I feel bad. I have neglected my blog so much, especially in February. Here is my birth story for my new baby girl!

I started feeling some contractions on Monday night (Valentines Day / My Due Date), nothing painful, just some annoying pressure. The next day, I kept feeling the contractions on and off all day long, but again nothing painful to indicate that I needed to go to the hospital. The next morning, Wednesday, I woke up and the contractions started to become painful. I had a regular doctor's appointment scheduled for 4:00PM, but I called in to see if they could get me in earlier, but the earliest was 3:00PM. Around 1:00PM-ish I decided that I really couldn't wait until my appointment and decided that we needed to head for the hospital. Now, with my first I hadn't really felt "real" contractions, my water broke, we went to the hospital and once I felt a tiny bit of pain I asked the nurse for pain meds, so this time around I wasn't sure how things were going to go. When we got there, the triage nurse hooked me up to the monitors and check my cervix. I was 3cm, which was promising. I had been 1cm for a couple weeks. The monitors would tell if I was in active labor, which to them means a change in the cervix due to contractions over a 1-2 hour time period. Well, unfortunately after the 2 hour mark my cervix didn't change at all. I was so worried that they were going to send me home, even though the monitors did say that I was having pretty good contractions. Since I was already two days overdue they decided to go ahead and keep me and start some Pitocin to help things move along. A nurse came in to start the IV, I was very relieved at this point because my baby would be here soon! Around 4:30PM a nurse that took me to my room and said that the doctor would be in around 5:00PM to break my water. The doctor came in closer to 5:30PM and broke my water, there was some meconium in the fluid, which meant that my little girl already had a bowel movement in utero. Some complications can arise from this and there were a couple extra nurses present in case she aspirated some of the meconium. Moving on, when my water was broken my cervix was about 4-5cm, so I was progressing. Shortly after my water was broken

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Several months ago I won a package of Bambo Nature Eco-Friendly Disposable Diapers from a SoleilSelene Review/Giveway. I chose the Newborn Size / Size 1, that fits babies 2kg - 4 kg or 4 1/2 pounds - 9 pounds. Even though my little one had not arrived yet, I was instantly curious as I opened to box and just HAD to open the little package of diapers so that I could SEE and FEEL for myself how different this diaper was from other disposable diapers. The first think I notices was the cute little lady bug designs on the front (there are 5 different designs), not that I really care what they look like because it doesn't have much to do with their function, but they are cute. The second thing I noticed was that they appeared to be slightly wider than other disposable diapers. It made me a little weary at first because I wondered if they would leak or not. The third thing I noticed was that the outside was soft and silky to the touch, the texture seems to be something in between a soft plastic and soft cloth. It appears as if it will not irritate a newborn, even if the leg areas rub because the material is so soft. And finally I noticed how thick the absorbent padding was inside the diaper. It didn't seem outrageously thick, just thicker than most disposable diapers. It did however give me a little more confidence in them because it just seemed like it could hold a lot of urine.

Now that Little Sister is here, I decided to break out the bag of Bambo Nature diapers and try them out. I put Little Sister in them for a couple days and even over night. So far no leaks, not even at night. The width of the diapers doesn't seem to really matter at all. It held up very well for dirty as well as wet diapers.  Before I put her in the Bambo Nature diapers I had also put her in Pampers disposable diapers for a couple days, so that I could compare them. I noticed that Little Sister gets a little more irritable after she is wet, in the Pampers. When she wets in the Bambo Nature diapers, it seems like it takes her a lot longer to realize that she is wet, therefore I seem to be changing less Bambo Nature diapers than the Pampers diapers. It really does seem to wick away the wetness better than the Pampers.

Overall I am very impressed with these diapers. Aside from the fact that they are better for the environment than regular disposables and they don't contain harmful chemicals, the quality is great and they take care of "business". I would definitely recommend these diapers to Moms that want to go Eco-Friendly but don't want to use Cloth, Mom's that Cloth Diaper but need disposables for certain occasions, or for those Dad's that aren't quite into changing cloth diapers like the Mom's are.

Hello Everyone!

Sorry this is late... I really try to get the list posted at least a day before the 1st of the month, however I've been pretty busy lately! Our new baby girl was born February 16, 2011 at 8:16PM, she weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is doing great but we are still working out our schedule and getting used to lack of sleep, I'll post more about her in a separate post, so stay tuned...

Without further ado here is the list for March! Enjoy and Good Luck!

I think I may be a little excited, okay, maybe a LOT excited! I am getting a Dynky Dype from Doodle Dypes and hopefully I will be able to review it for the Newborn Fluff Challenge!!!!!!



I am crossing my fingers, hoping to get some more newborn fluff to try. If not I will probably compare the brands I have in my stash, since most are One Size and tell how well they fit and work for newborns... but only as a last resort!

Had a doctor's appointment this past week, everything is good and the baby's heartbeat was 140bpm which is normal for her. Her heartbeat has been between 140-145bpm at each check up. No signs of early delivery though... I am SO ready to have her here already! This pregnancy has been a bit different than my first. This baby is so low and she feels so much heavier, not sure if she is or isn't but my belly "feels" heavy. My big belly making my back and tailbone pretty sore, which is something I didn't have much of with my first. I also have swelling in my hands and feet now... which I only had after I gave birth to my first and only then did I have it for maybe a week. It seems so weird that there are so many differences.

Well, I have to cut this short dear followers, my daughter is up from her nap!
Kelsey

Okay, so I've seen these products called Baby Legs all over the Cloth Diaper blogs. They are SUPER cute leg warmers for babies. Makes life so MUCH easier for moms and dads to change diapers and keep their little one's legs warm without having to take pants off and on. I REALLY wanted a pair, but they are pretty expensive for one pair so I gave up ever getting them. I found a couple blogs online that gave descriptions on how to make your own Baby Leg Warmers using Women's Knee High Socks. I was so excited, except I don't have a sewing machine and I really don't know how to hand sew very well... or rather at all... I didn't have a lot of money to throw at his project, so buying a sewing machine was out of the question... (IF there are any sewing machine companies that would like to give me, a beginner, a super easy sewing machine to try, I would LOVE to do a review for one! Contact ME!) So, I found this little device made by Singer, called a SewQuick, it was about $15.00 at Wal-Mart and looked Blond Proof... well almost. I bought several pairs of Women's Knee High Socks (Shoe Size 4-10) as well as some Girl's Knee High Socks (Shoe Size 10 1/2 - 4). Today I attempted to make a pair of Baby Leg Warmers using the directions from the blog Cut Out + Keep. I had a couple issues come up while trying to make these Leg Warmers...

First issue, I had to learn to use the SewQuick machine. From the look of it on the box it looked really simple, which was good because I have never sewed anything before. Well, I decided to try it out on a piece of fabric first instead of just trying to jump in to the project. The main issue I had with the SewQuick was the needle, it doesn't come up very high at all and I wasn't sure I could get it to work for the project. The fabric also was catching on the little tracks that move the fabric. Once I started using it for the project it worked just fine, so I'm guessing I just didn't have a big enough piece of fabric as a tester.

Second issue, I wanted to take step by step photos of my project, but my digital camera's flash decided to go out (Once again IF there is a company out there that would like me to review a Digital Camera that would be great for taking portrait as well as action shots of kids and animals, please contact me!). I took a few pictures using it, then found our other digital camera, the flash works on it, but it randomly shuts off by itself so its frustrating to use.

Third issue, I made one, and I turned the fabric the wrong direction, so the cuff is actually inside out... it looks a little funky, but will function.

Fourth issue, after I made the second one and was tying the knot with the needle threader I pulled too hard and broke the threader. I don't have another one and I can't figure out how to fix it... so when I finished sewing the cuff on the second one, I ran over the end seam in hopes it would stay, since I couldn't tie a knot like I did the first one.

Over all I think I did ok for my first time. I will definitely get better with future Baby Leg Warmers. Here are some photos from my sewing attempt, Enjoy:

Singer SewQuick Machine

Women's Knee High Socks (Shoe Size 4-10)

First Stage, Cutting into Pieces

Cuff Folded in half the correct way

Cuff Placed on Sock ready to Sew

Cuff Sewed On

Final Products, you can see how I messed up the first one (top) compared to the second one (bottom), which I did correctly.

Hope you enjoyed my sewing adventure dear followers! Will get photos of my baby girl wearing them once she gets up from her nap!

Happy 2011 All! Boy am I doing a bad job of keeping up with my blog this year, lol! I'll try to work on that!

Today I woke up, stuck some Toaster Strudels in the toaster, looked out the kitchen window and saw this:

I made some of Dad's Yummy Chili again the other day and had some leftovers. I had never heard of Baked Chili before, but my Hubby's Mom wanted to try it out with my leftover Chili. We had a couple of pie crusts that weren't baked over the holidays so she used them as the crust... here is what you do:


I was delightfully surprised at how yummy this was! A+ in my book! The pie crust gives it an extra texture, which I loved the crunch! Good Luck and Hope you Enjoy!

On a totally different subject... I'm 34 weeks and 5 days along with this second baby girl. People always tell you that each pregnancy can be different, but I don't think I actually realized it was true until I was able to experience it for myself. This time around has been quiet different. My belly feels SO much lower than with my first, I've had bad back pain, but missed out on the lovely carpel tunnel that I had the first time around. Overall though I think that I've handled this second pregnancy much better than the first, probably because I was prepared for what was to come, knew what my body was going to go through, and wasn't plagued by the "what ifs". I only have about 5 more weeks to go, but if I had her tomorrow, I think I'd be ok with it. I'm ready, I'm done. I'm tired of feeling like I sleep with a bowling ball, tired of heartburn, and I'm overall done with sharing my body, I want it back to myself... now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the end result, but boy am I not a great pregnant person! There are some women that are born to have babies and love it, I on the other hand am NOT one of those women. I just keep reminding myself that its a GOOD think I'm a human and only have to be pregnant for 9 months, if could be worse, Elephants are pregnant for 22 months! Glad I'm not an Elephant, although sometimes I feel as big as one with this baby belly.

Was totally bummed the other day... I'm trying to get things ready for the new baby and decided to dig out my daughter's infant car seat, clean it up again and get it in the van. I had washed it down, placed it in a large garbage bag, sealed it, and put it in the basement thinking it would be okay until I needed it...NOT. I opened the bag, pulled out the car seat, began to take off the covering, and thousands of tiny foam balls fell all over the floor. A mouse had chewed through the bag and destroyed the foam support in the car seat. SO annoying! At first I wanted to try to contact the manufacturer of the car seat and see if it could be fixed. Then I thought about it and if we happen to be in an accident, I would feel much better having the baby in a car seat that hadn't had any repairs done to it and was brand new. I did some research and talked to some other Mom's on a couple Mommy groups I'm on online and decided to order a Safety 1st onBoard 35 Infant Car Seat. It should be here between the 14th and 20th, hopefully it makes it here before the baby does!

Thanks for reading dear followers!
Kelsey

I've been meaning to go get my Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) done for about two weeks now, but with everything going on here it seemed to have slipped my mind until I realized that I have a doctor's appointment coming up and I was supposed to have it done before then. What is the GTT for you ask? Well, sometimes pregnant women get what they call Gestational Diabetes, which usually only lasts during pregnancy... after the baby is born it normally goes away. It is important for pregnant women to get this test done because Gestational Diabetes can cause some complications:

Taken from Google Health - Gestational diabetes:

Well, we made yet another trip to the hospital around 9:30PM the night before Thanksgiving. I was having cramps/contractions all day long but nothing consistent. Well around 9:00PM I went to the bathroom and there was blood, so off we went to the hospital. Once again they hooked me up to some monitors, did an ultrasound, took some blood, and ran some tests. Good news is that the baby is fine and my cervix hasn't changed. The doctor said that there isn't any reason why I won't go full term with this little girl, which was a relief to hear. So, why was I having all the cramps/contractions? Well I have a bladder infection and since my hormones are up I have the normal pregnancy bacteria issue as well... SO now I'm on 2 antibiotics and haven't felt any cramps/contractions since I've been taking them, which I guess means that we FINALLY found the problem! I'm hoping that this will fix the problems for good and the last 2.5 months will be breeze.

We got home at bout 1:30AM and in the morning we were up getting food ready for Thanksgiving. Luckily, our friends that were joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner took on a large portion of the cooking and I only had to prepare 3 dishes, Green Bean Casserole, Corn Pudding, and my Great Grandma's Yeast Rolls (which are a family tradition/secret on my mother's side). Thanksgiving went great, we had enough food to feed at least 5 more people, maybe even more, lol! Our friends brought THE BEST desert I've ever had for Thanksgiving, it was a Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie, YUM!

My mom and sister (and her three kids) all came to visit us the day after Thanksgiving. This was the first time I saw my new nephew, he was born in October. Holding him, I just couldn't remember my baby girl being so little, although I know in reality she was that little at one time. When your parents tell you that your babies grow up really fast you don't really understand it until you have your own and watch time just fly by. It was quiet a unique experience for me to have FOUR kiddos under 4 in my house at one time. Normally, my baby girl and I are here by ourselves and its pretty quiet. They were all SO entertaining playing together and running around, it was just too cute for words! Today we are back to our normal routine... our world is slow and quiet again, lol!

Okay Ladies, thought I would let everyone know about some upcoming Twitter Parties that I think would be cool, so here you go:

Diapers.com Holiday Twitter Party

When: “Cyber Sunday,” 11/28 from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. ET
Where: #diapersdotcom on Twitter
How: To participate, use the hashtag and follow me at @ResourcefulMom and our sponsor at @diapersdotcom
Prizes:
Participants will be chosen at random to receive gift codes in increasing amounts all the way up to our grand prize winner who will receive a $100 gift code!
Go here to Register for this event to win cool prizes!

Real Diaper Association Holiday Twitter Party
When:  Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Time: 9-10 pm ET
Hashtag: #clothdiapers #RDA
Who to Follow:@RDAHeatherMc, @RealDiapers, @EcoChicParties, @EcoChicSideKick and our sponsors @TheWillowStore and @fuzlife
Click here for more information on how to register to win prizes during this event!

Well, that's all I have for today dear followers!
Off to put up the Christmas Tree!
Kelsey

Last night was the Twitter Party with Sweet Pea Diapers hosted by Eco Chic Parties. I thought the party went pretty good, lots of information and questions. The Giveaways were awesome and I even won a One Size Cloth Diaper with 2 microfiber inserts. Which is GREAT! I am looking forward to trying it out and determining if I'd like to purchase more. I believe they are running a 10% on the Sweet Pea Covers and One Size Diapers thru Cyber-Monday, so get them fast while the sale lasts!

I really want to add to my stash when Baby #2 gets here and being able to try different diapers before settling on a specific brand is SO nice. I am fortunate this time around that I have been able to try several different brands like FuzziBunz, Haute Pockets, Thirsties, Nubunz, and bumGenius. Although I LOVE them all, I tend to lean more towards my bumGenius cloth diapers. I really like the way they fit my first daughter and the insert seems to hold SO much more urine than the other inserts. I also am a fan of having the pocket opening in the front as opposed to the back I have 2 of the bumGenius 3.0 Cloth Diapers in my stash and I'm curious to try and possibly buy the new bumGenius 4.0 Cloth Diapers because I like mine so much. Many of the retailers for bumGenius have a buy 5 get 1 free sale. If your interested check out Kelly's Closet for this cool deal!

Back to my crayon crisis... I thought the Crayola Large crayons were going to work out, however last night while I was participating in the Twitter Party my baby girl broke one, I believe it was blue. So, problem not solved. The saga continues...

If you are interested in the cloth diapers I mentioned above, please visit their websites for more detailed information:
>FuzziBunz
>Haute Pockets
>Thirsties
>Nubunz
>buGenius

Thanks for reading dear followers!
Kelsey

Well, yet another small scare for us....

Everything has been going fine all week, I took it easy, nothing happened, everything was great. So, we decided to go grocery shopping yesterday and get some stuff before the last minute Thanksgiving flock invaded. I hadn't been doing much walking all week, so walking around the store was a little uncomfortable but nothing too bad that I wasn't able to ignore. Well, when we got home, after we put the groceries away and settled down I noticed I was having some "cramps". Well, then I noticed these "cramps" were pretty consistent and close together... about 3-6 minutes apart. My dear sweet hubby started to get nervous and wanted me to call the doctor's office. So, I called, and my orders were to drink a bunch of water and lay down, if they didn't stop after 30 minutes I was to go into the hospital. Well, I did what they said, but waited a little longer than 30 minutes and they stopped. I was fine the rest of the night and felt pretty good this morning. I just don't understand why this baby is in such a big hurry to get here, she still has about 3 months to go, I'm only 27 weeks (today) along. Needless to say I probably won't be going grocery shopping again until after the baby is born. Just another thing my dear sweet hubby has to take on while we wait for this baby to finish "baking". Well, stay tuned, I'm hoping nothing more will happen, but this baby has a mind of her own already.

On another note, I'm looking for some FAT crayons for my daughter to try out? Anyone know where I can find some? I tried to let her color but the regular size crayons break to easy when she scribbles, she is only 16 months, so she doesn't have fine motor skills. I bought her some Crayola Large Crayons yesterday while we are out and we are trying them out today, but they still seem a little too thin, when I say FAT, I mean I want FAT Crayons!


I would LOVE to do a Review and Giveaway for some FAT Crayons! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for listening dear followers!


Kelsey

Well, I'm now 25 weeks along. The new baby is getting more and more active, which is nice because for a while I was getting nervous something was wrong because she just wasn't as active as my first daughter was at this stage. My belly feels so big already and can't imagine getting any bigger, although I know I will most definitely be HUGE by the time #2 is due.

This week was pretty busy... I had to go in to the doctor's office to get a couple moles removed... not because we thought something was wrong with them, but because they keep getting bigger and bigger. I'm pretty much blaming it on the pregnancy hormones. My daughter kept messing with the one on my chest, trying to pinch it off, so we decided to just go in and have it and another on taken off before she actually did rip it off. My doctors did pretty good from what I can tell, they are healing fine and don't really hurt at all, just itch a little. I was surprised that they didn't hurt right the lidocaine wore off, but nothing, which is cool because I was still able to fold clothes and wash dishes like normal and pick up my daughter without being uncomfortable. All in all it was an okay experience, I was a little nervous at first, but it went really well. They sent the moles off to get tested and tests came back and they are just normal moles, no cancer cells or anything.

Yesterday, I had to make a trip to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. Everything looks good there too, no cavities, yeah! Word to the wise, get your teeth cleaned BEFORE you get pregnant. It wasn't a bad experience, I was just uncomfortable laying on my back because my belly is so heavy now. I couldn't have done it at the beginning of my pregnancy because of the morning sickness and my easy to activate gag reflex. I was a little nauseous laying on my back but the dental assistant was nice and raised the back of my chair higher than normal to help me out, which I GREATLY appreciated.

I can't believe how much my baby girl is growing up. When everyone tells you that time flies when it comes to kids, you never really understand it until you have kids yourself. I am totally amazed at how smart she is and how fast she learns. 16 months, wow! This morning I brought her into bed to hang out and watch cartoons, I just sat there and watched her. She is her own little person now, with her own little personality and mannerisms. Amazing!

Oh well, I better get back to work!
Talk to you later dear followers,
Kelsey

Ok, so last Friday night I was a little late so I took a pregnancy test... it was positive... I'm due about or around Feb. 14, 2011 (I'm calling it our "Love Child"). We really weren't trying to have another baby at the moment seeing how things have been super busy, but evidently God said NOW is the time, so here we go, again! I was somewhat shocked when I read the big pink + on my EPT, I honestly wasn't expecting it. I called my dear sweet husband and asked him if someone was there with him. He said "Yes, why?" And I said "because I don't want you to pass out and hurt yourself and no one be around when I tell you that we're having another baby." And the giggles began, he was SO excited, shocked too, but excited. Well, as I thought about it, more and more things that were going on with me were making sense... I was extremely tired, and in the mornings I would have to sit up in bed, and wait a few minutes before I got up or I would be extremely dizzy or my eyes would go black. I just thought it was the heat, I guess not!

Well, on Wednesday night I was extremely tired, but we needed to get groceries. So, we are coming out of the store and I'm having major buyer's remorse, over groceries, which we obviously need, but still... when we get home I am still exhausted and trying to put groceries away, finally I give up, I NEED to eat right now! My stomach thought my throat had been cut! As I ate some maccoroni salad I just started crying,  Pregnancy Melt Down #1 or P.M.D. #1. All these thought cam rushing to my mind. How can I have another baby now? Are we really ready for another baby? Am I ready for another baby? Is having another baby selfish? What are we going to do? Is Katelynn going to feel like I'm replacing her with a new baby? The thoughts just flooded my mind and the tears flooded my face. My dear sweet husband, who he is, gave me a hug and said go to bed, I'll finish the groceries... but being the Control Freak that I am I told him not to because I needed to know where everything was, hehe, but I did allow him to take the cans down to the basement and put them away, hehe. I love my husband, he is too good to me!

So far, this next baby is giving me a run for my money. I'm so tired its obnoxious, and I HAVE to eat, all the time. If I don't eat I'm dizzy. I'm crossing my fingers it isn't twins, lol! Plus side, I get to start looking for newborn cloth diapers, I don't have any since I started Katelynn at around 7 months old! Any suggestions on the best brands of newborn cloth?

Anyhow, thought I would give you an update dear followers!
Have a great day!
Kelsey