9 Weeks Old

I thought I should post an update on Hunter since he is already 9 weeks old. It has gone by so fast. At 9 weeks, he has grown about 5 inches and weighs double his birthweight (14 pounds). He is completely out of his 0-3 month clothing. I can't believe how big he is.
Recently, he started opening his hands, grabbing for his bottle, making a high pitch "mommy I want my food" cry and sucking his fist. These firsts were so cute to witness. Since I didn't post an update before this, I should mention he has been smiling for a very long time. I believe he started between weeks 2 and 3. Now his smiles are accompanied by a wonderful set of cooing noises. When he really gets going, he lifts his chin, and his smile reaches ear to ear!

This is all so amazing, but it truly is going fast. I thought being at home with no work would slow the passage of time, but it hasn't. These years are going to go by in the blink of an eye.

IMPORTANT: SALE On and Update of bumGenius Deluxe 3.0 All In One Diaper

Yesterday I posted a review of the bumGenius Deluxe 3.0 All in One diaper. As I said in the review, I did not know how this diaper would perform for us in the medium or large sizes. One of my followers commented on the review, and we got to talking about this dipe via email. After speaking with her, I have decided to try the next sizes up, both medium and large hoping that the stuffing issues along with the awkward fit that follows double stuffing will disappear. She also let me know one important detail about these diapers: THEY ARE BEING DISCONTINUED!!

She kindly instructed me that Cotton Babies has them on sale right now for $9.95 a dipe. That is a $6 savings off the original price! If you are interested in this dipe, I would head over to Cotton Babies right now and buy some before it is too late (they have free shipping in U.S.). Normally I would shop at Kelly's Closet, but they did not have the same price on the diapers.

ENJOY!!

Breastfeeding Not Going as Planned!

I guess this is technically another update from my "Breastfeeding Challenges" post. It has been almost three weeks since I saw the lactation consultants. Am I where I thought or wanted to be? Absolutely not!! Breastfeeding has definitely been a rough experience. Currently, I am only able to latch Hunter on once a day. The rest is pumping breast milk into bottles. I wonder if I will ever get to breastfeed exclusively. I also wonder if I have to keep going like this, how long I will actually get to give my son breast milk. I really want to make it to that one year mark, but I just don't know if it will be possible with almost exclusive pumping.

Anyone have any advice?

Review: bumGenius Deluxe 3.0 All In One, Aplix Closure

I thought this diaper was going to be one of my favorites for my little one as I said in my "First Impressions" post. I now feel a little differently than I expected. The bumGenius Deluxe 3.0 All in One is called an all in one (AIO) because it has the absorbancy sewn into the waterproof outer. It is truly like a disposable. I purchased one of these dipes with the aplix closure (like velcro) in the small size which is supposed to fit from 8 to 16 pounds.

This diaper ended up being huge in the rise on my son when he was 8 lbs, and he is a very long baby. I had to wait until he was almost 10 lbs before I could use it which of course cuts down its life. That really disappointed me. Once he got to 10 lbs, this diaper was one of my go to diapers because of its ease of use. Just put it on and go. It was lovely. Shortly after the honeymoon with this diaper, my son revealed he is a heavy wetter. I didn't think this would be a problem with this diaper since it still had a pocket that you could stuff extra absorbancy into. I found however, that it was a problem, at least for my son.

The pocket proved difficult to stuff because of the sewn in soaker. Also since this diaper is sized, I feel like the pocket is harder to stuff in the small sizes compared to stuffing the bumGenius 4.0 One Size diaper. I have a couple of those and they are a breeze to double or triple stuff. On top of that, once this diaper was stuffed with an extra soaker, it did not fit right on my little one and led to leaks both from the gussets and from the top of the dipe at the stomach. After finding this out, the only use for this dipe was a quick wear for 1, maybe 2 hours, very disappointing.

With the aplix closure, came a wonderful customized fit once my little one finally grew into this diaper. It does have its drawbacks though. The laundry tabs on this dipe have not held up the way I expected. They are not yet ready to replace, but they don't stay in the wash, and they usually attach to some other dipe in one way or another. I have had much better luck with my Rumparooz laundry tabs. This diaper also takes forever to dry. I do not dry in the dryer so that I can extend the life of my dipes. This diaper take about 24-30 hours to dry inside and if it is sunny, 4-8 hours outside (flipping inside and out in the middle of the dry).

A couple great things about this dipe are as follows. When it works, it is SUPER convenient. Also, the lining on the inside is super soft, and it keeps my baby dry and happy! I also love the waterproof material on the interior at the top right next to my baby's tummy. I think that definitely helps prevent leaks there. This diaper being a fitted all in one is also very trim and fits under my son's clothes very well. With AIO's, you have no stuffing or pulling inserts out of a pocket which keeps hands clean. The leg gussets in this dipe definitely keep those poo messes in too!

All in all, I am sad to say I would not purchase this diaper again. I love bumGenius as you will see with my review of their one size pocket diaper. This dipe just wasn't right for us with heavy wetting and all. Also, I must be fair and say that the next two sizes up might be better and fix the small pocket issues I was telling you about along with the awkward fit if double stuffed. This dipe is just too expensive with limited versatility for us. If we were to purchase a whole stash of these, at least 12 dipes in each of the 4 sizes would be a hefty price at $15.95 a dipe (x-small is $12.95). It just would not have worked out well!

If you really want to try this dipe, I recommend purchasing only one at first to see how it works for you and your little one also realizing it may work differently as he or she grows and you move him or her into the next size.

Minutes and Seconds

Every minute and every second for the last two and a half weeks seems like it was taken up by either visits from or visits to family and friends. It has been wonderful. Of course, with all fun during these early years of my son's life will come exhaustion for me. That is where I am at as I write for all of you today. It has been fun, but tiring, and I found myself happy to be alone with my son today. Even though the house could use a good cleaning, I decided I wanted a day for me (plus Hunter and I have a small cold that we picked up from a friend's baby).

So, I awoke this morning to a loving husband with whom I just celebrated my 3rd anniversary with. He knew I was tired and wasn't feeling well so he made sure I had a nap before he went to work. I was so thankful! After my nap, I fed the baby and bathed him. We played for a little while, and now he is sleeping. I decided I would catch up on blogging, and next I may make some cloth diaper orders. Side note, I am super excited because I think I am coming close to the end of building my stash. Kelly's Closet is of course running another wonderful deal: purchase $59 and get a free one size diaper worth $17 or more. I will definitely take advantage of this by purchasing a couple of dipes and some cloth diaper detergent that I am running out of. On top of that, at the end of the order I will have over 500 points built up so I can redeem a $30 gift certificate and use that on a couple more dipes. How wonderful!! Okay, I feel fulfilled enough to leave my tangent and continue.

I must say it was an amazing feeling to have someone close by to help me take care of the little one for so long, but it is just as wonderful to know I have the house all to myself again and no committments to visit someone else anytime soon. It all started with a weekends visit to both my mom's house and Seth's parents house. They live very close to each other. I went up on Friday night, had a bridal shower on Saturday in the area with Seth's side of the family and a birthday party for his niece on Sunday. All the while fitting visits with both sets of grandparents in between those events. We returned home to a busy week with my dad and his wife. They came to see Hunter for the first time (they live out of state) and stayed for four days. Almost immediately after they left, one of my best friends came to meet Hunter for the first time as well (also from out of state), and she stayed three days during which we visited another friend with four kids. After she left, my mom and her husband came down Saturday to visit. They decided they might buy a truck from Seth so we spent a while at the dealership that day. As they were leaving that night, Seth's brother came to stay the night because Seth was taking him to the airport early the next morning. That was a wonderful visit. That brings us to yesterday. Seth took his brother to the airport, and then my mom and her husband came down to finish buying the truck at the dealership. They ended up staying until late last night.

Like I said, all of these were wonderful visits, and I had a great time. I am just dead today. Seth doesn't get home until after 9 pm so I am sure I will take another cat nap at some point while Hunter is sleeping. I can at least say that I am getting some cloth diaper and baby laundry done. That reminds me, I can't wait to install our new clothesline, but that will be another post!