew she was close. She had been checked again before the pressure and she was at an 8. Our doctor had not yet arrived because he was delivering another baby and when my wife said that she felt like she had to push I began to freak out. She squatted slightly and I helped her on the bed. I pressed the nurses button and she rushed in.
“What’s going on? Are you ok?”
“She feels like she needs to push.”
“Ok, good because the doctor just got here.”
The nurse checked Rebecca one last time and immediately said that it was time. My heart was racing and my blood pressure was up. The doctor walked in and said hello. I responded with a friendly hello but I wanted to say,
“Come on doc, let’s do this! There’s no time to dilly dally!”
I stayed calm and continued with my coaching. I kept telling my wife that she was doing great and that she could do this. She had begun to push and I felt so close to her. I coached some more and the doctor said she had a few more pushes and she would be done. I could see that the baby had her head out and I told Rebecca that she was almost there. She took a deep breath and pushed with all her might. Lola was born and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I shed some tears when I saw her and heard her cry for the first time. Even as I type this my eyes are watering. The doctor placed Lola on her moms stomach and we both gushed over our little girl. It’s a feeling that is hard to explain but I felt my heart grow a few times larger than it was. Think about the ending of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and how his heart grew in size. That was me…well…minus the Grinch part but my heart grew the moment my daughter was born. I cut the umbilical cord and put on her first cloth diaper. I will admit I had a little trouble with my nemesis “The Snappi” but I got it and Lola was styling.
In the end, we got to the hospital around 9pm on 8/29/11 and Lola Mae was born the same day at 11:27pm. Rebecca did great and both of my ladies are in good health. At the time Lola was born she was the only girl on the floor surrounded by a bunch of boys. I hope this isn’t a sign of what may happen in the future but then again; Logan was the only boy on a floor surrounded by girls when he was born. It probably doesn’t mean anything but no matter how I look at it I might be in for a slew of riffraff when she gets older. It’s been a crazy couple of days. Watching your wife go into labor and give birth to your child is amazing. It truly changes your life and tugs at your emotional strings within. I’m a proud father and another chapter in my life has begun. I will cherish these moments and I have once again experienced one of life’s greatest moments…Birth.
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1 week and counting…
Time has gone by very fast. My wife has 1 week left and although she’s ready to go, Lola is not. She’s positioned in the right place but she’s chilling for the moment. I see this as a good sign that my little girl will listen to me later on in life since I have been telling her to wait until the 29th so that my family medical leave will kick in. I’m sure this is not the case but it’s nice to think that she’s listening to her daddy already. I have two more shifts and then I’m off for two weeks. It’s going to be nice to have some time with my family so that we can bond with our little girl. We now have everything for Lola and we’re ready to go. We recently went to EcoBuns to get the last part of our cloth diapers and as usual the experience was great. We have some excellent looking covers for the diapers and she’s going to be styling in all her clothing.Yes…I know. I’m getting excited over the color combinations and designs of my daughters wardrobe and such but that’s what having a little girl is all about right? I wasn’t sure I was going to be all into shopping for our little girl but I’m probably going to be as bad as my wife with the shopping. Oh well, I’m going to have lots of fun with it and I can’t wait. I’m going to be learning a lot of new things including combing and putting my daughters hair in pigtails and ponytails and everything else. I’m thinking I’m going to suck at it the first few times. Hopefully I don’t pull her hair out in the process. I know this is all far from now when her hair is long enough but I’m always looking ahead. A new adventure awaits my family and I and Lola is coming fast. Soon enough you will get to see pictures of our little girl and believe me, I’m not going to hold back from showing her off. Just one more week baby girl. Until that day…
(The video below is from our recent purchase at Ecobuns. We have a lot of stuff but this is from our favorite store.)
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Diaper Wars: Attack of the Splash
Source: joyerickson.wordpress.com
Good afternoon folks! It has been quite some time since my last Diaper Wars post and I apologize for that. Since my last post my wife has pretty much taken the reigns on our cloth diaper adventure. She has taken up with a gang of cloth diaper moms for play dates and I believe there was a gangland battle at a playground with a gang of disposable diaper moms but I cannot disclose the result of this. Also I’m just joking but it would be funny to see right? Anyway, my wife is trying new types of cloth like FuzziBunz Elite, bumGenius Freetime, and GroVia AIO’s with their awesome prints. Although my personal preference has been with the new AIO’s, my wife and I still use prefolds for nighttime dryness.
So now that we’re somewhat caught up, my daughter Lola is a week or so away from being 10 months. She’s eating some solid foods and for all you parents out there, you know this makes changing diapers a bit different. You no longer have a baby who is pooing in a paste like form. Now you have a baby who is dropping solids. Um…yes, I realize I’m being gross and a little graphic but it’s poo. We have all dealt with it and we all drop it so let’s continue.
The diapers I have changed lately have been soiled with one medium sized nugget. Sounds pretty easy right? Well for those who don’t use cloth diapers I will tell you this is very easy but instead of throwing the diaper away it must be rinsed out in to the toilet. Okay, so like I said, this is easy. You take the diaper to the bathroom, unhook the sprayer and rinse out the diaper. It’s simple but if you’re new to this then here’s a tip. DON’T BEND DOWN TOWARD THE TOILET! I bent down and I thought I was far enough but when that nugget hit the toilet the poo water splashed up by my mouth. I gagged, did the girly hand wave and about vomited in my mouth but I held it together. I finished what I was doing and yes, I washed my face about 100 times.
It’s a learning process and I’m sure that even the most experienced diaper sprayer has dealt with something like this. The experience has been a fun one and I will continue to learn with every change. I am going to do my best to keep up with Diaper Wars and I have some new ideas as well. I would like to do some informative podcasts and even some live broadcasts where other cloth users and those who are curious about it, can watch, interact and discuss topics. I think it would be a fun way to bring new people to the cloth side and share stories. Oh yeah, and be educational. Let me know what you think about the idea, if you would be interested in participating in something like this and some ideas on what to discuss. Have a good one and may the cloth be with you!
