Wow talk about slack

Well I really fell off the wagon with this one, but to be fair it got cold and not nice weather for nappy free time.
Its been warming up lately. Over the last few months I was mainly just catching the morning poo and wee, but over the last few weeks Jacob has been getting more and more cranky on a daily basis.
I was thinking all sorts of things that were possibly wrong with him, but then it was like a light bulb moment, he hates wearing a nappy!
Since then we have not been using nappies at home, unless he was going for a nap, and I put one on when he go out. Jacob has since been much happier. I can't believe it was that simple. He would get a little upset, so would put him on the potty and voila a wee.
There is still the odd wee on the floor but that is not a big deal. Still catching his morning poos every 3 days or so. Now he is crawling too, which makes it fun for wee, I am still trying to actually work out his more subtle signs though, as I know from Lucas, getting cranky was the final sign before weeing, so I just have to work out what the early ones are. But I know ill get there eventually.
I am loving not having to wash pooey nappies, and its now taking ages for the nappy bucket to fill up anyway, so soon ill just wash nappies with clothes like I did for Lucas, rather than waiting for a full load. Hopefully we will have less rain soon, so they actually dry on the line.

Only a few misses today!

So far we have only had a few misses. And its been because I was doing something else at the time. One wee was because he was on my back, and I didn't think to take him down when he was squirming around.
Ive been using flats today folded like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k57WOkT3l90, seems to work OK, it took me a few tries to get them to stay on tight enough. Am only using them so his bum stays warm otherwise I wouldn't bother.
First wees and/or poos on waking are easiest to catch.
So far his signs are:
- Squirming
- Pulling on and off during a feed.
- Getting cranky and crying ,but this seems to be if I miss any other signs.

Thats all I have so far, but working on knowing what the other signs are.

Its time

To get serious about ECing now. Jacob is often telling me he needs to go but im just not noticing the signs like I should be. Today we are going to spend all day nappy free and I am going to watch for the signs. Ive got several wees this morning, but missed the poo, but I am sure there will be more today :)

So slack

Ah have been so slack with ECing recently. Have been catching a few poos and wees, but not nearly enough. Its just so cold I feel bad about having a nappy off Jacob. I really need to just spend some time watching Jacob nappy free so I can work out his cues. Although he definately gets cranky when he needs to go, so I just have to jeep reminding myself of that, when I am trying to work out why he is upset. Now is the time I started ECing with my first son (2 months) so really I should get into it a bit more.

Daddy caught a wee!

I think he was even excited about it LOL.
Actually he caught two wees tonight.

We have been using prefolds all day today, and Jacob has been much happier.
It is probably a combo of the prefolds and the chiro yesterday.
We have not had any screaming fits since the chiro visit yesterday, so I am so relieved. Fingerscrossed this keeps up.

OK getting it slowly

OK so im slowly getting it.
Another sign is just crankiness, and that means a poo is coming.
So I caught a poo and a wee tonight. I really need to get into this more. I remember from Lucas that once I caught on to the signs, he would barely cry as I would work out what he wanted before he needed to get upset.
Maybe its time to ditch the nappies and just watch him as much as possible and keep the potty bowl close.
Ill see how I go.

Lightbulb moment

Just had a lightbulb moment. Doh! Occasionally while feeding Jacob will put on and off and sorta squirm a bit. Its when he needs to go for a poo. I knew this from Lucas too. Now I just have to make sure I take him to the potty bowl :)

YAY for poo

Caught another poo tonight in our regular after dinner potty time.
Still working on noticing the signs, but for now ill just keep giving him the opportunity to poo somewhere other than his nappy. These potty bowls with the fleece covers are awesome.

First night with potty bowl

Caught several wees and a poo tonight. Yay!

Potty Bowls

YAY the potty bowls have arrived already from The Potty Shop. The polar fleece covers look like they will be great to keep a tiny bum warm :)
Will try one out later, and will also try to get a pic :)

Poo catching

Last night I decided to spend more time holding Jacob over the potty, so that he would poo before bed so that I didn't end up having to change his night nappy. And he did several wees and a poo. He was quite happy just hanging out with his bum over the potty.
Right now im not focusing on any signs or anything, but just giving him the opportunity to go to the toilet somewhere other than his nappy :)

Ecing this time

So far in the first couple of weeks, I took J to the bathroom sink for a wee at a couple of nappy changes and caught those wees.
I hadn't been planning on getting back into it for a while but I do want to get started soon.
So the last couple of nights after our dinner, I got the potty out and just sat with it between my knees and J over it. Last night I caught wees and poo and tonight just wees. He was happy to sit in the crook of my arm with his bum over the potty. He had on nice long socks so his legs were still warm. It is quite awkward to hold him over the potty like that since he is so tiny, so ive ordered some potty bowls and covers from The Potty Shop. Im looking forward to getting those, it will make it easier for ECing especially while J is this small.
So that is our journey so far :)

Second time around.

1st June 2010 I had our second gorgeous baby boy.
This time at home after the long lasting trauma of my unnecessarian. Here is our birth story:

9 pm or so I had about 3-4 contractions that were pretty sore, and needed to pee with each one, they were maybe 5 mins apart or something, but assumed it was pre-labour which id already been having some of for weeks, so figured they would stop. I had sent an sms to my midwife and my friend who was coming as my support people to let them know, just in case.
But they did stop, so tried to sleep.
At 11pm I felt a trickle, and I was like hmm, so jumped up, and by the time I reached the toilet it was a full on gush, it just kept coming into the toilet. It was pink tinged, so I knew that was all good. I also realised it meant that labour would be starting soon, or somewhat soon. LOL. I got excited, it was really weird, I sat on the toilet for maybe 30-40 mins while I rang my friend and my midwife, and I told them id let them know when I needed them.

I decided not to bother trying to sleep (yeah bad idea I know) so got up and tried to watch desperate housewives and post on NA while bouncing on fit ball. I was managing the contractions, I didn't time them, but they seemed pretty regular to me.

Around 12ish I sent Pam a message saying if she wanted she could come hang out, I felt I needed someone else around then. I think DH did get up at some point to be out here too. The contractions started to get really bad, and they seemed close together to me, although I remember Pam saying about 3-4 mins apart. I think DH rang Jo around 2 or so, and she arrived at maybe 3am, ill have to check on those times.
I got in the pool at this point, and I was managing the contractions while reclining in the pool, but it was very hot, and I was sweating alot.
I got out of the pool and tried to walk around, but had to lean over something with each contraction and really concentrate on breathing through them. i was still wondering to myself if this was just early labour still though. Pam was putting the heat pack and pressure on my back during contractions, which was awesome. It helped a lot. After some more walking I needed to get back in the pool, and kneeling over the side was what helped at this point. I was managing a little rest between some of the contractions while in the pool. The time between contractions seemed to change to me, it seemed id get some on top of each other and then some with a longer break, so I didn't know what was going on.Somewhere around here Jo arrived, but I was really just not noticing what was going on around me by now.
I got out of the pool again, I was quite restless and unsure what to do, I tried kneeling on the couch over the arm, it didn’t really help much.
I managed what seemed like a really long sleep on my side, but Jo said it was only about 5 mins. Am guessing this is when transition was happening. The next contraction after this was awful, and it made me vomit a few times. During this time I was trying to walk to the toilet. I think I had about 4 contractions walking the short distance to the toilet.
Then another at the toilet door, and another once I sat down. I couldn’t pee, but really needed to.
I had many more which seemed right on top of each other in our kitchen, I kept saying I couldn’t do it.
In between contractions I was asking Jo for a VE, I really thought I couldn’t do it anymore, these contractions were indescribable, so so painful. I just wanted to know how much longer I had to go. Thankfully Jo talked me out of it, as she knew it wasn’t what I really wanted. But after the next contraction I completely forgot I was asking for a VE lol.
I made it back to the pool, and practically dived in. Jo and Pam had been adding more hot water and blowing it back up as it had a slow leak which Greg had repaired, but it hadn’t worked very well.
The next contraction in the pool was different, my body was pushing, and I told Jo this is what was what happening. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t think it was going to happen that soon.
Each contraction making me push, was intense, I could not have stopped it, or slowed the pushing down.
After a few of these contractions, I checked and I could just feel his head not far in, and that spurred me on, I couldn’t wait to get him out and make the pain be over.
It took 20 mins for him to emerge. That ring of fire people talk about was insane, even in the pool, it really burned. Once his head was out, his body just shot out. Jo had to remind me to pick him up as I was just so stunned.
That first cuddle was so amazing, it was such a difference to not being able to touch Lucas for hours after his birth.

Not long after this I told DS he could get in the pool, but that didn’t last long, as I was worried he was going to drink the bloody water LOL, so I got Greg to get him out.
It took another 20 mins for the placenta to come out on its own, for some reason during this 20 mins I was really anxious to get out of the pool, I think I was just worried about how it was going down, and I could just see the bloody water going all through the house LOL. I asked Greg to start emptying it ASAP. Poor Lucas was quite disgusted by the vernix and the placenta.

From then I moved to the couch and got covered in towels and gave Jacob his first feed. I was a bit shocked and shaky, so I got given a hot sugary cup of tea.
I think I was just stunned by the whole experience. I still now can’t believe I did it.
Ive felt pretty good since his birth, and so happy with how it went :D

Nearly a month on and I am still stoked about how it went. Jacob is mostly pretty happy, although he has his moments but we are working through them. Lucas seems to adore his little brother, and we are slowly getting into the groove of being a family of 4. So far Greg has been off work still, but goes back full-time in a few days, so its onto doing everything again, but this time with 2 kids instead of one. Baby wearing is going to be my saviour I think. It means I really have to get the hang of the back carrying on my own, so far ive had Gregs help. I know ill get there soon enough though :)

The beginning

Ive decided to start a blog about our Elimination Communication journey the second time around.
We did ECing with our oldest son who is now 2 years 9 months. We started when he was 2 months old.
I am not sure now why I was looking it up but I came across this website Tribal Baby. I was quite excited that I could communicate better with my baby. And I really could. The more we did ECing the easier it became to see what L needed before he would get upset. Once we began to see all the signs of his toileting needs it was great. That period between 2 and 6 months I was quite good at it, and rarely had a miss, even away from home and at night. The times we did use nappies it was modern cloth nappies. I knew about those before L was born, but only started using them at 2 months. Before that it was gross disposables.
To start with we would just take L to the bathroom sink (or hold him over the potty) after feeds, and after waking. It didn't take long before we knew he needed to go. His obvious sign was that he would get very squirmy and fidgety. Around this time it was nearly summer so L could go completely nappy free at home. While he wasn't moving much this was great. But once he could move himself around on his tummy in a circle about 4 months this could get rather messy at times, if I wasn't quick enough.
Once crawling happened just before 6 months it did become harder to pick up the signs, but we got there 99% of the time. By now we always just had a potty in the lounge room. After around 3-4 months L would occasionally crawl to the potty when he needed to go and I helped him get on it. It was starting to get colder again now, so baby legs were our friend, and we used them often. I didn't bother with nappies at home unless I was having a bad day, and didn't feel I could get that communication with him. I did find though he would get very upset if he needed to go and I wasn't getting him to the potty fast enough. If I didn't take him he would eventually go in his nappy (or the floor if he wasn't wearing one) I did put nappies on him when going out though.
Once L was 14 months old, I decided to do away with nappies completely. Yes it was hard and we did have misses, but not often. After around 6 months of taking L to the toilet when we noticed his signs, he would always take himself to the potty for poos 100% of the time and wees nearly all of the time. We did still get the odd wee on the floor, but nothing major. Once L reached 2 and a bit I showed him how to wee standing up, yes it was a bit weird LOL, but his daddy didn't seem to want to show him what to do, so I did it. Then came taking himself to the big toilet every time he needed to go. And this is what happens even now. Although since his brother arrived nearly a month ago now, he has occasionally not taken himself to the toilet for a wee, also he started weeing at night occasionally. He does wear a cloth nappy to bed at night, but its only sometimes wet in the morning. I am not worried. I am happy about how our journey turned out. I am quite excited to be doing it again.