Positive Change

I've decided it's time for me to reflect upon the recent recipes I'm trying and to keep track of what works and what doesn't. I first started a complete over-haul of my diet with the low fodmap and Paleo diet. I have fructose malabsorption and IBS so there are several things that irritate my stomach and I'm starting to think Johnathen is the same. I don't want to create a self-full filling diet issue here but being that I change his diapers I can tell when the poops are different or non-existent. ;). I'm following the low fodmap diet for irritation issues and the rest is just bonus. After four days of FREAKING out for sugar and bread I realized that absolutely no sugar is unrealistic in my life and no grains or basically carbs was making me weak, tired and I had the worst workout of my life Friday morning, so in entered old fashioned oats. Soon I realized there wasn't a whole lot I could do with oats  besides oatmeal given that I have zero baking or cooking skills. I made no bakes and after a week of no sugar having just one of these was too much. They were too sweet and I could not stop eating them. It was scary to consciously notice how my body reacted to this and how my mind couldn't control my mouth, a problem I have trouble with often...lol. Allowing myself to have the approved sugars meant I went on this kick of trying to make 'healthier'sweets, how fast and easy it was for me to lose focus of why I'm doing this and to let those damn no bakes direct me towards recipes that provided me a means to get sugar and sweets in my life...After assessing my diet I realized instead of going hard core on not eating much of anything I was going to take the healthier, less processed, no milk (cheese and I will be together until the day I die) more fruits and veggies route. As incentive I've considered that eating healthy now and introducing Johnathen to these 'flavors' early is only going to make him a healthier eater, attracted to a healthier lifestyle...that and  of course my ever frustrating waistline. ;) I don't like the idea of all these chemicals and preservatives in our food so I've also given up Wheat and Gluten....Now before you say well those are good for you, I kind of disagree, I did this because I knew it would start out as 'I'll just get whole wheat' then I would slowly slip back into my old lifestyle. Even those whole wheat breads have crap in them I can't pronounce. So in entered Quinoa (Keen-wa). Did I mention I can't bake? Yeah well this whole diet/lifestyle change has got me excited about baking and trying new recipes especially since Phil is gone. This is a very interesting thing to bake with and has a taste that I don't know if I like yet. I have yet to have a full success in my experiments but we're getting closer. So far in my week I've learned that eggs and cheese are great binders in bread-ish things, parchment paper and wax paper are different (slight burning in the oven) and Quinoa is a drier flour so I need more eggs or oil. It's a fun way to keep my busy while Phil's gone and I hope I can get some good things down before he comes back so it's not hard to convert him...;) Do we still have Club mini's for snack time? yeah...until I can bake a cracker delicious enough to replace them they're here to stay. Moderation is key to any change and since I've been able to stop myself from eating them they're good...for now. It's a process, but I'm excited to think that one day we will be eating all homemade foods with ingredients in them that we can pronounce and trust.

Sunbaby, Alvababy and some covers review

So like I said I did a small review on my Sunbaby, Alvababy and a couple Gen-Y universal covers. Some things to remember are that I haven't used these diapers that much yet. I just got my order in of 20 Alvababy diapers B series Monday so I will update after I've used them a little bit. I'm also putting in an order for some 3-layer Alvababy bamboo inserts and a few Kawaii diapers. I have microfiber now.

The quality of the 20 are same as the E series (the one I revewied here) except that they have elastic on both sides of the pocket and no flap to cover the insert. Not sure if I'm going to like this or not but it doesn't really affect stuffing that much. I've had one leak with my Alva diaper so far and it was in the morning and I think that it was because there just wasn't enough absorbency for him. I did double stuff him for his nap and morning diaper today and he didn't leak with either (the nap was a Sunbaby). One thing to note that I've noticed right now is that when I double stuff the B series diaper it seems to stretch out the elastic in the back to where it doesn't hug his back. I didn't adjust my snaps on the rise though and I think if I did next time it would fit better.

After doing some internet research I found I could use my covers for swim diapers so we took a bubble bath yesterday with the smaller white Gen-Y cover and it looked like it would catch poop no problem. :D

I also wanted to share this website I found. It seems to be straight to the point and makes the most sense to me. http://thecloththatcounts.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/the-ultimate-cloth-diaper-care-resource-page/

***UPDATE***
I have fully switched to just Sunbaby pocket diapers and have been using them for about a year. For me the Alvas though wide in the crotch didn't seem to fit my sons chunky thighs as well as the Sunbaby's did. Also Sunbaby has a softer microfleece and is much more gentle on my sons thighs. I still like these diapers and they hold up great, I don't think I'll have a problem using them with my second due here in November. For the cost you can't beat the quality of these diapers. Right now I'm working on converting prefolds into fitteds for the new baby until he or she is large enough to fit into the pockets, plus from my understanding it's easier washing prefolds when you're washing that much. I had so many blow out issues with Johnathen until I started him on cloth at 8 months that I feel like a fitted will be better at catching poop. I'm currently trying to find out the best system for my time but it is hard to not have a baby to practice which methods works best. I plan on updating the blog with my conversions soon. :)  Along with the Sunbaby's that I get through a co-op for about $4.50 a piece, insert included I buy bamboo liners from Bububibi to catch my little guys solids so it's an easier clean when out and about, I can get a roll of 100 liners for $5. They're awesome. I also am going to be using cloth wipes with the new baby so a post will be coming up soon about how that is going. I don't seeing it being a big deal since I can just wash them with my diapers anyways.

Breastfeeding and Boogers

When I first got pregnant I knew I was going to breastfeed but the idea grossed me out. I was going to do it because it was what's best for Johnathen and I knew it would help in bonding and postpartum depression. It took us ~ 2 months to really get comfortable with breastfeeding (no pain) and the first month was just awful. Eventually I figured out what was wrong by doing A LOT of Internet/family and friend research. I could see how someone who wasn't sure if they would breastfeed or not would give up. I was GOING to make it work but man was it hard. Now I love it. I can't count the amount of sweet moments I've had with Johnathen that I know  I would not have gotten if I bottle fed him. I have nothing against formula or bottle fed babies. Everyone has their own way to raise their child for their own reasons and that's the way it should be. I'm not bashing on non-breast feeders but man are they missing out.  There's nothing sweeter then feeling your baby melt in your arms as soon as he starts eating or funnier them him yelling at you and mouthing your arm, neck, face  or whatever to tell you he's hungry. There's the saying 'didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?' ...wow am I'm breaking that rule! We don't necessarily 'play' with the food source but we sure play while he's eating. He likes to smile at me and make faces while eating and every now and then he reaches his hand up and softly examines whatever part of my face he can reach. The best moments are at night especially when he was younger. He would just stare at me and I got a lot of sweet silent smiles from him when he was so little. One smile a week would make getting up every 3 hours a night worth it. Now we sleep through the night and I can tell you that  though I LOVE my sleep and am starting to become a sleep whore I find myself missing those nights.

Johnathen is 7 months now and breastfeeding is a little more trickier then it was around 3 months.  I didn't start feeling comfortable breastfeeding him in public until then. For example, on our flight back from visiting family in Idaho I was in between two grown men and Johnathen needed to eat. He's definitely long enough to kick the guy who was sleeping on my right and flash the guy who was laughing on my left. If I had any advice I'd say throw in a few eating upright in front of you positions every now and then so they at least are used to it because that would have been nice. And even if you are at home get them used to a cover. At this age I'm kind of screwed either way but Johnathen has never sat still for me while feeding in public. Luckily the guy on the left had 5 kids and I think found humor in me trying to talk a 7 month old into sitting still. I'm sure he was thinking 'yeah good luck.'

There is the occasional bite or hey! what's that over there? I'll just go a head and check it out bringing the nipple along. My sister-in-law always jokes that if this happens enough you get 9 inch nipples. I can't say they'll be that long but at least 4. You also have to deal with the stares in public (I use a cover) and at home from the husband who sometimes eyes the baby with a very envious look. Then there's the question of how long do I breastfeed? Initially I was set on 6 months because I thought you just stopped then and they were good. When I found out I was wrong and they needed to go a year then a year was my goal. I felt like it would be disgusting to go any longer but now I'm not so sure. Will I be continuing on for selfish reasons? Is it necessary? Is it gross? I just hope we quit when I'm ready. I already know it's going to break my heart if he loses interest early. I could go on and on about breastfeeding and all it's awesomeness

Amongst all the things I mentioned above I didn't mention my favorite part about breastfeeding...The surprise booger. It's sneaky and has a way of eluding your eyes. The booger and baby are definitely on the same team. Baby plants the booger close to your nipple then distracts you by kicking or punching or squirming. This gives the booger just enough time to get away and hide until you go to take a shower the next morning if you even get to one. It's funny how my outlook on life has changed after having a baby. A booger to me now has the same excitement as finding $20 in your pocket that you didn't know was there.:) You think Ah! that little turd.....and baby strikes again.

Jillian's Drawers Cloth for $10 Review

Okay so I went over what I got and the features of each diaper. Or features I found important enough to mention :) I also kind of stated what I liked about them and didn't like. Some things I didn't mention were that if you double stuffed any of these they would be pretty thick. I see myself moving towards diapers and t-shirts and no pants because they're so cute ;) Also I said I used 2 prefolds and 1 G-diaper microfleece insert but that was wrong. It was 1 prefold 4x8x4 and 2 inserts (4 layers 2 microfleece 2 hemp) with the Thirsties Duo 1 size wrap. The wrap was maxed out with that too. I couldn't make it any smaller, we were on the largest setting with this comibination. The one nice thing about velcro is that right now it's easy to put on and with some diapers like the Tots Bots you can pull all the way to the other tab for a really tight fit. I don't have a problem with the snaps though, even disposables are hard right now because all he wants to do is move. :)

One last thing I want to mention is that some people don't like pockets because you have to stuff them. This is true but there is no diaper other then an AI1 or disposable that you don't have to do something with. AI1's take forever to dry but the newer ones are better because like the Tots Bots and BG their sewn-in inserts come out for fast drying. With prefolds you still have to wrap and pin or snappi (I wanted this to work for price reasons but it's just too much work and too bulky for me), with G-diapers you still have to stuff, with Best Bottoms (not reviewed) or another snap in liner style you still have to snap it in so no matter what you have to do something with your diaper before you can put it on. What's nice about the pocket or an All-in-one is that if the baby is squirming he or she isn't moving your insert around. I find that it is easier and faster to put one of these diapers on but I have not tried the snap in insert style yet.

After looking through the diapers I realized I was wrong about the snap-in insert that goes with the Tots Bots OS AI1 diaper. That extra insert goes with the Tots Bots OS fitted diaper to add extra absorbancy. I'm going to keep this fitted diaper out of the box to try at night because it's really nice and I feel like it will work with maybe the extra soaker and a prefold but I will try just the fitted and extra insert first. I'm waiting until I get another fitted sheet for the mattress incase we leak.

The Beginning of Cloth Diapering

I started my journey to find the best cloth diaper for our son about 4 months ago and I did it ALL wrong. Before he was born I was interested in giving cloth a try but was so overwhelmed by all the different brands/styles/material etc. that I quickly gave up. Then I came across a book in Michaels called Cloth Diapering Made Easy. I figured if it's easy I can do it! I was sort of right. Word to the wise, don't try to make your diapers before you find out what works for you and your baby. In short, the hybrid/ AI2 did not work for my explosive pooping power pissing 4 month old. I loved the 'idea' of an all-in-two but it just wasn't for us. I do plan on trying it again once we're more 'solid' and I can just use something like Best Bottoms with a snap in liner. I think I would like that. I spent hours and months trying to troubleshoot our homemade cloth diaper problems. Finally my husband and I agreed I should just buy the diaper I was trying to mimmick (the G-diaper) $60 later I found that the G-diaper didn't work either so it wasn't just me. This was somewhat relieving, to know at least that I can make a diaper.  :) Even if that style would have worked I didn't like the velcro in the back and the way the snaps pinched my little guy no matter how tight or loose I made it. So on to another style.

Next we tried covers and the washable microfleece G-diaper inserts. Even with the $21 Gen-Y covers we still leaked. So thanks to their excellent costumer service I bought some prefolds to stuff in there. Problem was the amount of absorbancy I needed for him was too thick for the cover so we went with the size 2 OS diaper cover. That one was too wide at the hips and rubbed the tops of his legs. I do plan on using that as a potty training diaper or when we get older and it fits him better since it snaps on the sides. It was also too bulky for my liking. I emailed back and forth with their 'diaper technician' and finally decided I was going to try something different. The hardest part of all of this is that I was pretty much alone. I have family who live far away who can help but it's hard to skype and sew at the same time. :) so she offered to help me out whenever I needed it which I thought was awesome! On to another style.

I ordered the cloth trial kit from Jillian's Drawers for $10... It's $160 up front but you get that back at the end of your 21 day trial of some of the major brands and most popular styles of cloth diapers. I wish I would have done this in the beginning because it would have saved me a lot of heartache, time and money. I sure taught myself how to sew though! What I got:

Ordered: 1       1023-18to32-neutral Changing Diapers, Changing Minds Program $150.99
Ordered: 2       OsoCozy Indian Prefolds
Ordered: 2       OsoCozy Better Fit Unbleached Prefold
Ordered: 1       Bamboozle S-T-R-E-T-C-H
Ordered: 1       aplix-crimson  Rumparooz G2 One-Size Diapers
Ordered: 1       starburst Tots Bots Easy Fit One-Size Diaper
Ordered: 1       snaps-noodlevanilla  bumGenius V4.0 One-Size Pocket Diaper
Ordered: 1       aplix-grasshoppergreen bumGenius Freetime Diaper
Ordered: 1       applegreen  FuzziBunz Elite One-Size Pocket Diaper
Ordered: 1       honeydew Thirsties Duo Wrap, Aplix
Ordered: 1       white    Snappis Diaper Fastener
Ordered: 5       samplesheet  Flushable Liners from Imse Vimse

On top of these I ordered two Sunbaby's 4.0 size 2 and two Alva's size 2. Both pocket diapers with microfiber inserts to try before a Co-op ends.

I've kind of got a system set up and will hopefully get some pail liners soon. Something else that would make the transition into cloth easier is 1. Don't buy a disposable :) and 2. Be ready for poop and pee diapers. When I was making diapers I just put them on then thought about what to do with them after the fact. Totally Ass-backwards.

Once a week has passed (Monday) I'll update with pics and video of the diapers and what I like about each one and dislike. I can already tell you that my pickiness is making me lean towards making one with a little of everything. :)