So...it's been 2 months since our baby's due date

And she is amazing, Miss Amelia Mae

My 2nd VBA2C, our babe joined us earthside on her DUE DATE, weighing a whopping 10 lb 3 oz!

Life is wild.

And I shared a little bit about 

how I've spent the last 8 weeks

(4th trimester living)

 on the family blog HERE

Miss A: 6 days old

For your adoring views,

there's this:

Miss A: 8 weeks old! Smiling!

Two Years!

Our third baby,

first baby girl

born 12/13/11

on her due date

10 lbs 3 oz

{Birth story here}

Noelle Lucia

I'm sharing a handfull of photos 

from the last 2 years...

so you can reminisce along with us today 

on her birthday!

Happy Birthday to you,

our first Noelle

our Santa Lucia baby

...our princess,

 Miss N.

You are a bright light in our family (Lucia means 'light'); a shining ball of energy and love. 

We are grateful for your giggles, games, 

and the girl power you add to our crew.

Thank you, Noellie, for being you!

"Tchau, Cow" Part I

About 3 weeks after Miss N was born, her easy going ways walked right out the door (just about the time my parents did as well!). She started waking up during naps, arching her back--screaming in pain and then finally falling asleep again--only to be rudely awoken by the same discomforts. She started spitting up (a LOT) of her milk intake, her bowels were bubbly, and our nights together began to be exhausting.

It would start around 11pm or so...and last until about 2 or 3am. There was lots of crying, swaddling, swaying, swooshing, rocking, bouncing, cuddling...and standing upright. As soon as she would calm down, I would lay down and she was awake and screaming again. I nursed, burped, cleaned up the spit up, rocked, bounced, soothed, and on many occasions, cried along with her. I spent most of those nights in the living room--the laptop displayed shows for me to distract myself from the exhaustion, and the soft glow of white lights on our banister (left up from Christmas) helped provide glistening night in the dark, long nights. On the weekends (and weeks he was home), Mr. H would dutifully take over and I would rest as much as I could for the coming week.

I received lots of advice, tips, and encouragement from family and friends who had survived the challenges of a "colicky" baby. I talked with lactation consultants, LLL advisors, and scoured the vast resources online. I concluded that the problem was two-fold: one being a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance (and forceful let down of milk)--the second being a food sensitivity. This post is about the latter. 

After several weeks of her colicky symptoms (and trying every colic/gas preventing advice out there), I decided to try the option of taking some foods out of my diet to see if that was the problem. I was hesitant, because I really did not want to eliminate anything...I like eating tasty, creamy foods!

According to KellyMom.com: A small percentage of breastfeeding mothers notice an obvious difference in their baby’s behavior and/or health when they eat certain foods. Cow’s milk products are the most common problem foods and the only foods conclusively linked by research to fussiness/gassiness in babies, but some babies do react to other foods.

After that first excruciating (for me) week without dairy and chocolate (yes. chocolate), Miss N began to sleep better, longer, and her crying at night was not nearly as dramatic. By the second week, as hard as it was for me (dairy is in every delicious dish!)--she was a new baby. She also started sucking her thumb which was wonderful for her to self-sooth (even though I dread dealing with that later). Within a month of the changes in my diet, Miss N was sleeping through the night and enjoying comfortable naps without the gassy pains that had caused her so much pain and sleeplessness.

I found many great resources online and made necessary changes in my meals. If you know me, some of the changes were a big sacrifice. (Cereal, anyone?) Some things that were on my regular shopping list that I gave up: cow's milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, string cheese, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cream cheese. Some things that cropped up over time that I had to pass on: ice cream (even many sherbets!), homemade frostings, some breads, shakes, hot chocolate, cookies with milk, some deli meats, crackers, soups, sauces, glazes, etc.

I began finding replacements for must-haves: almond milk instead of cow's milk, rice cheese instead of dairy cheese (soy cheese did not make the cut), coconut milk ice cream, to name a few. When there were no substitutes (or the didn't sound appetizing), I just made myself something different or prepared a dairy-free portion for my plate. It started out very challenging but now--almost 9 months later, it doesn't seem so hard.

There were days that I would have a bite of one of the boys' quesadillas or something...and sure enough, 2 days later we would have another long night. There were people who would ask me why I was making such drastic dietary changes when I could easily give my baby formula. For me--the sacrifice was a challenge but because breastfeeding is so important to me, it was well worth it.

The upside?

Miss N is a very happy baby whose previously frequent gassy upsets are now extremely rare. Also? The weight I gained while I was pregnant (and more!) melted off ...like butter. 

All because I wasn't consuming any!




Due to several requests for information on going dairy free and questions about baby's with dairy sensitivity, I will continue this topic in a Tchau Cow Part II. Stay tuned!
 

Names Have Power

"Words have meaning and names have power" 

~Author Unknown

Here we sit...38 weeks along in this pregnancy-- 2 weeks away from the date 12/13/11 that has been burned in our minds...sweet baby girl's 'due date'.


For the record, our first baby was born at 39 weeks (1 week 'early') and our second was born at 41 weeks (1 week 'late'). So...we're hoping (praying!) for the 40 week average for our third little one. 


At any rate, we're close. Closer than we've ever been to becoming a family of 5 and meeting our precious little one. It seems so surreal, all of it. This pregnancy has been distracted by many things--none the least of which include: a busy house of boys, a big move, and a huge routine switch-up (Dad's travel schedule). I can honestly say I feel like I've only been pregnant for a few months...wild!


And as wild as it is...we're definitely in the home stretch...of which I was acutely reminded yesterday when I experienced some gentle "practice contractions" while wrapping Christmas gifts.

As we get close to game time...

that means NAME time!

I love a sentimental background behind a name.

...

J, of course, has my maiden name and also his middle name is after his father's middle name...which is from Mr. H's grandfather's first name.

N's name comes from the Bible, & his middle name comes from his Uncle Spud's name (my youngest brother)

...

And now we've switched gears to GIRL NAMES.

It's true, Mr. H has had a set of perfectly fancy girl names that he has loved over the years--one in particular that he was sure he would someday use...except...

it is a name that I really don't like.

So we started with names we've discussed before,

but the one that kept coming back up to the surface was the name that came to me the day we found out we were having a girl.

A combination of two names, really.

I never met my paternal great-grandmother, 

but I have always admired the stories about her hard work ethic and spiritual strength. And I really like her first name.

Ada

I like it but I felt like it needed something else. 

Something extra on the end. I flirted with a few options until I thought of my own middle name 

and it clicked perfectly in my heart.

Lea

Ada + Lea = Adalea

(Ada has a long 'a' sound like acorn; Lea is pronounced "lee")

She may like to be called "Ada" or "Lea" or "Addie" or "Adale" (like Adele) or ? I like it just the way it is. Adalea. 

Also...hiding in the middle of her name is the name "Dale" (take off the first & last A). My maternal grandmother's middle name is Dale, and Mr. H's Dad's middle name is Dale. 

I thought that was a special familial connection as well.

Around the house, that's what we have been calling her for awhile now. Hearing J's little voice talking about "Adalea" is just the sweetest thing EVER. Mr. H doesn't *love* the name as much as I do but he is willing. I absolutely love it--I think it is strong, but flows with a graceful energy.

We are not 100% on her middle name, yet...

...but for today...we are really liking 

Noelle.

Adalea Noelle.

She will be our Christmas baby, after all.