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2003-01-05 - 11.00pm��previous entry��next entry
"Cloth-diapering" and my first cloth nappy!!!
Well I know I wasn't meant to write here yet, because I am not pregnant yet! We are not even trying to conceive yet, but it is looking more and more definite that we will definitely start after my July period. Actually that's completely definite, since that's what Neil and I have decided to do. Except unless something comes up like..... uh, I don't know, family strife (?!) or huuuuuge money troubles or something. Or maybe health issues. But we don't expect any of those so yeah, we are gonna try for a baby in the summer. As more time is passing we are getting more and more used to the idea. There is some aspect of it that we are discussing every day, and now that it is becoming more "real" to us we are finding that we are getting excited and kind of brain-boggled at the same time, because something this amazing is really going to happen to us! It's not just a joyful fantasy for me anymore, it is something that we are really going to do, and six or seven months is going to disappear before we know it. So planning and preparing now is not just "nice", it's necessary. Maybe I should open this diary up to the public now, since I am already writing in it? But that would feel silly, since I am not pregnant yet and it's a pregnancy journal. Hmmm. Maybe I should change the title to "pre-pregnancy journal" or something for now?! I don't know. Or maybe I won't really write in here much after this, because all the exciting stuff is happening now because I'm just discovering it. After that, I will be just waiting for the right time. Or maybe I will make exciting pre-pregnancy discoveries all the time until I conceive!! There's no telling.....
Anyways, today I HAD to write here because I have been all hush-hush in my normal diary about something baby-related that I got all excited about lately. I figured it was waaaay too soon to start waffling on about these things to everybody when they'll all think I am starting to fall slightly out of my tree (?!) with it being so early and all, and get bored of the great excitement by the time I actually get pregnant! Or something.
So I didn't tell in my normal diary that I am absolutely 100% converted to cloth-diapering - whoops, I should say "using cloth nappies" because I'm Bwitish. But so far all my "dealings" (!) about cloth nappies have been online with American super-moms who cloth-diaper their babes, so I haven't used the word "nappy" once yet. And I like the word "diaper" better now anyways. But hey this isn't important!! Let me get on to the exciting bit!!!
Yeah I am going to cloth-diaper my baby. All my babies actually. And never ever ever ever use a disposable nappy if I can help it. I am converted almost to the point of activist. Actually, strike the "almost". And this week I have been researching for hooooours about cloth nappies, and how to use them, wash them, fold them, make them, and what all the latest technologies allow these days. I had this mad preconceived idea that cloth nappies were big bulky off-white terry towel nightmares which leak and smell the house out in their soaky buckets, and which you have to cover up with vile plastic pants. Well hello, welcome to the 21st Century! That is a completely out of date image, as I have discovered with mounting excitement!
Today I made two prefold nappies and I am soooo excited about it!! Yes, I SEWED my very own cloth nappies!! I found a prefold nappy pattern online (see my links page - I got it at The One Stop Diaper Shop), and then I dug around in my fabric drawer and discovered just the right materials. The first nappy was admittedly a bit of a flop. I messed the seams up so it ended up being too small, but hey, it will fit a premature baby perfectly! No matter, I will use it as a doubler (inner liner for heavy wetters or toddlers) later on. I used a tired flannel washtowel for that one (a real budget nappy!). The second one however I am absolutely thrilled with. I made it out of some soft cotton flannel that I once bought when I used to make premature babygowns for the local hospital in my teens. This kind of flannel is the recommended material to use for prefold cloth nappies. I sewed in a soaker pad, for which I used two layers of terry towelling that I found - a reeeeeally old and grey towel that Neil must have had for 20 years or something! I cut it up (very satisfying!) and used it. I also put in two layers of flannel. This is what the pattern suggested. And then I sewed it all together and folded it and pinned it with nappy pins, and hey presto! I can't stop looking at it and touching the soft fabric. Every last thought I had about the cloth vs. disposables thing went RIGHT out the window when I saw my finished nappy. It is sooooo soft and comfy looking and pretty. Why on earth would I ever want to use disposables?!!!! I can make THE most gorgeous waterproofy covers for nappies like this, out of fleece or PUL (soft fabric coated on one side in a treatment that is waterproof). Bye-bye plastic pants. I have already ordered two patterns for nappies and covers, and two kits of fabric for the patterns, and a snap press and machine needles, etc, from The Nappy Mill (see my links page). This is gonna save me sooooooo much money in the long run. Plus I love the idea of cloth-diapering. I don't care about swishing pooey nappies in the loo or stuff like that. I have been looking forward to working hard at being a mother my whoooole life and I WANT to do all the hard bits.
So anyway, here is my pride and joy, my first cloth nappy job.....
Now d'you see why I had to write an entry here? It's relevant to my pregnancy diary. It's just endless obsessive waffle in my normal one! So yeah. I wish I could start properly using this diary already. I know I am not pregnant yet but I am already getting down with what is involved. I don't know, maybe I will open it up to the public? I might change the title first, I don't know. I will think some more.....
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