Evelyn and the Owl

Throughout my entire pregnancy, Evelyn was an owl. I don't know why, but I had a very strong feeling she would have a connection to owls.

In the area of animal totems, owls represent the feminine, the moon, and the night. It is the bird of magic, prophecy and wisdom. Evie has definitely taken after the nocturnal aspect of owls. Also, she might be a screech owl. LOL. As she gets older Evie will discover her true animal totems, but an owl is a pretty good starter totem! Oh, and for those interested, my animal totems are the cat and hawk. Eric's totems are badger, snake, hawk, and tiger.

A fantastic book to learn about animal totems and how to find your own is Ted Andrews' Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small. The owl in the picture is a gift from Evie's Great-Gramma Burns.

Attachment Parenting 'R Us!

For those not in the know, Attachment Parenting is a parenting philosophy coined by Dr. Williams Sears that involves stay-at-home parenting, baby-wearing, baby-led routines, and co-sleeping. Dr. Sears says, "According to attachment theory, the child forms a strong emotional bond with caregivers during childhood with lifelong consequences. Sensitive and emotionally available parenting helps the child to form a secure attachment style which fosters a child's socio-emotional development and well being. "

The picture above shows me and Evie using her Maya Wrap ring sling. While we're still hit-or-miss on her attitude towards it, I love it! My friend Krispin bought me this sling and it frees up my hands. Also, Evie just likes to be walked around the house to fall asleep and it's cozy to baby-wear her. I also own an Infantino carrier and a Moby wrap. I can't wait for the weather to cool off to use the Moby!!

From the very beginning of my pregnancy, I said we would not bed-share with our baby. There are too many babies dying from bed-sharing incidents. Fast forward 9 months of pregnancy and a month of acid reflux and colic = we are definitely co-sleeping together!! Evie has not had enough sleep on a daily basis since she was born because she cries so often. A typical evening is me on the couch with Evelyn in my arms and resting on the boppy. This works for a few hours and then we switch to Evie reclined in the boppy and I'm sleeping next to her with my arm across her. The ideal situation? No. But is it working? For her, yes. I'm averaging 4 hours a night, which is totally manageable at this point.

As for a routine, Evelyn is the queen of the house! Except for doctor appointments, she dictates how the day goes. I am perfectly happy with this set-up so long as it helps her be a happy, content baby. We spend most of the day while Eric's at work sleeping, nursing, singing songs, doing tummy time, watching tv, and more sleeping. I'm thrilled I get to stay home with Evelyn and hope I get to for as long as possible. :-)

Operation Chubby Baby update

We had our 1 month wellness check today! Granted, Evelyn's technically 5 weeks 5 days old, but close enough! Our little peanut is still a peanut:

Weight: 9 lbs. 3 oz. (34%)
Length: 21 in. (29%)
Head Circumference: 38 cm (61%)

Evie gained almost a pound in 2 weeks! With her cutting down on screaming, she's burning less calories. Also, she's in good proportion weight and length wise, with a nice big noggin to hold all the useless trivia facts Eric & I are teaching her. Now if we could just get her to sleep more...

:-)

1 Month Old!

I can't believe Evie is already 1 month old! (She celebrated by puking on Mommy and pooping on Daddy.) These 31 days have flown by surprisingly fast. She can now track my face with her eyes, put her fingers in her mouth for comfort, use a pacifier, gained 1 lb. 3 oz. over her birth weight, roll over from her tummy to her back in both directions, has incredible neck control, and make adorable little cooing noises. I'm slowly learning to let her sleep in her pack 'n play and not always in my arms. Evie's also starting to put together 3-4 hour stretches of sleep at night, which her very tired parents appreciate!

I'm very happy to report that the reflux medication combination is working really well so far! She's taking 1.3mL of Zantac 2x/day and taking 1/2 tsp. of gripe water 6x/day. We can still feel a lot of gas moving through her, but Evie's not straining in pain anymore. Such a relief! It was horrible to watch our baby girl in almost constant pain and distress. Plus, I'm now 100% dairy-free and it's been fairly easy to adjust to this change. It's shocking how many foods have hidden dairy in them. A huge resource I've used is godairyfree.com. Did you know Haagen Daz has the most unbelievably delicious mango sorbet?? Also, tofu "cream cheese" does not ruin slow cooker beef stroganoff. I'll be trying more desserts next week. :-)

Waging War on Reflux

Sorry for the delay in any new posts! My fantastic mom came to visit for two weeks and my dad came for a week. I LOVE my parents so much! They held Evie, reassured me, changed diapers, washed laundry, cooked, cleaned, didn't sleep so Eric and I could, and made life so much easier during these tough early weeks.

Oh! and Frontier Airlines is going to run non-stop flights from Milwaukee to Hartford beginning in September. Connecticut family and friends can now visit more easily! Start booking those trips now, folks!

The big news is that Evie is finally being treated for acid reflux. I'd had a suspicion she has had reflux all along and I'm glad we're now doing something about it. We had had her on Mylicon after feeding and had done every trick under the sun to help her relieve gas pain, but to little avail. As of today, she's on Zantac and gripe water. Oh, and I'm 100% dairy-free. There goes my addiction to frozen custard! Did you know there's dairy in chicken broth?! Luckily, I only use the stock Eric makes, which is dairy free. Hopefully the combination of the medications and diet will make Evie more comfortable and happier. It's been awful to watch my little peanut be in so much pain for most of the day.

More frequent posts to come! I promise!