Amanda and Family’s blog

Zion has been giggling! She doesn't do it every time I tickle her but it has become more frequent. She laughs some and talks a lot. Last night she was talking very loudly. It was so fun to hear her. I think she likes to be loud :) Gone are the days of her being quiet in church :) She has been holding toys if you put them in her hands but now she grabs for them herself. She has a giraffe on her carseat that you pull to make music and she pulled it herself yesterday. I had her in her carseat while I was getting out her stroller and the music started going. I was so excited! She rolls sided to side and front to back but has not rolled back to front herself yet. She scoots herself on her belly with her feet a little bit. We went for a walk yesterday and she would normally have slept the whole way but she was looking around and really seeming to enjoy the outdoors. She is gaining weight at a good rate and growing all the time. She likes to eat grandma's face whenever my mom gives her nose kisses (eskimos). We went on a bike ride with mark's family sunday. She was in her carseat in a pull behind trailor like the ones Amish people put their groceries (or kids) in. It was so fun. She slept most of the time but woke up to enjoy it some. She naps in her crib more often now and would probably sleep there at night if her crazy mother would let her ;) She thinks whistling is the coolest thing and smiles and laughs whenever Mark and I do it. She loves her daddy and gives him big smiles when he gets home from work or when we go visit him at job sites. We are having her dedicated May 4th and are very excited for all the family to come. I think that's about all for now :)

Ok, so I spoke with the nursing consultant at Goshen Hospital ( i really value her advice) and she says she has not had experience with gluten-free diet doing anything except frustrate the mother. I do wonder what it would do for my health and wonder if it my change behavior later because I know a few people it has helped (see shane/carmen's comment). But I was so frustrated and with the nursing consultants advice decided to give it up. She told me the most common problem is dairy so if I do a diet change to try that and do it for a month. I decided not to change my diet again yet because I just wanted to wait a bit longer to see if colick would go away. Well, Zion is 3 and a half months now and most colic is done by this point. I was talking with the nursing consultant (Naomi) again and asked if colic babies just cry a lot or if they scream. Zion screams, arches her back, throws her head and then curls up in a ball and repeats the process. Naomi thinks it may be reflux even though we dont see her spit up often. She does spit up and swallow a lot though. I hear her do it. Now we are going to pursue medication for that. She said if it works we will know what it is. If not, then we need to see if something else is going on. She reassured me to pursue what I think is necessary because I have been telling people she is in pain for 3 months now and the pediatrician didnt listen and the doctor (nice as he is) didn't seem very helpful with ideas. I just keep getting so confused because this morning Zion cried until she pooped and then seemed ok...but lately her screams have not seemed bowel related. I dont know. We are going to check into this reflux thing though. Please continue your prayers for us. This last week has been particularly hard. She has had some trouble sleeping at night and we had been doing 6 hours pretty regularly. Now I am exhausted so its hard to not have that sleep.

Well, I am now trying a gluten-free diet in order to see if it will help with colic. I thought dairy-free was hard...gluten is in everything!  flour, couscous, noddles, wheat, sauces, thickeners, its basically anything with wheat, bran, barley, rye and their derivitives. The book I am reading said oats are gluten-free but they are often grown with wheat which means they are contaminated. So to be truly gluten-free it has to be written on the label. I will try 1 week and see if there is any change and may give it 1 more week after that just to make sure. This may actually make me feel better too so we'll see. It makes eating out difficult (although some places have special menus). It also makes eating with friends and family difficult but if I have to bring along my own food, so be it. I bought some gluten-free stuff at meijer (cookies, cereal, bread)...wholly expensive!!!! I just don't know what else to do.

Zion is growing so fast and her laughs and smiles are wonderful. We have had a few days that were good the whole day...maybe she is starting to outgrow this but most days are still very difficult. She is beginning to roll to her sides and scoot herself on her back. It is so fun to play with her now. I am so blessed to have her and can't imagine life without her now.

After 15 minutes of crying and trying to calm my baby I needed to put her down. Apparently putting Zion in the recliner by herself is one way to calm her, at least for this moment.

Baby Zion 295

Who or what do you really love?

my husband and baby!!!!!!...family and friends (especially all the ones who have supported us in this new parenting thing through emails, notes, visits, babysitting, presents, advice, prayer etc).

Wow, I have had so much running through my head that I have wanted to blog about. However, I can't seem to organize my thoughts and I haven't had time to type them up anyway. Right now Zion is asleep in her daddy's arms and its the sweetest sight. I am overwhelmed with love and find myself constantly staring at her and kissing her tiny fingers and nose. She will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and she is starting to gain weight and get chubbier cheeks :) I am sleep deprived because sleeping when the baby sleep is not as easy as it sounds. I have been wanting to vacuum and clean the bathroom but cannot get enough time to do it. When she actually lets me put her down I am usually needing to eat, sleep or pee. We have many late nights and early mornings. The other night I got to sleep in bed for an hour and then later for another hour and it was exciting. I often sleep in the recliner with her because she wakes up when I put her in her bassinet. There is so much advice but i take some and leave some. Basically we do what we have to because I have to sleep sometime. I have been thinking mostly about how the hardest things in life are often the best and most rewarding. Zion is worth every bit of pain, sleep loss, weeping etc. She makes the best face in her sleep, smirks, smiles and scowls. she is precious and though labor, breast feeding, and everything to do with raising her is difficult I would not trade it for anything. Our schedules have changed (well, been thrown away basically) but change isn't necessarily bad just hard. We are learning how to parent our daughter, how to comfort her or just hold her while she cries and we feel helpless. We laugh and smile because of her and are filled with deepest joy. This hard stage wont last forever and I am sure I will miss nights with her but right now I long for 2 hours to sleep in my bed :) We have so much support (thank you everyone who has helped us out with meals, visits, babysitting so I could sleep, babysitting so mark and I could go for a walk and regain some sanity, encouragement, books...etc...). I am thankful for community. I told someone we should move to a village because it really does take a village to raise a child. America has it wrong when it comes to individualism and raising children. However, we still have a community here and support and we really appreciate it. I guess we do live in a village of sorts :)

Here is my sweet baby sleeping on her wonderful daddy.