Diapers.
Who knew there was such a wide variety of options available for something that basically collects poo.  Not only do they come in disposable or washable there are a wide variety of sizes, shapes, textures and colors available.

Disposable Diapers

First you have your basic disposable diaper.  Everyone knows what these are. We purchased our first pack of new born disposable diapers for the first few days of diaper duty.  They come with a neat little notch cut out so the umbilical cord won’t be disturbed.  Neat huh?

G Diapers

Our original plan was to cover Zimmerbaby’s tush in G Diapers.  They are a cross between cloth and disposable.  You buy the little underpants that come in a variety of colors.  There is a spot in the middle that holds a disposable liner to collect the mess.  When changing the diaper you flush the disposable liner and it is supposed to disintegrate leaving nothing to throw away, hence the “G” which I think stands for green.  No waste.  I’ve heard mixed reviews on the flushability of the liners as well as frustration over having to buy the liners which cost the same as a pack of Pampers Swadlers and you still have to wash the diaper because the liner doesn’t always soak everything up.  So to us it seems like there really isn’t an upside.

Cloth Diapers

On to cloth diapers. Cloth diapers to me meant those cloth rectangles that you have to fold into diaper shape and pin in place with a giant safety pin.

Well turns out they’ve changed a bit since my parents used them. I was shocked to find out about the numerous styles and options available in the world of cloth diapers. It seems that the most popular is one called Bum Genius.

Like the G Diaper it has an outer cover that comes in a variety of colors. Instead of a disposable liner there is a pocket where you inset a long skinny wash cloth like thing that soaks up the mess. When they are soiled you throw it all in the washer. The upside is that once you purchase them you don’t have to buy diapers again. They can be re-used for additional children and nothing is being wasted (except water for washing). This particular diaper has adjustable snaps to make it bigger as baby grows. The downside, they are not cheap and in order to keep from doing constant laundry it’s necessary to buy a set of 24 or so. And of course there is the pain of doing laundry.  There are laundry services that will pick up your diapers and wash them for you if you really don’t want to do them. But of course it comes at a price.

I was shocked to learn that babies go through 12-16 diapers per day. After doing the math, we’ve decide to give the cloth diapering system a whirl. More than anything because of the cost savings it seems we’ll get in the long run. We’ll see how it goes.

There is a great store in downtown Lee’s Summit called Happy Bottomus that has everything one would need to diaper their babies tush in a cloth system among other fun baby items.

Hello folks, it’s Zimmerbaby. I’m continuing to do well this week. I’ve had a lot of the hic hic jumps I described several weeks ago. Other than that I’m just enjoying life, sleeping and playing in my ever shrinking cave.

Hello from Zimmerbaby! Things are going well.  I’ve discovered that I can turn my head from side to side.  Before if I wanted to look sideways I had to adjust my whole body but now I’ve figured out how to turn just my head.  I was pretty impressed with myself! 

This weekend was our first baby shower.  My parents threw it for us!  Aaron’s parents and his youngest sister came in town for the event among many other wonderful guests.  Here we are outside.

Me and my momma!

Dad cooked up a storm!  All kinds of yummy desserts.

A family snuggle moment.

And on to the gifts

Janet made a baby quilt for us.  It is beautiful and matches the babies room perfectly!

She also made a diaper bag!  I’ve been looking and can’t seem to find one that I like.  So I asked Janet to make me one.  It’s perfect!

She also made a matching changing pad to go with it.  She embroidered ZIMMERBABY on it too.  If you blow up the picture you might be able to read it.

Bowling Green State University gear from Aaron’s sister Emily.  I always see pregnant women do this with little clothes.  I thought i’d give it a whirl.

My mom and dad gave us my rocking chair from when I was a child.  I can’t believe it lasted all this time.

Some more fun things for baby including a pacifier thermometer.  Cool huh?

More gifts

Here is a close up of the diaper bag.  I just love it!

Aaron and his sister Rachael, our lovely photographer.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped make our first baby shower special.  We are so grateful to have wonderful and supportive family and friends in our lives.

Zimmerbaby here!  I think I mentioned before how I was trying different positions and that upside down seemed to be preferable.  Well I’ve decided I like it so much, that I’m going to stay this way.  There’s just something nice about floating upside down.  Almost like it’s meant to be.  I find it quite comfortable.

We’ve been taking Bradley birth classes over the last 10 weeks.  Our teacher Amber is wonderful and we’ve enjoyed learning about relaxation techniques and the birth process.  Here is a picture from our last class.  Aaron went to every class with me but he was really sick and had to miss the last one, so he’s not in the picture.  I also knitted little hats for each of the couples in the class.  Everyone seemed to like them.  After everyone has their babies we’ll get together again to meet the babies.  We are the last ones due so it will be sometime after May.  I’m so excited to see everyone and their babies.  It’s hard to imagine.  The first picture was taken by our teacher.  The second by her 9 year old so she could be in it.  But some heads are chopped off.