Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Two Months!!!
My little lentil is officially 2 months old and we have the shots to prove it!
Here is a first thing in the morning shot followed by a "Where's my milk?!?" shot.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Hallelujah!
Little lentil was in bed by nine last night and slept till midnight! Mommy was so happy. After a feed and a change it was back to sleep for both of us.
At 4:48 I look up at the clock. Confused. 4:48? Where is the baby!?! He's here. Asleep? Did we just finish eating? Hmmmm. I should have been up twice by now. It turned out my sweet peanut was still sleeping and had been since midnight. It wasn't until 5:30 that he wanted some milk. Score.
Please, please, please, let this happen again tonight. I promise to sleep straight through to 5:30!
Here's little man being Little Superman!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Exhausted
Zayd took his first two hour nap today...EVER! It was miraculous, especially because I was right beside him sleeping away.
We had two three hour stretches between feedings as well! What a marvelous and mature turn of events!
All of this begs the question, why do I seem more sleepy today than the other 50+ days when we never slept two straight hours? Maybe my body is starting to remember how sleep can be! Either way, we are heading to Houston tomorrow where there is no shortage of hands eager to hold this little lentil so I am sure I'm in for some deserved relaxation!
I'm posting from my phone right now but I will get a pick of him in the morning. He is wearing the MOST adorable jammies!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Ceiling Fan Repairman
We used to say that Zayd would be an astronaut. Now, with NASA in a dubious position and the cessation of space exploration, we might have to start looking elsewhere. (To know my opinions on this just listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about space exploration.) (Here's a *poor* clip with an awesome message )
Sam likes to make a joke that Zayd will grow up to be a ceiling fan repairman. It is really true that as long as there is a ceiling fan in the room (spinning or not), my little guy can be entertained. Yesterday at Max's Wine Dive there was a fan about two stories up, and Zayd patiently watched it go round while I dined on french fries and Sam and Sonia had more exciting fare.
Here are a few shots of him from this morning talking and laughing with the ceiling fan in his bedroom. Look at how big he is! And how big his big boy diapers are!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Back to Baseline!
- Kale (May 20)
- Avocado (May 24)
- Chickpeas (May 28)
- Banana (June 1)
- Oats (June 5) (Not that exciting but very non-allergenic and it gets me closer to a cookie of sorts)
- Sunflower Seeds (June 9) (Also not exciting but an excellent source of protein and a great snack)
And here we are along the River Walk in King William. In hindsight, it was too hot to take the little lentil out for a 5k. Thank goodness he is tan.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Seven Slings
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Gardening for Two
Today marks baby Zayd's second happy day in a row. :)
He even reacted well when our walk got rained (sprinkled, really) out. We headed to the back porch to enjoy the rain and tend to our patio plants. Zayd looks unhappy but its really only because I took the camera out.
Here's the two of us walking in our backyard after the rain stopped.
Apparently, he was asleep. :)
So, if tomorrow brings me my angel baby, that will be three good days in a row - a first in our tiny family. If not, I will just hold on to the memory of today and wait for our next two day stint!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Daddy's Birthday
Today was a fabulous day. The little lentil spent hours awake and happy. Happy! Yes, I too was shocked.
We had a very adventurous day preparing for the big lentils birthday. We went to the quarry and got cards, lamb chops, a fruit tart, and the tallest candles we could find. I set it all up so we could hastily light the tart as soon as Daddy stepped in the door. He would be greeted with presents, cards, a birthday tart, and beer.
There was time to kill after the preparations were done and I decided to press my luck with this angel baby attitude Zayd had adopted. Off to his room for playtime. Now, let me preface this by saying that (in case you hadn't guessed from previous posts) we don't have a lot of playtime. My sweet boy will rarely let you set him down or sit still without making one heck of a fuss. We spend our days walking or bouncing. But today (!) we had tummy time, we played in our baby gym, we played with a rattle and when Sam walked in the house, we were sitting in our rocking chair reading. Reading! In our chair! The way I had envisioned back when Zayd was s fetal lentil. I knew Sam would be home at any minute but I decided that he would be happier to see us calmly reading in our rocking chair than to be greeted with song and a lit birthday tart.
And he was happy and more than a little stunned.
So, on our next bad day, I suppose I need to come reflect on this post and remember that there will be many many chances to sit in our rocking chair and cuddle with my adorable almond joy.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Fussy Baby Detective
- Tuesday - Started diet with a moderately fussy baby
- Wednesday - Awesome baby. My mom declared, "This is an entirely different baby." When I brought him in the house from our long drive back to SATX, he sat calmly in his car seat, awake and looking around, and Sam couldn't believe it.
- Thursday - Moderately fussy baby
- Friday - Fantastic baby! We read books and he swang himself to sleep. When we woke up in the morning, I took this video. (That I can't upload - I'll work on it...) I was shocked to see him wake up without a shriek!
- Saturday - Awesome baby strikes again! We went to a friend's house and he was a pretty adorable yet sleepy little guy. I made this video later in the day. (Again - it isn't working.) I couldn't believe my luck - two consecutive good days.
- Saturday night - he fought gas during his sleep from around 2 am on. By seven, he was so unhappy that we had to start the day even though neither of us had slept much. I blamed it on some lentils I had before bed, and figured it would be gone by morning.
- Sunday - seemed to start off ok after the bad night as Zayd and I took a long nap together. By noon, I knew this would be a bad day. He was sleepy, fussy, and gassy. Not a good mix. He colic'd the evening away.
- Today - Another restless gassy night and he has been a terror this morning. He comes screaming of the breast during feedings. His arms are flailing. He's inconsolable. Its a disaster.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Chubby Chubby Chubby
Friday, May 6, 2011
Total Elimination Diet
So, with only pears, rice, millet, squash, and potatoes, what has Mommy been eating?
- Soup of pureed pears and acorn squash with broth
- Rice pasta with paper thin zucchini and some soup for sauce
- Millet with rice vinegar
- Rice sticks with roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini, and potatoes and rice vinegar
- Rice cereal with rice milk
- Brown rice and lentils
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
You know your a new mother when...
You turn off the shower and cross your fingers hoping not to hear screaming from your little one.
Score one point for this vibrating seat.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Working it Out
So, I haven't posted much lately. Motherhood has been wonderful but overwhelming.
The little lentil is an awesome baby. He is getting more sophisticated everyday. He laughed yesterday and made my day! It was buffered by screaming on either side but you take what you can get when your peanut has been labeled colicky. That being said, I am becoming increasingly convinced that something more substantial than colic is afflicting my little guy. He screams a lot. He wakes from sleep shrieking. He yelps while he eats. He spends a lot of time grunting and with his brows strenuously knit together.
And it breaks my heart.
And, at its worst, it makes my head ring with a nervous energy that is deafening.
So, now we have turned ourselves wholeheartedly toward two goals: heal Zayd's stomach and manage mommy's anxiety. That's right. I've been officially classified as suffering from post-partum depression.
I am mildly shocked that after overcoming the subchorionic hematoma, fighting to find the birth team I needed, and providing my baby with the birth I felt he deserved, that I can't muscle my way through this. I know that isn't how PPD works. I get it. But it is a new feeling to not be able to control and manage my environment and most importantly my reactions to it. I got through 22 hours of labor using nothing more than my mind for pain management. But I can't utilize my mind to convince myself that my sweet screaming baby is going to be okay? It's fascinating.
So, to heal the lentil we are sticking with the mylicon, gripe water, and probiotics. We are now starting an elimination diet to figure out what exactly triggers this lentil's pains. So, four days of rice, squash, potatoes (sweet and regular!) and pears. It might be longer but I am hoping we see a difference in four days. We will then add a new food in every four days and monitor the lentil.