the giant baby turns 1!

Wow, what a year!

The giant baby was born via c-section on August 26th at 7:35 pm. 8 pounds 3 ounces, 21 inches long.

He was born via c-section after a rough labor of 12 hours. Two epidurals didn't work and I was not progressing fast enough for the hospitals standards (I won't rant and rage here ;) ). There was some question as to whether or not the epidural was effective enough on my belly, and I was having a mini (read VERY LARGE) meltdown in the operating room because they wouldn't give me anti-nausea meds (some allergy and anxiety about nausea). They sedated me HEAVILY. WAY way, way too much! The giant baby was not breathing and blue when he was born. They could not resuscitate him and had to intubate. We are CONFIDENT that this is because of the sedation. Our hospital has a rule about intubation, no matter what, even if it was only for a few minutes, they have to send the baby to the NICU 40 minutes away. They "could not find a valid reason" that the giant baby was not breathing when born. So he stayed in the NICU for three days. The NICU staff loved and loved on the giant baby because they could touch and hold him. There was nothing wrong with him, he just needed some extra help in the start. Many of the NICU babies are so fragile they have to be covered in a special incubator for 23 hours a day with minimal stimulation. The NICU staff reserves this stimulation for the parents and family. The giant baby could be held, dressed, bathed, and fed. They were swooning over him the whole time. When we came to get our baby they were truely sad that we were claiming him. They even joked that we could leave him another day "just in case" and winked several times! We are so thankful our baby was not harmed by his traumatic birth and is alive and VERY well today!

Today we are still sucessfully breasfeeding, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, and hippie living.

The giant baby is:
A-addorable!
B-best friends with the kitties and brother
C-courageous when he wants to be
D-dancing maniac
E-excited about animals
F-funny
G-grumpy with routine
H-happy with new things, people, and places
I-innovative
J-jokester
K-kissable
L-loving
M-mama's boy
N-never alone. he hates it
O-observant, never misses a beat
P-pretty, boys can be pretty too!
Q-quite the charmer
R-rolly polly
S-so so silly
T-terrible sleeper
U-unstoppable
V-volumptuous
W-weird (he has a popcicle stick cross hanging out of his mouth as we speak)
X-Xceptional (there are NO good x words!)
Y-yeller, all the time yelling!
Z-zany

adventures with the giant baby

This is my take on the adventures with the giant baby. Please enjoy!

Somewhere along our adventures with the giant baby we (read mostly I) have decided to go progressively more and more hippie. Hippie is a strong word, but here in Olympia, WA, it fits! Call it what you will, green living, frugal, cheap, hippie kinda sums it up.

I have always been frugal, couponing to save money, shopping at second hand stores or discount stores to save money, etc. This summer I have taken my money saving to a new level.

WE (read mostly I) decided to cloth diaper at the beginning of the summer full time! My hubs was extremely hesitant, not really wanting to jump with two feet in if you know what I mean.

Along the way we (read WE) have grown to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, cloth diapering! WE have embraced the lifestyle whole heartedly.

Whereever I go I have found myself talking about cloth diapering, sharing information, sites, giving demonstrations, etc. With some thought, it made the most sense to start a blog devoted just to our new "hippie" lifestyle. This may include some other money saving techniques that pertain to cloth diapering, raising children and babies.