Vaccines & Cloth Diapers

So Iyana turned two months on the 20th and had her two month appointment on the 19th. At this appointment  she was vaccinated along with her check up. Good news, my angel has gained yet another pound in two weeks!

But on to the fun stuff is the question of whether or not it is a good idea to continue cloth diapering for the two weeks after vaccines. In Canada (or at least in Ontario) it's standard for the baby to get the Rotavirus vaccine. This is a live virus taken orally which is then shed out into the poo for the next couple of weeks.
The virus is still live in the stools. To take the safe route, I decided to use sposies for the next couple of weeks. This is based on logic that the diapers sit there for a good couple of days before being washed, letting this virus breed.

Now we have a few days left of disposable purgatory. Personally, I'm TIRED of blowouts and taking poo stains out of cloths.

Road Trip with Baby

My husband and I decided on a whim to go Long Island to visit his family so they could meet the baby.
That is an eight hour trip with no baby. I'm proud to say that we did it in less than ten hours.

How?
Well we're lucky to have a baby who loves the car so we took advantage of the time she was asleep. To help, we left around her bed time and traveled through the night. She only woke up to eat and have her diaper changed.

Funny things that happened along the way?
When I say funny I mean things that we can look back on and find funny. As I'm sure you know, hurricane Sandy recently visited the east coast. My family was affected and had no power for a week. As soon ad we heard they had their power back we decided to go thinking things should be pretty much back to normal.

NOT!

The GPS takes us through New Jersey where we ended up having to fill up the tank. So we detoured, taking the first exit we saw had a gas station. It was the most eerie thing I had ever seen. The town we were in was in the dark. It was like a ghost town. There had been only a truck that had gotten off the highway with us and a cop car. Point: gas stations were closed around that exit. So we hopped back onto the highway and tried a couple exits down. Nothing. Third time is a charm because the next exit we had decided to try had a gas station open. By this point I was ready to cry because the range on our car was not looking pretty if we couldn't find something soon.

So I pulled up to the pump. And an attendant came up to the car.

"No gas for you. Your odd number," he told me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Odd number. You can't get gas."

I couldn't believe my ears. "I need to go to a different pump with and even number?" I asked, trying to see what  number the pump was.

He had looked at me like I was deaf or an idiot. "No your plate. No good. Odd number."

Then I understood him loud and clear. Holding back my tears I had begged and asked him to give me at least a little because I was on low and had a baby. He wasn't happy about it but thankfully gave me gas.
The rule hubby and I weren't aware about was that the gas was being rationed. Odd plates got gas on odd dates and even plates/plates ending in letters got gas on even dates.

Anyways, the way back went just as well. We got home in good time with no incidents.

Last Midwife Appointment

Note: This was meant to be posted earlier but traveling got in the way!

Today was our last midwife appointment. My little one is 6.5 weeks now (time flies!). The visit went wonderfully. Iyana weighes 10lbs 5oz! Not bad for my veganish milk.

I didn't expect to feel so sad about not going back to the clinic anymore. I said goodbye to the awesome receptionist who remembered my name before I remembered hers. It was the first time leaving the clinic with out an another appointment set for the near future.

As I made my way out the door, I delayed leaving as much as possible. I'll admit that one of the things I look forward to when expecting again will be going to the prenatal visits. I feel connected with the midwives and I can't wait for the day to see them all again. They played a big role in the largest event of my life.

If there is anyone sitting on the line about whether to go with a midwife or not, I'd recommend going with a midwife. My first few prenatal appointments were with a nurse practitioner and they weren't the best experience. You're just another patient they need to process. With my midwife, I felt special. I felt like what I was going through was special. They are passionate about what they do; assisting women in labour and birth.

The clinic I went to was designed to feel comfortable and less clinical. Each room was designed like a small siting room with a comfortable sofa. They have a nice play area for children. The receptionist, as I had mentioned earlier, remembers your name and makes you feel welcome. I must say, none of my visits felt 'medical' in any way. Even when I was going to get my blood drawn or take tests. All in all, it's a more comfortable experience.

My rating for midwives: 5/5

Special Moment!

So last night, I had the most special moment with my little one. I've been dying to have her in water and be done with the sponge baths. I have no idea why but I just felt she would love it. So we got rid of the bath sling and used the baby bath on it's own. Huge disappointment. The water barely came up past her hips.

So I told my husband I would love to take a bath with her but that I was too scared. He agreed it would be great but was worried about a slippery baby. Still, last night, he pushed me to fill up the tub and take a bath with the baby. I did.

I scrubbed it down (I'm a germaphobe) and filled it up with water. After my husband tested the water (I can't tell when water is too hot even with the elbow test), I got in and he handed me the baby. He stayed by the side of the tub to offer an extra hand.

It was the most amazing, bonding experience of my life. At first, Iyana was pensive. She wasn't sure whether or not she liked it. After we turned her over on her belly, holding her up by her chest, she calmed down and enjoyed it. She was cooing and kicking her legs the whole time. We did skin to skin time in the water. I nursed her too.

Best of all, I felt a strong bonding moment between all of us, not just me and baby. I truly felt connected to my husband and baby as a family and I could feel the bond between my baby and husband. What an amazing family moment.

For any parents who are a little afraid of babies in water, don't be. We didn't put bubbles or soap in the water so we weren't slippery and you use such little effort to hold the baby above water because they are buoyant. For myself, I liked having my husband there to help with the washing as I held the baby when soap was involved.

Bath time is such a great opportunity to bond and a great way to get some skin to skin time. I can't even explain how special and amazing it was for the three of us. You don't know your baby until you him/her kicking their legs in the water. Cutest thing ever!

Remember to never leave your baby unattended in water. Infants can drown in 1 inch of water. Always test the water before putting baby in.

The Cute Things Babies Do & Nature vs. Nurture

Since having Iyana, my days are filled with moments of oohs and awes from all the cute things she does. I go crazy trying to catch the things she does on camera so I'll never forget exactly how she looked when she did what she did.

During the weeks following her birth, I can see her personality slowly unfolding and revealing itself. For one, I was sure that she would turn out to be a tomboy. My mother was one and she had me....the ultra girly girl. So I figured the pattern would continue. Now, I'm starting to doubt my hypothesis. Iyana does the cutest, girliest things with her hands. I swear when she does that whine before the cry that it sounds girly. Just her whole persona oozes "I'm a girl."

After seeing her start to grow into her own little person, I'd have to say that nature definitely plays a part in personality. Looking back at myself in pictures, I was a girl girl from the get go too, despite my tomboy mother. So my brief two cents on it: I strongly believe it's nature and nurture that shapes and forms a persons being. (As, I'm sure, most observant people believe it as well.)

So here are some cute photos of my little angel. I know I don't have many, if any, readers just yet but if you are reading this and have a photo of something cute your little one does, please send it to me and I'll add it to this post. After all, who doesn't want to see a bunch of cute babies doing cute things.

Think Fast: How many times did I use the word CUTE in this post?   ;P

So whenever Iyana falls asleep, she does it striking a pose. Notice how expressive she is with her hands? Hee hee :) I've dubbed them all with a title or a caption.


"After a hard day at work."

"The Philosopher"                                                                                                    "The Intelect"

"Oh my! Was that me?"

"Gosh it's boring out here."

If you can think of better captions, by all means let me know in the comments and I'll update them giving you the credit :D