cloth diapers- my intro

forgive me... this post has not only been a long one coming, but i didn't quite know how to word it.... nonetheless, here we go.

growing up, we had tons of cloth diapers as "rags" around the house.  they were ever so soft, and i learned, very early, that my mom put my brother and me in cloth diapers when we lived in guatemala.  for some reason, i always envisioned myself doing the same thing... whenever i had children.  

when we found out that we were pregnant, i planned on CDing.  my husband grew up with CD and we both agreed to it (sometimes, i don't think men understand what they agree to until it's reality before their very own eyes- lol).  when we found out that we were having TWINS, i knew hands down that we would do this.  why, do you ask?  mostly because i didn't want to spend unnecessary $$$ on things that i could rather spend on something else.  

i was surprised at my findings/research.  as i expressed my desire to do CD to my mom, she mentioned a diaper service immediately following the hospital... until i could get a handle on the idea of CD.  as i went onto a diaper service's website, i was floored.  i felt disgusted.  absolutely dumbfounded.  i read the statistics about diaper rash, disposables, cancer-linked chemicals, a former chemical that used to be in tampons years ago, waste, our planet, potty training, $ spent on sposies, the history of cloth diapers, the risk for infertility, a risk of more UTIs...

still, i couldn't believe it.  could this be the reason so many have infertility challenges nowadays?  linked to cancers?  but, WHY is it that they keep some chemicals in there that ARE banned NOW in tampons and in europe!?  how, in the world can we put those next to our babies' bottoms?  i watched a video from envibum's site, and my stomach sickened.  wow... that's really what is in THOSE diapers?! 

i knew that i had to CD.  knowing all of this information, i couldn't weaken myself and lose myself to paying for sposies every week... for what type of return, investment?  just throwing $ away.  do we throw our clothes away?  our underwear if it's dirty? 

i started asking around... asking friends who did CD and their reasonings... and i felt lost.  it was information overload.  i didn't know what type of CD to start/buy, and i felt frustrated because it seemed like it could be such an easy decision, but it wasn't!  prefolds, fitted, all-in-one, covers... what?!  isn't there a pros/cons to each?!  oh boy.  

so, my mom started picking up things for me... the Gerber prefolds, diaper pins, and rubber pants.  the way she started.  i knew that there were MUCH cuter diapers, but i knew that it'd be a pricier amount to start up with two babies.  we'd have to be patient to get those.  meanwhile, at showers, my disposable diapers' supply grew and grew... i felt guilty even having them.

in the hospital, they were placed in sposies, and i felt so guilty because of the dangers of sposies.  yet, their bums were so small (they each weighed less than 5 lbs.) and quite bony without much fat since they were four weeks early... most CD start at 6-8 lbs... when we got home, we were changing 10-12 diapers/day.  i only had what my mom got for us, and it clearly wasn't enough to get me going, as well as my girls' bums were too small to even start.  so, we waited until they were five weeks old.  

my mom was in town visiting (her third) and we kept running errands around town... primarily baby stores (that's when you know that your life has changed- lol).  we looked at the Gdiapers at babies 'r us, and thought they seemed quite expensive, complicated... and, they didn't have the size to accommodate my little beauties. :(  a mom there told us that costco had CD... online.  we checked it out.  a three-part system.  the worst part about buying things online is not knowing what type of product it is until it's in front of your face.  the mom also mentioned this store in scottsdale, zoolikins.  little did i know i had already visited that store's site, as well as it was on my blog's links!  lol

we all went to zoolikins the following day... i wanted my husband to be apart of the process.  we bought their "simplicity" package, the diaper spray, disposable liners, and cloth wipes after learning a lot of information.  we went with the similar process my mom did.  why?
1.  my girls weren't quite 6lbs. yet
2. i didn't know if i'd be able to really KEEP with CD
3. didn't want to spend $ that i'd later regret by not keeping with it

my mom advised me to not switch completely until we got a grasp on CD and use sposies at night.  i decided to stop using the ones that people gave us and use seventh generation's diapers that were chlorine free, gel-free.  i felt somewhat better.  

yet, i still wanted to exclusively CD...