Looking back over the past 5 years, from the time I was about to have my very first baby shower to present day, I can see HOW MUCH has changed in what’s really needed, and what will soon pass.

For those of you I know reading that are pregnant with your first, I hope this helps you a little as you begin to plan your registries and make purchases for your little blessing! Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share what I personally believe in and recommend.

Things To Get (MUST HAVES):
*Diapers!! Cloth or Disposable (or both). These might not seem like fun things to register for, but believe me – you’ll be grateful! Not all towns have a great diaper place such as we do, to find diapers at WAY below normal costs.

We have a local mom and pop store that often offers LUVS big cases for $11.98 – $12.98. These are ‘on sale’ at larger stores for $16-$18. LUVS also used to occassionally slip coupons in their boxes, though we haven’t seen this in a while. They also offer $3 coupons in Sunday inserts (again, haven’t seen this lately).

Register for different sizes, stopping at size 3. You don’t want 20 packs of size 1′s – then have to drag them all to the store to exchange them.

On average, we probably could’ve used 2 packs of newborn diapers. I believe there are less in a pack than size 1, but for our children (all under 8 lbs.), size 1′s were just too big! We had to fold them over for weeks!

I’d say 2 packs newborn, 2 to 4 packs of size 1, 4 to 6 packs of size 2, and with our middle child – she was in size 3 for over 2 years! BUT our baby at 18 months is a size 5 – so no two are alike.

Even though I am looking to go cloth, we still will probably end up buying a pack or two of newborn disposables – to get through the meconium stage. We already had a couple packs of size 1′s from before, and will keep these on hand for outings and emergencies.

Breastfed babies are all I can speak for – they poop a lot (once or twice a feeding/ 8 to 12 times a day), and this would be a LOT of cloth to wash!

I would say brands are easy – avoid cheap store brands!! They leak, velcro doesn’t work great, they can rub the baby’s skin the wrong way…. I’m a thrifty shopper, so of course had to try the cheap brands. They just don’t work!

Another thing against cheap brands being they don’t work well with circumcised little boys! We found they would stick easily to the healing skin – causing it to rip back open. The inside liner just doesn’t match the quality of brand name diapers.

Oh, one tip for circ. boys – you’ll need to buy a squeezable tube of petroleum jelly. You won’t want to use a q-tip to allow the jelly  (at least I didn’t). We would just squeeze a generous amount all of the way around the healing skin.

The jelly prevents the gauze or diaper from sticking as bad. We would also rub some on the diaper in that area. DO be aware that a lot of bleeding is NOT normal, and call the pediatrician if it keeps up. We were also told to be sure and ‘pull down’ the skin each diaper change.

With one of our boys, we didn’t do this every single change, and the dr. ended up having to pull it down after it had begun healing ‘closed back up’. A LOT of tears for Mommy and baby!

As you read above, we use LUVS, but mainly because of the price. They have worked well for us, though if you let them get completely soaked (as a mom of 3 little ones is likely to do), the moisture WILL seep through the diaper and wet your child’s pants. (This is true for Huggies as well)

Between Huggies and Pampers – ooh…. a hard one. We tended to go with whichever one stores had on sale, and which ones had coupons. BUT that was 5 years ago, and stores rarely mark down these packs to $5.99 anymore.

Pampers was overall the best one as far as moisture not seeping through. I also found that Huggies had a design printed on the front of their diapers – which was cute – but it would rub off onto the baby’s clothes. Yep, the ink would bleed right through and come off onto some really ‘before’ cute outfits.

Pampers has different styles. If you want luxury – definitely go with the Swaddlers! These are SO soft, and the tabs are smaller. This is one thing I didn’t like about some of their styles – the tabs were almost an inch wide, and would cut into the baby’s leg. Don’t quote me, but I ‘think’ it was the Baby Dry style??

We never stuck with the same brand for another reason – each size fit different. So what brand worked great at size 1 might not be the same brand that worked at size 2.

So, here I am saying to register, but you don’t know which to register for! Confusing, I know – but diapers can be. You have to learn what you like and what works best for you. Pretty much I’d only recommend LUVS, Pampers, and Huggies as far as disposables go.

You can register for these, but do NOT open all the packs – as much as you want to prepare the nursery and have everything ‘just perfect’!! This way if a particular diaper doesn’t work great for you (or your baby is allergic to it), you can swap the unopened packs for a different brand.

Be sure when changing your newborn’s diaper, to always fold down the front, so the diaper doesn’t rub on the umbilical cord – causing it to bled and ooze. I believe it’s Huggies that has a notch cut out for the cord, but it’s been a while, and we only had a sample from the mail.

Wipes – Go natural with homemade wipes from flannel or terry cloth, or buy UNscented wipes! While the scented wipes DO smell good, they contain CHEMICALS that make them smell that way. A brand new baby doesn’t need harsh chemicals – I really have no idea what these people are thinking inventing this stuff.

Avoid diaper rashes and allergic reactions by choosing unscented. And if (when) you do face diaper rash, do NOT use wipes! No matter the kind, they all contain chemicals, and will burn that poor baby’s bottom.

For diaper rash, we use Bordeaux’s Butt Paste (not sure of spelling). Desitin would make our daughter scream, and some others just weren’t thick at all. You mainly want one that is high in zinc, as this is the main ingredient fighting the rash.

For cloth diapering, avoid diaper creams altogether. These will not wash out of the fabric, but will instead affect the absorbing action of the material causing leaks.

You also need to be sure to rinse the diapers, then wash with a small amount of soap in hot water, then rinse once or twice in cold water. This removes any excess detergent that could irritate that little bottom.

I haven’t learned all of the soaps yet, but the most common diaper soap is Charlie’s. I’m not sure that I’ll try it, we ourselves have had to use ALL Free and Clear (or allergen free) for each of our babies. They came out with such pretty skin, but immediately began breaking out in red bumps and splotches.

It took several weeks to realize it was our detergent. Not just for the baby’s clothes, but ours as well. It makes sense, for here is this little one laying it’s head on your shirt! (Not to mention bath soap on you – another post)

Dreft can be expensive, and some babies could still react to it. It does have a strong smell. The Free and Clear has been the ONLY detergent we’ve found that wouldn’t bother our babies. ALL isn’t too expensive, and they often give coupons for 50 cents (which doubles) and $1 to $1.50 off!

Do NOT use baby powder!! It is now known that baby powder has an ingredient that causes cancer. Breathing in the powder will place this in your baby’s lungs. For best treatment besides diaper cream, try go without a diaper when possible, change diapers frequently, and oh – you can cover diaper cream with Aquaphor … it’s like Vaseline, but thicker.

I still have to say that cloth diapering is the ‘healthiest’ way to go. I wish I could share all the ‘dirt’ on disposables, but I’m not that knowledgable yet. I have read some great articles, exploring the dangers hidden inside those diapers! Convenience is tempting, but if you really open your eyes to what chemicals are in diapers – you’ll very likely be swayed to cloth as I am being.

Just do a Google search on:

*what dangers are in disposable diapers

*why are disposable diapers dangerous or unhealthy

*risks using disposable diapers

And I’m even MORE convinced on this now, as my pregnancy nose is really kicking in…. I am almost knocked over by the smell of LUVS. I’ve not noticed it until the past few packs, so I don’t know if it’s new, or just being pregnant – but you can smell the chemicals STRONG!

Okay, diapers alone are overwhelming aren’t they!! Give me a little more time, and I can get you some great links for diapers/ deals.

I am SO excited that the cloth diapers I ordered arrived this afternoon!!!

These are the Yucky Ducks AIO (All In Ones), with a velcro closure. I ordered 3 med. and 3 large. I can pretty much already say that these will NOT be my favorite diapers.

It’s not that they probably don’t have tons of people that love them, but they do seem rather bulky (just from looks) and as I thought, I’m not wild about the velcro. I’m washing them as I type, so we’ll see how the little flap that’s supposed to keep the velcro clean works.

I DO think the inside is nice and soft, and I’m very impressed with the quality of the insert that they came with. I myself would be happy with the softness of these on me – baby or not. So, I guess I’m really basing my dislike on the velcro – plus the fact I ordered white. It’s boring, not cute – but would work with either gender, and match any outfit.

I came across a diapering site today that made a good point. From what I’ve read up so far, it’s best not to wash the covers with the diapers. Something about the hot water can cause the waterproof lining to deteriorate faster.

Well, with an AIO, you HAVE to wash the cover with the diaper – it’s attached! I’m really not sure how all the cleaning action is supposed to work. You can’t use hot hot water on the covers, you can’t use bleach (which I’m assuming also means color free bleach). So how in the world are you supposed to kill all the germs?

Some places say to keep soiled diapers wet, others say dry…. Some say to place in a solution of vinegar/ water, others have you buy special stuff to keep them in….

I’m hoping to try out the Yucky Ducks tomorrow, on 18 month son. He’s probably 25+ lbs, in 24 mo./ 2T clothes – and just from the looks, the mediums will already be too small. I’ll post on how they work!

Little Mommy

Can you believe it – the words actually came out of hubby’s mouth “I’m not feeling sorry for you”. Now, before you think of him as a monster – I guess I’d better confess what I did.

Last week, I pulled out the baby boy clothes to begin picking out a few outfits (in case it’s a boy) to have washed and ready. The same night, I mentioned needing ‘Daddy’ to get in DD’s room to pull out the boxes of girl clothes stashed in the back of her closet.

Not wanting to nag, I might’ve mentioned something about the clothes once more in the week, but he never got them out. Well, I’ve been dying to go through the girl clothes too, so today I became a little too impatient.

Knowing he wouldn’t be pleased, I began the process of clearing out DD’s closet. First, I had to move the small dresser out of the way. Then came the lifting part. Of course, the 0 to 6 mo. clothes were in the very bottom box! So, I had to lift 3 18 gallon plastic tubs full of clothes up over the dresser and out into the room.

The task of picking out clothes wasn’t so hard. I had weeded through all the extra clothes last year, so actually there was only what we needed – much easier than the boy’s selections. I haven’t had a baby girl in 3 years now, so it was fun seeing all the cute little frilly things again! *Note – if you are a boy, little one, I still love you too and the cute things you will wear!!

Well, baby (18 months now) thought it would be lots of fun to go through the clothes with me – only his idea was grabbing them out of the bucket and throwing them all over the floor. Funny, but NOT funny at the time.

So, I decided it best to put everything back into the closet. I was originally going to leave it out for hubby, but then thought maybe I should stick it back and just not tell him what I’d done. So, squeezing through the small space in between the door frame and dresser, I lifted each box back over the dresser and returned it to the back of the closet.

One box in particular seemed much heavier than I remembered – MUCH heavier. It wasn’t until I had repacked the boxes and stuff on top of them and returned the dresser that I realized it….

I went to put the 18 gallon tub of mega blocks back in the closet floor, but couldn’t find it. Yep – that HEAVY box! So, I had to lift it back up and out over the dresser, returning it to the floor in the front of the closet. Then I had to find the missing box of clothes (baby strikes it while I’m breaking my back…) – repack it, and put it back in the closet.

For anyone that really knows me, I can’t keep a secret for long from people. So, while on the phone with hubby, I blurted it all out. Oh well, so much for that! Part of me had wanted to keep quiet – just to see how long it would take him to come around to remembering that I had asked him to get the clothes out in the first place.

By this time, my lower back was starting to bother me some, to which he responded that I knew better, so he wasn’t feeling sorry for me – ha! I then heard how asking him to do that wasn’t nagging, it was asking for help. (Will this apply in future situations when I’m NOT pregnant too??) He told me more than once today that I’m supposed to just ‘ask’ for help, and it will be given.

For any clueless to this, he’s referencing a song I wrote based on Matthew 7:7, teaching our children the K Bible verse. A little out of context, but I got the point.

I know I’m still 8 weeks out, but I want things to come together now – so hopefully I can rest those last few weeks. The clothes probably won’t get washed for many more days, but they are out and I’ve picked out the smallest, most favorite ones for each gender now.

Now, I’ve just got to be patient for these diapers to get here!!! Since I didn’t cherish the thought of washing cloth diapers full of meconium, I bought only 3 med. and 3 large. We have a good supply of size 1 disposables, so those will work great for the first 2 or 3 weeks at least. PLUS, this way I can go ahead and use the cloth ones on 18 mo. old son and get the hang of things! Well, 3 a day.

I’m closing and getting to bed a little early tonight (for me – it’s only 10:15). I guess due to all the exertion earlier, I’ve been having a good many contractions tonight.

Then, can you believe it… I’d asked DH to pick up supper on the way home since I was beat. He was a dear and did – but in my pregnant mindset, I didn’t react quite the way he probably thought when he got home.

Pick up supper means something we eat and like. He picked up Subway. Now, I used to be okay with Subway – like 8 years ago, but they are way overpriced, and deli meat isn’t that healthy anyway (esp. for pregnant women). I’ll eat a ham sandwich – meaning just ham and bread.

What I got was a ham sandwich with cheese and pickles. Okay, I’m wanting to throw up again just typing it! Cheese is good on pizza, but not on a ham sandwich – at least not to me. But there, I guess it was an honest mistake.

On the way to GA a few weeks ago, we used a gift card to eat at a Subway for lunch. Since the little ones do like cheese, we ordered it that way. I guess he didn’t see me picking the melted cheese of my part…

Well, cheese is easy enough to remove – but the pickles! Ughh… Normally, I LOVE pickles – plain, on hamburgers, on chicken. But NOT on a ham sandwich! They came off, but the damage was done. Pickle juice soaked into the bread.

I feel so bad about making him feel so bad – I guess just being pregnant and starving and then seeing/ having to eat that – well, I wasn’t very nice. On top of my sour attitude, neither of our boys were too happy about dinner either. Oldest son ate it, but didn’t really like it – but the baby spit out every bite we were able to force into his mouth.

I admit, I gave up quickly. He doesn’t like pickles AT ALL, so I could understand that part. He got a pear to eat, then I ran to Arby’s for a roast beef sandwich – which he and I gobbled up! And of course, I couldn’t resist the urge to use a 99 cent coupon for a milkshake – well, 2 actually.

I was going to share them with everyone – really, but somehow that changed. Baby boy and I finished one by ourselves (since we were the only ones eating the roast beef), and the 2nd one never got mentioned. Hubby has gotten another flareup of whatever we had last month as well as our oldest. So much so that they are both going to the doctor tomorrow (Friday). Milk would only make them worse – really!!

Oops – it’s almost 10:30 – I’d really better get in bed since it’s been a long day! This is a 3 day weekend for us, so we’ll head up to our new land at some point. Then Monday I go in for a 32 week checkup!

“Little Mommy”

Well, I’m excited – I purchased my first set of cloth diapers yesterday off of eBay. I have asked TONS of questions, and unfortunately I have received tons of answers! Why is that bad? Everyone has a different opinion!!

So, I decided to browse all the great links people sent me, and make my purchases from the best prices. My first purchase was a set of 6 Yucky Ducks. I’ll admit, I’m not sure that I’ll like these. In my mind, I won’t like velcro closures – I think I’ll prefer snaps. DH isn’t for cloth diapers at all, but leans toward velcro over snaps anytime. (Is that just a male being lazy??  HA)

Top picks have had to be Bum Genius 3.0, Fuzzi Buns, Prefolds w/ cover, Bummis Super Whisper Wrap. I might have some of the names wrong – sorry, I’m new to this.

The Yucky Ducks are AIO’s, or “All In Ones”. These means it’s the cloth diaper AND waterproof cover together. I believe these are the PUL covers, which is a type of plastic. All I have to do now is order inserts/ soakers/ or liners for extra absorbing power.

This is where it starts to get complicated, as if picking a diaper isn’t hard enough! There’s cotton, microfiber/ microfleece, fleece, wool, hemp….. Can you see the dilemma I’ve been facing lately?

Pretty much, from what I’ve heard, is to buy several different options, because everyone is different in their likes/ dislikes. AND each baby is different – while some diapers fit great on some babies, they will leak on others.

That’s one point about velcro closures (hook and loop) that I’ve read – that they fit more snug = less leaks possible. But one point that I’m not wild about on ‘some’ of the velcro is that you have to have different ones for different sizes. With the snap options, the same diaper will fit from newborn up to potty trained in some cases!

I’ll continue to post as I continue on this new adventure!

“Little Mommy”

I thought I would NEVER reach the 20 lb. mark, but somehow jumped up a few lbs. this week! As of this morning, I have now gained 22.5 lbs – which puts me close to the same weight gain I’ve had each pregnancy. I average 32 to 34 lbs. each time – and since I nurse, it falls off pretty quick!

This past week, I’ve spent a lot of time preparing for this little one. We pulled out the baby boy clothes and found enough clothes to wash up in case it is a boy – lasting a few days at least, but not too many in case it’s a girl.

We still have to get the girl clothes out and pick out a few outfits – which could be hard! Just a note, especially to any first time mom readers out there – while I don’t feel many clothes are necessary by the 4th child, you will need to prepare to have at least 3 or 4 outfits a day for the first week or so.

Why? Well, getting used to such a little bottom to change for one! Some outfits only last a matter of minutes! You get them dressed so cute, feed them, they poo-poo… You go to change the diaper and what happens? They tee-tee! Now, girls might not be so bad, but getting used to a boy can take a little time!

Another thing being that the hospital will give you a pack of diapers, but they are size 1. For my children, these were too big – this equals leaks (new outfit). We let them use their pack for when the baby is with them for dr. checkup times, then use newborn diapers when they are with us. Don’t forget to pack that bag of diapers and take home with you – you’ve paid dearly for them!

I also began my research on cloth diapering – boy, there’s a LOT to know! Thankfully, I’ve met some wonderful moms online that have shared with me – and I’ll be sharing this info with you!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some tips I’ve learned – like the diaper note above – to prepare you for what to expect. Have any questions or topics you’d like touched on? Send me an email – Candace @ heaveninourhomes.com.

Topics on my mind are:

Cloth diapering

Detergents

Sleeping arrangements

Soap

And then recap on feeding

In closing, I had ‘aired’ out my tummy the other night – needing a little breating room since I’m still wearing loose sweats and running pants. Oldest son looked over to see this big round belly poking out – Woah! You’re getting BIG!! – was his comment… Is that good or bad? It was pretty funny!

AND

I decided last night to have a yard sale today (nesting again??). I guess I was wrong on my comment of no one not being able to tell I was pregnant anymore.

One lady mentioned I probably would have more shoppers if I waited until March or April – when it warmed up. (It was a surprising 68 degrees today – very nice!) I pointed to my tummy and said this was as close to then as I was getting with a baby on the way.

She looked shocked, then said she would’ve never guessed I was pregnant! Imagine her shock even more when I told her I was due in less than 9 weeks – ha! At least she was very complimentary – saying how well I looked.

“Little Mommy”

Oh, PS. I WAS due for an appt. this past Friday (which was 2 1/2 weeks out instead of the 2 they wanted). Being so tired ( our family is on it’s 2nd round of whatever horrible cold we had last month ) , and feeling really good baby wise, I canceled. So, I’ll go back on the 16th, when Daddy can be off and home with the other ones.

Since they’ll be doing an examination from here out, I’m kinda unsure how I’ll go about visits… There’s really no way to hide 3 children by themselves in that tiny examining room. Unless I begin contracting a lot, or dilating early like I have before, I probably will just forgo the weekly visits. Really, God builds in an instinct – you just know if something isn’t right.

Drs. are just covering themselves by having you come in weekly, besides making you think they are doing something. They just listen to the heart – which you know is beating because you feel the little one moving like crazy! Just my 2 cents…

“Little Mommy”

Yes, I KNOW I do – at least while I’m trying to sleep! The past two nights I’ve been partially awakened – just enough to know that this little one isn’t so little!

The first night is kinda fuzzy, partly due to a dream I was having. Earlier that evening, I had read a friend’s blog about birthing, and how it’s crazy that hospitals make you push. A midwife doesn’t do that – you simply let the baby come out on it’s own when IT’S ready. (Makes you wonder if women wouldn’t tear and hurt so much if they weren’t forcing the baby to come out….)

Anyway, that night I dreamed that (while at 30 weeks – present time), for some reason I thought I’d try to push. Well, the baby started coming out! (Again, dreaming here…) I could feel it’s head about to birth, and with my hand I tried to push it back! It was a very stressing dream, let me tell you.

I was thrilled to wake up the next morning to find that it was no where near that low, and it had all been a dream. (I wonder if I really was pushing in my sleep??)

Last night, I just remember feeling it pushing out both sides of my stomach. Maybe it’s a gymanist – you know how they throw their arms up in the air once they complete their routine…

I had called over 3 yr. old daughter to feel, and we were able to feel it’s entire arm poking out of my stomach. Am I stressed, or just over tired??

I am getting SO excited with the date being less than 10 weeks away. There is SO much to do, and simply not enough hours in the day to do it! I don’t think I’ve gotten to bed before midnight one night this past week – it was almost 2 the other night.

We took turns listening to the baby tonight with the monitor. We never found it’s heartbeat, but it got the hiccups, so the older two really got a kick out of hearing that. Even baby boy wanted to listen, but decided quickly he didn’t like the headphones on his ears.

Just before bed, I caught a glimpse of him grabbing up the monitor, yanking his shirt up, and pushing it all over his tummy – how cute! He’d noticed how I kept moving it on my stomach I guess, while trying to find the heartbeat.

It’s so neat watching the older two – as their eyes light up when the baby moves under their hand. We are all so ready for this little one – to shower with love and attention.

In the meantime – I’m cleaning out the tv cabinet in our room. Yep, you read right. While there are clothes and dishes to be done, I couldn’t help but clean out something that stays closed most of the time!

Spring Fever, or is it Nesting? – this was a post I wrote here on Monday.

“Little Mommy”