First cycle with DivaCup and mamacloth

            So my DivaCup arrived the day before my cycle started, thank god. I figured it was best just to jump right in and pretend that i knew what i was doing. I read all of the information that comes with my DivaCup and it was very helpful but reading and understanding something is very different from actually DOING it. I had read some pretty terrifying reviews about leaking, getting stuck and all sorts of hassles so i am not going to lie i was quite intimidated but i figured its better now than never.
-Day one
            Woke up to my lovely aunt flo knocking on my door and figured that it was time to try all my new stuff out. I inserted my DivaCup according to the directions [so i thought] and put on one of my brand spankin new cloth panty liners from TheCrazyElephant and i went on my merry little way. About 6 hours later i figured i should probably check the whole situation out and i was pretty surprised. There was some leakage, but my liner took care of that, but really it wasn't all that bad. I removed my cup, washed it, and reinserted it. I was very proud of myself for not having as hard of a time as some of the other consumer reports i have read.
-Day two
. . . still leaking, isnt this thing supposed to not leak unless its full
-Day three
STILL LEAKING, being a green diva is sound pretty stupid right about now and im out of panty liners. So i open up to my trusty friend GOOGLE to see if this leakage is a result of user error. Turns out that yes, yes it was user error. Turns out i was not inserting the cup at a horizontal i was trying to insert it up like you would a tampon. I changed this and the leaking stopped [yay]
-Day four
            I have now mastered the DivaCup so i decided to give my trusted cup a break for the night and try out my heavy absorbency pad. So i dig through my closet find my good, old, ratty, period sweatpants and i put a dark sheet on the bed [just in case] I go to the bathroom to remove and wash my DivaCup and put on my pad. First thing i notice is that i dont feel like im wearing a pad. It feels like i am just wearing my underwear. It was so nice to not feel like i was wearing a diaper. I go to bed with a cautious but still postive attitude.
-Day five
            I wake up. The first thing i notice is that i feel very. . . dry. In a very good way. No slimy, sticky, papery feeling. No squished up ball of cotton hanging out between my legs. So i get up and asses that my sheets are dry, my pants are free of any [new] stains. And i head to the bathroom to see the damage done to my underwear. . . NONE not one leak, not one spot. And may i add that my last cycle before mamcloth i would get cramps bad enough to leave me bedridden. . . As my aunt flo settles down for another three week nap i realize that through this whole cycle i have not had one measly cramp. No backache. No discomfort at all.

So there you have it. I am a real person with a real period who REALLY will never go back to disposable menstrual products. If you have any more detailed questions feel free to message me on facebook

Single parenting. . .

            So i am now on an all new adventure into single parenting. I know i don't have any regular followers but i apologize for being MIA for so long. Skye had some health issues, me and my fiance broke up, i got a job, and i totaled my car. So while i was away my life has become quite hectic. But, through all of this i am trying my best to stay positive. My daughter was not in the car when it wrecked, me and christian are still friends and very happy with it that way, and i LOVE my new job. Everything happens for a reason and i am hoping and praying that there is a bigger picture going on here that i just cannot see or understand at the moment.
            I am excited and afraid of the independence of getting my own place and providing for me and my daughter. I am confident that this will be the best thing for us but it is still quite a large change from being a stay at home mom. I am thanking god right now for my amazing family and friends who have been here with me and are helping me figure all of this out. I love the fact that i have enough people that care about me and Skye that i have no need for childcare other than family and friends. This task seems so daunting but I trust that what is meant to be will find its way. I know that if this is what i am meant to be doing then everything will fall into place.
            I love the fact that me and christian have no need for visitation schedules. We talk and communicate and there have been no fights since we separated. I do love him but at the point we were both at, we were just miserable and fighting constantly. We made the decision that if we are going to be the parents Skye deserves that we need to separate before things get ugly. I will always have a huge amount of respect for the maturity and selflessness that Christian showed me while making this decision. I also know that no matter what he will always be the best thing that has ever happened to me. Just because in the long run we were not right for each other i know that we were meant for each other for the time we were together. He was there for me at a time in my life when no one else was and without him i do not know where i would be right now. He gave me my beautiful daughter and he is an amazing father. I want to thank him for all of these things. I cannot imagine asking for anything more than that.

Cloth diapering part 3

        
            So in this section i would like to go into the yucky stuff. . . . cleaning. cloth. diapers. haha I am totally joking, it is super easy and clean.

Lets start with a list of cloth diaper safe detergents
 HE washers                                           Older washing machines
-RubyMoon                                           -Allens
-Charlie's Soap [powder/liquid]              -Arm and hammer free essentials
-Moutain Green free and clear                -Bio-O-Kleen
-Moutain Green Baby                            -Country save liquid 
-All small and mighty                              -EviroRite
-Caldrea                                                -Lifekind
-Country Save                                       -Nature clean 
-Dropps                                                -Oxy-prime
-Ecos                                                    -Penguin
-Maggie's soap nuts                               -Planet ultra powder
-Method free and clear                          -SensiClean  
-Nellie's                                                -Sport-wash
-Rockin green                                       -Trader joe's
-Sun and earth                                      -Vaska
-Oxyclean free/baby
 This site has a detergent chart for which ones are better than others.
        
            So you start off with a large amount of brand new/new-to-you dipes of your choice and the first thing you are going to want to do is prep them. To prep your dipes you will want to follow these steps

Sunning our dipes at grandma's

 -remove all packaging [sometimes there are tags INSIDE the pocket of your dipes]
-un-snap all snaps and undo all aplix and fasten laundry tabs
-remove any inserts/doublers
-Throw everything into your washer
-Set wash setting to heavy/hot wash/cold rinse
-Add 1tbs. original dawn dish soap
when the washer is done, run the entire cycle again WITH NO SOAP
-Line dry anything containing PUL
-Toss all inserts/doublers/prefolds/flats/fitteds/wipes into the dryer
VOILA you are prepped and ready to diaper

            So now that your dipes are prepped you will probably want to put them into action but first you will want a diaper pail/wet bag to put your soggy dipes into. You have three choices for a diaper pail here[I have tried all three by the way]. Wet pail, Dry pail, or Wet bag.
            A dry pail is exactly what it sounds like, a pail with a garbage bag type liner made of PUL. With this method you will need at least two diaper pail liners because whenever you empty your pail you will want to toss your liner in the wash with your dipes or else it will end up getting pretty funky. With this method you will want to go no longer than 3 days between washes because of the fact that the dipes will dry/stain if left in there too long. I stopped using this method because my dipes always smelled like ammonia, even if they were clean.

My diaper pail

            You guessed it haha the wet pail method is WET. This method is discouraged now because of the drowning hazard but i keep my pail in the laundry room with the door shut. I have a solid plastic diaper pail that i fill 3/4 of the way and add 1tbs. of oxyclean free to. I put the lid on and put all of my dirty dipes in there. Since i started using the wet pail, you cant smell diapers in my house anymore, the ammonia smell in my dipes is gone, and all of my dipes look the same as the day i bought them. No stains or anything.

Inside my wet pail

                     A wet bag is NOT the same as a wet pail haha. All a wet bag is, is a bag made out of PUL that you can hang in your nursery or on your changing table to put your soggy dipes in. It is pretty much the same as a dry pail but it is a bag that you can hang. The only time i ever use a wet bag is in my diaper bag when we are on the go.

            Now that you have a bunch of prepped dipes and the diaper pail of your choice . . . you are pretty sure you are ready to go right. Wrong. What kind of wipes are you going to use. Your options are cloth or disposable. If you choose cloth then you also have a choice between making your own[my preference] or buying them. I will soon do a post for a cloth wipes tutorial and the recipe for my wipe solution. But anyways, for cleaning your cloth wipes all i do is throw them into the pail with my dipes, wash them, throw them into the dryer with my inserts/prefolds and it is as easy as that.

Ok so NOW are you ready
. . .
YES, now you are ready to put that adorable little tushie into the fluff of your choosing. And soon there will be. . . POO [OH NO] but wait, it really is not as gross as everyone thinks. Hmmm because i am a mother i have come into contact with poo A LOT but. . . it has never been because of cloth dipes. IMAGINE THAT haha but in all seriousness, exclusively breastfed baby poo can go right into your pail. No rinsing. But if you formula feed or have started solids you will have to rinse the solids into your toilet and then toss your rinsed dipe into your pail. there are two ways that you can do the deed 1] buy a diaper sprayer, this hooks up to your toilet so all you have to do is hold your dipe above your toilet and spray the poo into your toilet. 2] swish n' swipe, i found this easier at first. I would turn my dipe inside out [so the PUL is on the inside] and then dunk it in the toilet and swish the poo off and then flush the toilet.

Diaper sprayer

            So now you have been cloth diapering for around 2-3 days, your pail is full, your stash is running low. It is time to wash.

My wipes/prefolds/inserts in the dryer

-Empty your pail/wetbag into your washer
  -If you use a wet pail run a spin cycle before washing
  -if you use a dry pail run a cold rinse before washing
-Set washer on heavy/hot wash/cold rinse
-Add 1/4 the amount of detergent that you would for a normal/large load
-Line dry anything with PUL and toss everything else [other than wool] into your dryer
-Stuff your pockets/fold your flats and you are ready to go for another 2-3 days

Now if you are using wool covers for your prefolds/flats/fitteds you will wash your cover like this
-use cover until A]damp or has poo on it. or B] 1-2 days
-Buy a wool wash and wash your wool by hand
-hang or lay flat to dry
[DO NOT MACHINE DRY WOOL]

I will be linking with the pistachio project.

Paper-less?

Just a small example of our endless disposable products

            Has anyone ever really sat down and asked themselves WHY IS EVERYTHING DISPOSABLE. In my opinion it is just plain laziness. Laziness is killing our planet and our desire for prettier paper products is exposing us and our children to dangerous chemicals. Really, for five minutes sit down and try to think of all the paper products we use everyday and then IMMEDIATELY put into the trash to go spend the next 30 years decomposing and leaching chemicals into our earth and water supply. And we do all of this damage to try and save miniscule amounts of time out of our day. Let me make a point real quick, are we saving time or are we killing time. Is our need for ease of use so dire that we are willing to destroy our planet. Our gift to our children should really be a healthier planet and an inner sense of responsibility for this world that we all live in.

We are filling landfills far faster than our waste is breaking down 

            Now that my rant is over i will get to the point, my goal is to eventually live in a home that is completely free of any unnecessary paper products [i.e. paper towels, toilet paper, pads, tampons, disposable diapers, grocery bags, . . . etc.] I plan on achieving this one step at a time. It is a rather large transition if you are coming from a disposable home but don't worry. You really can do it, if you take it a step at a time. Instead of diving into this head first why don't you start with something simple. Try investing in some nice kitchen towels and stop buying paper towels. If we all started making small steps to improving our lifestyles we could be capable of changing this world for the better.

I love this picture

             My first step in this goal was to start cloth diapers, now that i have done that and completely cut out disposables [not even allowed in the house] i decided to find my next step. I decided that mama cloth was the next step for me, it just felt right. I am very new to that but i did not just go out and buy a full stash and throw out all my pads and tampons. I bought enough to transition me over, after trying these products i plan on filling my stash slowly until i have everything i need. I truly believe that so many people give up on going green because they try to just jump in rather than taking small steps and sticking with them.
            After mama cloth i plan on switching my entire household over to un-paper towels. I plan on making them myself so that i can match them with the decor of my house.  I am very excited about these steps i am taking even though most of my family thinks that i am a crazy hippie haha and i am but i embrace it, you should embrace your inner hippie too.
            Finally somewhere along the line i will be making my own grocery bags, produce bags and also making the family cloth for my house i will be moving to next summer. Family cloth is pretty much cloth toilet paper but i will do a post explaining that soon.

I will be linking with the pistachio project.