The preparations continue...
After tomorrow I will have only ONE WEEK OF WORK TO GO! I am pretty darn thrilled about this. It's not that I feel awful being at work, but I am finding that my "patients patience" (ha!) wears thin very quickly, especially in the afternoons. I just don't have the mental energy to be perky and nice all day anymore.
I also feel pretty tired physically now at the end of a shift even if I've only worked for half a day. I work as a receptionist but I have to get up and walk around quite often, and lugging my body around has become more and more exhausting.
I will definitely miss my coworkers. It feels surreal that I'll be done so soon and I won't be with these people all day, every day anymore! I think I might feel a little lonely for awhile. But then when the baby comes I'm sure I won't bother to think about work anymore :)
Luke and I finished up some more baby shopping this past week. It was a relief to finally own a bed-side bassinet for the baby as he will be sleeping in our room for the first few months. We also bought a breast pump (TMI?!), a footstool for the nursing chair, a snowsuit to bring our little guy home in, a sweet baby wrap to carry him around in, a baby monitor and ..... CLOTH DIAPERS.
That brings me to my next subject... we have decided we will attempt cloth diapering. We had firmly decided we were going to use disposable diapers because we felt it would be challenging enough with a new baby at home to attempt to do something so time consuming. In our last prenatal class, our instructor went through all the diapering options, and we ended up learning a lot that we didn't know. We found out that it takes 300 years (I think? Or maybe 100? Anyway, it was a lot of years) for one disposable diaper to decompose, and that disposable diapers are full of chemicals less than healthy to be right next to your baby's delicate skin. The most compelling point (sadly) was how much money we'll end up saving if we go with cloth diapering. I don't have exact numbers right now but it was pretty eyebrow-raising, and Luke and I looked at each other in the middle of class and it sort of just seemed to click to us at the same time that we want to try this.
We have decided to go with a local diaper service, as even this is a cheaper option than buying disposable diapers all the time. We will be going with Bear Bottoms, and the cost is $20 a week. Every week they come pick up the bag of dirty diapers and drop off a fresh bag of clean ones. All you have to do is whip the dirty diaper off your baby and stick the diaper in the pail you rent when you sign up. The diapers go in a bag at the end of the week and all you do is stick it on your front porch for pickup - no yucky washing by hand required.
We have to buy our own diaper covers to use with the service's diapers, and we have chosen Thirsties:
How cute are they? Cloth diapering has come a long way from the bulky diapers my mom used! It also feels good to be doing something beneficial for the environment and for our baby.
Anyway, dinner is on and like the pregnant woman I am I NEED TO EAT.
7 comments:
wait a minute. they drop of a new batch? If it's reusable are they your little guy's diapers or are they reused from other customers as well?
Or do they just wash your batch and bring yours back?
Dorothea
haha - that's what I was wondering too. hmmmm. questions to ponder. Good for you guys - I did cloth diapers for a week with Lucy when she was a little older. She was so chubby that most of her pants didn't fit with a cloth diaper underneath. mwah mwah...
They give you difference diapers every time. The washing process is pretty intense and everything comes back completely sanitary and 100% germ free, just like hospital gowns at a hospital which are reused for years. I looked at the FAQ section of the diapering website and this is how they address concerns of reusing other babies' diapers:
"Do I get the same diapers back?"
No, but please read on to see why this shouldn't concern you. First, many Services have tried to do this, but with little success, as they would have to put one bag of diapers in a load and this could only happen in residential washers (see next question for further explanation on why this may not be the best choice). So, as a parent myself I would be more concerned how well the diapers are washed, since if they are cleaned properly this should never be an issue. It's the same as putting on a gown at the hospital, it doesn't cross my mind if it was cleaned properly and you should feel the same about your diapers. With our 12-step washing process, our diapers come out as clean as new, if not cleaner. No germ can survive our sanitizing cycle at 180 degrees which kills 99.99% of bacteria before they even get to the regular wash. We also test every load of diapers for pH levels and even soap residue. With this, you can rest-assured that getting back the same diapers wouldn't make any difference with our service...they all come out as clean, soft and sanitized diapers.
i still don't buy it.
If there is anything i would splurge on and unfortunately ruin the environment at the same time, I would always splurge on disposable diapers and tampons.
I rather save in other areas the planet, but those two things are the greatest invention ever, which I would not give up.
Dorothea
we thought about cloth diapering too. I really wish we had have went with that in the first place.
Maybe I missed it, while reading this post, but how many diapers do you actually get? newborns are usually poop machines...and it would concern me that I would run out. And are you able to wash them on your own should you run out?
It kind of gives me the willies thinking that I would put some onther baby's pre pooped on diaper on my kid (Noah was the sickest pooper in the world...) but they cleaning process seems pretty extensive.
Maybe once you've used them for a while you should blog about how it's been...I may switch even now. (BTW...have you done any reading on how bad disposables are? It's really gross...I think I posted a note about it on fb)
With this particular diaper service they give you as many as you need - if you need more they come and bring you more at no extra charge. Luke and I are taking it pretty casual though so we still have a ton of disposables - I went out and bought a bunch, and I got a bunch at a recent baby shower - and we're not opposed to using those if we have to travel or if we change our baby while we're out somewhere. My intention isn't to be militant about cloth diapering as much as we mostly appreciate the money saved and the more natural approach to diapering.
Yeah, disposables are nasty - It's funny because no one realizes that technically we're not allowed to dispose of actual human waste in the garbage - technically we're supposed to wash out disposable diapers first and then throw them out! I definitely don't know anyone who does that.
I think people should do whatever they want or are most comfortable with. I remember feeling condemned by certain people a long time ago when I said I would likely just do disposables when I had a baby. I am pretty much a fan of 'to each their own'... and cloth diapering is for us.
I will blog about it more when we actually put it into practice - who knows, maybe we'll hate it and give up after a week ;)
Dorothea - what don't you "buy" with cloth diapers? I am confused.
Annie - I LOVE that you're choosing cloth diapers...best!
Julie
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