Whose mini-me is she?

So I have been curious who people think Keira looks like. Sometimes I think me, sometimes I see Regan. So I have decided to leave it up to you, the reader. Who do you think she is more like? Use the poll on the right to cast your vote!

Regan under 1

Keira, 3 weeks

Janine, 9 months

Keira, 2 months

You know you have a screamer when...

all medical professionals who meet her say "wow. that is quite a set of lungs she has." This is clearly medical code for "dang that girl is LOUD. can you please shut her up?"
Keira knows what she wants and is obviously not afraid to tell us she how she wants it. Maybe she will be a great orator?

But then you are rewarded with this sweet image, and you forget how loud she was. Until its time for her next nap of course.

Keira is 9 weeks and 4 days old

ps. blogger placed my cloth diaper post, which I had started a few days ago, down under Feb 15 below rather then as today. If you are a regular reader, not sure it if notifies you this is a new post. Check it out!

Check-in and Check-up

Today was our final appointment with the midwives. I will miss them. They have been so great through the pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. I don't think I could have gotten through any of it without them. the personal treatment they provide is so much above and beyond what I feel an OB could have given me.
I strongly urge everyone to consider midwifery with your next pregnancy. Here are some of the benefits (this may differ for my friends south of the border, but this is what I received):

• longer prenatal appts (avg of 45 mins vs. 15)
• first 3 postnatal appts (days 1, 3 and 5) are in-home; no having to pack up your newborn and go anywhere
• available via phone 24 hours a day. On average it took them only an hour to return my calls. And I called ALOT after Keira was born.
• birthing is ALL they do; OB's are first and foremost trained as surgeons. Midwives spend 4 years studying pregnancy and childbirth only. Most drs spend much less time studying it.
  
• care is through informed consent - all decisions are ultimately yours. You can request or turn down any testing, treatment or plan. They simply provide information and it is up to you to decide your own treatment.
• can handle both home birth and have hospital privileges (we opted for a hospital birth).
  
• can order any routine testing and give prescriptions for the majority of standard prenatal and postnatal prescriptions.
  
• will consult with doctors if you wish or your personal experience demands it (for example, we had an OB consult at the birth since meconium was found in the amniotic fluid; the dr. was there when Keira was born just in case there were complications. my midwife still caught her though). As well, I have had 2 doctor consults postnatally (I will update my health one day on here). I have never felt in better care.
• there is a BC midwifery association, and they are overseen by the BC College of Physicians. They are regulated and mandated by the provincial government, just like doctors are. So if you have issues, there are avenues for you. As well, they must be properly trained and certified.
  
• It is covered by our medical health plan, just like an OB.
• after I was released today, I was offered copies of all my medical documents, for my personal records. As well, they will forward the whole file to my family doctor. I have never had a dr. offer this to me. I felt very in control of my own health with them.

Now that I am off the soapbox, let's get back to what you all want. An update on Keira!

Our chunky monkey continues to grow at a rapid pace; the midwife said she is what they call a "thriving" baby. At her appt today she weighed 11lb 10.5 oz!!!! This is an avg. of 27grams a day. They like to see 15grams. She is just over 24 inches long and her head circumference is 15 inches. Her lungs, heart and chest all sounded good.

As for me, I am only 5lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. Now, this is nearly 15 from where I was at my wedding, but still, I am pretty excited about that. Thank god for breastfeeding!

I will leave you with a recent picture taken by my best friend Amanda. It's my new favourite picture of her!


And a quick shout out to all our new loyal readers, thanks to the birth announcements we sent out. I hope you enjoy the blog!

Keira is 9 weeks, 3 days old

I like big butts....

...and I cannot lie!
Cloth diapers are making a BIG comeback, and they are not the diapers of our parents generation. Gone are the big scary pins, smelly watery buckets and messy blowouts. Cloth diapers today come in all shapes, sizes, fabrics and styles. For several reasons, Regan and I decided to cloth diaper Keira, and we are so happy we did.

There are many more websites out there that will explain it better then I, but a short rundown of the different kinds available:

prefolds - this is most like what our parents used. Generally the cheapest option. Usually made from several layers of soft cotton sewn together. A plastic snap fastener (Snappi is the most common) is used to close it, and a waterproof cover is placed over it.

a stack of indian cotton prefolds

a sample cover - The Bummis Super Whisper Wrap

the Snappi fastener

fitted - made from many different absorbent fabrics; most often cotton, bamboo or wool. These have snaps built in and come in different sizes depending on the age/weight of the baby. These also need a waterproof cover.

sample fitted - the popular Kissaluv made from Sherpa cotton

AIOs (all-in-ones) - an absorbant inner lining and cover built into one. These come in different sizes depending on the age/weight of the baby, and take the longest to dry since they are so thick.

the AMP All-in-One

pocket diapers - these are waterproof covers with a pocket inside you stuff with absorbent cotton liners, depending on your need. A microfleece lining inside helps wick away moisture from baby's bum. They come in both sized options, or one size. The one size have a series of built in snaps designed to allow the diaper to grow as the baby grows. They claim to fit from 7lbs - 35lbs. This is what we have opted to use. The top of this post is our full stash nicely laid out for you to view. (note: we tested it using Miriam's son Aidan, who is 35lbs. The same diapers we use on Keira did indeed fit him - with no leaks!)

We purchased the Bum Genius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers. I tried a few different fitted and prefolds as well, but they did not absorb nearly as well as the BG's. Plus Keira would scream bloody murder the second she peed because she could feel it right away. I have really come to love the microfleece liner which keeps things drier next to her tush. They should last us until she potty-trains, and if we are lucky into the next (hypothetical) child as well. What sold us was the cost. Our stash of 35 diapers cost just about $900. Most websites say that over the life of diapering, you will spend between $2k and $3k on the average disposable. That was enough to sell us. Other benefits include the environmental impact of not sending those disposables to landfills, and a cloth diapered baby will generally potty train faster since they feel the wetness sooner. And when your daughter's butt looks this cute, why wouldn't you?

It gives her "bubble butt" but that just makes her all the more adorable, don't you think? Regan literally hears the coins dropping into his pocket every time she explodes poop in one of these. For the first few weeks, we would both cry out "another .25 cents saved!" whenever we changed her.
We found that while they claimed to fit at 7lbs, they really didn't fit her until she was 9, almost 10lbs. So we did use disposables until then. Also, right now she does use more then the average 10 diapers a day (usually 15-20), so we are doing laundry every day. These line dry nicely (and quickly!) though, so we just run the washer. Once she slows down, we should only need to wash every other day or even every 3 days.

They are super simple to use - wash, dry, stuff, fold and stock. They go on like a disposable, so they are grandparent and sitter proof. You can also take these out and about if you want, though we tend to use disposables for now. No need for these to soak in a wet pail. We drop them into an old pillowcase we use as a hamper and dump the whole shebang into the washing machine. You just use a non additive regular detergent. breastmilk is water soluble, so everything just rinses out right now. When she moves onto solids, we will either use disposable liners, which are picked up and dumped into the toilet if she poops, or we will scrape into the toilet before placing them in the hamper. We were amazed that there has been no staining. Apparently if some staining occurs, drying them in the sun naturally bleaches out stains. We have been super happy with the decision to cloth diaper.

2 months today!

Time flies when you are sleep deprived!
Keira turned 2 months old today. She is growing fast! We decided to have a little photo shoot to commemorate the occasion.
Now, most parents opt for a doll or a teddy bear to use as a "growth meter" - something visual to show how the baby grows. But not us; we opted to use Simon:

A little yin-yang action

Full Stretch! Simon - 7; Keira 2 months

I also broke down and did the "sign". If I remember, I will bust this out every month and just change the numbers/dates. There were times she didn't like being propped up like a doll. shocking! So which one should be the "official" one?

mummy i am sooo not ready for my closeup!

Thank goodness she lay me down. Hopefully that crick gets out of my neck.

If I smile for you can I get some boob?

Additional cheers to Jaime, whose actual birthday is today, and Sophia who turned one month today!

A smile to Light up the World

Keira started giving us social smiles around 4 weeks, but its next to impossible to catch on film, because as soon as the camera gets pulled out she gets a deer in headlights look on her face. She needs one of us to be making eye contact to get the smiles to come out.
After 4 weeks of perserverence, here are some examples! The video is about a minute long, and the smiles don't kick in until near the middle.







Keira is 8 weeks old

Sick Baby

We have been dealing with a poor sick baby. Our first cold! Regan and I managed to get it too, so we have all been hunkered down for the week.

It was a little bittersweet because the first few days she was sick, she slept for 8 hours at night! We were kinda hopeful we would buck the odds and she would continue that trend, but she is back to getting up at least once a night (and not falling asleep for good until after midnight).

We have the humidifier in our room at night now to help her little snuffly nose. I have also been running hot showers and steaming the bathroom. My girlfriend Miriam also suggested placing a small rolled up towel underneath the bassinet mattress to elevate her head a bit. These all seem to help. Breastfeeding was a bit of a challenge the first few days since she couldn't breathe and drink at the same time. I just let her pull off and take lots of breaks and she powered through. I was glad to see she stuck to relatively the same schedule of eating; it didn't affect her appetite thank goodness.

Any other suggestions for future colds? I know this will just be the first of many!

Keira is 7weeks 6 days old