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Baby update

Well me & baby are doing ok for now... I have preeclampsia and got up
to 170/100.. We were hospitalized & then on the sonogram they found
out that Christopher has a heart condition and is measuring 4 weeks to
small.. We are now hospitalized in one of the 2 hospitals in the
country that have a chance of saving him.. I swear it feels so
sureal... We have become the big story.. My sister even started a
facebook group called "prayers for christopher" with about 100 members
in 24 hrs... It is so weird
I have been knitting & crocheting to keep myself busy & control my
blood pressure.
I've already made 2 pairs of booties (crocheted) and 2 hats
(knitted). Many thanks to Moon'sHoller for her premie IV cover
pattern. I have made one of those already & plan to make more to share
with christopher's friends. I will post the other patterns later,
along with pics :)

Just Swell..

So, some fun changes over the past few days..   I have begun swelling.. yeahhhhhh...  I've had to remove my ring, which makes me basically feel naked, and my feet are swelling.  I emailed my Dr (yes, emailed. Isn't she awesome!) and told her about the swelling & about my blood pressure being up.  I'm normally 110/70 and at the dentist Monday I was 140ish/90ish. For me that is a rather large jump.  I was also having painful contractions this past weekend that got worse when I was standing. All-in-all, not good.   I'm blaming the contractions on exercise.  I took my dog for a walk, which I haven't been doing since we moved from the city. He has miles to run & rabbits to chase, so a walk isn't necessary.  It was his birthday so I took him to the pond & threw sticks in the water for about a half hour or so.  Which apparently my preg body wasn't used to...  I ended up spending the rest of the day on the couch, timing contractions.

Well good news.  I'm 26 weeks today. Hopefully everything will be ok & he will stay where he is for awhile.

Update on the Wishpot thing.  I'm really liking it thus far.  I have yet to hear anything from people using my regester yet.  I really like that you can use items from ANY online store, from Wal-Mart to tiny WAHM shops (you can even use it on ETSY!)  The only issue I have thus far is that it takes SOOOO LONG to load the "add to my wishpot" pop-up.  Other than that I'm really liking it.  I suggest anyone with a internet shop to add a link to wishpot so you can have a "registry" with out having to have an actual registry.  I also think  every Bride or Mom-to-be should have a wishpot, especially us net happy ones.
It also has some other great features other than just registries.  You can also make shopping and gift lists. Like that oh-so-fun Christmas list.  You can make lists private, wishpot friend only or open to everyone.  The coolest feature to me is that it has a Facebook app for your profile, in other words... all my facebook friends can see my wishpot registry from my profile!
Cool huh?

Multi Website Wish list!

Those of you that are like me & spend WAYYYY to much time online have probably run into this problem before..   you find things you like ALLL over the web, yet can't find them in "major" stores when it comes time for Baby/Wedding showers etc.  I just found this.. and I mean like a few min ago... 
and I wanted to share

WishPot

I will be trying it out with my first baby shower & let ya'll know what everyone thinks about it.
At worst it is a GREAT concept, at best a necessary addition to your bookmarks!

I'll let you know!!

Breastfeeding & Coth Diapering... but WHY???

ok .. I've gotten this ALOT! from almost EVERYBODY...

Reasons for Breastfeeding EXCLUSIVELY from the American Assn of Pediatrics-
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/Pages/Facts-for-Fathers-About-Breastfeeding.aspx

Reasons for Cloth Diapering... well excluding the environmental stuff.. that's not the main reason. It's a nice plus but really didn't contribute to the overall decision. -
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php

You will notice that all the info is FACTS, not personal opinion. Notice.. CITED!! WOW!

All in all.. I believe it is healthier for my child. If you want to do something different with yours.. then do so.

The other cloth diapering questions.
Don't they Leak?? - their not supposed to. If they do it is a detergent, diaper cream or fit problem.. all of which can be fixed. In general.. they leak about the same amount as disposables or less, but some systems allow you to change the absorbency (pockets, my personal fav) so it can be more absorbent at night.

Don't they stink?? - actually totally breastfed babies... not really. Disposables tend to smell more than cloth (I have heard this from ALL OVER the place, but have no facts because smell is an opinion.

Don't they take alot of work??- again.. not really. Throw 'em in a pail, throw 'em in the washer. wash, dry, fold, diaper, repeat.

What about scraping?? - Did you know it is ILLEGAL to put "poo" in the garbage?? Modern cloth diapers are made so that the poo does not stick, so it can be shaken off. Plus there are these great little diaper liners that can be flushed. And breastfed poo is water soluble, so it goes right in the wash. So if your using disposables & NOT shaking off, scraping off the "poo" your breaking the law.

Surprise, surprise.

Now from this point on.. I'm just going to refer everyone to this post.

Thanks, rant over.

 Here is a list of various Cloth Diaper info.  I have yet to try any yet.. (kinna hard when my son isn't due for 3 months..)
There are many diffrent styles of cloth diapers.
Prefolds- the closest available to what Grandma used to use.  It has still gone through a bit of improvements & is the cheapest method. Requires a cover
Fitteds- Similar to prefolds, but there is no "folding" involved. It's shaped like a "regular" diaper & has elastic & velcro or snaps to hold it on. Also Requires a cover.
Pockets- My PERSONAL favorite. ALOT like disposables, but has a pocket to for the absorbent material to go in, so you can personalize it for your child/ time of day.
All-In-Ones- The most like disposables. It's all one piece.  The problem with this is they require more drying time & you can't adjust the absorbency.
All-In-Twos-  A mutint mixture of a pocket & an All-In-One.

Multi Size-  These are the standard.  This means the diaper comes in diffrent sizes, just like clothes.  S, M, L and sometimes XS and XL.
OneSize- I love this as well.  These diapers are made to fit multiple sizes.  they have different settings that allow them to do so.  This is great for families diapering multiple children.  You use the same diaper from Infancy to Potty Training.  The only problem is that very few One Size fit newborns, So another system is needed first.  I'm planing on either using disposables (cuz I know some have already been bought) or a trial package which will allow me to try different styles before we buy the final one-size stash.

Some various pocket one size brands. 
SmartiPants-my personal Fav, made in USA https://www.smartipants.com/
Bum Genius- the most popular brand, Target even carries them http://www.bumgenius.com
FuzziBunz- also rather popular http://www.fuzzibunz.com
Flip- http://www.flipdiapers.com/
Happy Heiny's- http://www.happyheinys.com/
Tweedle Bug- http://www.tweedlebugs.com/
Econobum- http://www.econobum.com
Tiny Tush- http://www.tinytush.com/Tiny-Tush-Elite-Pocket-Diapers-One-Size_p_19-713.html
Katydid- http://katydidcloth.com/

They vary in price from $11 up to as much as $26 depending on brand and "organic" or not, but keep in mind.. 12-24 diapers lasts all the way up to Potty training.  The prices also vary from retailer to retailer as well. Personally I hope to end up with Green, Blue and White Diapers... but we'll see...

Hemp

Found out something I never knew before...  Did you know commercial hemp (like used to make cloth & etc) is not the same as "pot head" hemp?  And the commercial stuff ends up cross pollinating the "pot head" stuff & actually makes it less potent.  Some of you are going "DUH"  but this is new info to me.  I had been avoiding hemp cuz I didn't know where all the leaves went..  Very interesting stuff.  Hemp is apparently EXTREMELY absorbent.  So I won't be avoiding it for diaper inserts anymore.   Here's the link to where I found this info..

http://www.babykicks.com/whyHemp.cfm

What do ya'll think?

oh .. 24week Belly Pic!!