Adalyn's first 4th of July

Adalyn had a lot of firsts last week.

She had her first big trip in the car, her first vacation at my parents' cabin, her first time swimming in the lake my grandparents live on, and her first time seeing fireworks.

Whew...it was a busy weekend...

I was very nervous about our trip up to the cabin. Adalyn can barely handle a 30 minute trip over to my parents' house. This was a 3 hour car ride...

Ready to go!

She did amazingly well. Just like everything that girl does... :)

After about 40 minutes in the car, she fell asleep. We were about an hour and a half from the cabin when we stopped to eat, diaper change, etc., and then on the road again!

Adalyn was ready to be out of the car when we were about 30 minutes away from the cabin, and she was very vocal about her opposition to being in the car seat.

Finally, we arrived. 

She did a great job being away from home for 3 days. We swam in the lake (well, dipped her toes in--it's a cold lake, even in July...), we spent the day in town shopping, played at the park, and of course, watch the fireworks on the 4th. 

Enjoying the lake.

 Adalyn loved the fireworks...okay, okay, so we really could not tell how she felt about the fireworks. 

Her facial expression did not change the entire time.

Even after the fireworks...

We thought maybe she was a little tired during the fireworks...but then she went back to the cabin and told Grandma all about them.

It was a great little vacation, even with the crazy amount of mosquitoes. P.S. My awesome homemade insect repellent was not so awesome. Back to the drawing board with that one...

Adalyn and Mommy enjoying the fireworks.

 Sidebar:

 

Adayln has also had a diaper rash for some time. We have no idea why it will not go away. We have questioned every possibility. Yeast infection? Heat rash? Allergy? 

It doesn't look like what a typical yeast infection is described to look like. I thought maybe it was a food allergy, but again, it doesn't look like how it is described. I think it is probably a heat rash. It has been quite warm lately, and the poor girl had what looked like hives on her tummy. :( She has also been trying to itch the rash. 

Normal diaper creams do not work for her. In fact, any diaper cream with zinc oxide in it only makes the rash worse. Other creams and Aquaphor have not helped, so we have been using cornstarch powder. It seems to be working well. We also put a pause on using cloth diapers, and have been using disposable diapers until we can get rid of the rash. 

If it does not go away soon, we will be taking a trip to the doctor to hopefully get rid of the darn rash.

Anyway...

 

Adalyn did a great job riding back home. In fact, she was awake for about 30 minutes, and then slept the entire way home. 

I absolutely believe that it was the little fan that we purchased while we were at the cabin, and had blowing on her during the ride home.

The night we got home, we went to a neighboring town's festival for more fireworks. 

More fireworks!

Still have no idea how she feels about them...

It was a great weekend, and we feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl. We are very excited to celebrate more firsts for Adalyn!

Sick :(

A few nights ago, Adalyn got sick.

:(

And Mom got scared...

Poor sick girl finally fell asleep on Daddy's chest.

It would have been easier if she had a cold, or maybe had been older, but when a four-month-old baby is vomiting...it gets scary real fast.

Even now, we have no idea why she was vomiting, but she would get so red in the face and looked so miserable, I could barely stand it.

The first few times she was sick, we just thought she had eaten too much (this girl is going through a major growth spurt and seriously ate like three times within three or four hours...), or that she had gotten sick because she kept sticking her fingers in her mouth and was gagging herself. 

Then, she kept getting sick, even after there was nothing left in her stomach, and she no longer had her hands in her mouth. So Mom called the doctor and the doctor (well nurse) said...A nurse will call you back....

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!?!

It was five minutes later, Adalyn was still getting sick, and I was calling the birthing center. She at least called over to the nurse to ask what was going on, and why I hadn't been called back yet. 

When I finally spoke to the nurse, she didn't seem too worried about it, because Adalyn didn't have a fever, she could still move her arms and legs, no bulging soft spot, etc., etc., etc. 

So, we had to watch her for the night...No sleep for Mom and Dad. 

Adalyn finally fell asleep around 10 pm. The poor girl was so exhausted, she wouldn't even suck on a bottle filled with a little bit of Pedialyte. She woke up again around midnight (and so did Dad). We used a syringe to get her to drink some of the Pedialyte. She did much better this time.

Side note--Mom here really needs to find that recipe for homemade Pedialyte. I have heard that it is much cheaper to make, and much healthier too.

Back asleep again until 2 am...Mom and Dad slept this time because she had not been vomiting the last time she woke. Adalyn literally did not leave our sides, in fact she slept on one of our chests the entire night...

At 2 am, Adalyn was starting to act more like herself again. She was moving around more and woke up with this attitude like, "Hey guys! What's up? I am starved!"

The problem was that the nurse told us to only give her 1-2 tsp of Pedialyte every five minutes for the first four hours after she stopped vomiting, followed by 2-4 tsp every five minutes for four hours after that. And no breastfeeding.

When Adalyn is hungry and does not get fed, she gets mad. Really, really mad...

Yeah..., Adalyn received a bottle with an ounce of Pedialyte really quick. 

The poor thing had been through so much already, that I couldn't stand to deny her having more liquids. I was a bit afraid that it would be too much for her and that she might vomit again, but she held it down well. 

She woke again at 4 am, hungry, so we gave her a few more ounces of Pedialyte before she fell asleep again. Finally, at 6 am, when she woke, I was allowed to breastfeed her again. 

The following day, Adalyn acted like her normal self; She was happy, playing with her toys, singing and talking. 

"B" is for "Better!" As in, "Adalyn is feeling better!"

We are so incredibly happy that she is feeling better now. 

And that Mom and Dad have not gotten sick...yet...

Bath and Sleep Update

I am happy to say that after a long two weeks, things seem to be getting better with Adalyn. :D A very sleep-deprived Mom and Dad are so incredibly thankful...

A well-rested and drooling baby makes for a happy baby--and Mom and Dad.

Last night was the first night in a long time that bath time actually went pretty well. Before, we used to play with toys, etc. and leave bath time as one of the last things that we do before bedtime. Last night, we took a bath right away after she woke up from her late afternoon nap and had eaten. This seemed to work soooo much better. I think when we used the previous system, Adalyn was just way too tired to enjoy her bath time. This is a schedule we will definitely have to stick with.

I also enjoy that we are starting to get a really good bed time schedule set with Adalyn. On nights that we take a bath, Adalyn will wake up from her last nap of the day and eat (we stick to the eat, play, sleep schedule for all of her naps during the day--it works really well). 

After she eats, Adalyn will take her bath. After the bath (there were no tears last night!!!), we will play. This is also generally when the music comes on and we will sing and dance--okay, so for Adalyn dancing means me standing her up and wiggling her hips, but it is still cute. :) 

After play time, we will go to her room and read some stories. Adalyn generally lets me know when she is getting too tired by rubbing her eyes and yawning. Then, we turn on the lullaby music and I will have Adalyn snuggled up in my arms while I rock her in the glider for a little while. I will lay her down in her crib, sleepy, but not asleep. 

Depending on how tired and relaxed Adalyn is really determines whether or not she will start crying at this point...

On days that we do not have a bath--every other day, we will keep the same schedule, except during bath time we try to do a massage. If Adalyn is too tired, she absolutely does not enjoy having a massage. Most of the time, she really enjoys it. 

Of course, when Dad is home and not at work, he will join us with bedtime. He has had a lot of evening work shifts, as well as the camp counselor training on weekends, so he has missed many bedtimes in the past few weeks. Needless to say, he really cannot wait until this summer when he will have a normal work schedule and will be home in the evening.

Last night, I did not think bedtime would go very well. Adalyn woke up about four times between 7:45 pm and 10:30 pm. She was hungry at 10:30 (and Dad got home around that time, so he got to snuggle with her for a little while after she ate). Surprisingly, Dad was able to put her down in her crib without a single fuss. She woke up a few times after that, but generally fussed for a minute or so and was able to put herself back to sleep. She didn't wake up until 4:45 am....Hallelujah! 

Adalyn is always eating, so of course she was hungry at 4:45, but who cares, she slept for more than an hour at a time!!

Jon and I didn't go to bed until after 1 am...oops. But I can definitely say, after a few weeks of Adalyn waking up every hour, those couple of hours that I got to sleep before she woke up felt AMAZING!

:)

Bath time and bedtime

Our day with Adalyn is pretty routine at this point. We follow the eat, play, sleep routine, and it seems to work well for us. Recently, Adalyn has not been sleeping very well, her nap times have been cut very short, and she cries hysterically after bath time.

What happened to the babe that loved bath time?

Adalyn did go through some really bad cradle cap, which made bath time much less fun. I think the soap was too strong, and it was drying on her already sensitive scalp. Her skin seems to be pretty sensitive and easy to dry out, so I have stopped using any form of bubble bath. We use Aveeno baby wash on her, but it still does not seem to help.

Even though we have the cradle cap under control, for the most part, she still cries during bath time. We have even stopped using the infant tub and started filling up the whole tub for bath time. One of us will get in the tub with her and help her sit up while she plays with her toys. Adalyn generally likes the part where she gets to play with the toys...She loves chewing on her rubber duckies.

I thought some possible reasons why she might be crying were that she was cold or that she was mad because she did not want to get out of the bathtub. I used to take her out of the bathroom, in her towel, and to her room, where I would put pajamas on her--which is another story: not only is she already upset, but then I try to put clothing on her, which, for some reason, she absolutely hates.

Anyway, so now I steam up the bathroom with the shower prior to bath time, I keep the door closed and have my robe shoved down at the bottom of the door to keep the heat in. I start to drain the tub while we are still in it, so that she doesn't realize as quickly that bath time is over. I turn the shower back on after we get out of the tub, and I get her pajamas on in the bathroom. If she isn't too tired at the end of bath time, I will give her a massage.

Although this has helped a bit, I still seem to have a crabby baby afterward.

**As a side note, I realize that turning on the shower so much is a waste of water, but I figure that because Mom no longer gets to shower as often as she used to, we are using just as much water as we were pre-baby. :) 

And then there is bedtime...

What happened to the babe that loved to sleep?

I did read that at this age, babies are going through a lot more development and are starting to notice everything around them, which makes babies not want to sleep...Who could blame Adalyn? She has a lot of really awesome toys and books!

This week has been especially stressful now that she is no longer sleeping as well because Jon has been working the closing shift almost every night, which leaves Mom to be the lone bedtime enforcer...

Not only does Adalyn not want to go to bed at night, which leads her to cry, and cry, and cry, but she also does not sleep as long as she used to. The idea of "cry it out" has some very mixed feelings by others. I am still on the fence about the idea. Yes, she does need to learn how to fall asleep by herself, but it is so incredibly difficult to listen to her cry so hard and whimper as she falls asleep. :(

Before, Adalyn would generally fall asleep somewhere between 7 and 8 pm--depending on what time she woke up that day, and what time she took her naps during the day. Ugh...and nap time... She used to sleep for 1-2 hours, sometimes even 3 hours. Now her naps tend to run about 30 minutes, with a longer 1-2 hour nap in the morning.

Anyway, so bed time...She would generally sleep from 7 or 8 pm until 1 or 2 am and need to have a feeding. Lately, she has been waking up earlier and earlier. Tonight, she fell asleep a little before 8 pm. It wasn't even 9 pm and she was already crying. Generally, we are able to get Adalyn to fall back asleep (if she isn't hungry) by giving her a pacifier. Now, she will not even take a pacifier and will just cry and cry.

I might add, Adalyn has also recently begun to roll over from her back to her stomach. (Yay for Adalyn, not-so-much-yay for Mom and Dad). When she is upset, she rolls onto her stomach. I have read that it is fine for babies to sleep on their stomachs once they have learned how to roll there on their own. The only problem is that most of the time she gets one arm trapped under her body and cries even more.

Well, my dearest Adalyn, I love you so much, and I would do anything for you. I would even give you the shirt off my back---No, literally. I gave her the shirt off my back tonight, and she feel asleep.

When she woke up after not even having slept an hour tonight, I tried to soothe her while she was in her crib. This did not work whatsoever, so I finally picked her up and rocked her in the glider for a little bit. She immediately snuggled into my chest and fell asleep--the same girl who was hysterically crying a minute ago.

Then, I remembered something I had read...

I was trying to find ideas on how to get Adalyn to fall asleep a few nights ago. There was a woman that had commented that she would put her shirt in with her baby at night because the baby would sleep better having Mom's scent close to him.

Maybe this is the reason why Adalyn fell asleep so quickly in my arms tonight? So, I layed her back in her crib. She, of course, immediately woke up and started to fuss. I pulled off my shirt and laid it on her like a blanket (we have always used blankets with Adalyn--we know that many doctors recommend that you do not do this, but she would never sleep in just a sleep sack. She would only fall asleep with the blanket). Wouldn't you know it, she fell right to sleep.

To be fair, it has only been like a half hour since she fell asleep, but hopefully it works.

Mom=1
Bed time crying=too many to count 

**Update-yeah, that didn't work...ugh. She slept until about 11 pm and was up crying again. Back to the drawing board with this one.

Mom=0
Bed time crying=too many to count + 1  

A word on breastfeeding

Before I became pregnant, I did not have much of an opinion about breastfeeding. I really never thought much about the topic. When we decided to have a baby I knew I had to soon decide. I did a lot of research and got the point-of-view from other moms; some who did breastfeed and some who did not. When forming my decision about future Howard baby, I came to the conclusion that there were just too many positive aspects about breastfeeding to not do it. 

One thing I learned soon after delivering Adalyn was that I needed to become more comfortable with my own body. To this day, I am still not that comfortable with breastfeeding in public. I have absolutely no problem with other women breastfeeding in public, using a cover or not. I just find it is the discomfort with myself. I am a bit more comfortable breastfeeding in front of doctors, nurses, or lactation consultants (I figure most have seen this and much more not only from myself but many, many other women). I also have found that I am pretty comfortable breastfeeding in front of other women with babies--but with a cover. 

After a feeding

I don't know if I will ever feel that comfort to breastfeed in public. In fact, when Adalyn was just three weeks old, we went to Florida, and I found myself feeding her at the airport in family bathrooms and in areas that had very few people. 
I think in the end, it is more important to continue breastfeeding even though I have some discomfort with my body. I am doing what is best for Adalyn and not what I am most comfortable with. 

Having a free way to feed my daughter is definitely a plus. It would also be a lot more convenient to formula feed Adalyn, but I don't think I would ever give up the bond that I have with her for convenience. 

The next step is deciding when I will stop breastfeeding...

Adventures in becoming a crunchy mama

Before Adalyn was born, I was absolutely against cloth diapering. I mean, seriously, gross! I am not touching those nasty diapers and washing them! Plus, we live in a duplex that does not have a washer or dryer, so having cloth diapers meant we either had to have enough of them to last the week before going to one of our parents' houses to do laundry or I had to hand wash them in the tub. Not happening...

And then Adalyn was born...

She was so adorable and sweet. I would have given the world for her (and still would). I want everything all natural for her; nothing that could harm her little body. Ok, so I can't possibly go that far... Yes, she is breastfed and we use olive oil for her lotion instead of actual lotion filled with chemicals, but she is still exposed to not-so-great things. She gets her routine shots from the doctor (I hate seeing those tears come to her eyes when she gets them, but Jon and I discussed it, and, in our minds, any side effects she might have from the shot definitely outweighs the possibility of contracting what the shots are there to prevent). Her clothing and toys are not organic. We want the best for her and one thing kept weighing on my mind...her diapers and wipes. They are so filled with chemicals!

Oh yeah...and they are not cheap!

Jon and I are currently on a pretty restricted budget. He is still working at Target and subbing whenever he can. He is looking for a teaching job, but even if Jon did get something, he wouldn't start working until next Fall. This summer he will be working as a camp counselor, which will be fun and great experience for him, but still does not pay the best. And then there is me. I feel bad because I am not contributing to our income. Jon works hard and sometimes works really long days when he does both subbing and working at Target in the same day. While he is working hard, I am at home, getting to play with our cute little girl. Okay, so it isn't always just playing with her. I have to change diapers, feed her, bathe her, put her down for naps and to bed, deal with her crying, etc., but I still feel bad that I get to be home with our little girl and he does not.

So, I decided maybe we should start using cloth! Well, Adalyn had a bazillion and one blankets that she received as gifts from other people. Seriously, there were a bunch that three months after she was born still had not been used yet. So I took some of the flannel receiving blankets and cut them up into cloth wipes. I sewed around the edges to hopefully stop them from unraveling too much. I figured, we could keep those blankets in her closet, never use them, and spend money on actual cloth wipes or purchasing washcloths, or we can actually make use of these blankets! It seems to be working well for her. We actually have enough to go an entire week before needing to do wash.

Diaper spray, wipe warmer, and the homemade cloth wipes (on bottom).

We started out just using the California Baby Diaper Wash and spraying it on the cloth (or her bottom if it was really messy). This stuff works really well for babies when they have diaper rash. I read comments from other people and found that a lot of them dilute the diaper wash (anywhere between 10-50%) and use that with cloth wipes. I found that I did not like this way as much, it seemed to be a little rough on her bottom, even though the cloth is pretty soft. We decided to purchase a wipe warmer--heck yes for online garage sales! I originally had diluted the diaper wash so that there was only about 1/3 of the solution. I diluted the solution even more, dipped each wipe in the solution, and placed it in the wipe warmer. I have heard about mold issues with wet wipes in the warmer, or it starting to smell musty, so I only put in enough wipes for 2-3 days. After we finish those wipes, we will dry out the warmer and put new wipes in. We store all of the used wipes in an old ice cream bucket with a little baking soda or Borax. This way seems to work much better for us.

I decided since I am using cloth wipes, why not go all the way and use cloth diapers too? Turns out, they are expensive to start out with! It will be much cheaper in the long run, but you have to spend so much money up front: money we do not have to spend. So I read some blogs online, as I always do, and found directions to make cloth diapers.  I also found a free pattern to print off. I traced it onto some of that postal wrapping paper.

My sewing mess-bags filled with old clothes, shower curtains, and my diaper pattern...

We have a ton of old shirts and sweatshirts that we were going to get rid of that could be converted into cloth diapers. I also read on another site to use shower curtains as the outermost cover. So far, I have only completed one diaper-these take a lot of time to complete! I have changed things up for my second one to be more absorbent, which I hope works. Hopefully I will get the hang of it soon--I am definitely not a sewing expert--and can convert her over to all cloth diapers.

My first homemade diaper.

Another idea that I read about was to use hooks from old bras. I liked that idea because I wouldn't have to go out and purchase anything to put on snaps, and Velcro doesn't handle well after too many washes. Plus, I already had a bunch of old bras that I could use--bonus: it was free!

Cloth diaper with bra hooks.

 So, hopefully I can get a bunch more made (and hopefully they don't leak easily) and I will be well on my way to becoming a crunchy momma. :)

Adalyn

I was reading another person's blog the other night. It was a blog about their child's fight with cancer. Their child had lost the fight. The father spoke so beautifully about his child's life; things he used to do, things the father should have done, his infectious smile. I couldn't help but think about Adalyn. I couldn't imagine watching her suffer and knowing that her short little life would soon be taken from her. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. Adalyn has been a part of our lives for only thirteen weeks, and yet, I could not imagine life without her.

I never understood the need to become rich, or famous, or be so vain that aging becomes an issue. Jon often hears me say that if I make it to 30, or 40, or 50, or 60, or beyond, I won't cry and become upset because the time has slipped away, and I have become "old." I will say "Hell yeah! I made it this far!"

Some people aren't that lucky...

If I could choose a life for Adalyn, it wouldn't be that she was the most beautiful girl in the world, or that she becomes incredibly rich or famous. I just want her to recognize the beauty of life. I want her to feel the love of her family, find great friends, cherish the love she has with another, become a mother, be able to stare into her child's eyes and be amazed at how such a tiny little life could cause so much love in her heart. I want her to grow old, to look back at her life and smile at how blessed of a life she has been given.

Just as I have.

I have barely lived a life yet, only being 24 years old. I can say that everything that I have been given is a blessing. I cannot fathom how I was so lucky to have such a beautiful life, but I do cherish every moment of it.

I hope she is this lucky.