Still breastfeeding

It's the beginning of May and Emma has weaned herself off the breast but not off the breast milk. I pump somewhere between 3 and 4 times a day. It is difficult, because I miss the closeness of breastfeeding. I think she has gotten used to the bottle and enjoys it more now. I would have switched to formula by now, just because I hate pumping but Emma is allergic to corn and every formula, including they hypoallergenic stuff has corn in it. Bleh... 4 months to go and then I will wean her off breast milk and onto organic moo moo milk. She weight 20lbs 13oz last week. Not too shabby!!!!

Christmas Time Update

The allergy issues seem to be dying down. I was able to eat chocolate and have some pizza this weekend without too much fuss. However, I am diligently trying to avoid foods with any kind of corn additive and of course, nuts of any kind are out.

Little Miss Emma is growing up and is so sweet. I don't remember enjoying my older two as much as I enjoy her. I live for her sweet little gummy smiles that are filled with so much love.

The weekends with her daddy are getting better. This weekend he actually got her to sleep in her own bed - sweet!!!

We leave tomorrow to go down to Meme and Baba's house. Yay! However, so much to do - I have a ton of laundry to wash and then I need to get her clothes together to go...along with all of her other necessities - hope we have enough room in the car :/

Bleh...dairy is out.

Tried butter and cheese this week and she is grumpy and developed a rash on her face. I like rice milk but dang I miss cheese.

Corn Allergy...next up Dairy

We discovered that Corn is not Emma's friend. Bleh, Corn is in everything. Tomorrow, I will be trying some cheese and we will see how Miss Emma does with that. Hoping that she will tolerate dairy, as I am bored with the TED.

Mooooooo

Emma is feeling much better. She actually got in some good sleep today (unlike her mommy). But, she went to bed at 9 and gave her daddy a 2 hour reprive. He is learning and she is getting used to his style. She was such a cutie today with all her gummy open mouth smiles....so cute!!!!

I fed her at 8 and then pumped at 12:30AM and pumped 8 oz. I was floored. I didn't expect that much. We'll see what I get at 3:30. I usually try to pump every 3 hours while I am at work. By the time I make it home she has already eaten so I try to pump before I leave work.

I think that Emma had a reaction to Coconut, but I'm not sure. That's off my list of things to eat - not that I was a huge coconut fan anyway.

Almonds

I think we have found our main allergent. Since starting this new diet, Emma has started pooping more. Because her little bottom was starting to get irritated from all of the extra diaper activity - I started using Burt's Bee Diaper Ointment. Okay, so after 2 days I noticed it was getting worse. In fact, I put a wipe on her little bootie and went to go get the ointment and came back to find a little speck of blood from her skin around her anus. Ugh, poor baby! I looked at the tube and read the ingredients....Main ingredient: Almond Oil. Well dang! I guess all those pecans, walnuts and almonds I was eating until I went on the diet were the main culprit for her rash.

Of course, we found out this week that Michael was allergic to everything as a baby and he had asthma which predisposes Emma to have tree nut allergies. Maybe, she isn't allergic to dairy after all. Not going to risk it at this time - will try dairy products further down the road.

In the meantime, we are trying to heal our little baby's butt!

Daddy not sleeping

Tonight is the 3rd night that Michael has been caring for Emma alone while I am at work. I did a tapered return to work so that he could get used to it before being slammed with 36 hours in a row. Last Sunday wasn't so bad. Last night - she slept maybe 2 hours. Tonight, he has already given her 8 oz. and called twice saying she wouldn't sleep. I told him to swaddle her, finish feeding her and then put her down (because I knew she would fall asleep in her arms).

He called back to tell me it worked. I'm praying it does work, because I feel bad for both of them. Is she experiencing separation anxiety at 2 months old? I don't know but I'm hoping they both get some quality sleep now.