One year old!

So, I haven't posted in ages... More than 6 months. Some blogger I am.

I can hardly grasp that Baby Milk is already one year old. She's crawling everywhere, understands absolutely everything, and is incredibly cute and funny.

I especially love this silly photo :)

How we survived baby's first diaper rash from hell

Baby Milk just started daycare, and you know how everyone says kids get sick right away in daycare? We're no exception.

Happily, Milk caught a very light bug, just some very mild coughing, one day of runny nose... and super frequent, battery acid poop.

Poop comes and diaper rash follows. Within a day, it went from slightly irritated to a disaster area.

Milk's poor bottom became all red, with several alarming, raw-looking burns. Poor baby was crying at every diaper change.

Our relief came from a treatment cream called Inotyol, an over the counter cream from the local pharmacy. That thing is magic in a tube!

I've smeared a good layer of Inotyol before bedtime, and by morning baby's bum was well on its way to recovery. It healed everything but the scariest burns, within 24 hours.

I wish I took some before and after pics, but I was way too concerned and distracted to document this for posterity...

Inotyol. It's, magic, I tell you!

Sweet relief (or 5 months is awesome)

Baby Milk is now 5 months old!

I love, love, love 5 months. Milk has suddenly turned into the perfect little baby. Literally overnight.

No more random screaming, no more hating on every person who isn't me. She actually smiles at her daddy, is content to be held by strangers and is really well behaved in the car.

Good job baby Milk, keep at it!

Ewww, eww, mold in my breast pump

I've been using my Medela pump pretty regularly ever since baby Milk was born. Always washed it before use, too.

What I didn't do, was remove the yellow filter thingy before washing. I figured, water was passing through and cleaning everything anyway... right? Wrong!

Couple days ago I've noticed some discoloration in the bend of the top piece. I've removed the yellow filter and peeked in - to my horror and disgust, I've discovered black slimy mold virtually filling the bend of the top.

Quick google search revealed a multitude of blog and forum posts about moldy pumps... and they all seem to be Medela pumps too. I did not find any indication that this mold can be particularly dangerous, though.

So, yeah. Pumps get moldy, instructions should be followed. Today I learned.

Sleep training work in progress

Baby Milk started sleeping through the night when she was about 2 months old, which is amazing!

However, she'd always been hard to put to sleep and an especially terrible napper. She only napped when held or worn and usually the nap lasted 25 minutes exactly.

This is something I've been working hard to change.

Two weeks ago I accidentally discovered that Milk can, in fact, fall asleep all by herself. That time I was putting her in the crib asleep and she woke up - but I really, REALLY needed to pee, so I told the baby "nighty night," and left.

Bewildered by the lack of bawling, I came back 3 minutes later to find her fast asleep.
Since that fateful night, I've been putting the baby in her crib awake every night, and she would magically fall asleep.

*Self soothing - Achievement unlocked*

Now I'm working on her naps and it's not as easy. We got the self soothing down pat, BUT, Milk just won't stay asleep. 25 minutes is all I get, and then she'd start fussing.

I used to let her fuss it out for a few minutes, but the baby found a way to outsmart me. Now she flips to her tummy, gets stuck that way, and then screams.

Baby Milk, don't you think it's time to learn tummy-to-back?

Hair hair everywhere!

I washed my hair the other day.

That wouldn't be a dramatic occasion for most people, but it is to me! At that point I haven't washed or combed my hair in 3 weeks. Gross? Yes it is.

When I finally got to it, in the shower, I discovered that a large patch of hair dreaded, and had to detangle it.

By the way my hair is curly and butt length...

I also suffer from postpartum shedding.

If you're either a longhair or a mom, you probably know where this is going. It was pure misery. The ordeal took me 2.5 hours and produced a wig-sized hairball in the drain, big enough to make hubby gasp when he saw it.

Lesson learned. Too bad I didn't take a picture.

Weight loss, unwanted?

Since starting my elimination died, I've been steadily losing weight.

It's been a month, on the diet (god, I miss my chocolates) and I'm 5 kilos lighter than pre-baby weight, lighter than I've been in 10 years.

I feel self-satisfied about the weight loss, in a way that disturbs me. I was never overweight, my old weight was healthy and fine, the new skinniness will not last when I'll be able to eat normally... and yet!

Really disappointed in myself for buying into the skinny standard of beauty. I don't want to be proud of my unhealthy weight loss, but I am.

Green poop woes

The elimination diet I previously wrote about? Not working!

Despite me eating an extremely restricted diet for a month, baby Milk still has green diapers every day, all day, blood traces every other day. I'm starting to think it's not an allergy after all.

Just in case it IS an allergy, I ordered a book about dealing with allergic babies... Should arrive any day now, and maybe I'll get some insight and ideas.

Milk's doctor finally took me seriously and ordered poop testing. I do hope it comes back with some answers. Preferably something easy to treat, but at this point any clear answer will be welcome.

Finally figured out the Moby

Baby Milk is 3 month old, and I just figured out why she used to hate her Moby Wrap so much.

Turns out I wasn't positioning her legs correctly. Baby's legs need to be spread wide apart and supported knee to knee. The bottom should be positioned below the knees.

No wonder she used to scream Iike a banshee, she was uncomfortable! Sorry, baby.

Once I finally got it right, baby Milk really took to the wrap and spent a lot of this last week being worn. Yay!

It's hard on my back, but I love it!

Elimination diet for baby's skin asthma

In a desperate attempt to handle baby Milk's skin asthma (eczema), I've started an elimination diet.

My diet plan is to eat from a very limited list of 'safe food' and slowly introduce more items.

When I started, my assumed safe foods were: rice, buckwheat, pear, apple, olive oil.

The first day I ate rice all day and then her evening diaper had some blood in it for the first time ever. Bad start! Did I discover my allergen right away?

No more rice. Buckwheat is now my daily meal. Good thing I like it.

Today is day 3 of the diet and I'm not sure whether I'm seeing an improvement in Milk's skin. I think I do, but it could just be wishful thinking.

Baby got skin asthma

Baby Milk got diagnosed with skin asthma (eczema) and I'm so broken hearted. Just as she was starting to get over her tummy problems, too... We just can't get a break.

She's been having dry patches for a while and we finally took her to the pedi and got her diagnosed. Doc prescribed 2 non-steroid creams - a zinc cream and a special moisturizer.

We got the diagnosis last week, and Milks' skin still seems to be getting worse every day. I'm so depressed. I hate it.

Two month shots

Baby Milk got her two-months vaccines yesterday.  I went for the standard vaccine schedule, not spacing them out or skipping any.

I was so scared for her, hearing all kinds of horror stories about suffering, high fever and weird side effects.

Luckily, it went swimmingly and aside from a slightly sleepy baby that morning (bonus!), there were no side effects.

The definition of dumb

... is not going right to sleep when your baby is down for the night. The Facebook time is so not worth it :(

Good night!

I wish my kiddo liked the moby

I bought my moby wrap during the pregnancy and was so sure I'll be one of those babywearing mommies who get to walk around with the their baby all day long.

Not so! Baby Milk hates the moby and would rather scream her head off than relax quietly om mommy's chest.

I managed to carry her peacefully in rhe wrap a grand total of 2 times... Oh well, gotta keep trying.

Best gift ever

My favorite thing right now is the baby bouncer!

I got this really cheap and simple bouncer as a gift, and it's such a lifesaver. It's the one thing that helps baby Milk poop in the morning with least discomfort.

Milk usually starts straining and grunting loudly in her sleep at 3-5 AM. I've tried everything from feeding to baby massage and nothing worked. The bouncer has been working consistently, though! Yay to easy poop!

Anal probing oops

The thing causing Milk most discomfort is gas. She'd strain and huff for a while and then will cry in frustration. Can't wait for the gassy period to be over!

So when she started crying really loud and desperate the other day, I, of course, blamed the usual suspect.

Belly massage, leg pumping and breastfeeding didn't help at all, so DH and I decided to try the thermometer method. We haven't taken her temp ever at that point.

This is how baby Milk got her first anal probing and it didn't even help!

Turns out the baby was just overtired. Parenting fail! Gentle leg massage and some rocking put her right to sleep.

Hepatitis B shot

Baby Milk got her one-month hep B shot this morning.

Turns out the shot is quite painful, not just the needle prick, but the vaccine itself as thw nurse told me.

Baby Milk barely flinched at the prick, but started crying inconsolably a second later.  She cried and cried, and now is extremely sleepy (normally she hardly ever sleeps during the day).

I hope she's alright.

Clingy baby

Yesterday the such a good day - I got baby Milk to lie down for 2 nice and long naps... not today, though!

Today it's raining cats and dogs, the street is flooded, and the baby is parked at my boob with no plans of release. At least I have my TV.

Sleepy dilemma

So I've walked with the baby for 20 minutes and finally rocked her to sleep and she's sleeping in my arms so sweetly...

I just know she'll start screaming as soon as I put het to bed, but I'm starving, haven't had breakfast yet and it's noon already.

Keep the peace and hold the baby forever or put her to bed and hope to grab a bite before she screams the house down again? Dilemmas...