Raising Lauren has been a study in flexibility, focus on what the priorities are, and at the same time, trying to figure out where Bethy and my lives continue on in the spare moments.
So back to the moment that snuck up on me..... As mentioned in the previous post, Lauren is VERY sensitive to what Bethy eats, subsequently, and after some trial and error, resulting in Bethy excluding all and anything with even traces of dairy. Milk, butter, whey... anything even a derivitive impact on Lauren. Gas, some little pimples, tummy ache, constipation. We need to be very careful about this.... It usually takes about 6 hours to show up in the milk stream and about 2-3 hours after that for Lauren to start her oddities. From there, once it's been identified and the dairy intake stopped, probably about 36 hours to clear Bethy's system, and then maybe another 2 days to clear Lauren's system.
Now keep in mind here... we are talking trace amounts which can have a large impact. Things baked with milk or butter will do the damage. We took some time to think about it, and has taken a good month or so to figure it out(we've known for the past month +). While we know that Lauren was a bit fussy early on, and with typical bouts of a little bit of acne... since Bethy has been dairy-free, most of you have experienced the little bundle of joy that she is.
Anyway... getting back to the point of this post... she's been a little difficult as of late as Bethy accidentally had some dairy... and the last couple of days have been a challenge on her, me, grandma and grandpa who helped do some sitting. This morning we went and had dim sum and spent some time with family(see below)... and was kinda prepped to have to hopefully endure the last bouts of this episode with Lauren this afternoon..... So this afternoon, Bethy managed to get Lauren to take a nap... longer than 10 minutes... I was downstairs and after a nap, went to go do some work on the cars, 4 washes later, some claybar and some RainX and I was done. That put us to about 5:00 or so and I moseyed up stairs , figured out dinner with Bethy and settled in. People warned me in the past that you learn to eat quickly when you have a little one, and it's true. Bethy and I usually take turns eating and tonight was no exception. I ate a little bit, and then had Lauren cradled in my arms/lap when she gave me that look... soon to be followed by what we estimate to be about 3-4 days of pent up... unhappiness.
So after a couple minutes of additional settling and release, I tried to work the rock-paper-scissors angle to get out of the changing duty, but to no avail....I went scissors, and Lauren showed rock as usual and I was stuck... I only hoped that containment was still in place.
Sadly, no... As much as I tried not to shift her too much in the move to the changing table, it turns out that there was a leak... and a bit on her outfit as well. Bethy helped soak the outfit and I went about the task of delicately and quickly changing the diaper. A couple minutes later, two baby wipes, a disinfectant wipe and a new outfit, we were all set to go.
It was still early so we decided to take a quick run over to TJ's to pick up some stuff for the week. Once we got back, Lauren got a bath and a feeding... at least a partial one.
After a little bit, I went upstairs to see how things were going.... Bethy was settling in front of the computer and Lauren was in the swing... but still awake. Behty mentioned that Lauren hadn't really eaten much and that I should warm 3oz that were down in the fridge from earlier today. After warming it up, I settled down with the little one in my lap and started the feeding.
She took most of it and dozed and fell asleep during, so I picked her up and walked a bit to try and get a burp out of her. After a couple minutes, I didn't get a burp, but she was sound asleep... and it was during this time, with the heft of about a sack of potatoes on my shoulder, that I realized yet again, that even through the oddities and helpless sympathizing with the little girl while she twisted and turned, that I had bonded with her more and more. That the loss of sleep, the worrying about the diapers and what she was eating or if she wasn't eating enough or trying to figure out why she wouldn't take one nipple or the other, that again... I had been unwittingly pulled in, sucked into the ongoing life of the little one. No.. it was no mistake having a little one... but the ways in which you learn, and things transpire are always interesting and surprising. All the little lessons we learn... I can't wait till the next one... maybe I'll even be aware that it's happening while I go through it!
Attached are a couple pics that her Grandpa took!! Enjoy...
1 comment:
She's so funny. All babies have pimples for a day or less.
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