Eco Fabulous Family

Here is Froggie’s birth announcement.

This will be boring to most but it will answer many of the questions we are getting!

Since I am not a doctor I may not explain these things perfectly so feel free to use the links if you are so inclined.

When you have a child with Down syndrome the first thing other parents with kids with Down syndrome say is “How is his heart”. The reason for this is because almost half of all children born with Ds have a congenital heart defect.

Patrick’s heart is doing great! Patrick was born with a hole in the upper chamber of the heart called Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a hole in the part of the heart called Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA) and a leaky aortic valve. At our last appointment with the cardiologist these all closed and he has a slight amount of Peripheral Pulmonary Stenosis (PPS). You can read more about it HERE if you are interested but his cardiologist thinks he will outgrow it by 6 months old.

The second question is often about hypotonia or low muscle tone.  More HERE. About 90% of children with Ds are born with low muscle tone and usually start therapy right away to help them work on this.  Patrick started OT 1 hour a week at 6 weeks old.  On April 1 we are going to 2 hours a week.  One hour to work on his tone and the other hour to start working on cognitive skills or infant stimulation.

The rest of these are not necessarily because of the Ds.  They could be and they could not be.  Clear as mud, right?

He has something with eyes called Fovea Hypoplasia.  You can read more HERE.  It is basically part of the eye that is under developed and he may not have perfect vision.  This can not be corrected by glasses.  This is a wait and see type of problem.

He has Laryngomalacia. This is when a part of the larynx is soft.  It causes him to sound congested and squeak at times. More HERE. Since he also has a tiny bit of GERD  he is on medication to prevent stomach acid from further aggravating the larynx.  Hopefully he will outgrow it.

He also has a variant of hypospadias. It is a birth defect of the urethra and will have to be operated on when he is about 6 months old.  It makes diapering a challenge   More HERE. Additionally there is a small amount of hydronephrosis. More HERE. Hydronephrosis is reflux in the tube between the bladder and kidney.  We will watch and see if he outgrows this.  Peanut also had hydronephrosis and outgrew it at about a 1 year old.

Finally when he was 6 weeks old he was hospitalized for 2 days.  He caught RSV.  It was very scary and can effect his lungs in the future. More on RSV HERE 

That is it for now.  Hopefully nothing else will pop up but we are confident we will be able to deal with whatever comes our way.

I originally started this blog because I have a small business and all the experts tell you that you need a blog to effectively market your business. It is a must. So is Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and on and on and on. The problem is a small business only has so many resources to do all these things. Some simply don’t get done.

This blog is call Eco Fabulous Family and I have one of those. We are very eco-friendly and fabulous, of course! So it will now be about MY eco fabulous family and maybe cloth diapers once in awhile!

I don’t expect this blog to have many followers or make money but it will be a nice way for family and friends to keep updated on our lives here! Especially since our newest addition, Froggie, has lots of extras that came with him. An extra chromosome, extra doctor appointments, extra diapers and extra smiles!

When I was pregnant with Froggie many of our family and friends reacted negatively. He would be disabled. He would ruin our lives. He would never potty train. He would be sick all the time. He would never walk.

Baby showers never happened for one reason or another and no flowers or cards arrived. It was clear that many people in our lives did not know how to react. When Peanut and Bug were born we were lavished with congratulations and good wishes. When Froggie was born we could hear the crickets. There were a couple of family members brave enough to say congratulations and we appreciate that, more than you will ever know. For those that were nervous or scared to say congrats, I get it. I really do. It is hard to know what to say. I always said I wanted a healthy baby and then I got Froggie. This is not about blame. This is about helping those in our lives accept and love Froggie, Peanut and Bug as much as their Dad and I do.

Froggie is the best thing that could have happened to us. He is a voracious nurser, a cuddler, a lovebug (or frog?) and is smashing stereotypes every single day. I am truly honored to be his Mama and more proud of him than words can say.

So, family and friends, if an extra chromosome freaked you out (or not) please check back here once in awhile. I will make sure to share the good and the bad of life with three special needs kids. We have lots of extras to share!

I am not sure where this photo is from but it is really scary!  I am glad my family is doing everything we can to reduce what we send to the landfill.  What does your family do?

You are pregnant!!  You go to your local baby store and there is so much to choose from.  How do you figure out what you really need and what is a waste of money?  Ask a friend!

I am often asked what parents need to purchase or register for when getting ready for baby.  The most important things a baby needs is breasts, arms and love!  For the more practical items I have put together a list of my favorite things!  Since these  are my favorite things the list is not meant to be all inclusive.

• Cloth Diapers – Newborns go through about 12 diapers a day.  Most people like to have enough diapers on hand to wash every other day. Here is an article about figuring out how many you need.
• Cloth Wipes
• Diaper Sprayer
• Pail Liners
• Cloth Diaper safe Detergent
• Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter – I recommend this to everyone.  I love this stuff!
• Nursing Pads, my favorite is Bamboobies!
• If you are returning to work and needing to pump I recommend Hygeia products.  Hygeia is a green company and they follow the WHO code for the marketing of breastfeeding substitutes.
• Nursing bras
• Organic and toxic free baby toys
• Layette – I prefer simple baby clothes like onesies.
• Baby carriers!  I personally love Beco but there are so many carriers to choose from.  For little tiny newborns wraps are often the first choice.
• Car seat – This one goes without saying
• Co-Sleeper and related bedding
• Baby Soap/Shampoo.  I used Earth Mama Angel Baby on my sons.
• Baby toothbrush and toothpaste
• Swaddle Blankets – I love Aden + Anais

Babies really need very little.  We purchased so much for our first and we never even used much of it!

I think one of the hardest challenges parents have today is figuring out what is safe to use.  A post on safety and baby products will be coming soon!

I am always looking for ways to live more eco-friendly.  I do a pretty good job with the obvious things but when my electric and water bill came last month I realized I was not doing so good there.

I am in southern California and am a baby (or another word) when it comes to heat!  The last thing my family wants to to hear is me getting cranky while I am melting. So why haven’t I figure out a way to use less electricity yet? Yelling at my boys to turn lights off doesn’t seem to be working!

According to one website I could save $99 a month if I had solar power. I wish solar power was not so expensive.  The rebates and tax breaks are nice but it still seems like a ton of money up front.  According to to this website the cost will be near $80,000.00 to install a system.  WOW!

I guess until I win the lottery I will keep yelling at the boys and remembering to open windows at night.

The effects of using too much electricity have far greater consequences than our family bill.  It is important to remember that making electricity is the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions.  It accounts for about 40% of our country’s carbon dioxide emissions.  These are scary numbers.

So maybe saving up for a solar power system could be a long (long, long) term goal.

This just in…Fuzzi Bunz, the cloth diaper that started it all, is further improving their already amazing one size cloth pocket diaper!  But what’s the scoop and what exactly are they changing about their one size cloth diaper?  Read the the details below, straight from Fuzzi Bunz headquarters.

FuzziBunz® has re-engineered its already popular One Size to be trimmer fitting, more comfortable, faster drying and easier to adjust than before! Best yet, all these features come at the same low price as the original One Size FuzziBunz® diapers! The FuzziBunz® One Size Elite collection gives you even more bang for your buck, including these features:

• Quick Dry Fleece: Baby feels dryer longer and fleece stays nicer longer with less visible wear
• Easy-Replace Elastic Has Moved: The adjustable elastic’s buttons are now found inside the pocket so there are no buttons next to baby’s skin
• New Minky Inserts: Each diaper comes with two Minky Inserts (small and medium/large) adding the following benefits:
  • Less odor than microfiber
  • Less staining
  • Trimmer fitting diaper with same amount of absorbency
• Streamlined front panel and snap design provides better fit with less leaking

Green Diaper Store, Little For Now and Angel Bunz will all stock a great selection of the Fuzzi Bunz Elite Diapers so make sure to check back with us when you’re in need.

I was lucky enough to attend The ABC Show and the RDIA Conference this past week.  The ABC Show is an expo for those in the children products industry.  Manufacturers and distributors have booths and retail buyers get to see all the neat new stuff coming out!  I can tell you I spent way too much money.  The Real Diaper Industry Association is a trade association for those in the cloth diaper industry.  It was very educational and great to see old friends and meet new ones.

Here is the shocker!  I left my boys and husband home alone for 6 days and was anticipating a disaster of a house.  I was certain it would be a mess.  Well, it seems my husband is in the running for hubby of the year.  The house was spotless!  Clean kitchen and dishes, toys put away and the laundry was washed AND put away!

They also hung a sweet sign to welcome me back home.

After I got home I collapsed into bed with arms and legs all over me.  There was no way Peanut and Bug were going to sleep in their own beds last night!

It’s common for families to be skeptical of cloth diaper sprayers.  They’re seen as a rather pricey accessory and after investing in cloth diapers many decide to go without one, or at least try to.
The truth, diaper sprayers can save you time and money and a lot of unnecessary hassle.
Using one will  help you remove the majority of the poop before you wash your cloth diapers.  The less poop, the less water you’ll need.  You’ll save water, electricity and detergent because your diapers will be easier to launder and require less rinse and wash cycles which are commonly required for extra soiled diapers.

You wont experience as much staining because your diapers won’t be dirty for as long and stains will have less time to set in.

Less diaper stink!  The cleaner your diapers are before placing in the diaper pail or wetbag the better off you’ll be.  Ammonia and other funky smells are caused by dirty diapers sitting for way too long before washing.  Even without a sprayer, it’s recommended by some that you at least rinse your diapers before placing in your pail or wetbag.

After using a sprayer you’d quickly find that they’re well worth the investment.  They’re easy to install, easy to use and even daddy will become a believer once he’s had a chance to see the difference they make!

What are your thoughts?  Do you have one?  Want one?  What’s stopping you?