Friday, August 6, 2010

I Dare Say It's Working.

It's 5:30 in the morning and I'm awake. I'm contemplating starting the 30 Day Shred DVD I purchased, since my body is in desperate need of some toning. This is really the only time of day I would have to do it. And yet, I feel so unmotivated. Maybe if I promise myself some Starbucks later today. It's ridiculous, the power of sugary sweet coffee over me.

We are entering into Day Four of no dairy and dare I say, I think it's working. Evenings in our family almost always include a fussy, gassy, unhappy little Mouse who is inconsolably frustrated. One of us is always holding her while she kicks and cries from pain. Well, the past two evenings, she's mellowed out tremendously. We're seeing less of her fussy side and more of her sweet, content side, and it's wonderful. When she does get fussy, it's actually possible to console and soothe her. Don't get me wrong--she still gets gassy sometimes, but it doesn't take nearly as long to fix it.

Her routine is starting to fine-tune as well. We aren't huge schedulers who have to have their babies on a to-the-minute regiment, but we do like a somewhat consistent routine to give some predictability to our lives. Naomi eats, stays awake for an hour or so (depending on the time of day), and then takes a nap. Evenings are the only time where this little pattern kind of goes awry and she usually just stays awake until bedtime, when she goes down at 9:30. She now has one middle of the night feeding, typically between 3:00 and 5:00, and then she goes down again until 7:00. Having her on any kind of routine has always been difficult, because the gas always interfered. She would wake up from her naps screaming, not ready to be awake, but in pain and awake anyway. Then I would feed her, thinking she was hungry when she wasn't, and I was actually making the problem worse. Better understanding her needs has been incredibly liberating. I'm sure she appreciates it, too!

And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we've just had a lucky two days. But, I doubt it. My husband watched both of the kids last night while I went out for a Girls' Night Out (and ate these amazing sushi rolls).


(YUM.)

He had the kids all evening and through bedtime and when I came home, he said he could tell a difference in Naomi and that the evening was not only manageable but it was actually enjoyable, too. Wow.

I'm supposed to call our pediatrician at the beginning of next week to give him an update. I'm hoping the progress continues. As for me, I'm getting used to the no dairy. Rather than bread (I'm just kind of avoiding most bread at this point) I can eat rice. And we have these delicious Van's Organic Waffles that I can eat for breakfast. I love grilled chicken and steak, so that's been an easy adjustment. I'm figuring out what to order if we have to grab fast food (no sour cream or cheese on the taco salad, please) and I love the small indulgences I get to enjoy (a little dark chocolate here and there). I really miss Annie's Mac 'n Cheese and I plan on enjoying a huge bowl of it in a few months or so.

Because really, it's just food. I can give up buttermilk-dipped fried chicken. I can pass on that huge roll and the chocolate cake. Food is food. I like some foods more than others, but at the end of the day, I will end up fed and nourished, regardless if it was with my top choices or not, and that is a luxury a large percentage of the world doesn't get to enjoy. And the benefits of breast feeding outweigh my palate's preferences, in my opinion. I can pass on the queso to have a healthy baby!

Sigh. Time to Shred.

Have a lovely weekend, friends.

5 comments:

  1. I can't get past those sushi rolls :) What were they called so I can see if I can find them in my local joint?

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  2. Glad things are going much better! Fingers crossed it's the dairy and not just a fluke thing

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  3. Leigh, I think the roll covered in sauce and scallops is the Volcano Roll and the roll on the other side is a Portabello Roll. The roll in the middle ... I'm not sure! One of my friends ordered these for us to share, so I'm not sure if I'm getting the names right. They were all delicious, though!!

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  4. 1. Yay for less gas!
    2. I need to shred.
    3. Take me to that sushi. :)

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  5. The sushi looks delicious. I am very impressed with your giving up dairy. I had many vegan friends in college, and I always thought that I could easily give up meat, but not dairy. More power to you. You have a good little cause to give it up for!

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