Naps, Teething, and Other Updates

Naps are still a struggle. I thought for a while that things were getting better and to some degree I still do. There are now some naps that Little Miss is making it all the way through with no to minimal trouble. There are, however, still many for which she is only sleeping 35-50 minutes before waking. Unfortunately, I've had very little success getting her to fall back asleep as well. Sometimes she'll fall back asleep in my arms and then wake up as soon as her head hits the bed so I usually just get her up and keep her mellow until the next feeding time. She also woke at 5:15 this morning; I think her teeth were bothering her and once she was awake she wanted to be fed. She then fell back asleep until normal wake up time at 8.

That leads me to the next update...teething. I'm pretty sure Little Miss is so fussy and often inconsolable due to some serious teething pain. She doesn't like the cold teether or cold wet wash cloths. She occasionally likes the vibrating strawberry teether. So far, chewing on her own fist or mommy's finger seem to be her favorite. Her worst time of day is late afternoon and often I resort to Tylenol or Motrin at this hour. I picked up some Baby Orajel today to see if that helps as well.

Last night and tonight are the first nights in a long time (that I can remember actually) that Little Miss cried at bedtime. She is usually falling asleep just before bedtime when I change her diaper, put on PJs, and go nurse her. She almost falls asleep at the breast and then fusses some during our goodnight song. She has fallen asleep only to wake a few minutes later screaming. When I go check on her, I hold her for a minute, put her down, pat her and she falls asleep.

She continues to keep doing great at tummy time and is able to do up to 5 or 6 minutes. Occasionally she still rolls over from tummy to back. She loves to coo and giggle and "talk" with whomever will listen. Her eyes are getting darker but they're definitely not brown yet. She had a growth spurt a few days ago and is officially in 3-6 month clothing now. That's pretty much what's going on around here.

Holding My Breath

I'm holding my breath and hoping that the trend continues. As mentioned recently in this post, Little Miss has been having some major nap trouble. She has been waking up between 45 minutes and an hour into each nap (which I'd like to be 1.5 to 2 hours) for the last 5 weeks. Today, she slept perfectly for her first nap, fussed mildly for her third nap, and needed only a little bit of help from me in the middle of her second nap. This last nap of the day she woke up an hour in but three out of four is a huge improvement over none.

Dairy Free for Me

It's official - Little Miss is allergic to dairy. After being dairy free for two weeks, I had some cheese Monday and the next day, Little Miss had tons of mucous and specks of blood in her stool. She was also more fussy during nursing. I really would like to keep breastfeeding until her first birthday so I'm saying goodbye to all milk products. I will miss my cheese and my ice cream but it is well worth it to keep Little Miss healthy. Most children outgrow dairy allergy by two or three years old though so hopefully it won't be an issue for her forever.

Amazingly, I too have had a major change since going off of dairy. My insulin needs have dropped by about 40%. I'm not quite sure what to make of that but obviously my body has issues with milk protein as well. Within 48 hours of stopping dairy, I kept going low over and over again. After about two days of stuffing my face to keep up with the lows, my genius husband suggested I change my basal rates on my insulin pump. Duh? Why didn't I think of that? The only thing that changed was the dairy.

I'm kind of hoping that maybe God will use this to heal my diabetes. Medically/scientifically it makes no sense but I know God can use whatever means he desires to heal people and I'll take it. Healing from diabetes is something I have always prayed for but honestly most of the time I don't really think it will happen in this lifetime. I know I should have more faith but it is one of those, "God, I believe. Forgive my unbelief" type things. I want to believe and I know he can heal me; I just don't always think he will. For now though, I know that Little Miss needs me off of dairy and if that is the case, then so be it. If it helps my health, all the better.

We've Got a Roller

Little Miss is officially rolling. On Tuesday, I had her doing tummy time on the changing mat and she looked like she was trying to roll. She couldn't get too far because our changing mat has raised sides so I put her down on her activity gym mat. I propped her up on her arms and over she went.

She proceeded to roll over and over and over again. I kept putting her on her tummy and she kept rolling. She even did it for the video camera a few times. I called My Love and he got to tell everyone at work about his girl's first real milestone. Then I called my mom even though she was on her way over and she was thrilled too.

By the time my mom got here and Little Miss was awake again, she wouldn't do it. When daddy got home we tried again. No luck. Fortunately I had the video to prove it. We tried again Wednesday and Thursday to no avail. Finally this morning, she finally rolled again a few times. Silly girl had me thinking maybe she had already forgotten.