Diapers of many colors...

A few months ago, I sent out a request for diapering advice.  After much research, both talking to friends and looking online, I made a decision on how we are going to diaper our child.  Cloth.  While it is more work to clean the diapers instead of just throwing them away, I considered the fact that we have laundry facilities available 24/7 in our house and that it would be more convenient, upon running low on diapers, to do a load of laundry rather than having to run into the city for more disposables.  Cost was also a factor in deciding to use cloth.  While the initial investment is more and the laundry costs add up as well, in the end these diapers will last us for as many children as we may need to diaper.  I'll probably add to my stash eventually and replace the diapers if they wear out, but this stash could potentially last me through our diapering days.  I'd say that is definitely less expensive!

Once I'd decided on cloth diapers, it was only a matter of finding the right ones.  The two biggest factors I was looking for in my cloth diapers were convenience and quality.  Cost only became a factor once I'd decided on the specific diapers I was going to order.  (If I'm already saving money with using cloth, I figured we could afford to get exactly the diapers I wanted.)  Two friends who I talked to right away were both using bumGenius and the one who was already using them was very happy with hers.  Once I started reading reviews on various brands, it became clear that bumGenius was a good option in terms of both convenience and quality.  I looked through the different bumGenius options (all-in-ones with varying sizes; one-size pocket; one-size all-in-ones).  I decided to go with the bumGenius Organic One-Size All-in-One diaper. 

Why?  Like I said, cost wasn't a huge factor - though I did scour the web and local stores for the best price available on these particular diapers once I'd decided on them - and these were some of the more expensive diapers I found at around $25-29 per diaper (I got mine for $25ea).  The reason I chose these was for convenience (they are all one piece so no separate soakers or covers to re-assemble each laundry day) and quality (snaps will hopefully last longer than the velcro option).  I ordered 18 diapers, 2-3 in each of the available colours - light green, dark green, light yellow, dark yellow, light blue, dark blue, pink and white.  Seeing all the colours makes me so excited to see that little cloth-diapered bum in just a couple weeks!  I did end up ordering one token pink diaper, just in case we have a girl.  But if we have a little man, he will learn at an early age that pink is not only for the ladies.  He will definitely be sporting a pink diaper every day or two!

With 18 diapers in my stash, they say that I will be able to get into a routine of doing a load of diapers every 2 days.  Obviously this will be after the first few weeks when there are fewer daily diaper changes.  I am planning on starting with disposables at first and using them until:
a) the umbilical cord falls off and we don't need to worry about diapering around it.
b) Baby is bigger and the diaper is a good fit.
c) we go through slightly fewer diapers every day so that I'm not running out of diapers on a daily basis.

And that's about it.  Obviously, without ever having diapered a baby with these particular diapers, I have no idea whether they'll really be as good as they seem, but hopefully I'll be able to let you know in just a few short weeks!  Due date is two and a half weeks away (or 18 days)!!!  Bring on the diaper changes! (oh, how I'm going to wish that never came out of my mouth...) 

p.s-I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring in a few weeks because my hands are so swollen.  This swelling does go down after the birth, right?  Has anyone had to re-size their rings after giving birth because their hands didn't go back to their pre-baby size?

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