Yay, I am happy to say that baby E did so well for her first time flying. Of course that's not to say she didn't get fussy, she did...but I think that had more to do with her missing her nap. I followed the advice of fellow mommies and also a tsa mommy who suggested giving E a bottle at takeoff and landing over a pacifier. This would help E in alleviating any discomfort from the ear pressure due to the high flying altitude. Each time she had the bottle or was nursing, she was fine.
On the descent from our first flight (the morning one) - E was jumping around on our laps and being silly. But as soon as the descent was starting she got fussy. That was when I first started noticing her rubbing her ears. She looked so uncomfortable and I had only prepared 1 bottle which she consumed so fast at takeoff. You see, mommy here thought she would still be following her schedule and nap on the short flight. I was wrong! She was so excited on the plane but you could tell she was fighting her sleep. So when the descent started husby and I panicked. I tried to give her the pacifier but she wasn't having it..she was still rubbing her ears. I hastily grabbed my nursing cover and was super relieved that she took to nursing to alleviate her ear pressure.
On the way home we had a night flight so E just had her bottle and knocked out for the whole flight. However, I noticed on the start of the descent she started to rub around her ear area (even though she was asleep). So I quickly gave her a bottle and she was pacified. Haha, luckily I learned from our first flight that I should have 2 bottles prepared just in case! We thought that since she was asleep that she wouldn't need the second, but glad we were prepared bc she actually did need it.
All in all, the experience was way better than I could have hoped. Now I'm looking forward to our next family trip=)! Flight is going to be like 5x longer, so crossing fingers it's just as successful! Haha the one bummer I noticed though was that they don't do family pre-boarding anymore at the airports. Darn, we finally qualify for it and they took it a way just a few years ago! hahah ah well.
Showing posts with label infant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infant. Show all posts
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Is it teething or sleep regression or separation anxiety? What IS it???!!!
So for the past 3 weeks or so, baby E has been waking up once maybe twice at night after putting her to sleep. At first I chalked it up to sleep regression because they say ("they" as in articles/books I've been finding about the topic) that sleep regression hits when babies are between 8-10 months old. Pretty much, babies at this age are learning SO much; maybe they're crawling/cruising/walking/talking/etc.. that their brains are just on overload and want to use these new found skills.
An example I read about to help us adults understand this better was this - When you have a big vacation planned, you get excited right? The night before you're anxious and you just can't sleep because you're thinking so much about it. I guess that's how babies get during this sleep regression phase - they wake up and they just want to keep practicing all that they have learned. Well in our case, baby E has been cruising since around March? So we thought maybe that was it..maybe she just wants to walk already. Every time she'd wake up, she's already standing there waiting for us. Ha, not quietly of course. She's screaming/making noises, but not crying.
I brought this up to E's pediatrician last week at her 9 month appt, and she said it coooould be that. I guess she wasn't as convinced as I was...dang internet reading!=P But she also started asking about how much E was eating throughout the day. She was up to 2-3 solids/day and maybe 20-25 oz breast milk/day. So, since I was previously on a non-dairy diet, doc suggested upping E's meals to at least 3x/day and making snacks in between like avocados - more fats to fill her up. And to supplement a nightly bottle with 8oz of soy formula so that she'd have between 24-28oz milk/soy formula per day. We did this and E slept well again last week. Voila, doc was on point- E was just hungry!
Buuuuut, then this week happened. E didn't wake up every night, but 2x this week was enough for me to think is it sleep regression again? Then I thought, maybe it's separation anxiety. Since I've been back at work for 2 months now, I do notice that E seems a little clingier on my days off with her. Yeah, she's clingy when we're around strangers...but when it's just me she seems to want me there ALL the time. Not that I mind, I just noticed a difference compared to when I was with her everyday during maternity leave.
Then there's the teething. Maybe it's just teething? On Tuesday I noticed a little white protruding next to bottom right center tooth. Ack, this girl - getting so many teeth already! Ha, so maybe it's that? Poor thing, I guess people are right. Once they start teething, it lasts til they get all of their teeth!
So out of all my guesses, I'm hoping it's just as simple as the teething issue. Lots of things to consider, but that seems to make the most sense. It'll be another thing if she still wakes up at night after this tooth pops through. *sigh* I guess we've been spoiled with her sleeping through the night for so long!
Anyone else go through something similar?
An example I read about to help us adults understand this better was this - When you have a big vacation planned, you get excited right? The night before you're anxious and you just can't sleep because you're thinking so much about it. I guess that's how babies get during this sleep regression phase - they wake up and they just want to keep practicing all that they have learned. Well in our case, baby E has been cruising since around March? So we thought maybe that was it..maybe she just wants to walk already. Every time she'd wake up, she's already standing there waiting for us. Ha, not quietly of course. She's screaming/making noises, but not crying.
I brought this up to E's pediatrician last week at her 9 month appt, and she said it coooould be that. I guess she wasn't as convinced as I was...dang internet reading!=P But she also started asking about how much E was eating throughout the day. She was up to 2-3 solids/day and maybe 20-25 oz breast milk/day. So, since I was previously on a non-dairy diet, doc suggested upping E's meals to at least 3x/day and making snacks in between like avocados - more fats to fill her up. And to supplement a nightly bottle with 8oz of soy formula so that she'd have between 24-28oz milk/soy formula per day. We did this and E slept well again last week. Voila, doc was on point- E was just hungry!
Buuuuut, then this week happened. E didn't wake up every night, but 2x this week was enough for me to think is it sleep regression again? Then I thought, maybe it's separation anxiety. Since I've been back at work for 2 months now, I do notice that E seems a little clingier on my days off with her. Yeah, she's clingy when we're around strangers...but when it's just me she seems to want me there ALL the time. Not that I mind, I just noticed a difference compared to when I was with her everyday during maternity leave.
Then there's the teething. Maybe it's just teething? On Tuesday I noticed a little white protruding next to bottom right center tooth. Ack, this girl - getting so many teeth already! Ha, so maybe it's that? Poor thing, I guess people are right. Once they start teething, it lasts til they get all of their teeth!
So out of all my guesses, I'm hoping it's just as simple as the teething issue. Lots of things to consider, but that seems to make the most sense. It'll be another thing if she still wakes up at night after this tooth pops through. *sigh* I guess we've been spoiled with her sleeping through the night for so long!
Anyone else go through something similar?
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
I can have DAIRY again, well sort of...
My pregnancy was full of ups and downs - but in the long run was well worth it because husby and I are now the proud parents of a beautiful, silly, loud, baby girl! I posted a while ago that I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes during my last trimester. You can imagine my shock and sadness at the time because I always had the notion that, "Hey I'm pregnant, I can eat whatever I WANT!!" Well, not so in my case. However, I quickly turned that low into a high and got on the right track and pretty much just ate healthy.
So, you would think that after baby E was born that I could go back to my regular eating habits right? I did for a few months...4 months to be exact. Then we had baby E's 4-month well baby check up and found out that she had a milk-protein (MP) allergy. What does that mean? Well since I was exclusively breastfeeding E, it meant that something I was eating was causing the tiny dots of blood we saw in her poopy diapers. Yep, you can be sure that husby and I freaked out the first time we saw those tiny specks. It was actually around her 2-month appointment that we noticed the blood. At first the Dr. thought that maybe it was E fighting off a cold that I may have passed down to her and since we didn't see any more dots of blood in her poop afterwards - we thought the same as well.
But, at her 4-month appointment E had pooped right when we got to the doc's office. I guess you could say we were lucky that she did because the doctor was able to see her actual poop in person and confirm her suspicion that it may be MP allergy. From that point on the doctor wanted me to eliminate all the big dairy culprits (milk, cheese, creams) from my diet and see if that helped. After doing an elimination diet for the next month, we found out that I had to take out ALL forms of dairy (yup, even the hidden dairy like whey, casein, lactate, etc...) and also beef. I was so, so, so sad. I thought after having GD and needing to eat well during my pregnancy, that everything would just go back to normal once E was born. I mean, I guess it could have if I decided to just feed E formula instead of breast milk. But I didn't want to rob E of the nutrients that she could get from my breastmilk if all I needed to do was make some dietary restrictions and sacrifices until she turns 1. So, since December I had been calling myself a pseudo vegan. Hehe, because I couldn't have any dairy or beef, BUT I ate chicken/pork/fish.
Notice though that I said HAD??? As of E turning 9 months , I am now able to have some dairy and also beef again. Last week was the first time I ate ice cream/froyo/baked goods with dairy. Albeit, I can only have 1/2 cup per day - but I'll take it! The funny thing is is that I think my stomach isn't used to the dairy back in my system. It starts getting kind of jumpy/nauseous sometimes after I eat dairy. I haven't had any cheese yet which is probably the one thing that I've missed the most next to my fav Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream. Just waiting on the doc to give me the go ahead on expanding my dairy repertoire=)!
Haha- but again just like the diet I had to maintain while I had GD , husby LOVED the diet I was on while eliminating dairy. Pretty much a vegan/paleo diet and sometimes gluten free diet as well. I've never felt so restricted before. I'll be honest, it did depress me in the beginning. I felt as though I was being a horrible mommy. First I get GD, then I had cholestasis (that will be in another post for sure!), and this last part of enduring E's MP allergy. I am glad that she seems to be reacting well to my daily 1/2 cup dairy intake. I know the doctor tried reassuring me that this can happen to babies because their stomach's are not mature enough to break down the protein found in cows milk. Plus E's symptoms were mild, so we were glad for that. Usually babies can outgrow this after 6-9 months, so so far things are looking well for E (crossing fingers that she reacts well to more dairy in my diet and eventually her own diet!!). And I was able to have some dairy sooner at 9 months than at the original time frame of when E would turn 1. So, I'm grateful.
Whew, long post! But again, just wanted to share my experience. I know when I first found out about the MP allergy I hunted and searched the web for things I could eat. More posts to come about that. Buuuuuut I'll leave you with this treat:
I LOVE these mini choco chips. Most dark chocolate chips are dairy free, so this was no different tasting to me. Saved me from all my chocolate cravings and urges to bake!
Enjoy! Always looking out for you mamas!
So, you would think that after baby E was born that I could go back to my regular eating habits right? I did for a few months...4 months to be exact. Then we had baby E's 4-month well baby check up and found out that she had a milk-protein (MP) allergy. What does that mean? Well since I was exclusively breastfeeding E, it meant that something I was eating was causing the tiny dots of blood we saw in her poopy diapers. Yep, you can be sure that husby and I freaked out the first time we saw those tiny specks. It was actually around her 2-month appointment that we noticed the blood. At first the Dr. thought that maybe it was E fighting off a cold that I may have passed down to her and since we didn't see any more dots of blood in her poop afterwards - we thought the same as well.
But, at her 4-month appointment E had pooped right when we got to the doc's office. I guess you could say we were lucky that she did because the doctor was able to see her actual poop in person and confirm her suspicion that it may be MP allergy. From that point on the doctor wanted me to eliminate all the big dairy culprits (milk, cheese, creams) from my diet and see if that helped. After doing an elimination diet for the next month, we found out that I had to take out ALL forms of dairy (yup, even the hidden dairy like whey, casein, lactate, etc...) and also beef. I was so, so, so sad. I thought after having GD and needing to eat well during my pregnancy, that everything would just go back to normal once E was born. I mean, I guess it could have if I decided to just feed E formula instead of breast milk. But I didn't want to rob E of the nutrients that she could get from my breastmilk if all I needed to do was make some dietary restrictions and sacrifices until she turns 1. So, since December I had been calling myself a pseudo vegan. Hehe, because I couldn't have any dairy or beef, BUT I ate chicken/pork/fish.
Notice though that I said HAD??? As of E turning 9 months , I am now able to have some dairy and also beef again. Last week was the first time I ate ice cream/froyo/baked goods with dairy. Albeit, I can only have 1/2 cup per day - but I'll take it! The funny thing is is that I think my stomach isn't used to the dairy back in my system. It starts getting kind of jumpy/nauseous sometimes after I eat dairy. I haven't had any cheese yet which is probably the one thing that I've missed the most next to my fav Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream. Just waiting on the doc to give me the go ahead on expanding my dairy repertoire=)!
Haha- but again just like the diet I had to maintain while I had GD , husby LOVED the diet I was on while eliminating dairy. Pretty much a vegan/paleo diet and sometimes gluten free diet as well. I've never felt so restricted before. I'll be honest, it did depress me in the beginning. I felt as though I was being a horrible mommy. First I get GD, then I had cholestasis (that will be in another post for sure!), and this last part of enduring E's MP allergy. I am glad that she seems to be reacting well to my daily 1/2 cup dairy intake. I know the doctor tried reassuring me that this can happen to babies because their stomach's are not mature enough to break down the protein found in cows milk. Plus E's symptoms were mild, so we were glad for that. Usually babies can outgrow this after 6-9 months, so so far things are looking well for E (crossing fingers that she reacts well to more dairy in my diet and eventually her own diet!!). And I was able to have some dairy sooner at 9 months than at the original time frame of when E would turn 1. So, I'm grateful.
Whew, long post! But again, just wanted to share my experience. I know when I first found out about the MP allergy I hunted and searched the web for things I could eat. More posts to come about that. Buuuuuut I'll leave you with this treat:
 |
| Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips |
I LOVE these mini choco chips. Most dark chocolate chips are dairy free, so this was no different tasting to me. Saved me from all my chocolate cravings and urges to bake!
Enjoy! Always looking out for you mamas!
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