$100 Holiday Giveaway from WaterWipes

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by WaterWipes as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

When I was pregnant with Grayson I remember how people annoyingly loved sharing their thoughts on the differences between having boys and girls with me. One of the biggest differences was concerning the reported difficulty potty training boys. As a result, I kind of dreaded what was to come with potty training Grayson especially after Nia's experience being so easy. Well in the past year we've come a long way (remember how he was removing his diaper last December?) and now we're at the point that when we're home he prefers to be diaper-free and has woken up dry from a nap. I know we're in the home stretch of potty training, but that doesn't mean we don't have accidents though - and they doesn't always come in the form of potty training challenges! 

Safer Laundry with Molly's Suds #WiseChoice

Disclosure: I was provided samples to facilitate this review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I've moved about 10x in the past 10 years and from the dreaded, dark communal laundry room in my Queens' apartment complex's basement to the awesomeness of wash and fold in Jersey City, I've experienced so many different set-ups. In our new home in Boston I finally have the arrangement I've always wanted: two floors of living space with an actual laundry room on the second floor. With built-in cabinets, hanging rack and wire shelving up high I like that I can close the door if needed and not worry about the laundry monster that often gets out of control in our household. 

We're Nearing Potty Training with Help from WaterWipes!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by WaterWipes as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.

This week Grayson has his 18 month well visit, and we're also thinking ahead to potty training. While Nia was already starting to use her potty at this age, Grayson quite isn't there yet but he's showing readiness including taking off his diaper when he needs to go. I think that's a pretty clear sign, right? 

He's a very involved diaper changer, to put it politely! He tries to help clean up, position his new diaper, and he's especially passionate about wipes. When I was pregnant with him I first learned about WaterWipes at a NYC baby expo where I was given a sample. As a previously full-time, cloth-diapering family, I interchanged between conventional and cloth wipes with Nia especially if we were traveling, but I was always concerned about the chemicals in conventional wipes. 

Enter WaterWipes, a chemical free wipe. In other words, it's preservative free containing only two ingredients: 99.9% purified water and .1% grapefruit seed extract. I was thrilled to learn it's pretty much what I use when we're using cloth wipes, and making them easier to take with us on the go. I visited my local Target and found them easily with a couple different size options to choose from - I purchased two, 60-count packs. 

When he's not helping me this is what he's doing!

During Grayson's diaper changes I noticed that the WaterWipes weren't interfolded which actually is more sanitary and also makes them perfect in their own container - it's not advised to take them out of the package and repackage in other containers. We were able to toss them in our diaper bag changing station and keep a pack at home. Since there are no preservatives they need to be used within 1 month. This wasn't a problem at all, and if we needed to stock them in our diaper changing table long-term they keep up to 15 months. 

And of course I have to talk about performance. 

There are definitely differences between boys and girls when it comes to the output department and Grayson has more intense diapers than Nia. WaterWipes handled them easily and since I use unscented wipes on him anyway, there was no missing of perfume for us. He was left smelling like his usual baby self which is fine by me! 

One extra bonus of the WaterWipes is because of their purity I was confident using them on other areas of his skin: wiping his hands and nose especially. He has sensitive skin and some eczema challenges still and there was no adverse reaction to WaterWipes! 

If you're interested in giving WaterWipes a try here's a local store locator to find your nearest Target. Also be sure to follow WaterWipes on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for the latest product news and promotions. 

Is your little one a helper during diaper changing time? What age did your child potty train?

 

(Pre) Spring Brain Dump

I'm writing this with this view giving me inspiration while half my both kids are napping. Despite the time change I'm feeling renewed today especially with the sunshine (it's 43 degrees here, 50 degrees warmer than it was a few weeks ago!), and the ability to have squeezed in a Monday workout which is a rarity especially given Mr. Lovebird's early a.m. car emergency that I had to bundle up the kids for today.

I just wish I could brain dump out everything I have to blog about!

Anyway, here's what's on my mind with spring just around the corner ...

• First, it is NOT spring! It drives me nuts when we spring forward and everyone declares it's spring (same as when people say it's fall on September 1 when it's actually not until September 22, which happens to be my birthday). I'm Type A I know!

• Grayson still can't crawl, but he's proudly pulling himself up to a standing position at last (annnnd he's started using his big sister's cloth diaper stash after exhausting our gifted disposables - more on that to come):  

• We are hurtling towards our first family cruise and did a bit of shopping over the weekend; I had an awesome haul for Nia at the Kittery Outlet:

• Speaking of cruise, we booked not knowing that our ship just had a 2.0 update which I saw haphazardly on this cruise forum; now we're even more excited (speaking of which Nia is now obsessed with watching cruise water slide videos, which I prefer to those annoying toy unboxing videos she was previously obsessed with) 

• More on the cruise . . . I'm 10lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm hoping I can close in on it before we depart in 34 days

• I was back in Boston Friday night for a welcome night out, and it was FREEZING! I find it colder there than here maybe due to how it's positioned on the water perhaps? Anyway, can you believe the last time I stood at this spot there was no such thing as Instagram? 

• I bought my first blogging conference ticket of the year: Blog Beautiful 

• I have a slew of sponsored content (and giveaways!) coming up and while this blog is definitely changing shape, please know that I'm very sensitive to maintaining a delicate balance and this post by Brani Riley, aka Mama Knows It All, helps explain the role that sponsored content plays for bloggers

• We've somehow entered birthday season to the max (we have 4 parties to attend in under 7 days #jesusbea4hourenergy), and this is my go-to 5 year old gift (thanks Lisa O.!) and this cake is just too, too adorable (and super simple)

• As much as I love living here in Portsmouth (I feel like we're on vacation!), I forever have NYC on the brain and am obsessed as ever with Harlem real estate; check out this listing - here's a teaser pic:

• And lastly, I'm ending on cuteness overload with this adorable video I forgot to include in Grayson's 8 month update:

 

Enjoy the sunshine friends!



P.S. If you need a quick laughternoon break click here (warning: there's music in case you need to turn your speakers down!).

Life With Gray: 1 Month Old

Yesterday we headed into the city for Gray's one month doctor's appointment - it was a family affair:

I cannot believe how this little guy's grown! I remember Nia's growth escalated pretty quickly but Gray's measuring a month ahead of her (and she's still nearly off the charts herself). He's quite the hefty boy! Check out the full recap for more details:

• Baby's Weight: 11lbs, 1oz - he was born 8lbs exactly and lost a bit upon discharge; 48 hours later at his first well visit he had gained 13oz already

• Baby's Height: 22" (he was 20" at birth)

• What size of clothing does baby wear?  Gray can still fit into some newborn clothes, but 3 months fits best; he's mostly been in his sister's hand-me-down newborn gowns anyway!

• Any milestones baby reached during the month: We gave cloth diapers a try a bit earlier than we did with Nia but with his skinny thighs we're going to formally hold off since blow-outs are epic. Since this is our last baby we won't be investing in newborn cloth diapers - we'll just use conventional diapers until he gets thicker. Also during tummy time he can turn his head from side to side; he's also started cooing - you can hear it a bit in this video (which was shot by Mr. Lovebird vertically - a pet peeve of mine!):

• Special outings baby had during the month: If you follow me on Instagram you see I've been tracking our birthday party attendance this season, and he went to his first two weekends ago - I keep him bundled in his Moby or in his carrier to minimize others touching him!

• What are your thoughts about the past month? It was definitely made sweeter by an easier recovery than last time (full birth story to come). I feel like I took great care to cherish the newborn stage, but had a bit of sadness with Gray as I did with Nia reflecting on the dependency of a newborn especially during a moment when I noticed Gray had an eyelash in his eye. It's a moment I remember having with Nia as well. I know how annoying it can be to have an eyelash in your eye, but the fact that there's no way for him to specifically communicate it and as with Nia, Gray didn't cry about it or show visible discomfort made me sad. I know it sounds strange, but that's how I feel!  

• What was baby's routine? We're up for the day around 8a.m. (although Nia tries to get us up earlier), and he eats every hour unless he's sleeping, then I'm engorged. As with Nia, I feed Gray on demand. I don't feel like he's awake as much as Nia was though. He's a pretty drowsy baby and prefers to sleep on me even crying in the Moby so I can take him out and still hold him so most of the day I'm holding him asleep or nursing him. Part of me doesn't mind especially because he's my last baby (Lord willing!). His routine also involves a lot of spit-up too. He spits up much more than Nia ever did. I can count the times on one hand that she spit up her entire life, but he spits up multiple times a day. He's gassier in general and we've found a bit of relief with Tummy Calm. Between 12-3p.m. he's sleeping, and I usually am too. Nia helps keep him entertained while I'm trying to make dinner then when Uka gets home he plays with him, we eat around 6/7p.m. and he stays up with me and Uka until we crash between 11p.m.-midnight. Throughout the night he moves from his co-sleeper to our bed depending on his appetite/dirty diapers. If we fall asleep while nursing and he gets hungry again instead of crying he's now learned to swat my boobs. Kinda funny, but alarming!

• Reflect about the highlights of the month: Definitely seeing Gray with Nia. We've had a few scary moments as she likes to rough him up sometimes (think love taps!) and do some acrobatics a bit too close to him, but overall she is very sweet with him and adores her

• Did any big changes occur?  We've already started laying him in his crib to nap occasionally. We didn't do that with Nia for a while, but since we have two floors and the kids will eventually share the 1st floor nursery it's good practice plus Nia loves it when she's falling asleep too

• What are baby's favorites? Nia is Gray's favorite person. He looks at her so intensely, following her with his eyes and even calls out to her in loud coos - we love it!

I have to ask: who do you think he looks like? At first I didn't see resemblance to Nia, but now I do especially when I watch her one month video. 



P.S. Click here to see Nia's one month recap! Wow how time flies!

Packing Away the Cloth Diapers

Since we've moved we no longer have a washer and dryer, but as I've seen posted on Cotton Babies, you can still cloth diaper via the laundromat. There's one less than half a block from our apartment so I decided to cost out how much it would be to continue cloth diapering Nia. Since you have to wash the diapers in a cold then hot cycle followed by drying the cost here is $7.50/load ($2.25 x2 (for washing) + $3 for drying). WOW! I know it wasn't nearly that expensive to wash them at home using our energy efficient w/d and multiplying this out by every other day (which is how often they need to be washed) this works out to $90/month.

Seeing that the total costs of cloth diapers for us was $200 there is NO WAY we're going to continue. Buying disposables at BJs is about $25/month plus $10 for wipes every 3 months. We're getting closer to potty training as Nia now recognizes the urge to go and asks vs. just being placed on the potty and told to go so I know we won't be using the disposables for long. I anticipate that she'll be potty trained before her 2nd birthday.

So we've packed up the diapers and plan on using them with baby #2. We'll be in a proper house by then with our own w/d. I can't wait for that day, but for now I'm very happy in our current apartment (which, btw unpacking is going well - just taking it slowly as I'm now in a boot since my fall right before Christmas). 

Overall, I'm glad we cloth diapered for as long as we did. People cloth diaper for different reasons and because it was financial for us, it no longer makes sense to continue.

{If you're interested in reading previous cloth diapering posts, just click the indexed topic header to the left!}

 
P.S. Something fun is in the works for Valentine's Day! I was the winner of Baby Making Machine's Valentine's Day outfit giveaway for Nia. Head over to Jenn's post to see what's in store for Nia. Can't wait to take pics!

Cloth Diapering at One Year (and How to Handle the Stink!)

Nia napping in her cloth diaper

With a lot of things in life it's amazing how daunting they seem until you're actually embedded in them. Cloth diapering is actually one of those things! When I sit here and think that I now have a toddler in cloth diapers I can't believe we've been at it for so long. Granted we started when Nia was about 3 months old because of the stash of disposables we were gifted, but still 9 months is a long time to keep at anything in my opinion!

Anyway, it is going well! You can read the last update here, but latest two updates are that . . .

1) We changed diaper liners. What are liners? They are biodegradable sheets of paper - similar to toilet paper - that line the cloth diapers and allow for #2s to be peeled off into the toilet. Another option is a diaper sprayer, but that's too involved for me so we were using these at first:

Photo Credit

Then we switched to these:

Photo Credit

WOW! What a difference. The Bumkins liners are much thinner and cover more surface area AND less expensive than the Kushies which are stiffer and tend to bunch up on the diaper. 

2) We use Poo-Pourri Little Stinker to combat the stench. Toddlers create more adult-like poos and the smell is so strong. Even though we wash every other day, as is recommended, when we open the wet bag we are hit with a powerful stench. The Poo-Pourri combats this by covering the smell with an all-natural mix of oils such as bergamot, lemongrass and grapefruit. Mr. Love Bird says it smells like an item off a Chinese food menu! I think it is powerful, but much better than the poo stench. 

Photo Credit

My sister gave me this product as a gift, and I see it retails for $12.95 for 4oz which is too much for me, but I find it makes a BIG difference in the cloth diapering experience. When it comes time to wash I'm not hit in the face with a wave of stench. I can see making a similar spray solution with oils from a natural food store so I'll try that when my bottle runs out. It only takes a quick one or two pumps to produce A LOT of scent, and I can already tell my 4oz bottle is going to last for a few more months.

Anyone else cloth diapering a toddler? Have any tips/products to share?

Cloth Diapering Update: Econobum vs. BumGenius 4.0

A few months ago we integrated 4 econobum prefold cloth diapers into our bumGenius 4.0 stash as there was a good sale over at Cotton Babies and we had 12 diapers that weren't quite cutting it when Nia double #2-ed or we were behind on laundry.

Our econobum order

We were able to purchase 4 econobums for just under $20! I had read mixed reviews on prefolds, which have in insert that lies on top of the cover vs. being stuffed in. I'm happy to report that the econobum's have actually performed better than the bumGenius 4.0. 

We've tried various snaps on the bumGenius but suddenly Nia started leaking from them about two months ago throughout the day - not even during nap time. I change her pretty frequently too, about 1x every 2 hrs. I think the key to the econobum's success is #1) the waterproof-plastic type cover and #2) the thickness of the prefold. It has ridges so it seems to absorb more pee. We refer to them as her "nighttime" diaper and make sure she's in them especially when she goes to sleep. 

We still use the bumGenius but we put a newborn insert on top of the regular one and it works much better but doesn't eliminate all leaks.

For the cost, I highly recommend them! Mr. Love Bird even says he likes them much better especially because he doesn't have to take the extra time to stuff them.

If you're looking for an effective, affordable cloth diaper, I highly recommend econobum; keep checking back on Cotton Babies for sales (ours were buy one get one free!).



P.S. You can find our last cloth diaper update here!

Dad's Take: Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers

I came across this objective debate on cloth vs. disposables and thought it was very helpful. For us, we really wanted to save money and since we have a HE washer/dryer it makes sense for us. The green angle is an added bonus! 

{Coming up: review of Econobum cloth diapers}

Cloth Diapers vs. Disposable Diapers by DadLabs

Cloth Diapering Update: (Almost) 3 Months In

Nia chillin' in her cloth diaper

As of February 18th we will have cloth diapered for 3 months! I feel like we've been doing it forever. Uka and I are both very comfortable changing Nia, and I wash her diapers every other day. We'll be introducing solids next Saturday when Nia turns 6 months. Time really does fly . . .

Here's a few notes on our cloth diaper experience thus far:

• Poop takes a while - I've read before that some babies who aren't started on cloth may take a while to warm up to it and indeed it took Nia a week to make a #2 in her cloth diaper. Now she goes about every other day.
  
• Yes, cloth diapers leak - Nia leaked occasionally at the beginning of using cloth diapers but as of about 3 weeks ago she suddenly makes waaay more pee at night. Even when we double her diaper with the newborn liner and regular liner sometimes pee gets through, but rarely. I'm finding that if I change her in the middle of the night that it helps with leaking, but I don't want to get up in the middle of the night anymore just to change her. I've read that poor absorbency could be because of detergent, but we use free and clear and recently I started using samples of Holstee's All Natural Laundry Tarts, which is a cloth diaper approved detergent.

Angry leaky Nia

• Blowouts are still rare - We had many more blowouts with disposables and ocassionally we get a speck of poo on her clothes. I'm a bit nervous about what will happen when we introduce solids next week, but I'm confident in these liners we have from Nia's registry (they have rave reviews!)

• Some caregivers are scared of cloth - We've started leaving Nia at our church's nursery and have had a few friends watch her and a few times I've returned to find her soaked. I leave a note and explain to the nursery that she's CD-ed, but I honestly think it's a bit intimidating for some people. I told Uka they probably think of her as, "Oh no! Here comes the cloth diaper baby!" He suggested we just tell them if they don't want to do the cloth diaper they can use the disposables that they have in the nursery. I don't think a diaper rash would suddenly appear from just a couple hours in a disposable.
• We need a couple more CDs - While we have 12 based on Young House Love's CD post, about 14 would be ideal for those in-between times when we are doing laundry and Nia suddenly has back-to-back #2s. We have a stash of disposables as back-up. About 72 have lasted us for 2 1/2 months (we have a few left now). I keep checking Cotton Babies for sales and the next time one pops up I'd like to get some.
• No stains on covers - So far all the stains have washed out from the covers but some of her liners are lightly stained. We use store brand Free & Clear and have no complaints! It's tempting to want to use Zout or OxyClean but these can destroy the absorbency of the diapers. Speaking of detergent one resource I wanted to share is this list of detergent ratings for cloth diapers. It is quite comprehensive! I see lots of rave reviews for Rockin' Green and while it's definitely more pricey than our $3.88 ginormous bottle of Free & Clear, I'd like to give it a try eventually (I've entered a few contests in the past to win some to no avail, but I'm not giving up hope yet!).

I'll leave you with a funny video of Uka and Nia during her diaper change (she LOVES being on her changing table):

Have a good weekend!

Cloth Wipes Review: Babykicks vs. Bummas

I know I'm behind in posting my cloth diaper update, but while I'm working on that I thought I'd share a quick review of cloth wipes. We were gifted so many disposable wipes that we used those, as well as gifted disposable diapers, before moving on to cloth. I had put Babykicks cloth wipes on Nia's registry because I had reviewed all the wipes and these seemed to come out on top (4 1/2 out of 5 stars based on 52 reviews).

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

They come in a pack of ten and honestly just seemed like washcloths to me, and I used them as such until we ran out of wipes. Nia has occasional massive #2s, and I figured I'd need more than ten wipes so I started looking at other options around the time our disposables were running out. Well over at Marlie and Me, a blog I follow, Teresha was sponsoring a giveaway of Bummas cloth wipes (also a pack of 10) and lo and behold I ended up winning! 

Photo Credit: Bummas.com

For me the main difference between the wipes is texture and size. I prefer Babykicks' oval shape as it fits in my hand better, but Bummas have a much better texture for handling #2s. Both wipes have a smooth side and a rough side, but I just stick with Babykicks for #1 and Bummas for #2s. Having both sets of wipes is the perfect amount for the twelve cloth diapers we have. We still think we need to buy 2-4 more cloth diapers to get us through the in-between times when Nia's made a sudden #2 or we have the diapers in the wash/dryer and they're not quite done yet.

Also from a cost perspective Babykicks are slightly more expensive than Bummas at $14.50 vs. $12, respectively, but if you consider the cost of buying disposable wipes either is a more economical choice. Both hold up really well in the wash and I plan on using them with the next baby (which won't happen for a VERY long time!).

So there you have it, my cloth wipes review =)

Oh! I forgot to mention solution! We didn't buy a special solution, but for now we just use water mixed with a few drops of Dr. Bronner's castille soap (my sister gave me some for Christmas). There are lots of homemade wipes solutions here, but we put our wipes solution in a spray bottle and keep it with the wipes on Nia's changing table. When we go out in public we just spray our wipes and put them in the plastic wipes holder. Soiled items get rolled up together in the wet bag when we're out or in the hanging wet diaper bag when we're at home then dumped in the wash. It's so easy!

Our Cloth Diapers Have Arrived!

our stash

Our Bum Genius 4.0 diapers we ordered from Cotton Babies arrived today! Just a refresher that we ordered 12 diapers through the buy five get one free sale. Total cost was $173.80. They require 5-7 washings before use so I got started right away. Although Cotton Babies had free shipping they were slower than Diapers.com but oh well! Nia doesn't have many disposables left so I'm gonna be up late doing washings tonight. 

laundry mound

Now the instructions says to dry in between each washing, but the covers have to be line dried. That will take forever to line dry 5-7 times so I'm just gonna wash those after the liners are dried in the dryer. I wish this part was more clear in the instructions, but we'll see what happens. We have a Kids Care cycle that's extra hot so I'm using that for the diapers.

anatomy of a single diaper

It was nice that it came with two small packets of Bum Genius detergent. We have free and clear and Dreft, but I know you have to be super careful about what you use to wash cloth diapers. I'll have more about that later . . .

For now it's me and our washing machine tonight . . .

Yes, We're Cloth Diapering

It seems like cloth diapers are all the rage now. When I was a baby my parents used them, but they were the standard white diapers with pins and plastic covers. You'd have to swish them in the toilet and they were quite messy.

Now things are much more simpler (and cuter!). Here are some of the brands we considered:

Fuzzi Bunz

gDiapers 

Bum Genius

I'm a fan of a few other bloggers' posts on CDing:

Young House Love - this is the one that really broke it down and got us very much interested especially the cost comparison

BabyMakinMachine - she was a bit of a skeptic at first but is now very much committed to CDing (her little girl looks so cute in the diapers too!)

We settled on Bum Genius' 4.0 after reading countless reviews and scouring the Internet for discounts. Like Young House Love, we ordered twelve cloth diapers. We found a sale on Bum Genius' website for buy five get one free. We originally wanted to order them a couple months ago from Diapers.com, but they were out of stock. At the time they had a coupon code for 10% and they have free shipping. When they were re-stocked there was no longer a discount for Bum Genius and although their fine print said they didn't take BOGO coupons I wrote anyway to see if they would honor it, but it took them a while to get back to me so in the interim I called the manufacturer directly who pointed me to Cotton Babies, and we ordered them there (also free shipping). 

Diapers.com was going to apply the discount by sending me 10 diapers for the price of 8 whereas Cotton Babies sent me 12 for the price of 10, which is what I preferred anyway. I'll still be on the lookout for discounts on from Diapers.com as they have many first-time customer offers.

Thinking ahead we decided to get gender neutral colors (again like Young House Love!), but I did get one each of Sweet and Noodle, which I think should still be fine if our next baby is a boy. For the rest I got two of the following: Grasshopper, Twighlight, Butternut and four White.

Here is the full color palette:

Here are the features of Bum Genius' 4.0:

The main reason we're cloth diapers is COST! We need to save $! Sure there's the green reason too, but I can't believe how much disposables cost. It's crazy! I'll consider cloth wipes too, but for now we still have a ton of disposables although I do have some cloth wipes on hand should we decide to make the change.

Also, unlike most New York City dwellers, we have a washer and dryer in our apartment. It's a Bosch HE so we're not concerned about the electricity bill (the landlord pays the water bill). If we had to go to the laundromat I think it would definitely be more challenging and we wouldn't want to send the diapers out either with a diaper service as that would defeat the point of saving money.

Although Nia hasn't had diaper rash yet, I know cloth is better for her skin so I'm hoping now we can avoid diaper rash altogether.

We also have Kushies inserts on hand which I've read on Amazon make #2s a lot easier to dispose of although breastmilk poo is perfectly fine to just throw in the wash, and we have the hanging wet bag which we use as the diaper pail with her disposables for now, as well as take along wet bags for her diaper bag.

I'll be posting updates on how we do as we transition to cloth.

Wish us luck! 

Baby Decisions

With 6 weeks until Baby Agbai's arrival I've decided to do a post on my baby decisions based on all the information I've taken in during the pregnancy, from watching my own mother and from my personal experience with babies after years of babysitting. I've decided to break this post into themed sections:

Books

There really is so much information out there and while it was easy to go on information overload there were really only two books that I found helpful:

A good friend of mine recommended Ina May early in the pregnancy and while I wanted to have a home birth, I appreciate how Ina May explains how to make the most of a hospital birth. 

I read WTEWYE off and on during the pregnancy to stay on top of weekly pregnancy updates as well as the sections on nutrition and exercise. I think it's a good reference book as well when different symptoms and issues arise during pregnancy. If something feels odd or strange I just pick up the book and flip right to it.

Now I did read Belly Laughs and The Girlfriend's Guide, but both were a bit too fluffy, but I took them for what they're worth - light, humor. 

Websites

Honestly, I really didn't have specific pregnancy related websites that I read throughout the pregnancy, but I did like reading 3DPregnancy.com because of the funny, weekly updates on how the baby was developing. This is where I found the updates to put in my Baby Agbai reports. 

Besides that site, I did subscribe to The Bump's and Pregnancy.com's newsletters but I usually just scanned through them. At times if I saw an article that looked interesting I would click through. For example, "what to pack in your hospital bag" or "what baby essentials to buy."

Apart from the guide-type websites, I frequented blogs of moms at various stages of pregnancy and motherhood. A couple of my favorites are:

• Baby Makin' Machine 
•  a mom pregnant with her first, also a girl

• Prissy Mommy 
• a fellow NYC mommy who's due date is close to mine

• Being Mrs Jones
• her baby Izzy is too adorable!

One final place I did take a peek at was an ongoing thread on Amazon that's about 2 years' worth of baby advice that women just keep adding to. There's some good tips there but it's not organized in any themed way so you just have to click around randomly to find tips. It'd be a good blogger/book project for someone to organize all the info there, but I'm not volunteering for that anytime soon!

Birthing

I keep reading about having a birth plan or creating birth wishes and one of the bloggers mentioned above has a detailed letter that she's giving to the staff at the hospital along with a basket of goodies when she arrives for labor. I've wavered on this because I know that while it's good to make a plan, very rarely do things go according to plan especially when the forces of nature are involved. 

There are some basic things that I've shared with Uka and will put in writing for him to help me communicate to the staff such as:

• No epidural or chemical pain relief until I ask for it; I'm planning on going drug-free 
• No pitocin to speed up contractions - my baby will come when she's ready
• I want the ability to get in different positions such as all-fours or squatting while giving birth; giving labor on your back was created during the Victorian era as a way for ladies to be "dainty" and is the most inefficient position for birth
• Baby will have skin-to-skin contact with me immediately after birth
• No cutting of the cord until it's stopped pulsing
• Baby Agbai will room-in with me; unless there's health complications there's no reason to separate a baby from its mother after birth in another room 

Overall, I think American hospitals treat pregnancy as illness and rush to get the moms in and out as soon as possible. It's not that I want to hang out there myself, but I'm going to go through pre-labor as long as possible at home before going to the hospital (our neighborhood car service comes in 2 minutes and it's a 7 minute drive away). I hate watching the Baby Story episodes where the moms go in as soon as contractions start then they're propped up in a bed for hours on end and finally given pitocin or taken in for a C-section. UGHHHH! That will not be me if I can help it! 

Baby Care 

Diapering  

My mom used cloth diapers with me and it's so amazing to see how far they've come. We'll be using a couple different systems (Bum Genius and G Diapers). It really is more economical, better for the environment and with our washer dryer right by the nursery it will be easy to get the loads done quickly. Our w/d even has cycles for kids and sanitation so I think it'll be a good set-up for us.

Look how cute they are:

Now I came across this Huggies commercial for the new denim diapers. I can't believe this is actually a product:



Feeding 

I am a big fan of breastfeeding and I plan to do so as long as I can. Hopefully until Baby Agbai is one year old. The benefits and the economics make a lot of sense. I'm always surprised when I watch pregnancy shows, especially 16 and Pregnant (not the greatest, I know!) and the moms don't breastfeed, but honestly based on the intelligence level of some of the women on the show it appears they weren't breastfed either. 

I have a library hold on Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding, and I'm hoping it arrives before the baby does (there are 13 others ahead of me!), but I may just break down and buy it.

Kellymom is a good breastfeeding resource and here are a few benefits of breastfeeding I've learned through them:

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of cancer for the mom and the baby girl's lifetime risk
• Breastfed babies have better dental health
• Breastfeeding completes an infant's digestive system; a breastfed baby's stomach lining is 15x thicker than a formula fed baby
• Breastfed babies are better eaters as toddlers

Once baby starts eating solids I plan to make her baby food; my cousin gave me a baby food processor as a shower gift and my sister gave me a baby food cookbook. I also have several storage containers too. I hope Baby Agbai is as passionate about good food as her parents!

Toys

Besides not watching TV, I plan to minimize Baby Agbai's interaction with electronic toys. It seems like everything beeps or buzzes nowadays and I remember growing up annoyed with my siblings' toys that were constantly making noises. Not only do they emit EMFs but they also require so many batteries. I'm a pretty quiet person myself and I don't like the sound of squeaking, chirping toys. 

We don't have any toys yet for Baby Agbai, but Uka and I already made a pact not to let baby toys or baby stuff in general take over our apartment. Her room has a large closet that we'll contain everything in and if we need to bring stuff out we're already committed to returning it back to its proper place. I hate clutter!

Now I do love classic toys, and I've bookmarked a few sites that specialize in them. Here are a couple toys that I plan to have for Baby Agbai when she's ready: 

 

Sleeping 

Uka and I are adamant about not having Baby Agbai in our bed. My parents didn't, his parents didn't, me and my siblings and his all turned out fine. Not only is there the risk of rolling onto the baby (there are hundreds of injuries/deaths from babies in their parents' beds each year), but we're firm believers in the sanctity of the bedroom and especially the parents' bed. It's also the reason why we don't have a TV in the bedroom. Maintaining the sanctity of the bedroom also helps with romance, which we're very much committed to. I've heard so many people say, "Oh romance goes out the window with kids" but that's a choice you make just like anything else. We find ways to treasure those things we find most important for and for me that's romance and intimacy. No compromises!

I don't know anyone nowadays that has the baby in a co-sleeper, but we plan to use one. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a bassinet that has a side that drops and a harness that attaches to the bed's boxspring:

While we'll have the baby in our room for a few months, ideally we'll have her in her own room around 3 months old. I'm a big fan of setting up a bedtime routine as soon as possible so we'll see how it goes and adjust from there. 

General Baby Products

We registered on Amazon's universal registry and while I've tried to keep it under control there are soooo many products out there for babies. Most of them are pretty useless, but I don't blame companies for trying because many parents and soon-to-be parents seem to be suckers for anything!

I mean do you really need an infant pillow in the shape of hands that makes a baby feel comforted???

When it comes down to baby products I think Baby Agbai will be fine in just a cloth diaper, a boob in her mouth and the love Uka and I are ready to give her. Everything else is just gravy!

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Of course it will be interesting to see how all these baby ideas play out over the next few months and I'm definitely willing to adjust. It'll be good to see a comparison of plan vs. reality. I'm sure I'll have a few wake-up calls, but I'm so happy to have Uka with me along the way so we can learn together. 

I feel confident and ready to be a mother and can't wait to meet Baby Agbai!