Hybrid Diapers

In the beginning, we were doing just disposable diapers since LE was going through about 10 or so a day, and we wanted to ease into the hybrids. Hybrid diapers are a cloth diaper with a disposable insert. There's less waste that way.

For disposable diapers, Pampers were best for newborn; Huggies leaked every time. Huggies Newborn size were good once LE outgrew Pampers Newborn but was too small for Pampers size 1.

We still have a lot of disposable diapers to go through since we bought a case of size 1 Pampers right after she was born. Right now she's using those about half the time and gdiapers about half of the time.

We are fortunate to have a store here that has a try 'em, love 'em, or return 'em policy that lets you buy their cloth diaper shells (or even the cloth inserts) and try them for 15 days. If you don't love them, you can return them for a full store credit. Then, they have a sale a few times a year to sell the returned washed and stain-free diapers.

So, I tried flip diapers, gdiapers, and Gro Baby diapers with flip diaper inserts and the gdiaper inserts, and the winner for me are gdiapers for both the insert and the shell. Gdiaper diposable inserts are also flushable (see a video on their website) and compostable (biodegrade in 50-150 days in the compost).

Gdiapers fit well and don't seem too bulky. They have a removable/reusable snap-in liner inside the cloth shell so that the mess gets on the liner instead of the cloth part. That way I don't have to wash the shell every time LE pees.

The downfall of gdiapers is that you buy sizes for them (small, medium, large) whereas Gro Baby and flip diapers are both a one-size diaper. You use snaps on those diapers to resize them so that you don't have to buy the expensive ($13-16ea) shell when they grow.

The flip diaper was bulky. The liner was built-in (instead of snapped in like the gdiaper), and the insert didn't attach to anything, which caused it to bunch up and get pee on the shell (and sometimes on me). The shell has to get washed every time she goes. I ended up returning the flip diaper to the store.

The Gro Baby diaper fits well, and I really like it except it doesn't have the snap-in liner like the gdiaper, which means that the shell has to be washed more frequently.

How do they compare price-wise? The inserts for the hybrids are about the same as disposable diapers. You're just helping out the environment/landfills. Cloth diapering is where you'll find the real savings, and once you get comfortable with the hybrid option, you could switch to the cloth diapering option and use the same shells.

Organize Your Diaper Space

Apparently, I'm not the best at being a consistent blogger. I'll work on that.

I've seen some blogs where people ask how others organize their diaper changing area and whether or not they use a changing table. I read before we had Lauren that changing tables were one of those things that you can opt out of if you're looking to save money. John questioned my idea of loading her bottom dresser drawer with diaper supplies and changing her on the floor, but it's worked out well. We also have a basket that holds diaper supplies downstairs, too, so that we don't have to go upstairs every time she needs to get changed. I think my favorite part is that everything is easy to access yet tucks away to leave no evidence of diapering (see the downstairs basket in the image below).

Upstairs, we put her dresser in the closet instead of out in the room. It's not a particularly pretty dresser, and we considered painting it... but when it came down to it, the closet seemed like the best place. Plus, I like having the space on top as a drop-off point to put her clothes that still need to be hung up but time doesn't allow at the moment.

The drawer and basket each have the following:

1. A cheap cloth diaper (used as a rag and not as a diaper)
2. Waterproof cloth
3. Supply of diapers, stacked
4. Diaper rash cream and/or barrier cream
5. Wipes
6. Lined trash can nearby

You can see the cloth diaper and waterproof cloth folded and stacked on top of each other. In actuality, we keep the cloth diaper folded inside the waterproof cloth so that we don't have to unfold them separately. The waterproof cloth unfolds to a couple of feet to protect Lauren from the floor and the floor from Lauren (from now on called LE (pronounced "Ellie") in the blog). The cheap cloth diaper goes just under her butt to catch any waterfalls and such that may occur during the change. That allows us to launder the more expensive and sensitive waterproof cloth about once a week instead of about once a day.

In the photo, you see just disposable diapers. We are using up the last of our supply of those as we integrate the hybrid diapers into the mix. Our downstairs basket has the supply of hybrids whereas our upstairs drawer just has disposables. Eventually, we'll just have hybrids in both places. Future generations, I'll be waiting for my thank-you card.

Dresses

Ok, time out. Before I continue on with the story from the weekend, I want to post something on the cutest little dresses that Bre sent.
Here they are in all their glory!

Weekend Surprise

I woke up this morning to John bringing in the slippers he bought me for my birthday, a spoon, a bowl, and every box of cereal that we have in our cabinet. "Let me know when you are ready for breakfast, and I'll bring up the milk," he said. We took today off for a long weekend, and even though he came to wake me up before I typically wake up for work, it was a sweet gesture.
Let me back up...
About a month ago, I walked into the guest bedroom/office when John was in there on his laptop. "What are you doing?" I asked, thinking he'd say that he was writing an email, doing work, or looking at Uncrate or Engadget. Instead, he looked at me with panic in his eyes, and replied, "You don't want to know." Um, wrong answer, my dear. About 30 seconds later, John told me that he was trying to plan a surprise weekend for me. Ok, that's a better answer.
Fast forward a month, and that's where we are now. The only things I know at this point are that we're going about two hours from here to stay at a Reis family friend's house on Elkhart Lake, and John scheduled a prenatal massage for me at Aspira Spa. The only reason I know about the massage is because I had to get a permission note from the doctor. It should be a fun weekend, and hopefully we'll be intentional about taking pictures while we're out there. It's been a while since I've documented the bump. ;)

Something is LIVING inside of me!

Ok, I have to admit... I'm still a little weirded out that there's a human being living inside of my body. At first it was just in theory. I mean, she's been there since I was 2 weeks pregnant, but I couldn't feel her. Now that she's getting bigger-- probably 12 inches long-- I can feel her moving around all of the time. It's a little distracting now that she's strong enough to make my entire upper body move when she really karate chops (or whatever the heck she's doing in there).
One of my acquaintances from college (and my friend Ashleigh's friend), had her baby a few weeks ago. She was due in March just 2 weeks before I am due. I've been following her blog of her baby in the NICU, and admittedly, one of the first things that went through my mind when I saw her little girl is 'I have a baby the size of that baby living inside of me.' It's not quite the same to do what the pregnancy book says to do: go to the grocery store, pick out a 2 pound steak, and imagine that that is your baby. The mom, Holly, is an inspiration to me on trusting God's timing and plans. John and I are very blessed that our little Olive is growing as she is supposed to and that she has the opportunity to be protected inside of me (though it's weird) until God is ready for her to come out.