 |
| (card made by one of our collegiate players, not weird trans-utero communication) |
Friday, May 20, 2011
our first mother's day
Thursday, May 19, 2011
diapers.
In short, I'm a little obsessed.
We're having twins.
Babies are expensive. Well, not inherently, but when you factor in day care and swim lessons and our desire to not default on (mostly my) student loans, they are. So one of the ways we hope the save money (the the environment a little bit along the way) is with cloth diapers.
At 10-12 diapers/day for newborns, that's (using 12 diapers per day, since I'm sure we'll have our share of insta-soil issues) 168 diapers/week. Let's assume they fit into Newborn diapers for a month (4 weeks; we'll live in pregnancy counting for the sake of this argument). That's 672 diapers. I have heard Amazon is the queen of cheap diapers, especially under Subscribe & Save, but for this I'm going to use non-S&S figures as a way of averaging diapers bought online and in store. So, a quick peek on Amazon at Pampers Swaddlers (I'll talk about our non-financial reasons for cloth another day) says that is $129 (really a little more, since you'll have part of a bag left). Now obviously, I have no idea how big our babies will be, but let's assume they move into size 1 around 4 week and wear those for 2 months (they're marked 8-15lbs) and spend weeks 12-16 in size 2. I'll assume we've gotten better at poo catching and are down to 10 diapers/day/baby. So that's another 1680 diapers at about $0.21 each on Amazon, for $353 (ish). I'm not really sure how many diapers fit into a trash can, but I'm going to guess, given the size of a bag of dry, un-expanded-by-pee diapers, its a full 50 (40?) gallon can a week of plastic wrapped poop.
So for 4 months, that's (at least) $482 in disposable diapers for 16 weeks.
Here's our newborn stash (missing a wetbag & snappies, which I still need to get), built assuming we have average girl babies who hit 15 lbs about 5 months (babies start fitting into one size diapers around 10-12 lbs, but that's another post). This should be all we need for the first 4 months (and some will likely fit a bit longer, helping us transition into the one-size diapers).
not pictured: 36 newborn prefolds, 36 small prefolds & 4 small workhorse fitteds (shipping from the Green Mountain Diapers seconds sale!)
Total Cost (a lot bought used or as seconds): $419 in diapers (and we need to get snappies, so add $10), plus $50 in wet bags which will last the life of diapering. Of course, this stash should be plenty to get us into month 5, unless we have larger than average babies (pretty unlikely, given my wife's build and the fact they're multiples), so there is a clear cost savings before we even consider the likelihood of buying more expensive diapers (eg, not from amazon) or wasting diapers popping between brands for a good fit.
OK, I concede the cost savings is minimal for the newborn stage. AND we have a lot of diapers. I planned on a 2-3 day stash since, well, we're having twins. Its possible we might miss a laundry day. And I don't want to run out of diapers OR become annoyed. I also sprung for a sort of high number of fitteds for the newborn stage, since we'll probably be sleep deprived and I think they'll be easier for overnights (plus more user-friendly for grandma).I only got a few for the 10-15 lbs stage since they'll be transitioning to our one-size stash at that point.
to be continued...
We're having twins.
Babies are expensive. Well, not inherently, but when you factor in day care and swim lessons and our desire to not default on (mostly my) student loans, they are. So one of the ways we hope the save money (the the environment a little bit along the way) is with cloth diapers.
At 10-12 diapers/day for newborns, that's (using 12 diapers per day, since I'm sure we'll have our share of insta-soil issues) 168 diapers/week. Let's assume they fit into Newborn diapers for a month (4 weeks; we'll live in pregnancy counting for the sake of this argument). That's 672 diapers. I have heard Amazon is the queen of cheap diapers, especially under Subscribe & Save, but for this I'm going to use non-S&S figures as a way of averaging diapers bought online and in store. So, a quick peek on Amazon at Pampers Swaddlers (I'll talk about our non-financial reasons for cloth another day) says that is $129 (really a little more, since you'll have part of a bag left). Now obviously, I have no idea how big our babies will be, but let's assume they move into size 1 around 4 week and wear those for 2 months (they're marked 8-15lbs) and spend weeks 12-16 in size 2. I'll assume we've gotten better at poo catching and are down to 10 diapers/day/baby. So that's another 1680 diapers at about $0.21 each on Amazon, for $353 (ish). I'm not really sure how many diapers fit into a trash can, but I'm going to guess, given the size of a bag of dry, un-expanded-by-pee diapers, its a full 50 (40?) gallon can a week of plastic wrapped poop.
So for 4 months, that's (at least) $482 in disposable diapers for 16 weeks.
Here's our newborn stash (missing a wetbag & snappies, which I still need to get), built assuming we have average girl babies who hit 15 lbs about 5 months (babies start fitting into one size diapers around 10-12 lbs, but that's another post). This should be all we need for the first 4 months (and some will likely fit a bit longer, helping us transition into the one-size diapers).
not pictured: 36 newborn prefolds, 36 small prefolds & 4 small workhorse fitteds (shipping from the Green Mountain Diapers seconds sale!)
 |
| left: 10 NB covers, 3 aio. middle: 2 thirsties fitteds, 4 Kissaluv 0s, 8 XS workhorse fitteds. middle 2: 4 small covers, 2 XS pockets. right: 2 S pockets, 2 S fuzzibunz |
Total Cost (a lot bought used or as seconds): $419 in diapers (and we need to get snappies, so add $10), plus $50 in wet bags which will last the life of diapering. Of course, this stash should be plenty to get us into month 5, unless we have larger than average babies (pretty unlikely, given my wife's build and the fact they're multiples), so there is a clear cost savings before we even consider the likelihood of buying more expensive diapers (eg, not from amazon) or wasting diapers popping between brands for a good fit.
OK, I concede the cost savings is minimal for the newborn stage. AND we have a lot of diapers. I planned on a 2-3 day stash since, well, we're having twins. Its possible we might miss a laundry day. And I don't want to run out of diapers OR become annoyed. I also sprung for a sort of high number of fitteds for the newborn stage, since we'll probably be sleep deprived and I think they'll be easier for overnights (plus more user-friendly for grandma).I only got a few for the 10-15 lbs stage since they'll be transitioning to our one-size stash at that point.
to be continued...
Sunday, April 17, 2011
half baked!
aren't they just adorable? such lovely little profiles.
(yes, I am totally aware you can barely see the profile since the picture is a little fuzzy)
(yes, I am totally aware you can barely see the profile since the picture is a little fuzzy)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
eee.
i entered my first cloth diaper giveaway on one of my favorite mommy(ies) blog. excited. and obsessed. and the babies aren't even here yet.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
update
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Conception Chronicles: Win
This is the tenth installment in a short series about baby making.
5w4d ultrasound. Healthy yok & gestational sacs.
6w4d ultrasound. Healthy sacs, measurements, and heartbeats.
We followed this up with a couple of rocky weeks (for reasons I don't want to rehash, but since resolved) of appointments with our RE, and graduated to the OB! Since we're moving, we had to find a new doc, and I was lucky enough to get a referal from an old friend who is a NICU nurse to a really awesome MFM (high risk OB) to take care of us. Why the MFM instead of a regular OB? Well, whenever there's plural babies, a pregnancy is inherently higher risk. While we didn't HAVE to go this route, I feel safer with it. And, bonus points, our MFM does deliveries, so we are only seeing him, not an OB + MFM for consults. One stop shopping win.
And folks, the Conception Chronicles are complete (for 2011 at least!).
5w4d ultrasound. Healthy yok & gestational sacs.
6w4d ultrasound. Healthy sacs, measurements, and heartbeats.
We followed this up with a couple of rocky weeks (for reasons I don't want to rehash, but since resolved) of appointments with our RE, and graduated to the OB! Since we're moving, we had to find a new doc, and I was lucky enough to get a referal from an old friend who is a NICU nurse to a really awesome MFM (high risk OB) to take care of us. Why the MFM instead of a regular OB? Well, whenever there's plural babies, a pregnancy is inherently higher risk. While we didn't HAVE to go this route, I feel safer with it. And, bonus points, our MFM does deliveries, so we are only seeing him, not an OB + MFM for consults. One stop shopping win.
 | ||
| our twins, EDD Sept 1, 2011 (but more like Aug. 10!) |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Conception Chronicles: Back on the Wagon
This is the ninth installment in a short series about baby making.
After I didn't get pregnant in October, we changed donors (goodbye pharmacist, hello musician) and returned Chris to the injectibles. I think the cycle started right around Thankgiving. Stim went better this time, still not great lead follicles, but her E2 stayed reasonable and with a slower pattern (and pushing ovulation out a couple of days with other drugs!) we had two leaders and a few laggers. So we triggered mid-December (clearly dates are not important to me), and gave it a shot.
And we got the faintest line ever, the kind of line you have to hold at the right angle to see in the light, at 10dpo!
We left for St.Louis for the holidays on Dec. 23, making a pit stop on the way to the airport for bloodwork. Her 14dpo HCG was over 300. Score.
Of course, heading to St. Louis for 10 days, there was no follow up bloodwork or 5 w ultrasound, so we were left in suspense until our return at 5w4d. Luckily, she was pretty much exhausted and slept through Christmas, so I felt good about her status as newly pregnant!
After I didn't get pregnant in October, we changed donors (goodbye pharmacist, hello musician) and returned Chris to the injectibles. I think the cycle started right around Thankgiving. Stim went better this time, still not great lead follicles, but her E2 stayed reasonable and with a slower pattern (and pushing ovulation out a couple of days with other drugs!) we had two leaders and a few laggers. So we triggered mid-December (clearly dates are not important to me), and gave it a shot.
And we got the faintest line ever, the kind of line you have to hold at the right angle to see in the light, at 10dpo!
We left for St.Louis for the holidays on Dec. 23, making a pit stop on the way to the airport for bloodwork. Her 14dpo HCG was over 300. Score.
Of course, heading to St. Louis for 10 days, there was no follow up bloodwork or 5 w ultrasound, so we were left in suspense until our return at 5w4d. Luckily, she was pretty much exhausted and slept through Christmas, so I felt good about her status as newly pregnant!
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