A miletstone especially large for our boy

He ca only hold it for a few seconds at a time, but it is an amazing start at three months old. He will need this skill like no other so, best to start early.

"Cry me a river. I practically stew in other beings' bodily fluids daily."

Yes, these words crossed my mind. My dear sweet husband complained about cleaning up pee or something or other and this was my thought on the matter.
Really though, with a potty training nearly-3-year old, a newborn with a kidney condition, a cat with failing kidneys and a hairball problem, it isn't far off the mark. I feel like I am constantly cleaning or preventing the need to clean up someone's bodily fluids. I am constantly dealing with poop and pee and vomit. I don't remember this clause in my contract.

A day in the life...

I kept meaning to post this, but kept forgetting. I was reminded/inspired by, my friend, Jenn's post on her blog today.
I have been asked often what I mean by "watering" Orin and how often I do and why do I look so damned tired *laugh* Let me run down what our day typically looks like:
2am - I wake up to run a bolus feed of water for Orin. I try to keep him sleeping for this one.
5am - Wake Orin to eat (if he hasn't already awoken) and run a bolus feed of water.
7am - Orin wakes to eat; I get Isabel up and ready if she is going to daycare
8am - Bolus feed of water for Orin
9am - Orin back down for a nap
**Izzy and I eat and watch CBC Kids cartoons while Orin naps; if she is at daycare, I eat and do laundry
10am - Orin wakes again; Izzy has a nap
11am - Orin eats
11am - Get Isabel's lunch together
12pm - Orin gets water; Isabel eats
12:30/1pm - Both kids go down for a nap....lately,this often takes work for both of them for some unknown reason
**While they nap, I eat, switch laundry, load dishes and catch a moment or two of TV/internet
1:30/2pm - Orin is back up and eats
2/2:30pm - Isabel is back up and Orin gets water
**If we are going to get out during the day, we try to do it now...sometimes we can get out in the morning, but mornings are pretty hairy. Isabel also has a snack during this period and if we don't go out, we go for a walk, play in the yard or on the floor. I also try to get more laundry done at this point.
4pm - Start working on supper
4:30pm - Orin loses his mind because he is hungry and starting to get really tired because he is not a fan of napping, so I strap him on in the Moby and dance around while working at supper and entertaining Isabel
5pm - Dave gets home and takes over supper/loading the dishwasher while I feed Orin
5:30pm - Water Orin/entertain Izzy
6pm - Eat supper
7pm - Bath time and bedtime routine for the babes (Isabel gets dressed, teeth brushed, reads books; Orin gets dressed, fed and has water)
8pm - Bed time
**We have a little time to relax after the babes go to bed, but I also spend this time folding laundry, tidying toys a little and sterilizing the equipment we use for Orin
11pm - Wake Orin to eat and do a bolus feed of water; go to bed

Here is a picture of the drying tray after a typical sterilizing run, which happens every two days typically:


I scoured YouTube for a video of a bolus feed using an NG tube, but couldn't find one. I may make one just to show folks what it looks like. He tolerates them well and it is working, which is all that matters to me :)

My dear sweet babies are flourishing and happy, so every day is worth it :) Here are some pictures to show them off:

The day has finally come. We are making the switch...

to cloth diapers. I have talked about it since before Isabel was born, but was a little unsure of my ability to manage a cloth system and very unsure of Dave's willingness to use them. Well, our wee boy and Pampers have joined forces to leave us little choice.
Pampers introduced their "Dry Max" technology very recently. I thought little of this. Orin started getting bum rashes. Again, he is a baby and this happens, so I thought little of it. Then I came across some information on Facebook about the new Dry Max diapers causing chemical burns and serious rashes on baby's bottoms that made me wonder about this rash, that wouldn't clear up for longer than an afternoon and would flare up after only 1/2 an hour in any one diaper (thereby eliminating duration in dirty diaper as the culprit). The same day, Orin's wee bum broke into a rash so bad that it was raw and even bleeding a little :( This was the straw that broke the camel's back.
I had a small stash of cloth diapers in the house that I had purchased early in my pregnancy, thinking we might do cloth with this wee one, but had chickened out about when we found out he had NDI (I figured he'd soak them in no time). I got them out and started him in those and within a few hours the rash started to look better. I put him back in disposable for the night and the rash was back with a vengeance by the 3:30am feed/change. Proof was in the pudding (goodness, I am on a roll with the fun turns of phrase *lol*).
We did a few days in cloth and he hasn't made any terrible messes (i.e. leaking or soaking too fast), so we are going for it. I am sure some are asking why we don't just try another disposable and, honestly, for the night time, we will have to because no cloth diaper will be able to hold this boy's pee for longer than a few hours. That said, I hate the impact of disposables, both environmentally and to my pocket book. If cloth is going to work, I am excited to give it a go.
Our stash is still rather small, we have 6 pocket diapers, various inserts and a bunch of Chinese prefolds that I will be using as liners (I tried to use one as a diaper and he soaked it in 1/2 an hour....laughable). I bought 6 bamboo all-in-ones on Babysteals today and will keep my eye on kijiji for more. I will also be looking for accessories, but all in good time.
There, I've written it out, so I am committed and the whole internet can hold me to it ;)