Lesson #1 - Grandstanding.

It was decided while I was pregnant that we would use cloth diapers. I was determined and steadfast in the decision despite the mixed reactions I received from family members and friends. The more I read about cloth diapering, the more I learned about the harm disposables do to babies, the planet and your pocketbook. And I wasn't afraid to share my findings with people. I was quite content up on my soapbox spouting off, the "Did you knows?" of cloth diapering. Don't worry, I will spare you the rant.

I conducted oodles of research, pouring over cloth diapering websites educating myself on our options and reading reviews. I consulted with Andrew and we concluded that Gro Baby was for us. So in my third trimester, I purchased the Gro Baby package that would (hopefully) cover us from infant through potty-training. [Let me declare that we knew Ember would be in disposables for the first two weeks (give or take), while we were waiting for that umbilical cord stump to fall off.]

Ember's belly button made its appearance earlier than we anticipated, when she was 6 days old. After cooing over how cute her little inny was, Andrew and I high-fived that we were done with disposables. So excited we were to strap her in to those cloth bottoms for the first time. Well, "pop!", went our bubble. That little diaper was still swimming on our gal even though she was back up to her birth weight of 7 pounds, 4 ounces. It went up over her ribs, cutting her in half, and really making it impossible to wear. Sheepishly, we rocked-papered-scissored on who was doing the run for another bag of diapers. Guilt ridden, Ember was fastened into another disposable.

Weeks went by. More bags of soiled disposable diapers left our condo than I really care to admit or remember. Frequently we tried a Gro Baby* on Ember only to realize that it was just too big still. When she was 7 weeks old, consumed with the guilt of wasted money (all those diapers sitting in a drawer), and the guilt of used diapers stacking up in a landfill, I contacted a local business for help. Melissa of One Posh Baby came to my home for a free diaper consultation. This allowed me to try tester diapers on Ember to see which were the best fit for her. Needless to say, we ended up spending more money on cloth diapers to get away from the disposables. We bought some smaller fitting diapers for the interim until our baby grows into those Gro Babies.

I talked such a big game while pregnant about the benefit we were going to do the planet only to produce more waste than we ever intended. Furthermore, we've spent more money than we ever planned. We take comfort in that we want more than one child so these diapers will be utilized. I've also learned that diapers are a serious addiction; I want to try them all. But more on that later....

* I want to make it clear that there is nothing wrong with the Gro Baby product. I am very impressed with the quality and know that one day it will be great on my daughter.