Ergo Heart2Heart Infant Insert - A Review

About eighteen months ago, I reviewed my beloved Ergo. I didn't start using my Ergo, however, until Alex was about six months old, so I hadn't a use for the Infant Insert. So, with Charlie, I was glad to have an excuse to try it out. Which also gives me an excuse to write another review. I'll also add in my "Ergo After Two Years of Use" review at the end.

The Heart2Heart Infant Insert has me in two minds. I love my Ergo, and I know I need the Insert to be able to carry my infant in it, but besides that, it doesn't inspire a great level of enthusiasm or excitement. It serves it purpose, which is great. It does have a few downfalls, however.

It would be absolutely useless to use in the Australian Summer. It's the middle of a relatively chilly Winter at present, and I still find Charlie getting quite warm after being in the Insert. It is wonderful that he is nice and rugged up from the elements in the Insert, but there is no way I could use it in any warmer weather. (It's presently around 15 degrees Celsius on average). I was actually given the Insert by a friend for a baby shower present. She had originally bought it for herself for her baby born in August, but tried it once and found it terribly hot. So she popped it back in the package for my Winter baby.

I found the Insert a little challenging to use to begin with. Even with the instructions, I couldn't figure out where my little one's legs and feet were supposed to go. After the second or third try, though, it became second nature. However, I am also very comfortable and practised in putting on and taking off my Ergo, so I would imagine it might take a little longer to get used to for Ergo virgins.

I love how soft and cosy the material is, and Charlie looks super cute all wrapped up in it. I don't presently have a photo of the Infant Insert in use, but will add one as soon as Husband provides one.

Another issue is that you really need a surface to lay your baby on to be able to put bub into the Insert, and then the Ergo. Usually I have the car's front passenger seat, but today, after feeding Charlie at the shopping centre, I had to look around for something to put Charlie down on before I could get going. Not really a big deal, but just a little extra bit of inconvenient. The Ergo carrier by itself is much more convenient to get baby in and out of.

I also have to compare the Infant Insert with my other alternative baby carrier - the Sleepy Wrap. My sister lent me hers, and I just cannot use it. Perhaps, like the Ergo, it takes practice, but Charlie seems to hate it also. He seems much more comfortable in the Infant Insert. The Sleepy Wrap (or other jersey material alternatives) is impossible to wear in public, unless I happen to have put it on before I left the house. Otherwise, one has jersey material all over the dirty carpark while you attempt to tie it around you, with toddler and infant both screaming. Not so fun. I would generally use the Sleepy Wrap at home, and the Ergo out and about.

So on to my "Two Years Later" update of the Ergo. I still love it. My enthusiasm has spread among friends and family, and several have bought their own. My sister borrowed mine while I was pregnant, and was loathe to return it. I had to metaphorically bitch-fight her for it, and she went to buy her own straight after.

As predicted, my maroon colour has faded a tad, but the actual carrier is in fantastic shape, especially considering the work-out it's had. I carried 18 month old Alex around New Zealand in it. My other sister carried her (admittedly small) four year old in it. I carried 16kg thirty month old Alex in it the other day, which by the way, was a fantastic bum exercise.

One thing I've found is that the Ergo is fantastic for getting kids to sleep. Even carrying Alex in it last week, he seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open after a while, even though it was ten in the morning. Pre-pregnancy, it was a sure-fire way to get Alex to sleep, particularly while travelling. My four year old nephew couldn't even resist the urge to nap when he was on my sister's back.

One unfortunate aspect of the Ergo carrier I have is the short waist band. This wasn't a problem pre-Charlie, but I unfortunately have an extra 15kg to lose post pregnancy, and there is no way I could wear the Ergo with the regular waist band. The thing is, even with the extra 15kg, I'm not humungus. I believe the newer models do have a longer waistband, so one doesn't need to purchase the "fat extender", as I like to call it. Thankfully, my sister had bought the "fat extender", so she passed it along to me. Perhaps I've deceived myself in how fat I've actually become, but I would have thought the regular waist band would suffice.

So here's the summary of the Heart2Heart Infant Insert:

The Good:

 - Lovely soft material
 - Super cosy in Winter
 - The seat feels supportive and appropriate for newborns

The Bad:

 - Completely useless for use in warmer climates
 - Takes practice to get bub's position right
 - Need a surface to lay bub on to put him in or out of the Ergo
 - I find the neck support is not fabulous unless I keep adjusting the Insert under the Ergo straps

To be honest, I can't wait until Charlie is big enough that we don't need to use it any more. It's necessary, and I want to be able to use my Ergo, but it's kind of a pain in the bum. So, on my arbitrary ratings scale, I give it a 5/10. And those five points are only because it allows me to use my Ergo.

New Photos

Not-So-Meningococcal

So last weekend, we had our first major health scare with either of our boys. Although it wasn't too scary. Our little Charlie Bear, who is now nine weeks old, was suspected of having meningococcal meningitis, and was rewarded with a two day hospital stay. He wasn't sick, it was all due to a dodgy looking rash on his leg, but shout out to the John Hunter for taking every precaution with our baby.

Our friends, Jill & Rob and their two little girls, and Nikki, were over for dinner last Saturday night, so we could celebrate Rob finishing his internship and Nikki handing in the first draft of her masters thesis. We had barely eaten dinner when I was changing Charlie, and I spotted a purply rash on his leg. It hadn't been there when I'd last changed him, and it looked "not right". I brought him out to show John, and he said we'd just wait and see how it went in the morning. I showed Jill and Rob, and we did the "glass test". Usually, a rash will disappear if you press on it - this rash didn't. I still wasn't hugely concerned, as Charlie looked completely healthy, but the more I looked at it and thought about how dangerous meningococcal can be, I started to panic, as did John.

We decided to take him up to the hospital, expecting to be told everything was fine, and to be back in half an hour. Thankfully, our darling friends could stay with Alex and put him to bed until we got home. As we were walking to our car, I remembered our next door neighbour is a doctor, so we quickly ducked in. He looked at Charlie and said he looked fine, but it wouldn't hurt to get him checked out at the hospital.

As soon as we showed up at the emergency room and said our almost-nine week old had a non-blanching rash, they took us straight back into a room, and a paediatric doctor looked at him. Yet again, he said the rash is a concern, but he looks healthy, so most likely isn't meningococcal, but to take blood just in case.

So we got taken back into a pretty scary area, where they stripped off our bub, attached three heart monitor sticky things, a blood oxygen monitor to his foot, and then put a cannula in. I wish no one the agony of watching their tiny baby screaming while they get a needle shoved in their hand. Particularly when the first try didn't work and they had to try again in the other hand. Unpleasant, to the say the least.

The doctor was undecided about whether to give him antibiotics to cover all bases, but told us we'd most likely be here overnight for observation in any case. John called his parents to go and pick up Alex so our friends could go home, and we were ushered to the paediatric emergency room, where we sat and slept for the next five hours.

Finally, the paediatrician came, looked at his rash and again was very concerned, but put at ease by the fact he was laying there smiling. She wanted to play it safe, so Charlie was given a dose of antibiotics via his cannula, and we were taken to a ward at about 4:30am. There were no beds left in paediatrics, so we had to stay in the adolescent ward. There was a pull-out bed, thankfully, but only one of us could stay. I, having the boobs, won, and John headed home for a few hours of rest.

So we were pretty much stuck in Charlie's room, as he had to be isolated, and couldn't really have visitors, just in case. All of the doctors and nurses kept telling us they didn't think it was meningococcal, but they had to take the precaution. Another paediatrician saw Charlie about lunchtime, and decided he needed another dose of antibiotics at 3am the next morning, so another night in hospital was in order.

The meningococcal bacteria takes 48 hours to culture, so we couldn't get an answer until the next day, in any case. The doctors told us that it was most likely some random virus that was causing the rash, or some other bacteria, but the rash was starting to clear up, either of its own accord or because of the antibiotics.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I was so bored for the entire time we were in hospital. We could barely leave the room, Charlie was asleep for most of the time, and they didn't turn our tv on until the Sunday afternoon. I did many a crossword and sudoku. I probably wouldn't have been as bored if I hadn't guessed Charlie was completely fine and meningococcal free. But it was terrible being away from Alex for such a long time, and it was, quite frankly, incredibly boring.

Thankfully, on Monday, we were given permission to go home by Overly Officious Know-It-All Murse (we took to naming each of the nurses - he was our least favourite). The final meningococcal test wouldn't be complete until that night, but he'd had two doses of the antibiotics, so on the small chance the final test was positive, he wouldn't be infectious, and we'd just have to come back up to the hospital for more antibiotics.

So good to be home with both of my boys. The final test was of course negative. Charlie seems none the worse, other than two little bruises for the needles on his hands. Alex has been absolutely feral all week, possibly due to being separated from me and John for three nights. Hopefully that will stop soon. I have not had a fun week...

I am, however, very thankful, to be home with my two healthy little men.

Six months later...

So six months have passed...

We're now a family of four.

John has settled in at his new job, and absolutely loves it. Must love public service jobs.

It's our four year wedding anniversary tomorrow. That has gone particularly fast. We're celebrating on Friday instead of tomorrow, with a seafood bonanza. I'm going to go to the fisherman's co-op and buy scallops, and prawns, and oysters, and we'll cook them ourselves. If either of us could be bothered, we'd get some salmon and have some sashimi, but neither of us want to cut it up, or clean up the mess for that matter...

Alex is growing into such a lovely little man. He has his two and a half year old moments, which usually involve lots of high pitched screaming when things don't go his way, but he's generally pretty good. His speech is still not fabulous, but he can now count up to 20, or 30 with a little help, recognises numbers written up to 10 or so, can recognise almost every letter of the alphabet, knows all of his colours and shapes, and can recognise his name written down, so that's pretty cool. He's obsessed with Cars, and Lightning McQueen. He carries his Lightning McQueen car around with him everywhere, including bed. We've had some success toilet-training for the past week and a half, and he actually asks to go to the potty when he's wearing undies. Other days, he hates wearing undies and chucks a tanty if I don't put a nappy on, but I figure he won't be in nappies forever...

He's also starting lots of activities next term. Tuesdays, we're going back to playgroup. Fridays, we still do music at the Conservatorium. Saturdays, he's starting Korean language school, and Sundays, he does swimming lessons. I feel like we're hot-housing the poor child, but he loves doing different activities. He hasn't tried the Korean language classes yet, but hopefully we'll both learn a few words. We also have his name down for a spot at a day care or preschool as soon as possible, which I think he will love when he eventually gets a place.

Charlie is growing well, and is already well over 5kg at eight weeks. We're almost out of 000s and into 00s. He's absolutely gorgeous and so very placid. He has the cutest smile, and is starting to laugh and have little cooing chats with you. We're in the midst of planning his baptism in a month or two, which will also coincide with his 100 days birthday. He sleeps like an angel, and feeds like an angel. It feels so much easier this time. Probably because I know what I'm doing... I'm much better at sticking with the "feed, play, sleep" routine, and recognising tired signs. I've realised how set in having a routine I've become. I really need to relax a bit, I think.

Charlie Xavier

Our gorgeous little man, Charlie Xavier, was born on 11 May, at 4:20pm, weighing 3.7kg, and 52cm long.

Charlie had been very quiet in my tummy for the few days before. The day before, I'd had my midwife visit and mentioned that he hadn't been moving much, if at all, and she popped me on the monitor, and of course, Charlie, started kicking again. My midwife, Susie, saw how uncomfortable I was and offered me a stretch and sweep, which I happily accepted. It did nothing really, that I noticed, but later that day, I felt a gush, which I chose to ignore, because that's what I do. There was definitely some dodgy looking discharge in my undies, which I chose to ignore, attributing it to the stretch and sweep.

Charlie didn't move all day, except for one big kick at dinner that night, and by 3am, I'd barely slept. I was worried about Charlie not moving, and was increasingly disturbed by the ongoing discharge. I started googling, which is always a stellar idea at 3am, and convinced myself my waters had broken, and they were meconium stained.

I woke John and asked if we should call Susie, which he agreed we should. Susie told us to come up to this hospital just to check things out. So we called John's mum to come over to look after Alex, and got to the hospital about 4am. When Susie arrived, she popped me on the monitor, and of course, Charlie started moving again, and checked out the discharge situation, which she agreed definitely looked like my waters had broken, and were in fact meconium stained. My blood pressure was also up to 140/90.

A "junior doctor" came in to check, and we agreed that I should be induced as soon as possible, so she set about popping a cannula in my arm. I've had cannulas before, but apparently the one you need when you're being induced is the size of a frigging hose, and hurts like a bandit to put in. Miss Junior Doctor had two goes, and eventually got the hose in, took some blood, then went to consult with her supervising doctor.

A few minutes later, Supervising Doctor came in and said, no she didn't think my waters had broken, the baby is moving on the monitor, so I didn't need to be induced, I can go home, and to come back in two days to get my blood pressure checked. Basically, I'm healthy, the baby is healthy, there was no reason to induce. We just had to wait around for an hour or two for the blood test results, to make sure everything was all good. Two hours later, around 10am, they removed the cannula and we were on our way.

About five seconds after paying $10 for parking, Susie called and asked if we'd left yet. The senior obstetrician had looked at my file and wanted to review it before I left. By this time, there was absolutely no parking, so we had to drive around the hospital for 15 minutes before Susie called and asked me to come back up to the delivery suite. The senior obstetrician had decided that I was full term, I'm healthy, the baby's healthy, there was no reason NOT to induce. Research shows that in cases of stillbirth, the mother has felt the bub stop moving in the 24 to 48 hours prior, so they decided to avoid a potential law suit and induce me.

John couldn't find a park, so he had to drop me off, and then ended up driving back to his mum's, and she drove him back. As soon as she got there, they broke my waters, which was somewhat disgusting. Turns out they hadn't broken before, and were not meconium stained...

Anyway, contractions kicked in after that. John and I went for a walk and grabbed some banana bread and gatorade, and went back up to the delivery suite after an hour, waiting for labour to establish. Two hours later, contractions were still quite irregular, so I had to have another cannula put in, which also took another two tries, and had the synctoconin drip.

I know that walking around and being active is better for bringing on labour, and getting bub downwards, but by that point I was totally exhausted, and really only had the energy to lie on the bed, and ride out the contractions. They got more and more regular, but still not intense enough, so the midwife kept pumping up the drip.

A few hours later, I was no longer able to breathe through the contractions, and was in intense pain. A lot more intense than my contractions with Alex. I could only really cry through them, which is so pathetic. The midwife did an internal and said I was only seven cm dilated. It felt like two contractions later, I needed to push. I had no choice but to push. I didn't even realise I was pushing out the baby. The two midwives kept trying to get me to turn onto all fours or kneel, but I was in so much pain, I could only roll on to my side.

Ten minutes later, our little muffin was born. He went straight onto my chest, covered in all matter of bodily fluids, and was so gorgeous. Exactly like his big brother. It was almost like deja vu.

I had the oxytocin injection to hurry up birthing the placenta, and a few minutes later, we had a lotus birth. Apparently. Our midwife was slightly authoritarian (not Susie, she'd had to go home earlier), and made John cut the cord. Charlie attached and started feeding straight away, which was a relief after the breastfeeding hell I had with Alex.

About 20 hours later, we took our new little man home, and he's been an angel ever since. Alex adores him. He rarely cries. He settles himself to sleep. He feeds so easily. He's even started only waking once during the night. He settles himself to sleep at about 7 or 7:30, wakes at about 3 for  feed, then wakes at about 6. It's freaking awesome.

So now our little family is settling in. It's pretty easy so far, but I'm prepared for the wheels to fall off at any point, and that's ok...