Fun calculators

Here are calculators you can use to figure out how much you save (or would save) by breastfeeding and/or cloth diapering. It doesn't even touch the health benefits, though, which are the main reason we do both. Love it!

Breastfeeding calculator

Cloth diapering calculator

...or not.

Shortly after my last post, Eden developed a bout of slimy green diarrhea (well, it was)! that made me decide to basically exclusively breastfeed her again. Like clockwork, once she cut out table food, the temps and cervical fluid that had been slowly creeping toward fertile immediately slammed on the brakes, and my fertility went right back into hibernation. Really, it's pretty neat that our bodies are able to do such an abrupt about-face and send the message that "Hey, seems like your first baby needs all of your attention right now! Ixnay on the new conception!" While I'm pleased to report that two weeks and countless blowouts later, her poops have returned to normal (sans medical intervention or input), my period still seems to be in hiding. Ah, well. We'll take that as meant to be for now.

Getting back on the menstrual cycle

My period is back. Which means that a burning question I've had has been answered. "Can I use my old Keeper cup after I give birth?" Because they come in two sizes, A for After birth and B for Before. I bought my B keeper just a couple of months before I got pregant, and was bummed that I might have to buy another one after Eden was born. Thanks to the wonders of lactational amenorrhea, I haven't had to find out. However, at around 7.5 months of age, we started to introduce a decent amount of table food into Eden's diet (more on that later), and sure enough, the consistency of my cervical fluid started to change, and I got the feeling (you know, a crampy, back-achey, pelvic-pressure-ey feeling) that I was going to get a period soon. Just like that, one arrived shortly after, and I'm pleased to report that YES, my old Keeper works just fine, and if I can say that after a 10 lb vaginal birth, I'm pretty sure anybody else should at least go ahead and give it a try.

Anyway, the timing of my period coming back is interesting because lately we've been talking about having another baby. We've known for a long time that if we got to choose, we'd like our next one sooner rather than later. We'd love it if Eden doesn't get too attached to the idea of being the center of everybody's universe (only child, only grandchild) for too long, and we'd also like for her to grow up with somebody close in age. Even so, however, around six months, the idea of adding another baby still seemed crazy and overwhelming. Now? Not so much. Eden is so interactive and mobile that she hardly seems like a baby anymore. She seems like a little kid. We're starting to feel like parenting is normal, second nature, and not such a conscious balancing act. However, at the time we were discussing all this, there was no sign of my fertility returning, and so we'd resigned ourselves to waiting until it did (many LAM'rs report infertile phases of up to 15 months or more), feeling that it would come back along right when it was meant to. And, lo and behold, here it is. We'll see what happens next.