Posts Tagged ‘Hannah Michelle’
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Once again, this really is for girls only.
No boys allowed (except for Jonathan, although, really, even you might wanna stay away).
Some of you might recall a while back I wrote about using cloth pads after I had Hannah. Well, here’s my update on my thoughts/feelings/ideas post baby.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being deeply in love with cloth, I’d go with like a 7. I don’t passionately love them (or rather why I need them), but I really don’t mind them at all. They’re quite easy, rarely messy (more to come) and serve their purpose well. Overall, I’m glad I’ve made the switch and imagine that I won’t go back to store bought pads.
The nitty-gritty of the truth:
You really do need to change frequently, because they aren’t as absorbent as disposable. I think you could push them a little further if they have PUL or some other waterproofing material, but to save money and time I opted out of having any.
Maybe it’d would have been a better idea of a cleaning system before starting to use them right after a baby. Since I don’t have anything disposable on hand, it’s very, very important to not miss a washing day. Which seems far more taxing right after having a baby. But I’m getting use to it. Good news is, they’re small and wash/dry quickly.
Since mine are handmade, I don’t know what others are like, but it took me some time to figure out a layering system to know what absorbency and coverage would be best. I’ve found that two inserts, slightly over top one another work best.
Thickness isn’t always the best option. I’ve found having three thin layers works better than one super thick layer.
I’ve found, just like with Julia’s diapers, it’s best to have the pads already ready to go, so I don’t find myself fumbling around at 2 in the morning trying to put in inserts. Just switch and go.
Overall I really like them. I spent under $30 for 12 and have to say have been really happy with the switch. I’m tempted to buy a name brand one just to see what the differences are, but figure they can’t be that much. My friend who made them did a really excellent job and said she’d be willing to make more for anyone who’s interested. 😉
The thing is…
Posted on: June 25, 2009
God has a way of making me eat my words.
Seriously.
I feel like it happens all the time. I say one thing, God proves me wrong. Like the idea that just cause I pray for something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Yesterday was a doozy of a day. From start to finish I felt like I was getting my butt beat by everything and everyone. Jonathan came home during the afternoon to give me a little break. Before calling him I told myself that I needed the help, but that I was still strong, still under control, I just need a little help. I retreated to our bedroom to delve into the Bible with a hope that God would reveal some wonderful verse about how great I am, how I am special and wonderful in every way. Instead I read:
“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.” Proverbs 24:10
Right… Thanks God!
When I told Jonathan of my plight last night, his response was ” You’re way more dramatic then I give you credit for.” Ahh, gotta love honesty. 😉
I figure it’s all good, because really I do still have a lot to learn and God just wants to remind me.
In other news, having two kids is hard work! I could go into all the ways that I’ve discovered just how crazy busy life is with a toddler and a newborn, but frankly my brain isn’t functioning that well these days, so it’ll have to wait for another day and another post.
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The moment we’ve all been waiting for….
We had a baby.
A baby girl!
Hannah Michelle weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Whew!
It makes me laugh a little, because for the better part of my pregnancy I was completely convinced we were having a girl. Then for the last 10-15 weeks (and especially the last 4-6 weeks) I thought for sure we were having a boy. But God knows what this family needs, and we need another beautiful wonderful daughter to raise, love and train.
Here is Hannah’s birth story for all you who are interested:
On Sunday, the 14th, my water broke around 7 pm. Like with Julia, it was a release over time, rather than one large gush. Around 8 pm I started having contractions that were about 10 – 15 minutes apart. By 10:30 I started walking the cul-de-sac with my mom and my contractions were coming every 4 minutes. They weren’t too bad, I could still walk through them, but had to stop talking. This lasted till 11:30, when Jonathan started getting ready for us to leave for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital a little after midnight. By this point my contractions had slowed down significantly, coming every 20 minutes or later. The nurse hooked me up to a machine to monitor my contractions and Hannah’s heart beat. During this time, the midwife, Lynne, came to check up on me. She expressed concerned, first, because Hannah’s heart beat has bouncing (almost literally) between 90 and 190, second, my contractions were slowly down more and more, and third, I had only dilated to 4 cm and barely effaced. At hearing this I got really upset, because it meant I still had so far to go. We made the decision to start pitocin to “kick start” the process. Again, I was feeling pretty emotional about how things were swerving farther from my original birth plan/idea and was nervous that taking pitocin would lead to other medicinal interventions. Thankfully, once I got the pitocin the contractions started coming regularly and were getting intense. I was able to use the tub to labor for a little while, helping to ease my muscles. Once I felt the need to push, I got out of the tub and got into the bed. I had some pretty severe back labor pains, so my mom and Jonathan would take turns pressing on my back during contractions. I tried “resting” between contractions but they seemed to be piggy backing making it nearly impossible to really ever relax. Just after 4 am, Lynne gave me the go to start pushing. I pushed for about 15-20 minutes and Hannah was born at 4:21. I must say, pushing was far more painful with Hannah than Julia. It could be because she is bigger, or pushing went much faster, but I clearly remember thinking “I am never having another kid”. Yeah, we’ll see about that. 😉
I will admit that things didn’t go as I had thought they would; I assumed that from start to finish would have been shorter, that I wouldn’t need any type of medicinal intervention and that I’d some how be more “ready”. But on the other side, since Hannah was born things are going better than I hoped. She’s latching on really well, has so far been very content and Julia seems to really love her.
God has been such a wonderful provider! I can’t begin to explain how blessed I am to be the mother of two beautiful wonderful little girls.
Hannah Michelle 6/15/2009
Julia Mabel 11/23/2007
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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