Has it really been two years since I screamed that loudly?
Two years ago today, I went into labour with our son, D.
My water broke. I went to the hospital. And I began what ended up being a 17-hour labour that turned into a C-section.
I remember it so clearly. The pain — the friggin’ goddamn evil PITOCIN-INDUCED PAIN. The crying. The, uh, insisting I was going to die (yes, I’m dramatic).
If you haven’t yet read my birth story, take a gander. It’s terrifying. And there are horrible poo incident descriptions, so you know it is TMI and oh-so-real.
I may remember the labour clearly — TOO clearly — but it’s hard to remember what came before it.
Two years ago today, I was not yet a mother. I was just a pregnant chick with no idea what she was in for very shortly.
It’s bizzare to try to remember what is felt like before I was a mother. I remember working. I remember the godawful long walks to the bus and from the bus, and the endless rides on the bus. I remember crafting and watching TV in the (very quiet) condo.
I remember eating in restaurants and going shopping. I remember having the money to buy random crap I wanted, like a new skirt or makeup or shoes. I remember having uninterrupted conversations with Darling Husband.
I remember complaining I had “a bad night” if I woke up once and found it mildly difficult to get back to sleep.
Two years later, my life is harder in a lot of ways.
But it’s also so, so, so, SO much better.
Cloth diapering two kids? No problem
When people find out that both D and C wear cloth diapers, they are often curious. To people unfamiliar with cloth, they think it sounds like a ton of work — and that cloth-diapering two babies must be an INSANE amount of work.
But in actuality? It’s so not. I promise.
Here are a few of the FAQs I tend to get about cloth diapering two kids:
How many cloth diapers do you have?
We have 26 “regular rotation” diapers, plus four velcro ones that are out of commission because they’re still in the process of being converted to snap diapers (ahem, Darling Husband and your snap tool!). So far 26 has been more than enough, considering D is almost two and C is five weeks old. If you have two newborns, you may need more.
How often do you wash the diapers?
When D was our only cloth-diaper-wearer, I washed them every third day. Now that C is wearing them, too, it’s been every second day OR every third day — depending on what time they are put in the washing machine.
What kind of cloth diapers do you use?
First of all, all our diapers — every single one — is a “one-size” diaper. This means it can be adjusted by snaps down the front that make it bigger or smaller, allowing it to fit babies from 8 lbs. to 35 lbs. I love this system, because it means both kids can share diapers, even though they are drastically different weights. A few quick snaps is all it takes.
Our stash is mostly bumGenuis, and those are our absolute favourites. We have 13 snapped bumGenius Elementals (originally called Organics), 1 snapped bumGenius Freetime, 1 snapped bumGenius 4.0, and four of the old velcro 3.0 bumGenius (which were replaced by the 4.0s). We LOVE the snapped diapers, and depised the velcro ones (which got pilly and became unusable), and that’s why we’re in the process of converting our velcro to snaps (it’s easy — someone* just got sidetracked when the project was 95% done).
*Someone = Darling Husband
We also have five Charlie Banana snapped One-Size Diapers, which we just got before C was born. I’m loving them, and they are giving bumGenius a real run for their money. They also have a much bigger variety of colours and patterns, making them extra stylish.
The rest of our stash is comprised of some cheap no-name type of diapers that were bought randomly in stores because I liked their colour or print. They aren’t as good, quality-wise, as the bumGenius or the Charlie Bananas, but they’re definitely not bad.
How do you wash cloth diapers? Is it disgusting?
It’s not exactly sunshine and roses. I mean, we are talking about poop and pee! But it’s really not that bad. I talked about the washing instructions here, and I’m a little a lot more relaxed with it now.
I empty the diaper bags (laundry bags that hang on the back of their bedroom doors) onto the top of the dryer. I toss any nighttime disposables in the trash. I toss the pee-only diapers straight into the washer (taking out the insert, if they have one). I gather up the poopy diapers, take them into the bathroom, and shake anything, er, solid, into the toilet. Then I toss them into the washer along with everything else.
I turn the washer on a cold wash cycle (with an extra rinse) and add a scoop of diaper soap (I like Nellie’s and Rockin’ Green). Then I go back in and put the machine on a warm cycle with an extra rinse. When that’s done, I throw them in the dryer. When they’re dry, I stuff the pocket diapers, snap everything up so they look nicer, and throw them back in the linen closet. Easy-peasy.
Do the kids ever wear disposable diapers?
Yup, they sure do! Sometimes if we’re making a long day-trip into the city, we will use disposables so we’re not lugging around a huge bag of thick cloth diapers. And D (our almost-two-year-old) has been wearing one every single night since he was about 10 months old.
Cloth just doesn’t absorb as much pee as a disposable, and many kids get to a point where they will soak through them overnight (and wake up, which is evil). So I don’t mind (much) that he wears one at night. I still hate hate HATE buying a crate of Pampers, but it does last a long time, so I grudgingly accept it.
C wears cloth at night since she’s still waking up to nurse, so it’s not a big deal to change her. Although some nights I do stick a leftover disposable on her, so I can be lazy and not change her until the morning.
Do you use disposable wipes or cloth wipes?
We use cloth wipes almost all the time. We have a big bin of them in the linen closet (where all of the cloth diapers are stored, so we don’t wake up a sleeping kid to get a diaper). Our cloth wipe collection is a mixture of:
- Flannel wipes I sewed myself (during first pregnancy)
- Cut-up, unhemmed squares cut from baby towels (as made during my exhausting second pregnancy)
- Cheap baby washcloths
They all work equally well, so I would suggest cheap washcloths as the easiest option. I just wet them by running them under the tap for a few seconds, but Darling Husband prefers to spritz them with a spray bottle of plain water. Tomatoes, to-mah-toes.
Are you a crazy dirty hippie?
No, I’m really not! To be totally honest, I didn’t even recycle at home — for the most part — until 2011.** Shameful, I know. I only wanted to cloth diaper because of the huge cost-savings, and because they look cute. The environmental factor is just, um, like a bonus?
**Because we moved into a house in a neighbourhood where you have to use CLEAR*** garbage bags so we HAD to recycle or else they would not pick up our garbage.
***We are allowed one black bag per week. It is for tampons and pads and other private bizness, so I call it the Bag of Shame.
Five things about having two kids in cloth diapers
- You are very, very, very grateful to stop buying tiny disposables for your newborn. Do you know how many diapers they go through in a day? #holycrapalot!
- When you wash a load of diapers, it somehow feels more rewarding to have more diapers in the load.
- Getting to finally have a baby wear the cute GIRLY colours and prints? Best ever!
- If you have one-size diapers (that adjust from 8-35 lbs), your kids can share all of the diapers — meaning you can throw a few unisex colours in your diaper bag, and not worry about who might need to wear them.
- You get the enjoyment of shocking people who think it must be sooo much work (“Two kids in cloth diapers OMGGG!”) when, really, the small amount of work makes up for the cost it would be to have two in disposables (“Two kids in disposables OMG CHA-CHING!”)
Totally tube-ular!
I guess I liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles more than I realized, because as soon as I sat down to write this post about ear tubes, I thought “Totally tubular, duddddes!” Ah, miss those turtles. Raphael (the red one) was my favourite.
But let’s get back on track — this post is about our toddler, D, and his hearing. Not childhood TV shows and their awesomeness.
We took D back for his follow-up at the ENT (Ear Nose Throat specialist) on Monday. He had a hearing test and some other mysterious tests where they put earbud-type things in his ears, and this is what we found out:
- Neither of his eardrums are vibrating (just like before)
- He still has fluid in both ears (just like before)
- He needs tubes for sure
- The fluid has been there a while (by my guess, he’s had it at least since his first birthday, when a doctor first noticed it, but it could have even been longer than that) so it is thick and “gluey”
- Because the fluid is so thick, D will need surgery to have holes poked in his eardrums and the fluid sucked out, and then tubes will be added
So all in all, it was a good appointment. At least we have answers, and a plan.
It’s difficult to watch your child fail a hearing test. But it would also be difficult to watch him pass a hearing test with flying colours, have no fluid in his ears, and still have these struggles with speech. If I had to choose either option, I think I’m happy we have the former.
The ENT was able to give us a date for the surgery (August 15), BUT when I mentioned he also is on the waiting list to have another minor procedure,* he said we can try to schedule them together so he only has to go under anestesia once. So right now we’re waiting for the two offices to coordinate and try to find a time they can “share” little D.
Thank you for the well-wishes and thinking-of-you messages we got before and after his appointment. We feel pretty good about things, and are glad to be moving forward with getting D’s ears fixed up.
I feel nervous when I think about what the surgery will do for his hearing. Will he have permanent damage? Will his hearing actually improve? Will it be a dramatic change, as he picks up new words left and right? Or will he struggle to catch up for years?
Mostly, though, I’m just glad something is going to happen.
*His other procedure is having a blocked tear duct opened up. Having a blocked tear duct means your eye tears up a lot and gets gunky (yellowish) in the corner. It’s a common problem in babies, but in most cases the duct opens up by the first birthday. In D’s case, it did not, and it’s recommended he get it done or else he’ll have a teary, gunky eye for keeps. It has improved a lot in the last few months, but it flares up occassionally, so it’s still worth getting done. Poor little guy.
Meet my son … he’s one!
Our son, D, is 23 months old.
Actually, he’s one year, 11 months, three weeks, and one day old.
But he’s still ONE.
I get laughed at a lot lately, when I say things like, “But he’s only ONE!” or “My one-year-old …” People give me funny looks and say, “He’s two!” and I’m all, “No, he’s not two, he’s ONNNNNEEE!”
You could say I’m in denial about his upcoming second birthday on June 6. I am, I know.
It’s just that he’s still my baby. He’s still one! Two sounds so much older! Up until a week and a half ago, he’d never even had a haircut. I mean, clearly, he is one.
I wasn’t this weird when he turned one, because one still sounded young. But two! Two is a different story. Two is right before three, and everyone knows three-year-olds look like six-year-olds sometimes.
So right up until 12:01 a.m. on June 6, I will be calling him my one-year-old. You can laugh all you want, but he is still one. For now.
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