January 23, 2015

{7QT} the Second-First-Time Mommy edition

It's FRIDAY!!! And since I want to get another post up I thought I'd jump on the 7QT bandwagon once again. Ready? Ok! Enjoy my 7 Quick Takes: the second-first-time Mom edition.



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We've been playing detective for the last three weeks to determine what causes our little Kristin to wake up in the middle or end of a nap crying, and fussing throughout the day. She also squirms in her sleep, making me think her sleep is not very restful. Or maybe that's just normal for babies...but I'm experimenting with improving her sleep anyway. Fortunately, I think we've confirmed at least one source of discomfort. Our tiny little baby was diagnosed with some degree of reflux. Poor girl! Two weeks ago we adopted a nightly routine of administering strawberry flavored baby Prilosec. Yum yum yum! Not. :( It makes me so sad we have her on regular medication at such a young age, but it was breaking my heart even more to see her in pain. The meds seem to be helping at least a little bit...she doesn't gag or squirm in her sleep quite as much. Still some...but not as much. If I am diligent with the burping she is much better off.  

Part two of our detective work has been determining if her interrupted sleep and fussiness is caused by some food sensitivities. The two first suspects: dairy and soy. Ohhhh joy. So for the past two weeks I have been on a strict dairy-free, soy-free diet so that starting tomorrow we can slowly introduce soy products. If her behavior doesn't change--hooray! Not that her behavior changed once I eliminated them... but still, hopefully this little test provides us the confirmation and peace of mind of what foods affect Kristin. Hopefully it will turn out that I don't have to steer free of chocolate (soy lecithin) and most sandwich breads (soy lecithin and/or soybean oil) after all! Soy is in EVERYTHING. Next we'll introduce some dairy, probably starting with a baked good that contains butter or milk. Then I think I'll try a slice of cheese...or a cup of yogurt. Anyway, my gut says soy doesn't affect her at all. I think dairy does to some extent, but not acutely.  


Cloth diapering is working out soooo well! And it's turned what could be an all-out nasty job to something a wee bit fun. I mean, look at that cute little butt. How can you not get excited about diapering when it can be so adorable?! I was a little nervous to start when Kristin was born, but I had researched and prepared extensively before Samuel's birth so there really was no reason to be hesitant. Now that we have a solid routine we have thoroughly enjoyed the savings from not having to buy disposables! I love, love, LOVE my Green Mountain Diapers. We use their unbleached cotton prefolds and unbleached cotton Workhorse diapers. I had bought a couple different styles of covers...one-size, fitted, snaps, hook & loop... Our favorite covers, hands down, have turned out to be the Thirsties Diaper Covers. Not the duo wraps. Just the plain old Thirsties Diaper Cover with hook & loop closure. They are fitted and not too bulky under Kristin's clothes. I am surprised that I don't prefer the snaps. Snaps are far more durable than hook & loop. But no. I like the functionality of the hook & loop. I quickly fold a prefold in thirds, slip it into the cover and put the diaper on Kristin just like a disposable. Bam. Easy peasy.


My favorite, favorite part of our cloth diapering system is our cloth wipes! The functionality and cost savings make me so excited just talking about it. When I was pregnant with Samuel I took about 18 of David's old, pit-stained undershirts and cut 8"x12" rectangles out of the body. My mom and sister then made double thick wipes, sewing two rectangles together. My sister even "styled" a number of them with her creative touch. A cartoon sheep here, a kitty-cat there. Don't underestimate the value of cuteness on a butt wipe! 


We keep all 40+ wipes rolled up in a couple old Huggies wipes containers. Every day we fill one container of wipes with plain ol' tap water, giving us a super convenient clean-up system that can go in the wash along with the diapers. No garbage necessary. 

Now, we haven't attempted night-time cloth diaper yet. Still using a couple disposables which wick moisture away from the skin (the only downside to cloth) so we don't have to interrupt Kristin's amazing sleep. Maybe we'll attempt a nighttime CD system in the next couple weeks.... maybe. 

Kristin received her first big batch of immunizations this week. Holy cow, poor girl! I always feel so crummy after getting my tDap booster. I can only imagine how her little body felt after the six she had on Tuesday. She woke up from a good nap crying in pain. I couldn't figure it out at first--fever? reflux? general fussiness? I carried her back for a diaper change and her cry increased. Oh! Her poor legs!! :( The leg where she got the Dtap was sore. Two hours of I'm-in-pain-crying, a bit of Tylenol, a snack and another nap later she felt much better. Oh my goodness. That was an exhausting day.  

I should buy stock in exercise balls. Since birth, this is the only sure-fire method of soothing my daughter. Yes. Bouncing on the exercise ball. Fast. Slow. Rocking forward. Rocking sideways. Big bounces. Little bounces. Any and all bouncing will most efficiently soothe the sweet, sweet baby girl. And don't you dare put her down once she's "fallen asleep." She's foolin' you. She's not really sleeping. She has merely closed her eyes. Should you put her down you will be punished by double the amount of fussing and wailing. 

Did I mention I have a verbal child? ;-) 

Speaking of verbal, crying is [fortunately] not Kristin's primary method of communication. She ooh's, aah's, gurgles and grunts, and smiles. The best part of my day is babbling back and forth with her, watching her expressions change as we "talk." It has only been two months and she has learned so much already. I love helping her grow. I love helping her discover new things, like the ability to make the bouncy seat bounce when she kicks her legs at the toys. This second-first-time mommy thing definitely has its perks! 

Gah!! I LOVE that little grin!



Happy Friday, all! Check out some other lovely ladies' Quick Takes, now hosted by Kelly over at This Ain't the Lyceum




2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful little girl! Also I'm going to you and Ashley for all my baby advice when the time comes.

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  2. Elizabeth,

    What a beautiful post, and an absolutely adorable little lady!!!!

    I get a surge of "mommy feel good" energy just reading your blog.... It sounds like you are having the time of your life.... So wonderful, so deserved. God is Good!

    Now... the unsolicited, " Interfering Auntie" (kind of!) Advice!!!!

    Because both of my children have had a lot of issues related to over and/or under sensitivity to sensory input I have learned a lot about "sensory processing dysfunction", and/or sensory processing in general.

    It can be a hard concept to wrap your brain around it, at least it was for me, but once I "got it" it really made a lot of sense... It's essentially all about how our bodies take in information and (gee) process and respond to it...

    Just as we process information that we receive through conversations, media, visual cues, etc.... we also are constantly being barraged by input from our other senses... and our responses to all of this constant input is determined by how well we process the sensory information....

    This includes but goes far beyond sight, sound, taste, touch, etc... consider proprioception (kind of like temperature and pressure sensors in our skin), vestibular input (balance and position), sensitivity to sound, smell, lighting, temperature

    Our bodies are constantly receiving input from all of these sources through our nervous system and brain... and sometimes it can be pretty overwhelming ... especially when you have an immature (still developing) nervous system... such as in the case of newborns and infants.

    Sometimes all of this input causes stress on the system... for instance... in babies... fussiness, GI upset, crying and difficulty in being soothed.

    In taking a sensory approach, which is completely non-invasive, non-medical, holisitic and natural, I have found the results of doing things like addressing body position, a secure touch, hold, hugging or swaddling, background sounds (white noise), rhythm (swinging, rocking, swaying, your exercise ball!), scent (e.g. aromatherapy/essential oils) all help to organize and calm the nervous system in a truly astonishing way....

    As I said, this has been incredibly valuable for me with both my children, and I recently had cause to do some research into sensory processing issues in newborns and the positive effects of some of these approaches for infants and children....

    Anyway... taking the very long way around... I just wanted to mention this as something that could possibly be helpful for Kristin's fussiness, sleep patterns, even the issues you are looking to your diet about. As I said,non-invasive, natural, no "side effects" to worry about.. If you are interested in learning more about this please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me!!

    Love to All of you!

    Susanne
    Feel call or e-mail me!!!

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