Cloth Diapers

When I was pregnant for Jonah, my husband and I looked into cloth diapers. We were overwhelmed with the sheer volume of options available today. Gone are the days when you just need several yards of fabric, some pins, a few plastic covers and a diaper pail. No, today there are soooo many kinds to choose from. There are flats (like my mom used on my siblings and myself), pre-folds, and so many other choices. There is also organic choices. There are wet bags, there are liners, doublers, different kinds of covers....and the price adds up quite fast. Now that Jonah is 7 months old, we are getting close to being able to afford to make the switch to cloth.

I KNOW it is a lot of work, I am prepared for that, I don't mind doing laundry more often, I enjoy folding my son's clothing, I love making sure everything is ready to be used. Often when I know we are going somewhere, I will get Jonah's bag ready right away, even a week in advance. I rest easy knowing he is ready, otherwise I will think about it all the time. Who am I kidding? I think about what he will need anyway, I just keep going over a mental checklist, making sure I didn't forget anything.

I feel sick when I think about what we have done to the earth, how much damage we have done and I wish I could do more. Cloth diapering would be doing more, a LOT more. Yes, it uses more water because you do laundry more often, but when you weigh it against the damage that disposable diapers are doing to the environment....using more water is not that bad. Also, Jonah is very fair and has quite sensitive skin. He gets red marks from the smallest things, his eyes get beet red when he sneezes, cries, gets tired, or coughs. He has dermatitis/eczema, so we have had to alter the creams, lotions, and soaps we use for him. When he had a strange mark on his eye, it was deemed an allergic reaction to something in the air. I think that cloth diapers may just be better for him.

I wanted to use a kind that would be more affordable, but simple. We are trying out flats (cotton/flannel cloth folded in the oragami fold) but I don't like how bulky they make his bottom look. I have just learned about contoured or fitted cloth diapers and think that that will be the way to go.

Milestones

I never mentioned this before, but my son has Torticollis. When he was two and a half months, I noticed that he did not have much neck strength. I pushed tummy time but was met with a screaming child. He HATED tummy time (now I understand why), though I still made him do it. When I saw how strong his cousin was (who was a month younger than him) I started to wonder.... The day he had his 3 month photos done at Sears, started the ball rolling. The woman who did his photos asked if he has a weak neck. I immediately began to panic, her question just voiced my own worries. I know that children all develop differently, and that is what I told myself to stop my worries.

A week later, at Jonah's doctor appointment, I asked his pediatrician about it. She looked him over and said that she felt he was fine, to not worry. Just to give you an idea, here is a picture of him I took around the same time...at three and a half months;

When I look at that picture, I am still in shock that his pediatrician thought he was fine. I see clearly that there is something VERY wrong with his neck! However I tried to tell myself to trust her, she was a professional, but a month later, I noticed how bad it had become, he couldn't keep his head up, I would straighten it, but it would flop back down. I KNEW. I called his pediatrician and she had not gone in that day, no one covering for her, and if I wanted to, I could wait until 4pm to come in to the walk in. NO WAY! I called our GP, she had no openings, however there IS a pediatrician in her office and he said he was willing to squeeze us in, but we had to be there soon as he was leaving for the day. We rushed in, and after a thorough examination, he agreed with us. Jonah has a weak neck. This pediatrician, I will call him Dr. C, said that he would refer us for physio before leaving for the day and send the information to our pediatrician as well. We were called and given an appointment that was only 2 weeks away.

At physio, we began with an information session where they explained in great detail what Torticollis is and followed up with a thorough examination of each child present (there were 6 in total). The children's photos were taken in different positions and they were checked to see how they held their heads at all different angles, followed by a physical examination to check the flexibility of their neck muscles. Of the 6 children, one child was fine, nothing wrong, and was told that they can go right away. 4 others were given different tips to help in their day-to-day lives. Jonah was the only one with a tight neck muscle. He DOES have Torticollis, AND has a tight muscle in his neck on his left side (very visible in the picture). I felt relief. I was happy that I was not crazy, an overly worrysome mom. I KNEW something was not right, we now know what it is and are taking steps to correct it.

Torticollis is a shortening and/or weakness of the neck (the sternocleidomastoid muscle - the muscle that works to tilt and turn the head). This is now very common in babies but has a good prognosis. When caught early enough, through excersises and positioning, can be reversed. Often this is accompanied with a change in the head shape (Jonah has a slight flat spot). Jonah will be followed closely until he is sitting independantly (like all babies with Torticollis).

A few weeks later (the end of July) we had a follow up at physio. After working on stretching excersises with Jonah for several weeks, we learned that the tightness is gone! WOO HOO!! We no longer have to do the stretching excersises, we just need to encourage him to use his neck muscles, through tummy time, sitting upright and standing.

Another piece of information I learned. Tummy time is not just to help strengthen the neck, it also helps to lengthen the esophagus which will stop reflux!! I did not know that, yet another good reason for tummy time.

The next time we saw the pediatrician, a week after our first physio, I informed her of all that had transpired since our last visit. He had another UTI scare, diagnosed with Torticollis, allergic reaction in his eye, I think there was more but I can't remember right now what. Things that I thought she should be aware of, you know, because she is HIS DOCTOR!?!? Well, she was curt, short and couldn't get out of there fast enough. I don't know if she even heard any thing. I was NOT impressed, I was not being chatty.

Anyways....here is a photo of Jonah taken just yesterday, so much better! I mentioned that I noticed when he gets tired, his head will start to tilt again, and they informed me that it always will. When you get tired, you relax. Normal.

Yesterday, Jonah had his 6month round of needles, a month behind because of his UTI's. At, he has been feeling off, spitting up more often, and more feverish. Even when he is not feeling well, he is always in good spirits, it amazes me. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy, well worth the wait, 28 years since I decided that my biggest ambition would be to become a mommy ( I was 5). Yesterday, Jonah reached another milestone, he sat on his own for a whole minute!! WAY TO GO!! I was beaming with pride. His pediatrician was there for it and she was beyond happy with his progress!

Sleep....

It has been a long time since my last post. So much has happened, we started swimming 'lessons' and Jonah LOVES swimming. Why they call it swimming lessons, I have no idea, he is not learning any skills, all we are doing is helping our babies be more comfortable in the water. Jonah is a little fish in the making....started kicking in his first 'lesson'.

Jonah and Daddy ->

My sister-in-law had her first baby, Tali. Tali was born 15 days early, 6lbs3oz, a true Canadian, born at 10:15pm on Canada Day. Delivery was long and difficult, and Mommy was in a LOT of pain afterwards. She informed me that the doctor had offered her a C-section but she turned it down. Both mother and child almost did not make it. I asked her a few weeks after if she would be considering a c-section for her next, and she said no. She said that the emotions that she experienced in child birth were awesome and that she would do it all over again to get the same experience. At first, I thought she was crazy. Afterwards, I thought about it and I completely understand how she feels.

Tali->

I didn't get to push my son out, we ended up as a c-section, but I did push for 2.5 hours and had a taste of the emotions that she experienced. I know that had I refused my c-section, Jonah may not have survived, and I wouldn't change my own choices either. It does have me re-thinking the attempt of a v-bac delivery....I know that I am tough, that I heal well, and that I can handle a great amount of pain, but what of the risks.... Jonah would not decend, he was too big, and face up, and my pelvis was too small, would an attempt only end up the same way?

Getting to the point of this post, sleep. Ah, sleep, I remember when I would go to sleep and sleep for close to 12 hours (when I didn't have to work the next day), or when I was tired and would just go back to bed for a nap the next day....those days are long gone. I now have a 7 month old, turning exactly 7 months tonight at 7:41pm!! My how time flies. I have found that I now do so many things that I SWORE I would NOT do as a parent. I used to believe strongly in circumcision....I couldn't bring myself to have our son done, in the end, I believe in not messing with God's design.. ;-) I would TRY breastfeeding but had no plans on being a hero {I wound up breast feeding through delayed milk, 2 blebs, thrush, and cracked nipples - now I am not sure when I will attempt to wean}. I swore I would make sure my baby was used to sleeping on their own from the get-go, and I would NEVER bring my baby to bed with me. Well, I held Jonah so much, I rocked him, I cuddled him, I loved on him so much that he loves to be in our arms. He wants to be rocked and nursed to sleep, and often ends up in our bed during the night. I sleep so much better when he is there with me and so does he.

So many people have given their opinions on sleep training, and I have taken it all in. He should have been trained to sleep on his own by now apparantly, but I can't seem to stand to hear him cry. I never knew the depths of a mothers' connection to their infant. It actually hurts, DEEP, to hear him cry. I placed him in his crib this evening with his mobile, and he was happy. I told him that I was going to take a shower but would be right back. Almost as soon as I was in the shower, he began to cry. I continued my shower, albeit a hurried one now, calling out to him to let him know I was still here, and on my way. I am not sure how long the shower lasted, maximum of 10 minutes - but Jonah was so upset by the time I got out. I threw on a nightgown and rushed to him, telling him he was ok, I was here. I picked him up and comforted him. He was calmed pretty fast, but I was not so easy to soothe.

I rocked him and upon hearing his deep signs, the kind that follow a good cry, and began to nurse him. He was calmed and after a few minutes was smiling at me. I found myself crying as I comforted my son, I couldn't get over just how deeply it affected my heart to hear/see my son so upset. How do other mothers' find the strength to let their babies' CIO (Cry It Out)??? Aside from my shower today, my record is 30 seconds....

I know that there has to be another way, do children just figure it out on their own and wean themselves? I found myself praying to God, asking Him to guide Jonah and myself as we figure out this part of our journey.