Project 365 - June & July

Yeah, that's right. You are going to get two months worth of pictures in one shot. The good news is, I will just link them from FB so that you don't have to wait for oodles of pictures to load.

Summer time!

That is our entire summer album to date. Feel free to check in again over the course of the summer. There will be additions. :)

I won't leave you with only an album. I have been doing little photo documentaries as well that I will share with you.

The first one is: NDI @ 18-months. This is what NDI looks like for us right now. I just took pics of some fun stuff that I thought might give non-NDIers a glimpse inside.


Sleeping boy with a death grip on two of his four bedtime water bottles.


We need a Head Bottle Washer.


Diaper sale....NDI-style!


Nothing like a diaper pail right next to your bed and in both upstairs bathrooms and in Orin's room...yikes.


Two days worth of Orin's laundry. Mostly bedding and pjs because, before his med change, I was changing his bed 3 times per night.


When it wasn't a gazillion degrees, I had 2-3 pair of jammies hanging on my headboard at any one time because he needed to be changed so many times through the night.


Also, because I am going for my surgery soon, I felt it was in my/Orin's best interest to get his room set up and move him in. Here's the end result:

Project 365 - February 8th

Orin two-fisting it.

BONUS PHOTO!!

Isabel obliged Orin when he started offering her random soggy bits from his supper tray.

Project 365 - February 7th

For the first time ever, we *almost* forgot Orin's meds today. Dave had already driven them as far as the St. Mary's bypass before I called to tell him that Orin hadn't had them. Glad we caught it and impressed that it took a year for it to happen, but will be more cautious from here on in.

Project 365 - February 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th

Today, Orin had an ultrasound of his kidneys and bladder. This is a typical monitoring procedure for little guys with NDI. They are monitoring for damage due to the quantity of water he is drinking and the potential dehydration that can occur. It is a bit of a milestone.

Gung Hei Fat Choy!

Just a pen, right? No. There is no such thing as "just a pen" to those of us who use them regularly. We have favourite inks and favourite grips and weights and favourite features. This pen is from a friend's company and I love it. It isn't just a black pen or even a multi-ink pen. One of those little levers controls a mechanical pencil!!!! I don't think I can adequately express how happy this makes me.

The kids having a great time in the fancy carts at Home Depot

How my Education degree helped my parenting

I have had a few experiences lately, with my kids changing moment to moment it seems, that have hit home the importance of readiness when it comes to milestones and expectations.
I first learned about readiness in university. I learned about it within the context of teaching students - are they ready for the skills and information you are imparting to them? It made a great deal of sense to me within that context, but it never really dawned on me that it would be integral to parenting my babies and, subsequently, toddlers and preschoolers.
Isabel gave us a primer in readiness right out of the starting gate. She was, and still is, very sensitive and cautious. This meant that, as an infant, she wanted to be attached to someone (and preferably me) 24/7. We used our baby carrier more than the crib in the first year because she was worn the better part of the day and we co-slept. She was just NOT READY to sleep on her own at that time. I could go into the gory details of how she told us this, but I will save that for another post about sleep-deprivation and colic.
Gradually, starting around 6-months, she began to nap on her own more regularly. She was still in our bed, but given her firm resistance to mobility, her falling out wasn't an issue for quite some time yet.
By 10-months old, she was sleeping through the night in her crib, which was still attached to our bed and had naps in her bassinet in her room. We moved the crib into her room not long after this point and she's been fine since, depsite all the warnings that she'd be sleeping our bed through high school if we allowed her to sleep with us as an infant (is that not the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, but I can't tell you how many people told us we were "starting bad habits" in a 2-month old).
Fast forward to Orin, this guy was a cuddler. The NICU nurses worried that they'd created a cuddler, but he was like that from the beginning. He was happier in someone's arms or next to a warm body. I'd seen this before, so it didn't faze me. I wasn't allowed to co-sleep in the hospital, but, given that he slept half the night in the arms of a nurse, I figured that once I got him home, he may need it for the transition.
Night one, I tried to lay down with him to nurse, figuring I'd get some shut-eye while he got some food. He was having none of that! He hollered and thrashed until I sat up and cradled him. When he was finished eating, I didn't want him to cry and wake Isabel if I put him in his crib, so I laid us both down for a snuggle and a snooze. No Sir! More wailing and thrashing until I put him in his crib, at which point he turned his head to the side and fell asleep.
Apparently, some higher power either thought I needed the lesson in readiness again or thought I got it well enough the first time that they figured they could safely throw me a curve ball. Whatever the reason, I got a kid with a whole different readiness level when it came to sleep.
My most recent lesson in readiness came this morning. If you don't want to read about baby poop (nothing gory, I promise), stop reading now.
Orin has been struggling with solid food poop. He cries and makes a big fuss about the whole thing. More troubling and messy is the fact that he has only been able/willing to poop a little bit in his diaper. We then think he is finished and start changing him, only to have him finish pooping in an open diaper, on the change table or, and this is my favourite one, into a towel after bath. Not fun.
In thinking about this, I wondered if he had reached the point where he didn't like poop on him. My understanding is that this is what fuels lots of kids in potty-training. I also suspect that the increased bulk of his diapers is playing a part in his discomfort while pooping in them. Imagine the average kid's diaper after sleeping in it all night - Orin's is like that after only 2 hours. Whatever his motivation, I decided that the next time he made a big show of pooping, I'd plunk him on the potty to see if this made things a little easier.
This morning, the opportunity presented itself and I went for it. Lo and behold, the boy pooped on the potty. Now, there was still a little drama, but there are tears no matter what, so it may just be part and parcel to his getting used to a non-liquid diet. Most importantly, this was tidier and faster than the previous incidents. If he's ready, I am too - bring on poop potty training. If it is a fluke, that's ok too, though I should note that it only seems fair that he should poop train early, given that my understanding is it will take about four years to pee train him. *lol*

Reflection

I have been thinking a lot lately about 2010 and the wild ride it has been. I have been thinking about how it has been both wonderful and terrible. I have been thinking about how lucky we are and how grateful I am to so many. I want to reflect on this a little here as the final hours of 2010 tick away.
Our families have been invaluable over the course of this journey. When we needed them, they jumped in and did what was asked without question. Our mothers took over our household while I was in the hospital - my mother-in-law was here for nearly six weeks. They dropped their own lives to help us with ours and things would have been absolute chaos without that.
Our friends, both near and far, have offered help whenever possible and have understood when I didn't have the time, energy or, in the case of the early days, wherewithal to be a good friend myself. I am sorry for my seeming laziness when it comes to our friendships and I promise that, as things calm down (which they already are) and I start getting more sleep (not really on the horizon yet), I will rekindle our relationships.
My babies have been so incredibly tolerant. I have not been the parent I want to be in recent months. This is changing on a daily basis, but I appreciate that the little people in my life are understanding and patient.
The hospital staff, the NICU nurses and our doctors (both on-site and at the IWK) have been SO supportive. I have tried dozens of times to write a letter, expressing my gratitude, but I can never find the right words. I am aware that my living in the NICU was unorthodox and I imagine that it was not ideal for the nurses who work there. They went out of their way to not only get my son healthy, but also to keep me well-fed, well-rested (as can be expected) and emotionally-well. Their dedication to us and to all of the families who passed through their sanctuary was inspiring and we will never forget it. Everyone else, from the doctors to the toll-booth attendants (who never commented on my tears and made a point of making me laugh whenever possible) made an impact on me.
My husband is second to none. Relationships have been strained to the point of breaking by lesser stressors than we've experienced and somehow, we are still here. I have seen sides of him that I didn't even know existed over the course of the past year. He has done his best to calm me when I was pulling my own hair out over Orin's health, my own lack of sleep, Isabel's behaviour or the state of the house. He has taken on huge responsibility in our household due to my simply being unable to manage as much as I once could. He has taken on the challenges we've faced with strength and grace and he has helped me to do the same. I am eternally grateful to have such a teammate in parenting and partner in life.

The quest for lower-sodium foods

It is not a mystery that the dependency of North Americans on sodium for flavouring has gotten way out of hand. You can find lots of low-sodium versions of products that people know to have high levels of sodium (i.e. soy sauce, condensed soup). The problem comes in the form of foods that aren't known to have high levels of sodium, but are sneaking it in there all the same and the items which have dramatically varied levels of sodium, depending upon the brand. My trips to the grocery store are entirely different than they were about 5-years ago and even differ from what they were a year ago. I spend half my trip reading labels and what I have discovered is shocking.
In the deli department, I was looking at cheese. It is "common knowledge" that cheese is high in sodium (my husband has a clip of Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, sprinkling a huge quantity of salt into a vat in which he was making cheese). My comparison revealed that the sodium content in cheese (I looked at feta, cheddar and gouda) can range between 140mg and 650mg per 30g serving. One might assume that the lower number is a "low-sodium" product. Not so. Baby Bel Gouda rounds (the ones wrapped in the red wax) have 135mg/20g serving. The feta was where I found the most variation - 290mg/30g serving and 650mg/30g serving.
On to the bakery where bread truly boggled my mind. I have never tasted a "salty" piece of bread and yet many of the commercially produced loaves of bread had more sodium that one of the pieces of cheese listed above. We buy whole wheat bread, which, ironic as it sounds, has higher sodium content on average than white bread. The "low-sodium", "healthy" bread contained 165mg of sodium/slice (note that this more than one whole Baby Bel). The bread we used to buy all the time has 450mg/slice!! I was blown away. How had I not noticed this. How had I been feeding my daughter 900mg of sodium (for a child her age, nearly 100% of her recommend daily sodium intake!) at one meal? And that doesn't even include the sandwich filling.
From here, we move to the cereal aisle. I spent a lot of time in this aisle because Orin's favourite food is Cheerios. He would eat an entire bowlful if given the opportunity. I was hoping to find something with no sodium at all (I mean, who has ever had salty cereal, so it must be possible, right?) or at least something lower in sodium than the 210mg/cup in Cheerios. Much to my surprise, this was one of the better options overall with regard to both sodium and sugar content - it beat out both the store brand and the "organic" brand for lower sodium. The moment you could have knocked me over with a feather though was when I read the Shreddies box. The summary - you would be better off eating frosted Mini-Wheats than Shreddies! I am sure you are surprised - I can tell you that I was. Take a look:

In a larger serving size, Mini-Wheats (on the right) has 10 more calories, the same amount of fat and a smigeon more carbs (made up in the extra 2g of sugar, I suspect). The sodium is where the rubber hits the road for us, of course, and the difference blew me away - Shreddies: 310mg and Mini-Wheats: 0mg. Shreddies has the most sodium by far than anything else in our cupboard (6 different types of cereal). When you consider the fact that I put brown sugar on Shreddies when I eat them, I am sure that makes up the difference in the carbs, meaning that it is likely better for me to consume Mini-Wheats at brekkie than Shreddies. I would never have guessed that. The more you know...

Huge, Gigantic, Magnificent News

The NG tube is gone! It has been 10 days since it was removed and he is doing great! We are struggling to re-establish the complicated dance between keeping him hydrated with water and keeping him gaining weight with milk, but that will come. Here's my beautiful boy in his entirety.

Medication time at the nursing home...

That is how mealtimes have felt around here since Isabel and I have been on antibiotics for our chest infections. Let me give you the run down:
Breakfast
Me

• Multivitamin
  
• Vitamin C x2
  
• Vitamin D x2
  
• Fenugreek x4
  
• Blessed Thistle x3
  
• Antibiotic
  

Isabel

• Multivitamin
  
• Vitamin C
  
• Vitamin D
  
• 4ml Amoxil
  

Orin

• 100ml water with shot of .33ml of NaCl
  

Lunch
Me

• Antibiotic
  
• Fenugreek x4
  
• Blessed Thistle x3
  

Isabel

• 4ml Amoxil
  

Orin

• 100ml water with shot of .33ml of NaCl
  
• 1.4ml HCTZ
  
• 1.4ml Amiloride
  

Supper
Me

• Antibiotic
  
• Fenugreek x4
  
• Blessed Thistle x3
  

Isabel

• 4ml Amoxil
  

Orin

• 100ml water with shot of .33ml of NaCl
  

Heck, I am even feeding one of the people on this list mush...the similarities are eerie.

An update...

Lately, it has just been a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. We have been up to our ears in stuff, but it is nice to feel like we are doing things.
Isabel has started both swimming lessons and preschool and *loves* both.
She has a ball at swimming and while she isn't the best at staying focused when not receiving direct instruction (the first day, she got up and headed toward the water slide, telling the instructor "I be right back." when she was called back to the group), she is doing so incredibly well. Little fish in the making.
Preschool is also going well. She comes home with elaborate stories every morning (she attends Tuesday and Thursday mornings). I knew this would be a great place for her - she needs more stimulation and challenge that I can offer right now with Orin being a little high maintenance and she gets it here.
This week, she will be starting tap class. She is ridiculously excited about this and, to be honest, so am I. I am sure she will enjoy herself and be cute as a button doing it.
Orin is your typical, gregarious, energetic 7-month old. He has cracked four teeth total, is sitting unassisted and is into EVERYTHING that he can see. He also attracts a great deal of attention when we are out. I tease him about his "adoring public." Seriously though, people are always stopping to talk to and coo over him. We went to the mall on Monday and, at one point, had three separate groups/individuals stopped at the same time to chat with him. I had to keep from laughing out loud over it. The most hilarious encounter from this trip was the gentleman who asked about Orin's NG tube and then went on to tell me that he was going to pray that the Lord would heal Orin and "take this condition from him so he can live a happy and normal life." He touched Orin's foot at this point and it felt kind of like those crazy "healers" that you see in southern churches. Strange to say the least.
Most interesting new thing with Orin has been the venture into solid food. I wanted to do baby led weaning exclusively this time around, but the doctors really wanted us to get started on solids so as to ramp up his thirst mechanism and eliminate the need for the NG tube. As a result, we are doing a mix of BLW and purées. He doesn't seem to enjoy consuming any of it at this point, but for little guys with NDI, it can be a process, so we are just slogging away at it.
I guess that is the update. Carry on with your regularly scheduled programming :)

Where to begin? It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks!

It has been a wild couple of weeks! As I mentioned, we were on holiday during the first week of August. We had a great time. I will include some photos at the bottom of this post.
The first two days were spent in Moncton. We visited with my family. My mom threw a little get-together where our friends and family could come by to meet Orin and visit with us. The rest of our time in Moncton was spent at Crystal Palace. We got a package that included the room, a family pass to the park, a bunch of food and movie passes. I wasn't sure how Isabel would feel about the rides in the amusement park, but I really hoped she would like some of the tamer ones at least. So I was surprised, to say the least, when she was an absolute dare-devil. She went on the kiddie rides over and over and over again - carousel, jumping star, submarine, rinse and repeat. She BEGGED to go on the roller coaster and swings. She sat to have her face painted for the first time. She played a few of the games in the arcade (though even they were a little beyond her). In short, she had an absolute blast. I was so pleased to see her have such a great time. For my part, I made sure to get a dip in the pool, a ride on the swings and a nightcap of a Starbucks' white mocha and a piece of peanut butter and chocolate encrusted cheesecake (mmm....diabetic coma). Dave ate lots of good food, had a nap or two and indulged in his own brand of nightcap (tea and cherry cheese cake). Orin was just along for the ride for the most part, but did seem to have fun hanging out with us.
After our amusement park adventure, it was off to Halifax for a few days. Here, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary with Dave's family, visited a good friend and her family - she has a daughter the same age as Isabel and twins the same age as Orin, shopped a little, took in a bit of the busker festival and relaxed a little.
On our way home, we stopped many times because Orin decided he was done with his car seat and chose to scream through large swaths of the drive. The good part about this is that we got to see Mastodon Ridge, which I have never been to, and stopped at the farm, where we chatted with Uncle Larry, whom I rarely see now and miss terribly. Despite the screaming, it was a nice trip.
What did I learn from traveling with a husband (who doesn't like to travel), a preschooler (who is coming into her own and demanding independence) and an infant (who specialises in his own brand of high-maintenance)? Leave the husband at home, bring another mom (and her kid(s)) with you and don't try to jam too much in (which tends to be the way I travel...I don't want to miss anything). Overall though, it was a great time and I am glad we did it.
Since then, it has been a mad dash to get the house and preparations ready for Isabel's party this past weekend. I think the party will get its own post, so that is all I will say here.
The other big news is that we had a tube-free day this past week. That is to say that Orin's tube came out accidentally in the middle of the night and rather than riling him up and waking Isabel, we thought we'd try not putting the tube back in and see how far he could make it. I suspected that, if he could take that middle of the night feed, I wouldn't have to put it in until bedtime and it turned out I was right. He drank all the water he needed until bedtime, when he was just too tired to drink, so in when the tube. I really can't say I was overly disappointed though - he's come so far that the small hump of a couple of feeds at night is nothing.
Alright, that is the brief version of our recent adventures. There will be more to come, including more reflective posts. For now, here are the pictures:

Review of Cloth Diapers v. 2.0 - I think we have a winner!

Things are improving. We are now using cloth diapers at all times when at home between 7-8am (waking for the day) and 11pm (after dream feed when mommy goes to bed). I have stopped putting pressure on myself to use cloth exclusively or while out because it is just not going to work for us. There've been times when he's saturated/leaked through disposables onto the Piddle Pad (thank god for these things is all I have to say...we have one for each kid), so using cloth is just not an option. Letting go of the pressure I was putting on myself and focusing more on making it work as much as possible has definitely helped.
I am still preferring the pockets without question. They just work better for us, providing the versatility in absorption that we need. The best part is that I am THRILLED with the WAHM pockets that I bought recently. Let me tell you about them.
Cloth-by-Tel is the company. She makes products other than diapers too and runs sales regularly. We bought two animal print minky pockets.
To start with, the minky material is SO soft and adorable. The diapers are well-sewn; you can see the high quality workmanship. The placement of the stuffing hole is more comfortable than it is in the BumGenius and the elastic is nice and springy (I am sure that there is some deterioration of the elastic in the BumGenius from wear and tear, but I didn't realise just how much better it could be). The snaps are so much nicer to use than velcro and I find they fit Orin better than the other pockets, even with the extra stuffing we need.
They came with inserts that, again, were well-made, thick and soft.
We have had no problem with leaking, fit, wicking, absorption, rashes, staining, wash-wear (yet). In short, I love these diapers - especially for the price of $10-12 per diaper (insert included), which you absolutely can't beat! I will be getting more, without question!

A photo op:

A milestone gone horribly wrong...

so around three or four months, one of the skills babies acquire is the ability to reach out and grab things with decent precision. My dear sweet boy has been working at this milestone for a while and has been getting better and better rather quickly. As a result, the scene below has become a common scene.

This particular drama has even played out so far as the next scene where he is doused in water and cries heartily about it. Silly boy.

I wish I were as clever as he is...

I meant to post this ages ago, but just kept forgetting, so please do me the favour of setting your mind back about 6 weeks. It is just barely feeling springy out and we decided to head downtown for breakfast at Cora's.

I am standing in line wearing Orin in the Moby and waiting to pay. A woman in her late 50s or early 60s queues up behind me. She starts ogling the baby, as everyone does. When she notices the tube in his nose, she asks, as so many do, if he has a hard time breathing. I explain that it is a feeding tube, that he has a kidney condition that causes him to dehydrate and that we use the tube to put extra water into him. I mention, in a half-hearted attempt to cut her off before she could ask any of the predictable questions, that he doesn't take a bottle yet. She nods thoughtfully. We go back to our waiting stance. A few seconds later, she pipes up, asking, "How does he eat if he doesn't take a bottle?"
It takes me a second to process what she was asking. I respond as kindly as possible (because I am the type to wear my emotions openly and I want to avoid my incredulity embarrassing her), "Oh, he is breastfed." She stammers a little, apparently taken aback by my response, and suddenly seems to be totally engrossed in something in the far corner of the restaurant.
When I get outside, I tell Dave about our exchange. Without missing a beat, he blurts out, "Photosynthesis." I cock an eyebrow and allow this to sink in. I laugh heartily when I realise this is how he feels I SHOULD have answered "how does he eat?"
I really wish I could think of things like that as quickly as he does. A baby seems to make people think they have carte blanche to ask whatever they want (like my friend with twins who is asked regularly by complete strangers if they were conceived naturally or via fertility treatments), so having a few zingers like that in my pocket to be used as necessary would lead to a little less annoyance and a little more satisfaction on my part.

Lessons in bottle-feeding learned the hard way

Isabel wouldn't take a bottle - no way, no how, so I never used them. Bottle-feeding Orin's water has led to a few lessons, some learned the really hard way.

1) When traveling with a bottle full, while the cap keeps the nipple clean, it doesn't keep the bottle from leaking. Use that little blocker doo-dad to make sure you don't lose 3/4 of the water your child will need on a day when you are on the run. This will help prevent a great many tears from all parties involved.

2) The measurements on your average bottle are NOT accurate. They are all off by between 5 and 15ml. This may not matter to most, but it does to us. I always carry a bit more than I officially need and use the syringes for measuring as a result.

3) Venting systems are a god send when you are feeding in the volumes we are. The poor little bugger blew up like a balloon after just one feed if we didn't use a vented bottle. And, to be clear, the bottles that have a little hole in the side of the nipple and claim that is a venting system are crap.

4)Cleaning bottles is way more work than having a shower ;)

5) Bottle preference is a very real thing and can be a problem even after breastfeeding is well-established. I am very glad that I put my foot down and made my ultimate goal of exclusive breastfeeding very clear. Things have come together very well thanks to putting the tube in rather than pushing the bottle; he is gaining weight and meeting milestones and SO happy. That is what it is all about.

Musings...

The strangest things can make you take pause and reflect. Today, for me, it was hanging laundry.

You know how the clothes on a clothesline can tell outsiders a little about their owners? You see scrubs, you guess nurse or doctor. You see teeny tiny baby clothes, you picture a new mom or a mom-to-be prepping her new little one's wardrobe. You see blankets, sleeping blankets and odds and ends and imagine a camping trip having just ended.

Hanging the hodgepodge of yoga pants and hoodies, jeans and t-shirts, small skirts and sundresses and tiny sleepers and body suits, I smiled at how the changes in my life were reflected on that line.

I used to hang clothes one day per week and the line's contents were comprised entirely of jeans, t-shirts, cute baby-tees, my work clothes and the bedding that was in the wash more for the fresh air smell from line drying than because it needed to be cleaned.

A few years later, I could be found hanging laundry a couple of days per week and added in the mix were more comfy clothes and tiny items covered in hearts and butterflies and drenched in pink and lavender.

I hang clothes several times per week now. There's a lot more bedding in the mix now due to bed-wettings and spit-up. More notably though are the small bits of blue, the sleepers with robots and soccer balls and the awww-worthy gym suits featuring Baby Tigger and Cookie Monster.

Just by watching my laundry, a person could see the transformations our family has taken and could see me clip each piece up with the deepest affection for what our life has become.

Review of Cloth Diapers

All cloth diaper users have preferences as to what works for their family - pocket, AIO, fitted, prefold, hemp, bamboo, cotton, snaps, velcro....I could go on forever. Well, throw a kidney disorder into the mix and things get a little more complicated. If I am being honest, we are struggling. Below, I will elaborate on pros and cons of the various types of dipes and accessories we are using.

Bumbooo size 2 Fitted - I was really excited about these diapers. I had heard so much about the absorbency of bamboo and absorbent is what we need. As fitted diapers, they need covers. We are using some that we got with a used lot that I bought on kijiji. They are simple kushies pull-on covers made of rubbery/plastic material (I can't find them on the net). I need to find some wrap-type covers for these, but these will do for now.
Look & Material - These diapers are cute, no question. They are soft and fuzzy and they look like the stereotypical, adorable cloth diaper of old. The elastic is strong, but not too tight. Unfortunately, they have to be covered with our crappy (PINK!!!) covers.
Fasteners - Snaps...loving this. Total snap convert and I will not be buying any new dipes with velcro.
Absorbency - Keeping in mind that I am dealing with a very specific situation (the kid is now drinking 760-800ml of water/day on top of nursing every 2-3 hours), I am a little disappointed with the absorbency. These diapers provide the opportunity to have 2 layers between bum and the cover for someone Orin's size. They also came with what they describe as a night time insert. In order to give Orin about an hour in these diapersr, I double layer the diaper right at the front (where he, as a boy, wets most) and then use the insert to double layer toward the back and put a third layer in the front (laying it flat in the diaper) OR quadruple layer the front. When I change him, he has almost inevitably soaked all the way through and the entire front of the diaper is soaked (waist to midway between his legs and hip to hip). This is not practical for any time other than those days spent hanging around the house.

BumGenius 3.0 OS pockets - I bought these as part of a used lot on kijiji. I was pretty keen to try these because I had a number of friends who had recommended them to me. They can be stuffed with whatever I inserts I want.
Look & Material - These basically look like disposables, but much cuter. They are the slimmest (depending upon how I stuff them) of the diapers we are using. I much prefer the PUL outside to the plastic material of the covers I am using with the fitted diapers.
Fasteners - Not a fan of the velcro. It doesn't hold the diaper closed as tightly as the snaps - it slips. I am sure that this is partially due to age and washing. Speaking of which, the laundry tabs basically don't hold the tabs in place anymore, so the tabs themselves are taking more abuse as a result.
Absorbency - the absorbency of these diapers is dictated by the inserts. I can stuff these well enough to last about 2 hours, as a rule. The night thing is that the fleece layer against his skin keeps him very dry, despite how much he has wet the diaper. I will discuss inserts below.

Chinese Prefolds - the other diaper included in the kijiji lot I purchased. I had no idea what to expect.
Look & Material - These are simply flat layers of cotton (extra layers in the middle where most wetting would happen). These are the old school diapers that people used to use pins to fasten (I am sure some people still do, but there is now a slightly less dangerous product called Snappis that do the same thing). They need covers. They are pretty cute ;)
Fasteners - As I mentioned, I use Snappis. They work surprisingly well, but require a little practice.
Absorbency - This is where the rubber hits the road and, in our house, these are a joke. Orin peed while I was fastening one of these on him and there was pee dripping out of the outside of the diaper before I got the fastener done :P I am using them as stuffing for the pocket diapers.

Inserts
Bamboo - Thin, but absorbent. They surprised me.
Hemp - These are dense and soak up everything. I put one of these in every diaper I stuff.
Cotton (including prefold diapers) - least absorbent and must always be supported by something else.

Claudia's Choices soap - I like it so far. I am not running into any problems with residue and it gets the diapers super clean almost every time (and a few hours out in the sun will get any stains out of diapers).

What works for us?
~vinegar in the wash...a tip I was given by a few cloth-using friends and I will never go back.
~stuffing pockets with fitted. If I really worry about him (his bum is rashy or I figure he is going to fall asleep or he has just drunk a lot of water), I will stuff a fitted diaper and an insert into the pocket diaper. This gives him extra absorbency and the fleece between him and the wetness. It gives him a giant bum, but it does the job.

If I am being honest, I am still using disposables a lot more than I want to. I am still trying to figure out how to make these work for us consistently during awake times. I don't expect to be able to use cloth at night - the boy soaks through disposables on a nightly basis (yes, I do a lot of laundry....thanks for noticing ;) ), so cloth is not an option, but I think we can do it throughout the day and even during naps. Keep your fingers crossed for us and if you have any advice, feel free to dole it out.

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: