This blog is anonymous, but my mother knows about it. She reads it every day, sometimes learning stuff from my blog before I have a chance to tell her on the phone. She read my post about how I was going to make nursing pads, and she beat me to it. She used material that we had left over from our diaper making session, and showed up here last week with four pairs of nursing pads. She made them from a few layers of t-shirt and flannel, and used an old towel for the middle layer. She contoured them by cutting a pie-shaped wedge out of each circle and then pulling the edges of the wedge together and stitching them. That way there’s less fabric to bunch up, and the really don’t show under my clothes. they’ve been working great – one pair has been lasting all day, and I haven’t had any wet shirts at all. Thanks mama!
To change the subject a little, one of my girlfriends just gave birth 9 weeks early, in an emergency c-section performed under general anesthetic. she had been doing great, and then her liver function deteriorated and her blood pressure started to rise. Within a week she had HELLP and was in pretty dire straits. Her baby weighed less than 4 pounds, and will be in NICU for at least five weeks, although both she and the baby are doing well considering everything they’ve been through. For now she’s pumping milk that gets fed to the baby through a feeding tube. So when my baby wakes up for the third time in the middle of the night, I remind myself how grateful I am that he’s in our bed, healthy and growing, and able to nurse all by himself. It makes me smile and I forget how tired I am. Helps to put things in perspective.
KG says
Good luck with the re-useable nursing pads! I am so jealous they work out for you! I bought some washable ones because I was tired of constantly buying and then filling landfills with the disposable ones, but the first time my daughter cried, my shirt was soaked! Maybe I should try making my own and can just make them a little thicker. I did read one place that if you make them and use fleece for the outside back layer (closest to your bra) that it is water resistent and won’t show leaks. I might give that a try.
As an aside, I really admire all that you are doing to frugally raise your baby. I wish I would have found your blog before my baby was born (she is 10 weeks old) because I am discovering that she doesn’t need to be that expensive and there are a lot of baby items that are convenient, but not necessary and that she will outgrow soon!
Mrs. Micah says
That sounds awesome! Moms are so helpful.
That must be really hard for your friend. I see a lot of NICU babies and parents. Those babies are real fighters.