Lynse Leanne

When we found out I was pregnant, on 11.5 weeks into the pregnancy, I told Chad that I really wanted to cloth diaper.  When I made this profession and he told me that would be fine, but I would have to do some research and I googled “cloth diaper options” I became very overwhelmed and was questioning my decision.

I found out a few weeks later that there was a local cloth diaper store and they had cloth diaper classes.  Yes!!  But, being a “type A” personality I had to go in to check the store out before I was going to sit in a class.  So on a Saturday, Chad and I headed over to the store and when we got there we were so amazed.  There were so many options.  There were also amazing sales people who were actually interested in helping us.  The one lady that helped us had her 2 year old daughter in an ergo carrier as she was explaining to us the systems that she used for her first and is currently using for her second.

Once we went into the store and saw all of our options and how easy it actually was even Chad agreed we could totally rock this.  And let’s be honest…they are adorable.  More so than the white pampers…just sayin.

So let me break it down with the systems that we use.  We use 2 different kinds. And to be honest, we both love each…and would recommend either.

The first:

Econobum Prefolds with Econobum, Flip (which is the cover he is wearing in this picture) or Thirsties covers. With this system we have a prefold (a big rectangle piece of fabric) that is folded differently to fit from infant size to potty training size.  Once that is folded in thirds, either length wise or other depending on the width needed, it lays in the covers and the covers snap around it.  The covers are all lined so they don’t leak out.  WONDERFUL!!  And, for traveling they have disposable inserts that can go in any of the covers that are a little more convenient for flying but are much more biodegradable than normal disposable diapers.

The second system we have is the FuzziBunz.

They are a “pocket” diaper.  That means there is a microfiber insert that looks like (sorry guys) a sanitary napkin…meaning it is long and narrow ish.  It slides into the pocket that is between the fleece that is on his bottom and the PUR lining so it won’t leak.  The insert is the most absorbent. This one is the cutest of them all and works most like a normal diaper.  I stuff them in the mornings and then we use them as normal.

Once the soiled diaper is removed we have a garbage pail that is lined with a PUR lined liner that they get dropped in until they are washed.  Using both systems together we only do diaper laundry every other day and then they hang to dry.  It’s wonderful.

So, that is our diaper system.  Yes, we LOVE that it saves us money in the long run as all of our diaper systems will go from newborn to potty training and can last for multiple children.  It’s an upfront investment, but long term saves boat loads of dollars!

Questions…?

The carseat.  My son, Print’s arch nemesis.

He can not stand the car seat.  We have tried to make it fun. We have tried me sitting in the back with him to distract him.  We have tried putting him in it in the car.  We have tried the pacifier. We have tried everything.

Each time he goes in the car seat this is what we see…

and he has no in between cry.  It is happy Print and then all of a sudden it’s like we pinched him…red face, not breathing cry.

Anyways, you see, he hates the car seat, yet it protects him.  It keeps him safe in the event of an accident.  It’s one of those safeguards that is in place “just in case” that you hope you will never need.  And as responsible parents, through the screaming and the tears (which break my heart every time) we put him in the car seat to protect him.  Because we love him.  Not because we want to inflict pain or make him mad.  But to make sure in the case of an accident, he is protected as much as he can be from harm.

The whole “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you” thing is very true.  Even in this case.  He isn’t physically hurt by the car seat, he just doesn’t like it…i mean, who would.  But it hurts me each time I have to strap him in because he isn’t enjoying it.

but because i love and want to protect him I do it.  for that reason alone.

I had a baby.  Yep, it’s true.  On August 24th, 2011 at 3:02 in the morning Print Reid Stevens decided he would emerge and join us making us a family of 3…4 if you count Jett. Here is our family picture.  This post will sort of be the birth story minus some boring details.

I was induced on Monday, August 22nd at 7AM.  The entire month prior I had been having non painful and obviously non effective contractions.  I didn’t want to be induced because of the higher risks that come with starting a process that should happen naturally with chemicals that augment what the body was designed to do.  I was scared of the impending risk of C-section that comes along with inductions…and hospital births these days.  But my induction seemed to go really well.  So that was a positive.

Anyways, I was induced on a Monday morning and continued to have non painful contractions throughout the day and that evening I went off Pitocin so I could eat, cause you can’t eat on Pitocin and so I could sleep comfortably. When on Pitocin your contractions and the baby’s heart rate have to be constantly monitored and let me tell you, that is not fun at all.  Rough, scratchy bands pulled tightly around my already contracting tummy with hard plastic monitors…just what I envisioned…not.  Pitocin was started back Tuesday morning at 5am.  It was Tuesday that the contractions started to work and progress was made.  Labour was happening, I was contracting.  I have to say there is no way I could have continued to labour unmedicated without the support of Chad and my doula.  Was seriously the best decision I made.

Most of everything that day is a blur.  I remember things that happened, but I don’t know a time line.  I don’t know when they broke my water other than it was when I was “9cms” and then things went fast.  I only know I pushed for something like 4.5 hours because the doctor commented and then offered vacuum extraction to help the process go faster.  That ended up being the best decision for us because I was so exhausted from labour and pushing with only 2 slices of toast to eat.

At 3:02am my world changed completely.  I fell in love like I never knew.  The second Print was placed on my chest, slimy and all I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.  I didn’t care what the Dr. was having to do or really what he had to say.  I don’t remember anything but holding him so tightly.  It was a relationship that had just begun, yet had been growing for 10 months.  Learning when he liked to be active and when he would be sleeping.  To finally see and meet and hold the little one that would keep me awake from 3am-5am daily.  Looking into his eyes and knowing he was mine.  That moment I will remember forever.

People always say “a baby changes everything’ and I feel like they say it in such a way to be sarcastic to say that your life will be terrible now that you have something to care about and you would need to tend to.  But it is true, a baby does change everything.  But my love for him is something I can’t explain.  And it grows each day with his sweet smile when he wrinkles his nose and bashfully looks away.  Each time I look into his eyes like I did the first time I feel like the grinch and my heart grows.

a baby.  my baby.  Print Reid Stevens.

I am kicking off something to get me back into the habit of blogging.  I am *planning* on doing the alphabet A-Z in order.  Some days ago I was listening to an interview on NPR with the author/artist behind Every Page of Moby Dick about how he would read a page a day and make a drawing of something in that page.  I thought that was a wonderful idea but then in a quick moment realized that I can’t draw.  Later that day I was perusing Facebook as I commonly do and clicked a link of a friend who was doing the A-Z thing.  So no, this was not my own idea but it seemed much less daunting then drawing pictures of a book that to be honest I probably wouldn’t actually finish.

So here goes….the first post.

A is for….

apprehension.

I am always a little apprehensive starting off something to do with blogging because, well, life gets busy and things come ahead of blogging.  And that was before I had a child.  So yes, I am apprehensive.  I fully intend on finishing A-Z.  It may take me longer than 26 days…

yes, I did have to google “how many letters are in the alphabet.” My public school failed me.

here we go….tomorrow is “B”

As you know Chad and I recently welcomed our little Print into the world.  He is awesome and full of personailty right now…well, we can see glimers of it when he’s trying to poop.  Yep, faces like crazy. fist pumps, maybe he is meant to live in Jersey.  And crazy eyes…at least they have started to work together cause the whole cross eyed thing was kinda creepy.

When you have a baby there is something that happens.  Something wonderful…your family comes to town.  In a matter of 3 weeks I saw my mom, brother and dad, as well as Chads parents.

One day when Chad was working my dad and I went to lunch.  We were talking about some life decisions I have made throughout my life and he said that one that he didn’t agree with was the fact that I never went to college.  He said that he always envisioned me as either a lawyer or a journalist.  He reminded me that I could manipulate them from a very young age.  I have a story about that but I’ll save it for later.

He also reminded me of my neighbourhood newspaper.  When I was younger, not sure how old, but obviously old enough to write and type, I would go around the neighbourhood and get the news.  I would ask the neighbours some questions to see if they had anything that they would like to add.  I would write a few stories about the neighbourhood and put together a community calendar.  I would do this every other week and then publish it.  I had my own newspaper.  I loved to write, even at a young age.

Over the past 2 years I have gone through several transitions…moving across the country, coming into my own with my faith and beliefs, and now into parenthood.  Through my processing of my faith and beliefs I stopped processing through writing….at least on my blog.  But after talking to my dad I realized that writing has been something that has been a part of my life from an early age.  Yes, I may not be the best technical writer and I can be a terrible speller but it is something I enjoy.

With that being said, I plan on going back to it.  I plan on writing things here.  You may love or hate them.  They may be about Print, me, my faith, cloth diapers, natural childbirth (which is something I am incredibly passionate about), my process to figure out what I want to do with my life…some of those things in my head are go to school for counseling or journalism, become a labour and postpartum doula, a midwife or just a stay at home mom.

All I know is that I am going to go back to the basics of who I am.  I am going to share my life with you through writing.