I like cloth diapers

Okay so I'm the first to admit that I was late to the cloth diaper game.  My Audrey was 4 months old before I ever bought a cloth diaper and it wasn't until we moved to Texas that we switched her full-time.  I wish I had switched her earlier!  She seems to be more comfortable in her cloth diapers, like she can feel the softness on her tush instead of the faux-cotteny feel of the disposable.

Our switch has not been without perils.  First was the seemingly never ending rash, which turned out to be the fault of the soap I was using.  Then was the never ending laundry, which I cured by going on a buying spree.  People were not kidding about the whole addiction thing.  While I'm far from addicted, I do like to "window shop" on the diaperswappers FSOT boards.  Goodmama's are so cute and I just want to keep buying!  While I would still like to buy about 5 more Goodmama's to help rotate my stash, we are able to wash every other day, which helps this mama out a lot.

Our latest issue has been thrush but I think finally getting the diagnoses of eczema will help out a lot.  It helps to treat the right issue rather than thinking it is one thing and getting no results.  Turns out Audrey has sensitive skin like her daddy.  It was amazing the difference just from switching her to the Aveeno lotion.  Her skin is so soft and clear!  While we thought we were dealing with thrush we kept switching to disposables.  The number of blow outs sky-rocketed!  Why do they blow so much?  My GM's just seem to hold and hold. 

I'm thinking I need to buy a diaper sprayer to finish rounding out my cloth diapering world.  My parents (who watch Audrey during the day) and Ray leave all of the laundry for me.  That was part of the compromise for the switch, they would be supportive as long as I did the laundry.  I'm happy to do it but I'm finding it is much hard to clean the poopy ones now that she's getting in a far amount of solids and then everyone just mixes the diapers up so I can't tell which ones are wet vs poop.  I think the sprayer might help with the removal of the extra. 

So I like cloth diapers.  Audrey likes cloth diapers.  The amount of baby trash I put out is less than half of what it use to be under the disposable regime.    Now if I can just find a good deal on a few more GM's. 

Girlfriends

One of things I'm learning about motherhood is that it can be very isolating.  If your friends are living the sex and city life then they don't really have time for talks on birthing/breastfeeding/or baby poop.  I don't blame them one bit.  But I am also finding that I can find new moms to connect with too.  I have about 5 blogs I read faithfully.  They are blogs from moms that are just doing the best they can and sharing their experiences along the way.  I had also found a wonderful group in Greensboro called Triad Tot Toters that was amazing but now that we living in Texas, I'm back to being by myself again. :(

This weekend I was finally able to go see my bestest friends in the whole world.  One has been my BFF since 7th grade, so like almost 20 years!  The other has been a BFF since college so only about 10 years.  They finally got to meet Audrey and Miss Audrey of course charmed them.  It was fun to talk to the girls about their lives, see their new homes, share how my life has changed in the time since I saw them last.  We laughted, we cried, we shared and we made promises to see each other real soon.  I can't wait to see them again. 

I miss having people I can just go out with.  I think you can see a theme for me, loniness.  I wish the girls lived closer, they are both still about 5 hours away.  I take a weekend and go down there but I still wish I could just show up and go and have a fun girls night and then sleep in my own bed.  Just plan a last minute nail appointment or something simple like just picking them up and head to the movies. 

Does that life even exist for me anymore?  Now I have to make sure that someone can watch Audrey.  No more just running off.  While I miss the girlfriends, I think my trade off for Audrey has been worth it.  Maybe I can't just jet off to Paris but to be honest I never did before so why would I now?  I think I really need to just get a new cell phone with unlimited text and email so my girls and I can keep in better contact.  We have all gotten so busy we can't even find time to talk.  But I think the occasional, "You're awesome" text might be kinda nice.

Fever dreams

Audrey was released from the hospital yesterday.  We finally saw her pedi after she ran a fever for 3 days straight.  Her highest was 104.6 but the pedi's answering service recommended just staying home and giving Tylenol.  When we finally saw the doc, she sent us straight to the hospital.  It was a bit scary.  She was talking about spinal taps and how we should have been to the emergency room.
The doc ordered so many tests and procedures.  Honestly it was very difficult to watch them hurt my baby to try to make her better.  I know I should be happy that Audrey is better but I really wonder how much was really necessary.  As I write I'm listening to her breath and think she might be wheezing a little but I'm too scared of the doctor to really considering going just a for quick follow up.  We need a new doctor for Audrey.
We have talked to several people in the area and we get the same thing, well all the doctors around here are the same, they all suck.  Surely that can't be true.  There has to be one decent doctor in the Lufkin, Tx area!  I hope.