BW Challenge - Days 1-7

Awhile ago on a babywearing group I'm on they posted a "30 carries in 30 days" challenge.

Woven wraps are very versatile, especially if you have wraps in different sizes. There are several different ways to carry on the front, the hip and the back.

I thought this would be a fun challenge, especially to try different back carries, as the few I had tried weren't working for me (which is exactly why there are so many different carrying options - moms tried one and found it wasn't comfortable for them, so would tweak it a bit and make a new carry to suit them better)

When I sold my long wrap and had to wait for my new rainbow one I fell quite behind in this challenge... but I thought maybe doing a post a week of the 7 carries will give me time to catch up! So...

Days 1-7

Day 1: Front Wrap Cross Carry

The main front carry, and the one that is recommended that everyone starts with. This is still the main way I carry Thea when she's on my front (she usually will pull her arms out at some point)

Day 2: Semi-Front Wrap Cross Carry

I had never tried this carry before, it was kind of cute - but I don't really like carries that only go over one shoulder, so this isn't a carry I would ever do.

Day 3: Front Cross Carry

I haven't used this carry much but I really should - I always forget about it.
It's nice because you can tie it on and then pop baby in and then tighten it up.

Day 4: Short Cross Carry

I didn't really love this one as the back felt all bunched up - but I've done it in the past with a sling ring in the back, and that was very nice and flat :)

Day 5: Kangaroo

I've heard this is great for newborns, but it's a tricky one to get right so I haven't tried it much,

Day 6: Front Torso

I can see someone trying this if they have bad shoulders and can't have anything pulling on them at all, but this carry just doesn't even work in my opinion, as soon as I started moving the back started slipping down and no longer supported Thea anyways, so I might as well just carry her with my arms! haha

Day 7: Simple Hip Carry

This is basically how a pouch carry would work, I didn't like it.
Can't get it snug enough, and there are many other better hip carries if you are wanting to do a hip carry.

Quick catchup

While the nail polish on my left hand dries I'll do a quick catchup post on my phone :)

- don't worry, one day soon I will get around to Thea's 12 month update!

- Elle had another hospital stay, poor girl. Gonna hound the pediatricians tomorrow to get us an appointment ASAP. After the last hospital stay our GP agreed that we should start her back on the steroid preventor puffer - one puff twice a day.  I'm hoping the peds will give us the green light to do two puffs twice a day.  Last winter once she was on that dosage she didn't have any hospital stays.  Fingers crossed!

- Conor is in Tasmania for the night.  He presented a paper in the afternoon and then I think he was giving a small talk at dinner.  He's staying with some fellow homeschool friends who moved there a few months ago - glad he gets to catch up with them.

Well time to move on to the right hand!

Some random pics:

Being weird on the trampoline

Cuddling with Elle the morning of the day she went into the hospital

At the zoo - lumber jacks

My monkey and I checking out the monkies

I won the lottery

I won the lottery!

The babywearing lottery, that is.

So in the world of woven wraps, there is a huge range of prices.  The cheapest being around $80 (at least in Australia, I think you can get the Little Frog wraps that I have for cheaper in Canada and the states), and the most expensive being thousands of dollars.

The differences are mainly machine woven, mass produced wraps in the lower price range, and handwoven one of a kinds in the highest price range. (And custom slots where you design the wrap probably being the highest)

These handwoven one of a kinds are obviously very hard to come by, and their makers release them in different ways.

One way is "fastest fingers", where they let buyers know when they will be releasing the wraps and people around the world wake up at all hours of the night staring at the clock waiting for the release time, credit card in hand, praying they get all their info in before anyone else.  In this instance, Aussies tend to always lose out, as our internet is slower here.

The other way is a draw.  Every interested buyer puts their name in a hat basically, and if your name is picked, you get the chance to purchase the wrap.

Well, there's this one company from Red Deer Canada called Uppymama.  Every Wednesday on Facebook they have their weekly Wednesday draw.  Generally about 3-8 wraps are up for draw. Sometimes they are all the same wrap in different sizes, sometimes they are a bit different (mainly the same but a bit of a different color way, or else cotton versions and linen versions).  On average about 800 people enter the draw.

The cost is...well, a lot more than my Little Frog wraps. But more on that later. Conor agreed a few months ago to let me enter the draws, what are the chances, right?

Well on Thea's birthday, after a botched nap attempt, in the throes of sickness, I grumpily checked my email, and I had won the draw for an Uppymama wrap! 

I was sure it was some kind of spam - couldn't believe my eyes!

So back to the world of woven wraps.  Most wraps, if kept in good condition, hold their value for the most part.  I bought my first Little Frog wrap for $80 incl. shipping and I sold it for $70. There's a process of "breaking in" wraps, making them soft and more useable.  Think of what a new pair of jeans feels like compared to your comfiest jeans that you've been wearing for years.  Well some people actually prefer to buy used wraps because they are already broken in and they don't have to do the work.

Meet Chocolate Chip Sock Monkey
I *think* there are about 20 of these out there, and this is the last of the ones Uppymama had in stock.

Then you have handwovens, some of which you can sell for more (much MUCH more) than you bought them for.  And Uppymama's are one of those wraps.  I haven't been watching the market for long, but I have yet to see a used Uppymama wrap sell for less than $800, which is almost double what they cost from the draw.  THIS is why Conor let me enter the draws.  I won't be able to keep this thing forever, but winning one in the draw is the ONLY way I would have a chance of owning one, even for a little bit.

It was just about lunch time when it arrived, but I had to give it a quick wrap - sooo soft and comfy!

Even Elle let me give her some "Uppy" ;) hehe

So one day I will sell this Uppymama.  I don't know if I could stomach selling it for the actual Market Value, we will see.  My original thought was that I would sell it for what I paid plus enough to get myself a new wrap, one that is a bit more expensive than my Little Frog ones... but now that I've owned a handwoven, I might try to get another (less expensive) handwoven out of the deal.

Went for a walk today with the kids, and Thea was nice and happy on my back, and honestly, it was more comfortable than any backpack I've ever worn, and she's 22 lbs!

I've heard people say that "Uppymama" wraps, wrap themselves.  I've been having difficulty getting Thea up on my back and actually being comfortable with her back there, and let me tell you, I hardly noticed her back there in this Uppymama... so I'm sold!

Thea - 12 months

*This is just a post for ME because in years to come when I want to see Thea's 12 month update I'll probably think I was such an amazing mother and ACTUALLY posted it on her birthday so I'll go back to May 2014... but I won't find it there... because in reality I didn't post it until after she turned 13 months! haha

So here's the link
http://conorandjaclyn.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/thea-12-months-old-but-month-late-so.html

Happy 1st Birthday, Thea!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

I can't believe it was ONE YEAR ago that you raced into this world.  After all of our fears of you coming much much too early, you came two days late...and when you decided it was time, WOW did you decide it was time! I remember the shear terror I felt driving to the hospital thinking we were going to have to pull over onto the side of the road and deliver you in the car. (PS thank you for waiting until the SECOND I laid down on the hospital bed!)

Making this a little tradition of taking the kids pictures with a card and their age on it... hopefully we don't lose these cards!

You are such a little blessing - we all love you so much and I can't imagine what our family would be like without you.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

I'll be doing her proper update later to post hopefully soon!