Homebirth

So I only got a couple of questions, but you can keep asking!
Lanna expressed concern over the safety (mine) of birthing at home. My birth with M was indeed fraught with troubles, but they were all iatrogenic, meaning the hospital caused them.
I arrived at the hospital in full transition--over 6 cm dilated. The paperwork and check in crap made labor slow a bit, but I still felt tense and ready to fall over the edge into laborland. But the "professionals" kept me too cerebral. I started to get kinda panicky and worried that this was going to take days. I was also hungry, but knew better than to ask for food. The dr offered to break my water and I readily agreed. A woman in transition will agree to ANYTHING. That increased the intensity of my contractions, and a nurse gave me a pain reliever through an IV. I had asked for no IV. I also had a bright red band on my wrist indicating my allergy to codeine and derivitives. Lot good that did. She gave me something related to codeine and my bp started to plummet. M's heart rate did too. I was ready to push (when, by the way, same nurse came in practically demanding I have an epidural--brain dead freak) and the dr was concerned enough about the 2 of us that he cut a big huge episiotomy and M came out fast. He wasn't breathing because of the effects of the drugs. Combined with our low blood sugar (which I have anyway--the hard work of labor just made it worse) we were in tough shape. My bp was 40/30 ish. It came right back up as soon as someone brought be a piece of bread and juice. M nursed right away once they got him bagged, and we were fine. Until the Hep B shot, but that's a whole 'nother post!

With a homebirth, I will not leave the comfort of my home. No one will offer me pain meds or interventions. My midwife will not even be in the room with me if I don't want her in there. I can eat whatever and whenever I want. She will monitor our heart rates about every 1/2 hour but that's it. I can deliver in whatever position I want, and anyone I want can catch baby.
So far, I don't really think I want a waterbirth. I kind of envision standing for the delivery or maybe kneeling. Obviously not on my back or laying down. That's a guaranteed way to have problems! For some reason though, hospitals are the only ones not to have figured that one out. Even cave women were smart enough not to lay down in labor!

The kids will be home for the birth as well. I will start preparing them in a couple of months for what birth entails. M is very excited about the prospect so far. We'll see. I will need to find someone to help with the kids for sure, but I have a while to think about that and get it all worked out!

As far as allergy stuff. I am really not sure. So far I'm just focusing on eating what sounds good. Not doing so has nasty consequences. I'm lucky enough to not have to throw up, but I definitely feel unsettled if I try to eat something based on what I think I should eat instead of what I crave. I do eat a much better diet than I did 10 years ago--no doubt about it. I am also trying to eat more raw and fermented foods--well at least I'm telling myself I should, I just need to work on actually doing it. I think a big factor is that I haven't had much trans fats in a couple of years, I will refuse the Rhogam while actually pg and the baby will have no vaccines. Those seem to be the biggest triggers as far as I can tell. I am trying to do more research to see what else I need to do. The problem is that no one really knows what caused the allergies, so it's all conjecture and he-said-she-said. I'll just have to prayerfully consider it all and do the best I can. Meh.

I need to go call the county assesor about that house up the street. Since the Real Estate agent doesn't seem to be all that motivated to call me back. Seriously, any recommends for agents in the SW PDX area?

chicken pox

No, we don't have it. Sigh.

Many of you know that I'm not a big fan of vaccines. I'm not anti vax. I think they totally have their place. I just think that injecting every child with every major dead virus is supreme idiocy. The vaccine that I hate the most is the varicella vaccine. The makers of this vax would like you to believe that chicken pox is a horridly deadly disease.
Okay, who had chicken pox? Yeah, and you pulled through just fine huh? Probably got to miss school for a week if you were lucky too, right? I even had it about a year ago. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck, but it only lasted for a few days. I'm thrilled it wasn't a stomach bug!
Want to know how to protect your child from varicella? Make sure they get it as a child. Then make sure as you age, you are around kids with chicken pox. Seriously.
Here is a fantastic article on why we need chicken pox.
Oh, and DO NOT GIVE THEM TYLENOL!!!!!!! It will prevent the liver from coping with the disease. They absolutely HAVE to have the fever to process the disease too, so avoid the advil too, please. Giving these drugs has been shown to cause more complications from chicken pox than any thing else.

Next up on that crunchy path

This may make some of you cringe. And if you have a son/sons, it's possible you may come away from this with feelings of regret and loss. I felt the same way. It's taken me some time to forgive myself. I just keep telling myself the mantra from Maya Angelou, "I did then what I knew how to do. When I knew better, I did better."
I'm talking about circumcision. Of all the things I've learned about natural living, children, parenting, and raising a family, I wish I had known this first. I wish someone had given me this information--the truth--before M was born.
I was told a lot of untruths and outright lies. I have since discovered that circumcision was promoted in the 1800 to prevent masturbation. Good ol' 1800's, eh? But in the last century, dr's realized that they could make a couple hundred easy bucks off of roughly half of all the children born in the US. Follow the money is a good strategy for questioning any accepted practice. Basically, if I do X, who profits? If that is the same source as your information, start digging!
I won't copy and paste all the info, but I am providing lots of links. I will also give my current feelings on the subject.
For starters, the circumcision rate in the US is falling rapidly, so I'm probably preaching to the choir. It was over 90% in the early 90's, but has already fallen to the low 50% range. That is still way too high.
Let's look at it this way. Say a man had had plastic surgery to remove his nipples. Because, well he didn't want them anymore. But then he has a son. And he decides that he wants his son to look even more like him than he already does. So he asks the dr to chop off those nipples real quick--no anesthesia, just go for it.
Sound ridiculously crazy? Of course it does. But this scenario would actually be more logical than performing a circ. What??!! Well, yeah. For starters, other people are much more likely to see the dad and his son's nipples (or lack thereof). Who really goes around showing off their penis to the general public with kid in tow--no one who wants to stay out of jail and off the sex offender list. Secondly, as far as I know, nipples on a man serve no purpose and are less sensitive than a foreskin. Here is a list of what is lost when that little piece of skin (which actually amounts to a full 1/2 the infants penis).
For a long time, medical professionals told parents that it was hard to care for a foreskin (my doc sure did) and that eventually he'd need a circ when he was older. Infection would follow, along with all kinds of other complications. What they were missing was the vital information on how to actually care for an intact penis. Want to know the complicated secret? Don' t do anything! Nothing at all. Don't touch it, don't pull it, don't stretch it, nothing, nada. Infant skin is very fragile. And the foreskin is attached to the penis. Pulling it back, even a little bit, will break the skin. Broken skin has to repair--y'know, scars? Those scars result in adhesions. It can also lead to infection. Nature has a pretty perfect system worked out. 99% of the time, if you leave Nature alone, Nature does just dandy.
So this "medical advice" actually led to the problems it was warning against. The professionals told parents that if they were crazy enough to not circ, then they had to be extra vigilant about retracting and cleaning every time.
More and more research is showing the effects of stress on babies. Stress leads to a flood of chemicals on the brain. It cause actual physical changes. This stress response effectively turns on "survival mode" in the infant. By not allowing mom and baby to just relax and bond, all kinds of things are interfered with. Breastfeeding, recovery from birth, immune system, and all kinds of things we probably can't even fathom. Operating without anesthesia is certainly high on anyones list of "stressful." Would you have your genitals cut without anesthesia?
Another thing to consider with an elective surgery with a newborn is consent. Who owns that foreskin? Not mom and dad. Not the hospital. It belongs to him. You wouldn't chop off any other part of his body for aesthetic reasons (I hope).
If you or someone you know is expecting, or thinking of expecting. Here is a list of links to read up on circumcision. A lot of times I hear about couples where the mom is horrified by the idea of circ, and the dad thinks his son needs to have it done. So first up is a video of a circ. Make him watch it. Then he can decide. And read him my analogy of the nipple surgery.
The video from Intact. Please be aware that it is NOT work appropriate and should not be viewed by children. It is graphic--as it is surgery on a penis. And it may be just too much if you are sensitive. But it needs to be seen if you are going to make informed consent.
A cute article that puts a few things in perspective.
Organizations committed to educating the public about circ:
Stopcirc
NOCIRC
Mothers against Circ
CIRP
Intact
Circumstitions
Intactivist blog
Birightonwoman's thoughts on circumcision
Stories and quotes

Babywearing

2 kids, 1 wrap and a momma with her hands free.

G always wants to cuddle in the afternoons-typically about the time I need to start dinner. He hasn't been worn in a very long time (he's 36# for crying-in-a-bucket! Look at the proportions in the pic above) so he wasn't sure about the wrap last night. But he had fallen asleep in the car on the way home from Village Home and kept wanting to go back to sleep. I had to make dinner for C's birthday. What to do? Plop him in the wrap. He loved it and it was just enough to transition him to wakefulness. And we had a lovely dinner with my own variation of Turkish chicken and rice.

Babywearing is one of those "crunchy" things, but I can't understand why. Who wouldn't want to have free hands and a happy baby? And who really wants to haul around one of those baby buckets (whose handles are always being recalled anyway?).
I asked for a sling for M and always wanted one, but never got one. Boy do I wish I would have!! He was the ideal candidate for babywearing. By the time G came along, I knew more, and had a pattern for a ring sling. I made 2 and used them constantly. Then I discovered wrapping. I made a couple of woven wraps and wore those quite a bit too. When G was suffering from his wheat allergy that was still unknown to his parents, he screamed constantly. I couldn't put him down for anything. Ever. That's when I made my first Mei Tai. Beautiful thing to have. He lived in that for quite some time. Even after I stopped feeding him wheat. For quite a long time, it's where he went down for a nap. Or should I say UP. Babywearing is how I survived Village Home with a busy toddler.
This time around, I made a jersey wrap like a Moby Wrap. E spends a lot of time in that. I think he has only been transported in his carseat 2, maybe 3, times. If we are out, he's in the wrap. The pictures above are of my very first purchased babycarrier. It is a Hoppediz and I'm in love!
So why babywear? Other than being able to get things done with a baby/toddler around? Studies have shown that babies who are worn cry an astounding amount less. Like hardly ever. They breastfeed better, and mom is much more attuned to the baby's cues. Spending time together just increases familiarity.
Because baby is facing towards mom in all situations (or should be--don't use the outward carries unless you are just at home in a calm setting), baby can see mom's-or dad's- face and therefore learn how to respond to various situations. Babies read expressions on their caregivers faces to learn what situations are safe/happy/worrisome/stressful.
Even though a baby looks pretty squashed in a carrier, it's very comfortable for them and helps them feel safe. Just like swaddling. But, there is more "give" than one might expect. This has an interesting side effect. Because the wearer is in constant motion, baby has to learn to adjust to the movement. This has a dramatic effect on balance coordination. And it may be life-long. You just don't learn much balance sitting in a carseat.
There has been a lot written lately about the flat heads babies are getting. Between sleeping on their backs, sitting in carseats, laying on playmats, sitting in swings and bouncy seats, it's no wonder they are getting flat heads. Not in a baby carrier. Baby is cradled in fabric or sitting upright. No pressure on the back of the skull=no flat head.
Babywrapping is also ideal for skin-to-skin time or "kangaroo care." The wrap goes all around mom's torso and cuddles baby right against her chest. Then mom can still move around or just stand and sway in the living room. This is especially beneficial to preemies and adopted babies.
I love babywearing in public because it provides private space for my babes. In a carseat perched in the shopping cart, it seems like they are up on display for anyone to come and admire. Yes, my kids are amazingly beautiful, but they get tired of hearing it from strangers--or being petted by strangers. People are not likely to touch or sometimes even see a baby snuggled in a pouch of fabric on your chest. It just isn't considered very polite to reach out and touch a woman's chest. That way, baby can sleep or cuddle in peace and safety.
For more information on babywearing, my favorite site is The BabyWearer.

Homeschooling

I haven't posted as much as I thought I would. Hmm, sounds like the rest of my life.
Homeschooling is another way in which I qualify as "crunchy." It is actually one of the few things I planned to do before having kids that I have done with my kids!
Both C and I were fairly bored in school. We did well, but were bored. There were lots of other things I would have rather been doing, that would have been educational, that did not involve sitting at a desk in a room with 29 other kids making turkeys out of brown paper bags. So I decided that when I had kids, I would homeschool them. I think I may have had a bit more of a structure invisioned than what happens in our real like, but we are definitely not schooling!
I have one of those children who does what he wants. I have spilled more tears and yelled more horrible things at my child over a math worksheet. I finally wized up (with occasional slips back into coercion) and we are true unschoolers. Unschooling is often defined as child-led, organic, or unstructured learning. In our "school," we learn from life. Babies learn every day and their parents support that learning. There is no curricula needed for learning to walk, or talk, or learning colors, or the names of family members. This doesn't really change just becuase a child reaches the magic age of 5 or 6. We learn by reading books, cooking and making things in the kitchen. We visit people of many walks of life. We watch movies and use the internet. We make decisions like what's for dinner, what activity would be appropriate for today and is this choice right now going to leave me the ability to do that other thing I wanted to do. This is big for me. In school, everything is external. The schedule is 100% determined by adults. Of course there is time for lunch, math and art. It got scheduled in back in May, taking into account only the state standards and the need of the teaching professionals. Our schedule is definitely organic. M is learning that if he spends all morning playing computer games, he will be hungry and not dressed when his friends come out to play. (Getting him to apply this to the next day is a challenge--he is 9 after all). We make up our day based on the needs of the individuals in our family. We have a young baby so life is a lot simpler than it was just back in August. When E gets older, we'll do more. When we're sick, we lay around and take care of our bodies. Learning doesn't stop. We have fabulous lessons on the human body and immune systems when we're sick!
The questions I always get are 1) what about socialization? 2)what about math? 3)how will he adjust to the "real world?"
1) We are sometimes over-socialized! We keep very busy. But mostly I respond, "what is normal socialization about living your life with 3o people who were all born within 12 months of you? And if you have an August birthday you are always the youngest, and and October birthday, you are always the oldest? You won't always be the oldest or youngest. You may have nothing in common with those 30 other people. How do you as an adult pick friends? By interest, talent, personality, similar circumstances at least. My kids have friends of all ages. I often get amazed compliments on M because he will sit down and carry on a real conversation with adults. He had a great conversation with an elderly lady at the park one day. Like, a give and take conversation. She was appalled. Pleasantly. He's also great with little kids, and actually likes them.
We do take part in Village Home, where we take classes and M is leading a member activity this term. We go to church. We take community classes from time to time. We are on the fund raising activities committee for our library.
2)Math is a part of life. We cook, we measure, we learn about space and area and shapes. We learn about more and less. How many books will fit on the shelf and how many do we need to get rid of? When M wanted to know more about pieces, he learned about fractions. He is still exploring them. But he will probably never forget his lessons about fractions, because he's learning of his own volition. I have not forced it on him. When he wants to figure out something else, he'll learn the math concept he has to. I'll help him. And honestly, how much algebra do I use on a daily basis? Only the story problem kind! And I haven't needed calculus yet.
3)We live in the real world. Just like my statements about age-grouping children. We learn the things that interest us or that we need to know. We live in our world. We have a garden and learn about the Earth and how amazing it is. We go to the store and learn about commercialization and how we can take care of our bodies and families and minds by making our own choices without resorting to brand worship. We learn about Heavenly Father and his love for us and how important this life is--how every human has value and deserves love and respect.
Our children learn from us the things we feel are important. I get to spend every day with the people I love most in the whole universe. I get to watch their faces when they make a new discovery or "get" something they have been working hard to understand. I don't have to wonder how they spent their day or what they were told by another child or adult. I don't have to worry what junk they were fed by the cafeteria or if they were in a safe environment. I know the answers.
Homeschooling is the best thing I've ever done. It is also the hardest. M has knack for pushing every button I have, repeatedly, and hard. I question my decisions. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. But I also know that he would have the Spirit crushed right out of him in school. I suppose it's being a mom to question and to worry. Especially with the oldest. But I know in my heart that I'm doing what I should be.

Breastfeeding

As already related, I knew I wanted to cloth diaper my children, but that was really about as crunchy as I was at that point. I had decided that I would give breastfeeding a try--maybe for a few months. I didn't really see the advantages of nursing past 6. I mean, they get solids by then right? Well, fortunately my doctor was pro-breastfeeding, and the WIC office in Moscow, Idaho had a great lactation consultant on staff. And my mil had nursed all 4 of her children for over a year. So I had good support. Good thing too!
At about 4 months, M was diagnosed with food sensitivities through my milk. I had to go completely off of dairy and we tried lots of other foods too. I went on an elimination diet while nursing a child who threw everything up. My calories needs were through the roof. We got him fairly settled after a while and he did much better. I took him to an allergist who told me to be careful with the hypo-allergenic formulas because with M's profile, he would develop an allergy to them within 6 months. I did have to use some formula due to school. I had a 5+ hour class that didn't really allow for pumping time. My sister-in-law did bring M by to nurse during a break I had set up with my profs and that worked pretty well. But with M nursing so much even at this point (he was nearly a year old) I didn't have milk left (or time left) to pump. So he had formula 3x/week or more. He did, indeed develop an allergy to it. I wish I knew then what I know now. Anyone else feel that way?
So, with M limited diet, we went on to nurse for nearly 3 years. Probably saved his life, certainly his health, and possibly a shred of our sanity. I don't claim to have all my sanity anymore-that's for sure. But by being an "extended-nurser," I ran across lots of information I may not have otherwise been exposed to. Other women who had nursed their children past that magic first birthday came out of the woodwork to offer friendship and support. And of course, reading Mothering and cruising the boards at MDC, I learned A LOT! I found out I was not just providing a food my son could tolerate. Breastfeeding is about so much more. I have a totally different take on it now.
The WHO and other organizations say breastfeeding should continue for AT LEAST one year. Not yank the baby off the breast on their first birthday and expect them to be happy about it. Breastmilk changes in composition during the day and over the years. It always provides just what babies and toddlers need. I really wish I had been able to continue nursing G and provide more milk for him because he is such a picky eater. If I knew he was going to nurse several times a day, I wouldn't worry about it since breastmilk would provide him with the nutrition he needs--much more than a bowl of rice can, which seems to be his meal of choice.
The milk also provides nutrients that scientists either a) haven't been able to identify or b) cannot synthesize. That means that there are hundreds of components of breastmilk that may never make it into formula. Some of the most important of these are the immune factors that mom passes onto baby. A child who is breastfed over a year has a good chance at facing illnesses his mom has been exposed to in her lifetime.
Beyond the milk, breastfeeding provides other benefits to mom, baby, the family and the world at large.
Mom has higher rates of cancer, especially breast, uterine and ovarian, if she chooses not to breastfeed. The longer she breastfeeds, it appears, the less her risk. Breasfeeding also acts a natural birth control. It's not guaranteed, but nursing on demand for every feeding will suppress ovulation. Even though I used some bottles and a pacifier, I still got to be ovulation and period free for 16 months! Breastfeeding is also EASY. Really, after the learning period, it is so easy. For most (I have heard valid horror stories). Food is always ready, always the right concentration, nothing to wash or measure or pack. With M, all I had to pack up when we went somewhere were a few diapers. How easy is that? And all that "I didn't have enough milk" is bull. What you didn't have was enough support. To have enough milk you need good food, plenty of water and rest. There are some reasons why women may not have enough milk, but they are so rare compared to what people make it out to be. And even if your supply is low, there are herbs to increase supply, and supplementers if need be. Hey--I have almost no supply! I adopted my 2 youngest.
Benefits are numerous for baby. Many are common knowledge like the healthier infancy--less sickness and all. Baby is allowed to do what they were born to do. Breastfeeding gives baby the cuddle time they will need regardless of whether or not they are breastfed. If you don't want to cuddle your baby, you won't get out of it by bottle feeding. Actually, if you don't want to cuddle your baby, either don't get pregnant in the first place, or contact a reputable adoption attorney. Ahem, moving on. Bottle feeding drastically increases the likelihood of diabetes, obesity, and allergies, as well as other autoimmune disorders. Some of this is because of mom's anitbodies, some is from the nutrition in breastmilk. For obesity and Type2 Diabetes (which are closely linked anyway right) it comes from the simple fact that baby controls the amount of food he gets. When bottle feeding it is so easy to force baby to take a little bit more, or stop because the bottle is empty. Baby learns that his hunger and satiety cues are not important and that someone else should be in charge of that. At the breast, baby nurses until full and asks for more when hungry. He learns to recognize the feelings of hunger and when he is full. This carries over into adulthood. How many adults are obese because they can't really tell when they are full?
The community at large benefits from breastfed babies. Formula is hard on the environment. Every factory is another contributor to pollution. And then, all those canisters, scoops, boxes, paper tubes, lids, bottle liners and old bottles really add up. Not as much as disposable diapers, granted, but still it is a huge impact. The health care costs are high as well. Formula feeding leads to more ER visits and just plain more doctor visits. The government could save millions if it didn't give away so much formula through WIC.
Unfortunately, I have to use formula. I did my research and found an organic formula I feel pretty good about. I am also taking nearly 4,000 mg of fenugreek, plus a blend of other galactogenic herbs. I also eat oats every day and try to get in some greens (need to be better about that one) and drink lots of water. I could take Domperidone, but haven't felt that is right for us yet. Maybe I will later. Since I can't make enough milk, I supplement with formula at the breast using a Lact-Aid nursing trainer. It is awesome. E likes it too. He'll take a bottle, but prefers me. That is especially nice for me. Since we didn't get that 9 months of bonding time in utero, it is nice to have a way to get to know each other and get familiar with each other. I hope I can breastfeed him longer than I did G. He made it about 9 months. I hope I have learned a few things that will help us go longer. Maybe I can even build up more of a supply so that after he is well established on solids, we won't even need the trainer any more. Could happen. I am so grateful to be able to breastfeed my boys at all. I am also grateful for my good friend who donated milk to me last time and has offered to again. That means so much to me.
Breastmilk rocks!

How cruchy are you?

I took this quiz and scored 174. I would have scored higher if I had given birth to my last 2 children. That's crunchier than Grape Nuts folks.
Please, those of you who are interested, take the quiz and let me know how crunchy you are. I''m curious.
My plan is to follow up with a few posts documenting my journey to the land of Grape Nuts. Cuz I didn't really start here. Honest!

My cloth diaper journey

These days, I am a decidedly crunchy person. Very crunchy. But I didn't really start out that way. Well, a little crunchy. But I was as mushy as gruel in comparison to the modern me. Where did I start my journey to the crunch? With cloth diapers.
I watched my brother wear cloth diapers--of course, that was 1980 and still common practice. But my mom is a huge advocate of cloth diapers and I had that background. So in 1998, when I discovered I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to use cloth. Not just for the environmental reasons, but for cost reasons as well. All I knew of cloth was basic home-made diapers or prefolds, or flats of course. For covers, I knew about the basic plastic pants. And pins.
So I outfitted our changing table with prefolds and flats (the prefolds were from my friend's mom), plastic covers, and a couple of packages of pins. I also bought commercial wet wipes.
M wore disposable diapers for the first couple of months and then switched to those cloth diapers. He did great in them, we figured them out and it worked for us. When he was a little over a year old, I made a life-altering discovery: Mothering Magazine. I had been doing research on mainstream parenting magazines--and not finding very positive things let me tell you!-- when I happened upon this amazing magazine. The first thing I saw on the cover was about co-sleeping. When I opened it up, I found an ad for cloth diapers and covers. Wow! I didn't realize people were still selling them--real cloth diapers I mean. Not the cheap crap Gerber passes off as diapers in variety stores. I immediately went out trying to find a copy of this magazine to buy.
I was thrilled. I also saved enough money of our piddling college student funds to buy a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap and some doublers. I felt very fancy indeed! I still use this wrap on G some 8 years later. They've changed the design ever so slightly (and I have 2 of the new ones) but they are really great wraps. When M was big enough to outgrow the prefolds I had, I bought premium, or toddler size, Chinese DSQ (diaper service quality) prefolds. Those suckers are thick and heavy. It was a dream to switch to those from the old little prefolds. I also got better at hunting for cloth diapers at thrift stores and picked up a few more odds and ends for M until he graduated from cloth.
Fast forward to 2004 and our adoption of G. I had been reading Mothering for 5 years and participating on the online community MDC for nearly as long. I knew lots more about cloth diapers-and other things as well which I'll discuss in later posts. This time around, I made some fitted diapers out of old flannel sheets I bought at the thrift store, and later from flannel I bought on sale at the fabric store. I also had discovered what was then the One Stop Diaper Shop, now called Very Baby. I bought PUL from her as well as Aplix and elastic and pattern to made covers much like the Bummis cover. I love those covers and I like the fitteds a lot. G wore prefolds a lot too. I even experimented with making some pocket diapers. Those were really nice! But best of all, I discovered the Snappi! Now more pins!! All in all, diapering this time was lots easier than the first time around. I was having fun and I was hooked. Yes, I think cloth diapering is fun!
Now, with E, I have expanded my fun. I have posted pictures before in the last month or so, of AIO's I have made. My sister-in-law, J, even cut out and made a few for me, so I would have enough of a stash. I broadened my horizons and bought colored PUL and included these in the AIO's and in a couple of new covers. So, in using my old fitteds and my new prefolds, and even a couple of pockets, I was missing something. Prefolds! So I bought a dozen infant prefolds (the nice tiny ones) and a new Snappi (just because) and they arrived in the mail yesterday. I washed them all up and quickly put one on E. It was so satisfying. I can't explain it. Something about that nice, thick cotton diaper folded just so onto my baby's bum all fastened with a Snappi. It just feels good for some reason.
So yes, I much prefer cloth diapers. No, I don't mind washing them. No, I don't soak them--it's a drowning hazard in house with young children. Yes, my diapers get stained periodically. Do I care? Why would I? It's a diaper for crying in a bucket! Here's how it goes:
Remove wet diaper. If it's poopy, wet a washcloth with nice warm water and use that for a wipe. Set aside and put nice fresh, chemical and perfume free diaper on. Admire look. Place diaper bundle in pail. For older-solid poo, shake in toilet. Otherwise, don't sweat it. When pail is full, dump the entire thing in washing machine. Run through a cold rinse cycle with Bi-O-Kleen Bac-Out or Baking Soda. Run a hot, heavy duty cycle with Bi-O-Kleen laundry detergent (not premium kind). Run through a quick rinse cycle or transfer straight to hot dryer until dry. Enjoy a pile of clean, fluffy diapers that I don't have to run to the store to buy, or put up with the smell.
Unless my kids run across a food that causes a problem, or don't get changed often enough, they rarely have a rash problem. I always have diapers on hand. My family thinks I'm crazy, but I use them when traveling too. I just really like them. And I'm not alone. Google cloth diapers. Seriously. You'll faint. When you are a total cloth diaper convert, you can blame me. I'll still love you.

Next up, maybe breastfeeding?