9.15.2011

[prefolds]

I heart prefolds so much.
They launder really well. They're durable. If you buy bleached you can soil to your heart's content and then bleach them when you want them looking their whitest again (or try sunning them!).
We have over 2 dozen prefolds that Rowan wears every now and then. I have a pretty large stash so admittedly we don't use them as often as the pockets, but I love my prefolds.

Currently Rowan is about 16 lbs and almost 4 months old.
She is outgrowing her clothes and diapers like crazy now.
In her "currently fitting" prefold stash we have Bummis Organic Cotton Infant prefolds (7-20ish pounds) and Medium (Yellow edge) Smart Fit Imagine Prefolds (12-25 lbs).


Bummis infant prefold on top of an Imagine medium prefold.

Rowan barely fits in her Bummis infant prefolds now that she is 16 lbs. I could see these fitting her snappied for maybe a pound more, but not longer than that. Trifolded, though, I think they might work until 20 lbs. The problem with that is she is going to outgrow her small covers soon and in a medium cover there would be less coverage.
I used these since she was about 11 pounds. They are super soft after prepping and fit beautifully in various small covers. The best deal is to buy a Bummis Diaper Kit and get a bundle of prefolds, covers and a fantastic wetbag for less than $170. Then sell all of those and size up when needed! You know me though, and I probably wouldn't personally drop that much money on a small stash, but I'm cheap like that. For people with some common sense it is a great buy, though, because the covers and prefolds are of great quality.


Rowan in a Bummis infant sized prefold, snappied. She is 16 lbs here.


The Imagine prefolds we have (medium size) I anticipate will fit us for many months to come. They are wider than most prefolds so they will be a lot easier to snappi, a problem I ran into with Chinese prefolds for sure and even GMD prefolds after a while.


Rowan in a medium Imagine prefold from Nicki's Diapers.

There are a variety of covers that I love and recommend for the "infant" stage but the ones I most often use are my small Bummis covers and my small Thirsties cover.
I can use both my Imagine prefolds and my Bummis prefolds, either snappied or trifolded, in either of these covers.


Bummis infant prefold trifolded in a small Bummis Super Whisper Wrap.


Bummis infant prefold trifolded in a small Thirsties cover.


The Imagine yellow edges can also fit in the same covers! The fit would be a little bulkier, though. Just to show that if you only have larger prefolds to work with you CAN fit them trifolded in a smaller cover.



Imagine medium (yellow) prefold trifolded in a small Bummis cover.


Medium Imagine prefold trifolded in a small Thirsties cover.



9.07.2011

[thoughts on vaginal birth...]

Just wondering out loud here...
Why is there so much emphasis on vaginal birth?
Why are VBACs so lauded?
I can only see one reason: you feel like you weren't "in control" of your c-section and you want to take that control back.
Am I right? And not only are you supposed to desire a VBAC instead of a repeat cesarean, but it better damn well be unmedicated.
WHY?
Epidurals are not shown to be harmful to the baby. They relieve you of your excruciating pain.
You can still get up and feel back to normal after pushing your baby out, you just have to wait a couple of hours for the numbness to wear off. It isn't like you will be doing much walking around after having an unmedicated birth, anyways. I know all I wanted to do after having my kids was lay in one place, maybe eat a little, nap a little, and nurse them. None of that required getting up.
I often hear that the recovery is easier for a vaginal birth. I was up and moving around normally less than a day after my c-sections. I felt great, my incision wasn't even very sore but I did have pretty bad gas pains. I hardly bled at all after having my daughter.
I hear from a lot of friends that they tore really badly or have pelvic pain months after their vaginal births. It doesn't exactly seem like a walk in the park.

Yes, it would have been nice to have my babies placed immediately on my chest.
It would have been great for my husband to have cut the cord. I did want those things, but it wasn't the end of the world that I didn't get them. They just weren't that important in the scheme of things. I don't know if I just take things in stride more than others or if I just don't "get it".