So my little baby girl is turning 1 on the 12th of April!  I can not believe that it has been a year already.  When I 1st started this blog at the beginning of the year I never thought that it would be where it is today!!!  I want to say thank you to all who follow me and have been on this journey with me from the beginning.  I started this blog to hopefully help other Mommies get to know Cloth Diapering.  When I started CDing I read other blogs to get information and I wanted to start my own.  I decided that I was going to review the diapers that I had already bought myself and hopefully eventually be able to do some giveaways.  Well those dreams have obviously already come true :)

So with Baby K turning 1 I decided that I was going to host my own event to help celebrate in a global web kind of way :)  I set out to find 12 sponsors for the event since she was born on the 12th.  I thought that it would be awesome to have 1 giveaway all the way through her birthday.  After pitching a ton of companies I only had about 5 giveaways.  I thought better than none.  Then all of a sudden I had YES coming in from a ton of places.  I now not only reached my goal of 12 but have PASSED that goal!!!  I now have OVER 20 giveaways lined up for the month of April to celebrate Baby K's 1st Birthday!

After doing the Booty Buns giveaway with over 150 other blogs, I thought it would be awesome to bring some of those blogs into this event.  I am happy to say that I have some great bloggers that are going to help promote this event.  They are also helping to sponsor the giveaways and have made the Grand Prize AWESOME!!!

I want to thank everyone who has helped to make this event more than I ever thought it would be.  I am extremely thankful for everyone's generosity and kindness.  I do not take you or your generosity for granted.  Without my wonderful sponsors and fellow bloggers I would never be able to have this kind of event.  Thank you so much!!!


Now what you really want to know!!  Who and What is involved?!?!

Fellow Bloggers

Julie from http://www.myclothdiaperstash.com/">My Cloth Diaper Stash
Jessica from http://rjandjessie.blogspot.com/">RJ and Jessie
Anne from http://www.zephyrhillblog.com/">Zephyr Hill
Savannah from http://eightdaysaweekmom.blogspot.com/">Eight Days a Week
Shannon from http://www.housesbyshannon.blogspot.com/">Mommy of One and Counting
Sharon from http://clothdiaperstoday.blogspot.com/">A Little Bit of Everything    The Giveaways (These are NOT in day order.  There will be an updated post later in the week with specific days and links) $10 Gift Card to Couture Fluff 45/90 bag of your choice from Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent $10 Gift Card to The Green Baby Store $10 Gift Card to Kissed by the Moon sponsored by Fluffy Wishes Diaper Closet Large Fleece Soaker/Diaper Cover from Lil' Miss Crafty Pants Doll Diaper from The Wildflower Patch 2 Wool Dryer Balls from Fondle My Fiber 4 Oz. tube of CJ's original BUTTer in Monkey Farts  3 pack of Nursing Pads from My Sunshine Designs Doll gift pack (awesome!!!) from Bella's Inspirations Glow in the Dark Diaper from KonstantKrafters 2 Wool Dryer Balls from Salt Air Studio Juppy in your choice of pink or blue with name  Blue Snappi Booty Buns Cloth Diaper in your choice of color 1.5 oz. jar of Wooly Mama Lanolin Solid from Milk Made Mama 2 Mama Cloth (8", 10" or mix) from Bravely Boutique Custom Cloth Diaper from Diaper Donks Burp Cloth Set from Peeptree Set of Cloth Wipes in either girl or boy from Tender Bottoms Set of unpaper towels and cloth wipes sponsored by Sharon from A Little Bit of Everything GRAND PRIZE:  Surprise Location (CD related) Gift Card value of AT LEAST $50 All giveaways are subjected to change at anytime.  As of 3/31/12 dates have not been chosen.  More maybe added as we go along.  I still have a couple maybes that are in the works.

How can I be a good mom if I can't even do this?

How can I be a good mom if I can't even make enough milk for my baby?  I'm failing already and we are just getting started!  (commence tears pouring down my face).

This is how I felt that first week home from the hospital, even longer I'm sure, but those first two weeks really stand out in my mind.  But I was so determined to make this happen.  

To start with, my milk didn't come in for 5-6 days.  We had to go back to the doctor every day or every other because they wanted to keep checking her weight.  The doctor said, well, for now, give her some formula after she nurses.  WHAT?????  In case you haven't heard doc....that's not part of our plan!  I was so devastated!!!  I felt like the world was falling apart.  She said, nurse her, pump, feed her what you get, then offer her formula.  How exhausting...she is already nursing all the time, because that's what new babies do...right?  

She seemed to be nursing fine, and she would nurse herself right to sleep.  The doctor said, don't let her nurse more than x amount of minutes (I forget now), she will end up burning more calories than she is eating.  Really?  So we tried following her advice.  As soon as I unlatched her, she would scream.  After all, I was just her pacifier and she was trying to sleep!  

So, we nursed.  I laid down the screaming baby and pumped....and pumped ......and pumped.  I was lucky to get 2 full ounces after at least 10 minutes of pumping.  This can't be right.    But I did it anyway and gave it to her.  Sometimes she would take it, sometimes not.  Then I'd offer her formula, she almost always turned it down.  So we started pumping (Okay, I started pumping) after every time I fed her.  And by the end of the day, I might have 2 ounces to put in the fridge.  Which I gave to her before bed at night...so we could do it all over again the next day.

I found help, advice and support at our local La Leche League.  I'm so glad I did, I don't think I could have handled this on my own.  Within a few months, she wasn't even taking the breastmilk I had in the fridge / freezer anymore.  I actually got to store up a tiny bit.  It never lasted long, but it was nice to once in awhile open the freezer and see some milk.

I got tired of people saying things like, Oh, really, I had a freezer full in a week.  Gee...after listening to me and hearing me cry, that's really helpful!  Get out of my house!

We made it through however, but I never left her because she ate very often....like every hour, or maybe two.  Now, she's a very happy, active 17 month old who still likes to nurse even though I have nothing for her right now because of the pregnancy.  She doesn't care much, just likes the comfort.

To every other mom out there struggling...stay strong!  Get the support you need and deserve.

Did you have low milk supply?  Want to link up and share your story?

My pregnancy week 27

Week 27

Wow!  The last week of the 2nd trimester!  I'm so excited!  

I have toes....I know because they run into toys and stuff!

All About Baby 

Baby graduates onto a new growth chart this week....head to toe!  Babys length is a full 15 inches long!  Baby's weight is creeping up the charts as well, coming in at just over 2 pounds this week.  Here's an interesting factoid:  baby has more taste buds now than he or she will have at birth!  Which means that not only is baby able to taste the difference in amniotic fluid, but might react to it.  

 

 

About baby and mommy

I feel pretty good.  Huge, but good.  I get winded easily climbing steps and bending over repeatedly.  I tire easily if I walk to far.  My pelvis is tender a lot.  It hurts when I get up from the floor or squat.  

This baby moves all the time!     Maggie didn't wiggle a lot, just stretch and punch or kick a lot.  This baby will do that, then roll over so the backside is pushing out on my stomach so we get to watch my stomach change shape a lot.  It's so much fun to watch, but not always the most comfortable, but I love that baby moves so much.  As in...all day long for days at a time, then baby takes a break for a day or so with just a few movements here or there.  It's fun to feel the baby roll back and forth, but it worries John that the cord will get wrapped around baby.

I've been really hungry!  Mostly, any food is fine, once in a while, something sounds bad, but mostly, I don't have any aversions.  I do however have ridiculous cravings.  I craved Dairy Queen for 2 straight days.  To the point where I almost woke up Maggie from her nap and drove to town...but if you have read about my nap struggles, you will understand what held me back.  I finally did get Dairy Queen, and wouldn't you know, buy a blizzard get a 2nd for 99 cents.  Yay!  That covered me for a few days :)  

I don't know how much weight I am gaining.  I have decided to just "weigh in" on that after my doctor appointments since that will be much more accurate.  

I keep having these crazy dreams that I go into labor and it's just Maggie and I at home, so I go to wake her up to go, and I just go into full blown labor, baby is coming too fast.  I end up delivering my own baby before anybody gets here to help (with Maggie running around).  Then the other night, I dreamed that I was in the hospital, had the baby way early, but all was well.  We went home the next day and I stopped at my family's to visit, and just left the new baby in the car because he was sleeping....yes, in this dream, the baby was a boy.  We have no idea what we are having, but I sense a boy...we shall see.  I had no thoughts or ideas with Maggie, no feeling one way or another.  Everybody thinks this baby is a boy though.  We shall see in June!  

Are you pregnant and want to share your story as it unfolds?  I'd love to read about it!  

I love being pregnant!!!  In fact, I actually cried the night before I had my daughter because I wouldn't be pregnant anymore!!