Influenster VoxBox: Pampers Cruisers Diapers

I received some Pampers Cruisers diapers from Influenster to try out for free in exchange for honest reviews.

I really don't like writing less than positive reviews, it's not fun to bring to light the negatives of a product. But, because I'm honest, I'm going to share how I feel about Pampers so others moms can shop more wisely.


Every mom figures out what works best for her baby as time goes on. You find what's worth it, what isn't, what's necessary, and what you can do without. You also figure out what brands to stay loyal to, and what brands just don't work out for your needs.

For us, Pampers doesn't work out.

My son is almost 10 months old now, and by now, I have found out what diapers work for us. When he was a newborn, we had a huge stash of diapers from the baby shower, and we got to try out all kinds of brands for several months. Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, and all kinds of generic brands. I used them all with indifference, not really noticing any particular brand at first until I started noticing some leakage problems. I started paying attention more closely, and noticed the diapers most prone to leakage were the generic brands (some of them) and Pampers.

Nothing feels yuckier than picking up your baby and feeling his outfit is cold and wet because his diaper leaked!

When Influenster invited me to this Pampers Cruisers campaign, I was hesitant because of the history of leakage we've had with their brand. But, they insist the Cruisers are supposed to hold more liquid, resist sagging, and so on. I figured, hey, why not give them a try? Maybe we'll have better luck this time.

I put my son in a Pampers Cruisers diaper and shortly after, he dirtied it. I had no problems that time, I changed it as soon as possible. The second time in a Cruisers diaper, he wore it for a couple hours without any particular issues.

The third time, though.... We went about our day as usual, and we were on the bed and playing and cuddling. He was next to me, and suddenly I saw a huge puddle forming underneath him. What the heck? LEAKAGE! Pee! All over the bed! I immediately changed him into one of his regular diapers, and stripped the bed because it was soaked. UGH!!! He hadn't even been wearing that Pampers diaper for even 2 hours yet.

Two out of the three Pampers diapers were fine, but the third had major issues. I would just rather stick to a brand that works for us and doesn't have problems with leaking. At this point in the mommy game, I have found that Huggies and Luvs diapers work best for us. He can even wear them overnight without problems in the morning.

Sorry, Pampers. I gave you guys a fair shot, and I really hate to say that your diapers don't work for us. I have friends that swear by Pampers, but not us, unfortunately. I'm glad Pampers works for other babies, though.

When Breastfeeding Doesn't Go As Planned

Breastfeeding seems like such a natural part of motherhood, however, it does not come easy for every mother.

When I was pregnant, I was so determined to breastfeed my son exclusively. I couldn't wait to provide milk for him, and I fully planned on trying to nurse for two years like the experts recommend now. At the very least, my minimum goal was to make it to one year.

Unfortunately, that isn't what happened. My milk dried up shortly before my son turned 9 months old.

Breastfeeding was a struggle from the very beginning. My delivery was difficult, 13 hours of labor ending in emergency c-section. Then, my son had some problems that required immediate attention - he had jaundice and dangerously low blood sugar. 

The doctor and nurses gave me two days while in the hospital to attempt to breastfeed. It was very difficult, and even with additional pumping, nothing was coming out yet. I knew that it could take almost a week for milk to come, but in my son's situation, we couldn't wait a week. His levels weren't improving with the few drops of colostrum I was providing.

I was told we needed to supplement with formula because my milk hadn't "come in" yet, because he needed nourishment right away to bring his levels back up to a healthy number. I won't lie, when I was pregnant I bought into the whole "formula shaming" bandwagon that's going on these days, so when I was told formula was necessary, I hung my head in shame and cried right there in front of the doctor and nurses.

His levels did get better after having formula, his jaundice improved, and they allowed us to go home on day 4. On day 5, my milk started to come. However, the struggle didn't go away.

Mommy Stress - Ear Infection

So...the past week or more has been pretty stressful. My son is 7 months old (almost 8) and he has several teeth already, so I'm used to a little fussiness regarding teething. The woes of teething usually lasts a day or so, he may fuss and cry a little, and just overall be a little grumpypants, but then he goes back to normal and he's his usual sweet self.

This time...not so much. The fussiness lasted for days straight. Instead of getting better, it got worse. It progressed to fits of crying that lasted hours, refusing to eat, fighting to go to sleep, and being extremely clingy (crying hysterically if I left the room or put him down for a second) and overall just acting miserable. I was worried about my poor guy.

For me, the stress was getting bad. He is normally super sweet, happy, giggly, and just in general a laidback baby. Nothing I was doing was helping - he didn't want to nurse, didn't want a bottle, didn't want any solids (even his usual favorites like bananas or sweet potatoes), he was clearly exhausted but wouldn't sleep. He was refusing to eat, not sleeping...I just felt so bad that something was clearly wrong and nothing I was doing was seemingly helpful.

I wanted to cry every time he cried.

And housework? Impossible. I'm seeing the dishes pile up, dust collecting everywhere, piles of laundry - and I'm just itching to get to work. But my son needs me, and just like in his newborn days, I haven't been able to put him down for a moment. He wasn't acting like his usual self at all.

I noticed him tugging at his ear a few days ago, but I had read that ear-tugging can be a teething symptom, so I just wrote it off as that. But as I noticed he was tugging his ear more often (something he had never done before) I thought perhaps we were dealing with something more than teething, perhaps an ear infection. I googled his symptoms (good old Dr. Google) and an ear infection did seem likely.

I took him to the pediatrician this morning, and sure enough, he has an infection in the right ear. Now he is on antibiotics for the next 10 days, so hopefully this will be what he needs to start getting better. I'm relieved that my "mommy instincts" were correct, that I wasn't overreacting, and that now he's on the road to getting back to normal.

I miss his sweet little laughs and his shy smiles. He's finally asleep right now, thankfully...let's see if I can get something done around here before he wakes.

Review: Wet N Wild Fergie Lipstick - D'Vinely Chilled

Long time, no post!

Wow! I haven't posted in months. Pregnancy and being a new mom really zapped most of my free time. It's been a huge life change and my son has brought me a lot of joy (and sleeplessness).



My days mainly consist of diaper changing, sitting on the couch nursing, trying to find some sleep, and occasionally doing some dishes or something. Hmm.



While sitting on the couch nursing I also binge watch Netflix to help pass the time. My husband and I have been watching Breaking Bad. What an amazing show. It is totally not something I would normally like, but we've been drawn in and have been racing to finish the series. I haven't been this into a show since LOST.

I've really been missing blogging lately and decided I would post something. I actually meant to post this a long time ago - I've had these swatch pictures ready to go but never posted them.

So, today I'm going to talk about a Wet n Wild lipstick in the Fergie range. The shade is called D'Vinely Chilled. I loved the way the color looked in the tube - a warm shimmering wine shade.

D'Vinely Chilled

Oooh. Sparkly.

I'm not going to front. This is frosty. Frost has a bit of a bad reputation these days as being too dated or cheap looking. Well, call me cheap (it wouldn't be the first time), but I like a bit of frost sometimes - in the right amount, I think frost can be pretty and feminine. In astronomical amounts, you're veering into powdered donut lips territory. Not cute.



It definitely swatches frosty as well. It's got good pigmentation and you can layer the color if desired. I like the way it looks as a swatch. On me, though...



I don't like the way it looks on me. I don't know, it feels matronly or something. It feels very dry as well. I feel like it ages me in an unflattering manner. I bet it would look great on someone with a deeper skin tone, I can see it reading as a gorgeous shimmering berry. On me...I'll pass.

I haven't even touched it since swatching the product for this post. Now that I think about it, I bet it would look and feel much nicer with some lip gloss on top. I'll give it a shot.

Bun in the Oven

I have definitely let this poor blog grow cold in the last few months. For that, I am really sorry! But... I promise, I actually have a reason.

Some exciting news...

My husband and I are expecting our first baby!

That's right! We are so excited!!!!!

We had been trying to conceive for a while and it was a very trying, emotional time whenever Aunt Flow would show her ugly face. I am currently in my 4th month, or 17 weeks pregnant. My husband and I are beyond excited and so happy.  I'm due in mid December! :) We will be finding out the gender in a few weeks. I'm counting down the days!

So, yes... that is why I haven't been posting very much. I had some pretty nasty nausea for the first trimester - morning sickness? Yeah, no. More like all day sickness. Also, unbelievable fatigue and exhaustion hit me like a train and my energy plummeted to below zero. I could barely muster up energy to shower and cook a meal, and even though I thought about blogging, I just didn't have motivation. My little nugget was zapping all of mama's energy!

Thankfully, the nausea is mainly gone. I'm still fairly tired and low energy most of the time, but I have occasional bits of energy that appear now and again. In those bits of energy, I plan to come up with a blog post here and there. :)