The Cloth Experiment: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Diaper Pails?

There is a new post on http://clothdiapers.blogspot.com/ about Diaper Pails! Check it out.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Disinfecting Cloth Diapers

Thanks to Autumn of All About Cloth Diapers,

I found a link to a post about how to disinfect cloth diapers.

Check out the post over at

Eco Nuts Soap Natural Laundry & Cleaning

Eco Soap Nuts.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

For weeks now, I've been reading Danielle's pregnancy journal over at Happenings of the Harper Household but have yet to make my own post. If I remember correctly, we are just days apart on our due dates (Mine is August 24th). That is where the similarities end.
A little background:Surprise! Baby #4!I have 3 boys age 8, 6, 21 months.All my babies were overdue: 7 days, 3 days, 5 days respectivelyAll 3 vaginal deliveries in a hospital with epidurals (yep, I'm a wimp and totally okay with that).
Symptoms: Cold, freezing cold, all the time. I added 2 blankets to our bed because I was shivering so much at night that my jaw was sore. I wear sweaters even though we live in the desert where we have highs in the 60's and 70's. Also, tired all the time. I try to sneak in a nap with my youngest in the afternoons. I started out the pregnancy with tiredness, nausea, but thankfully no vomiting! Even though I tried to eat a little something every 2 hours, I still felt nauseous all the time. The nausea has dissipated, thankfully. No breast tenderness this pregnancy, which was always my indicator that I was pregnant with the boys.
Weight: Not sure... I'm not a fan of the scale and don't really know what I weighed before pregnancy. It always annoys me that my scale at home and the one at the doctors office don't agree. We'll have to wait and see what their scale says at my next appointment.
Food Aversions: Ground beef, can't cook it, smell it cooking, or eat it. My boys will just have to get used to meatless spaghetti sauce for the foreseeable future!
Cravings: Chocolate milk shakes and onion rings! I've limited myself to once a week, but it ALWAYS sounds good to me.
What made me cry: I'm not really a crier when I'm not pregnant. Also, my husband is deployed right now, so I'm not sure if my crying was due to him being gone, or the pregnancy hormones, but that song "Letters from War" by Mark Schultz came on my i-pod and I bawled and bawled. Little man just kept giving me hugs and kisses, saying "Mommy okay?" So sweet. Other than that song, I've gotten teary eyed at church during our worship songs. So I guess emotional songs make me cry.
Medical Stuff: My first pregnancy related appointment was back at 11 weeks where I found out I had a urinary tract infection, not fun by the way, but is now completely cleared up by antibiotics. I was also told that since I'm of "advanced maternal age" aka, 35, I would be seeing a specialist for an ultrasound at 20 weeks. Not all that bad of a thing to have an expert in fetal development doing an extensive 4-D ultrasound, that insurance will even pay for. I did have an ultrasound at 11 weeks and here is a peek of baby #4:

Fetal Movement: Yes! I know it is still early, but after being pregnant so many times, you know what those first little nudges feel like. They are by no means big kicks, but I do feel little flutters when I'm really still in the evening, like lying on the couch watching TV. They are really subtle and very low in the abdomen, right where they should be. Great reassurance that he/she is growing and "really in there"!
Thoughts from the boys: My oldest, age 8, jumped up and down like I had just told him we were going to Disneyland when I told him I was having another baby. He is super excited to be a "big, big, big brother". He predicts the baby will be another boy.

My second, age 6, seemed excited, although not as much at son #1, and wanted to know what his brother's name is. I guess he also thinks it is a boy.

Thanks to my neighbor and best friend being pregnant (18 weeks ahead of me), little man has seen lots of Ultrasound pictures and knew right away that the picture was of a baby. He thinks the baby is in his tummy, though, not mine. I think I have him convinced that it is Mama's baby in my tummy, but he still insists he has a baby in his tummy too. He is such a mommy's boy, that he's in for a rude awakening in 6 months when mommy needs to give the new baby some attention.

Something I'm excited about: Getting into the 2nd trimester, which eases my anxiety about miscarrying, and no more nausea, finally!

Why use fleece liners?

I found a nice post about the benefits

of using fleece liners with your cloth diapers over at

the Naturally Healthy Parenting blog.

I use fleece liners but not at every diaper change. Mostly when applying Grandma El's diaper rash cream on little man's buns as extra protection for the diaper. I have also started using them over night to help keep little man's skin extra dry when being in a diaper for 11 hours, especially if he is in a prefold and cover.

Do you use fleece liners?

Monday, February 20, 2012

MamaRoo giveaway at Mommy Katie

Head on over to

Mommy Katie

and enter to win a

4moms MamaRoo Swing

During her new event...

Lots of great baby related giveaways!

Happy Winning! Ends 3-22-12

SodaStream Giveaway!

I still haven't given up my quest to win a SodaStream starter system.

Here is another one I've found...

Head on over to Mess for Less

and enter to win a

Fountain Jet Soda Lover's Start-Up Kit ($99.95)

Happy Winning! Ends 2-29-12

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Win $25 Paypal at Shannon's Tales of Motherhood

Head on over to

Shannon's Tales of Motherhood

and enter to win $25 paypal

during The Baby Birthday Giveaway Hop!

Happy Winning!! Ends 2-26-12

Great giveaways over at Happenings of the Harper Household

Check out these great giveaways going on now over at

Happenings of the Harper Household.

One I really want to win, since I have this new facination with finding the perfect diaper bag...

Enter to #WIN a Large Emma Bag- Winner's choice of fabric!

Maranda Lee "The Original Hot Mama Handbag"

Happy Winning!! Ends 2-24-12

While you are there, check out this Giveaway for a
$50 Visa Gift Card
courtosy of Green Works!
Happy Winning!! Ends 3-9-12

Or enter to win a pair of Baby Shoes
Pediped Orignals - winner's choice of boy or girl.
Happy Winning! Ends 3-2-12