Teaching Cloth Diaper 101

This past weekend I taught my first cloth diapering class at my local children's consignment store, Grow With Me Boutique!

Grow With Me Boutique is very quickly becoming the go-to location for anything cloth diaper related - she's stocking up on multiple different brands and accessories so it seemed appropriate to help educate our community about the benefits of cloth diapering as well as show parents how easy it is to cloth diaper.

When I was initially looking into cloth diapering I was so overwhelmed with all the different options and didn't have a location close to me where I could actual hold a diaper to see how they worked exactly. We bloggers try our best to show off the features of each diaper we review, but sometimes you just gotta hold it in your hands and have a person talk to you face to face about what it is. With this in mind, I created my "lesson plan" and Grow With Me set up the event!

I was thinking that a group of 6-8 would be perfect; more than I could ask for. As the date to the class grew closer the attendance count kept ticking up and soon over two dozen were signed up to come!

My goal of the class was to introduce the different styles of cloth and to show everyone that every family is unique so there is no "right" way to cloth diaper. I started by giving a brief overview of the different styles of cloth as well as their pros/cons:

• prefolds and flats with covers
• all in ones
• all in twos
• pockets
• fitteds

I also covered accessories, wash basics and a little bit of trouble shooting. Some of the attendees were already experienced in cloth diapering so it was great to have them share their experiences, such as while I use the dry pail method, two other moms shared that they use wet pails and why it works for them. It was a great open discussion with tons of questions and it made the time just fly by. I was also able to give out samples of Rockin Green, Country Save, Motherlove Herbals, Earth Angel Mama Baby and Planet Wise even sponsored two prizes!

We also had a special guest appearance; my own "cloth diaper community star," Amy the owner of Buttons Diapers. Amy and I have worked together several times, through my own Buttons Diapers reviews and at the Mommie Mixer in 2013. She's somewhat local to me so it was fun to have her come visit and for a couple customers get to meet her.

It had been several years since I've taught a class so it was fun and refreshing to jump in again. I hope I'll get to do it another time soon!

Connect with Grow With Me Boutique 

to find more cloth diapering resources for Snohomish County!

The Pierogie Babies: 40 weeks - where's my kid? & someone turns 2

Ruby

Well, here we are at full term and I am shocked - no baby. I had Penny at exactly 39 weeks and for this entire pregnancy I was positive that I'd have Ruby on the same week. Well, 39 came and went without anything to write home about. It feels so weird to wait on a baby, because as Penny's birth story went, we were caught by surprise when she was born. I was expecting to go over 40 weeks with Penny and so I never had that anticipation feeling. This time I set myself up and was expecting an early baby so I've been on watch since 38 weeks - I would have never imagined still being pregnant 2 weeks later! 

So this girl continues to bake away and although I'm just ready to hold her in my arms, I count my blessings. I'm not in any extraordinary amounts of discomfort. My hips ache but a good chiropractic adjustment this week did the trick. My stomach skin feels stretched and itchy; but no stretch marks and my regimen of organic coconut oil during the day and having hubby rub down the belly with Motherlove Pregnant Belly Salve in the evenings has kept my skin nice and soft. Penny got to keep her birthday as her own. Ruby's due date was 3/4 and Penny's birthday is 3/3 so there was a chance for them to share a birthday. It didn't happen and we got to celebrate in a small, special way. I feel pretty prepared for this baby to come. The cloth diaper laundry is kept up on, I have lots of extra food stored in the freezer, our birth bag is in the car and I have labor food at the ready in the fridge. The blessings keep pouring in but one little blessing in particular is taking her sweet time and I just have to be patient and let her come when she is ready! :)

Penny

My big girl turned 2 on Monday but we kept it pretty quiet. Her paternal grandparents came over for dinner and cake on Sunday. We are postponing her big, fun birthday party until mid April and piggybacking a "meet the baby" event along with it.

When I remind myself about where we were 2 weeks ago in my last Pierogie Babies update, I'm again impressed at just how quickly children grow and change. Penny seems to have a good grasp on the concept of "turns" (even though she doesn't always agree with them) and is transitioning to consistently saying "please" and "thank you" rather than signing them. She working on 3 and sometimes 4 word sentences and surprises me daily with things that she picks up on. We were visiting a cousin yesterday and she pulled out a Finding Nemo book and asks me to read the Nemo book...but I haven't introduced her to Nemo yet. How did she know this? She's also become much more social at library time and at the bouncy house that we visit; which was a struggle until lately because of her shyness. We haven't been going to our MOPS group regularly due to battles with the crud or avoiding the crud so I'm not sure how she would do when she's put into a situation where I leave her but overall if she knows I'm around she appears to be totally fine leaving me and playing independently. That wasn't anywhere close to being an option 2 months ago, so I'm proud of her burgeoning courage and curiosity to play with other children.  

What Should I Bring to the Birth Center?

Delivering in a stand alone birth center is different than delivering in a hospital for several reasons, in my experience. In Washington State you typically are discharged from the birth center 4-5 hours post partum. If you and baby are completely healthy and fine, there's no reason to stay any longer. For my first birth I was a little anxious about being sent home so quickly (especially knowing that many of my friends stayed at the hospital for 2-3 days), but found that after 3 hours I was more or less ready to get settled in my own bed at home. It would be quieter and I would have everything I prepared at my finger tips.

For this reason, my birth bags are really minimal. Everything for myself, husband and newborn fit into a carry-on luggage. I packed it at 37 weeks and kept it in the back of my car, along with extra towels (in case of early waters or for the ride home).

For mama:

• Warm, comfy robe
• Warm socks and slippers
• Labor clothes (sports bra, swim suit, skirt / pants)
• After birth clothes - loose, comfy pants, nursing tank, zip up sweat shirt, Nuroo pocket (I am so excited to share my review once Ruby is born!)
• Breastfeeding gear: cloth nursing pads, Motherlove Herbals Nipple Cream
• If you wear contacts try to remember to remove them during labor and bring your glasses, I didn't want my tears to flood my eyes and leave me completely blind.
• Something to pull your hair/bangs back with
• chap stick, deodorant, face cream - just a few small items that will help you begin to feel yourself and refreshed once you come down from your amazing high!

A great idea that I came across from Ooops I Craft My Pants was to make post partum padsicles ahead of time! For these I simply poured witch hazel onto some disposable pads. I will be using Deerfoot Herbs Post Partum Sitz Bath solution for a few relaxing baths as well as will be making the switch to Mamacloth post partum cloth pads (review soon!).

For dad:

• Change of clothes, swim trunks
• Cell charger, cell phone, camera
• That Mama Gretchen also made the great suggestion of his favorite snacks for the daddy birth bag- because the marathon of labor is tough on Daddy too!

For baby:

• Coming home outfit (probably the hardest decision for me to make! I packed 3 different outfits..)
• Coconut oil to rub on their bottom to help the meconium slide off easily
• 1-2 diapers
• Swaddling blanket
• Car seat, extra blanket
• Hat

Food:

• I loved coconut water during labor. So refreshing and hydrating!
• Fruits
• PBJ sandwich
• Fruit juice popcicles
• Trailmix
• Broth (I keep bone broth frozen in ice cube form) 
• Applesauce

What did you pack in your birth bag?

Motherlove Preggie, Boobie and Bottom cream review

Motherlove Herbal Company has a customer for life in me!

Motherlove Herbal Company makes the commitment for all of their products being environmentally responsible and organic wherever possible - both of the creams I am reviewing today are 100% organic.

By loving mothers and providing safe, high quality products with superb ingredients, Motherlove Herbal Company helps support a healthy pregnancy, comfortable post partum recovery and successful breastfeeding relationship. For any stage of the new mama, you can find a product from Motherlove Herbal Company that can fit you. They carry breast milk supplements, creams and oils for your and baby's skin, and products for those sensitive mama areas too.

Today I'm going to share my experience with 3 of their products - their pregnant belly salve, nipple cream and diaper rash/thrush cream.

Motherlove Pregnant Belly Salve
I was so surprised when I didn't get any stretch marks during my pregnancy with Penny. I joked that I already had stretched out that skin when I put on my freshman ... something ... in college ;) But even though I don't have scarring, the changes a mama's skin goes through during pregnancy and postpartum still deserves extra care. We're talking about changes in collagen, elasticity and OMG the itching. I'm only 14 weeks along and I've already had some major itchy episodes. But I keep my jar of salve close by, and if I'm on the ball I automatically slather up after my shower, and it helps soothe my belly skin in no time.

Motherlove Nipple Cream
The early days of breastfeeding are not easy for many moms. I had a few struggles in the beginning that I'm thankful to have overcome. One thing that I hated to have to worry about was "is this safe for my little one?" I was given a few left over packages of different products from other mamas who were done nursing and found that quite a few 'mainstream' nipple products recommend wiping yourself off of whatever product you applied before nursing - how backwards is that? Especially in the very early days of breastfeeding, there was no way I was going to wipe my boobs - they were just too sore. The point of these products was to help me you more comfortable, and doing an extra wipe was not going to happen.

Luckily, one of those knowledgeable mamas also got me set up with a cute little blue jar of Motherlove Nipple cream. Oh, thank heaven! In comparison to lanolin (which I had used as well), it was so silky to apply. Best of all - you don't have to remove it prior to nursing. YES! All of the ingredients are safe for baby and organic. This cream healed the ugliest of breastfeeding hard knocks - cracks, scabs and soreness of all kinds.

Motherlove Diaper rash / thrush cream
To date this is still my favorite cream for Penny. Just like other Motherlove products, this is made with the safest ingredients and is also cloth diaper safe. Even though Penny is cloth diapered, sometimes the poor dear will still get a little red so after a nice warm bath I like to apple some of the cream and condition her skin. When using this cream she always clears up in less than a day. I definitely recommend it for your diaper table (and medicine drawer - it works great on owies of all kinds).

Check out Motherlove Herbal Company on Facebook, Twitter. 

Guess what? You have a chance to win a set of 

Motherlove Pregnant Belly Salve and Nipple Cream 

The Pierogie Mama's #readytopop Labor Day giveaway! Enter here.

Don't miss out by following me on Facebook, Twitter, via email or BlogLovin'!

Disclosure: Thank you Motherlove Herbal Company 

for providing me with products to facilitate this review. I've loved you from the beginning of Penny's life and am excited to continue the journey with Pierogie #2.  

All opinions expressed and words are my own.

Love for your mama skin and baby's pearlies #readytopop

This post was originally published as a part of the
Ready to Pop Giveaway Hop.
____________________________________


We've decided to celebrate Labor Day this year in a totally fun way – by celebrating those Mamas and Babies who have done some of the hardest labor out there!  Welcome to the Ready to POP! {a Labor Day Giveaway Hop} hosted by So Easy Being Green, According to Jenny, and Viva Veltoro!

Each blogger in this Hop has a fabulous Mama or Baby prize for you to enter to win – so be sure to hop around to them all, including the Grand Prize!

As some of you may already know, Pierogie #2 is currently stewing away and will be making their grand entrance sometime in February or March. So you'll be seeing an influx of mama to be, second time mama to be and brand new baby stuff on the blog. But honestly, who can resist? Who doesn't love bumps and baby bottoms? So cute, all around.

So for this giveaway I want to share a few prizes that I think are pretty spectacular and know you will love them too. I am giving away an awesome little prize pack for one lucky winner - see below!

A set of Belly Salve and Nipple cream from Motherlove Herbal Company(review here) for keeping mama's skin comfortable.

A Jack 'N Jill toothbrush, toothpaste and overnight bag (review here) for when your little one has pearlies that need to stay clean.

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.

The Pierogie Mama, According to Jenny, Viva Veltoro, So Easy Being Green, the Blogging Mamas Network, and the Ready to POP! participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.

Would you like your product or service featured on The Pierogie Mama? I'd love to hear from you! Send me an email and we'll work out the details!

Check out more Pierogie Mama Giveaways!