Growing out my hair

After Yorlee was born, I experienced EXTREME hair shedding and some damage.  My first thought was to run to a hair salon and get it assessed and relaxed.  After browsing some natural hair websites and picking up a few ingredients from Whole Foods, I decided to try to mend my hair on my own.  I must say, it's going extremely well.

I still have very thin edges, but I know that in time they will grow back.  The shedding has come to an end, so now I'm trying to retain the growth and protect my hair from the elements.  I've been wearing protective styles, and limiting combing/brushing/heat, and it seems to be going well.  My goal length would be close to waist length.  I'm currently at arm pit length.  The hardest part has been trying to find a regimen that fits my hair type/curl pattern.  My curls shrink tremendously when wet, and I tend to lose patience early on during the detangling/styling process. It is important for me to come to really know how to care for my hair, as I also need to care for Yorlee's hair.

This is where I'm at now:

(My hair was straightened in this picture)

The return of the dairy cow

I've mentioned before that Yorlee has weaned off of nursing.  I miss it.  Maybe that is why I've been producing more milk than a dairy cow lately.  When I was going through the weaning process, I was engorged for one day and sore for a little while.  I only leaked a little bit, and it seemed like things were going back to normal.
This is that third week that I haven't nursed Yorlee, and recently, I've had to wear nursing pads again because of the amount of milk that I have.  When I take my bra off, milk starts dripping.  In the shower, drip-drip.  When I least expect it, drip-drip.  I don't get it.  Am I re-lactating?  Can my supply really increase like this?  Is it normal?  The increase of milk has made me extremely sore.  I can barely sleep because of the pain.  I don't have a fever or chills, so I'm hopeful that I don't have an infection.  If it persists, I'll be sure to see my primary care physician.

Yorlee has noticed also, maybe because she can smell the milk, but she almost gets herself into a frenzy going for my breasts.  I can be cradling her giving her a bottle and all of a sudden she'll push the bottle out of her mouth and turn towards me trying to nurse.  She had been fine for a week, but now she really wants to nurse.

Has anyone ever experienced this before?

Sleep training, continued...

Yorlee did much better at bedtime last night.  I was asleep when my husband put her in her crib, and woke up to her crying.  He was in the restroom, so I went into her room to pick her up, since I didn't know why she was crying.  I assumed that she was hungry, so I went to make her a bottle.  By that time my husband came out of the restroom and said that he had just fed her, and that she was tired and to put her back in her crib.

I put her in, popped her paci in her mouth, and rubbed her belly.  She whined for a bit, once she calmed, I backed away, slowly inching out of the room.  As soon as I hit the door she started crying again.  By the time I crossed the living room to make it to my bedroom, she was quiet.  I waited.  A few minutes later I heard a small cry, and then it was quiet again.  She fell asleep in less than five minutes.  So much progress!

I'm happy to say that she slept all through the night again, and doesn't use her pacifier.  She sucked on it when I gave it to her, but once she started crying she spit it out and didn't think twice about it. 

Yay for progress!!

One thing I've noticed is that she flips over and sleeps on her belly.  I'm fine with that, but she practices crawling in the middle of the night, and somehow manuevers herself into the corner of her crib, and that causes her Angelcare Monitor to go off.  It woke me up in the at around 3:00AM so I rushed in to check on her and she was fine.  I ended up turning it off.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be brave enough to do that.  But I did, and she's fine.  Thanks goodness!!

You live and you learn!

Ladies and well... ladies!

I have officially created a monster.  LOL!  Yorlee has figured out that I will give her what she wants, and she sure does know how to get it.

She can be in the living room with my husband happily playing, and then the moment she sees me, she starts crying.  So I go to her, and she looks at me and laughs.  I smile at her and keep walking and she has a fit!  Seriously, a huge temper tantrum.  So of course that makes me feel guilty, and I come back to her and pick her up.  Immediately she is okay and wants to play some more.

Now, that would be really cute if it didn't happen ALL DAY, EVERY DAY!

She holds her bottle like a champ, so we put her in her swing and let her eat.  If my husband is around, she's fine.  She'll drain her bottle and hold it the entire time.  As soon as I step into the room, she drops her bottle and cries for it.  I pick it up and try to make her hold it and she refuses, crying the whole time.  I end up holding it for her and she's a happy camper again.  My husband noticed this trend, so one time he picked the bottle up an handed it to her and she held it without making a peep.  What the heck?!?

The same goes for so many other scenarios.  If I change her onesie she cries when I pull it over her head, even though I do it super gently and make sure that it doesn't snag on her earrings.  If Hubby does it (his method is a little rougher), she babbles and coos and smiles.  Hubby can say "Peek-a-boo!" really loudly, and she laughs.  I say it and she cries and wants me to hold her.

I understand that I'm her source of comfort for the most part.  I spent all day Sunday with her cuddling and reading books, playing, etc.  I thought maybe she was having a reaction to not being breastfeed anymore, so I tried to nurse her last night, but all she would do is bite me.  My husband brought to my attention that she's always acted like that, it's just worse now.

Has anyone gone through this?  Is it the separation anxiety kicking in?  I mean, she's never really let anyone hold her, but she doesn't cry when she goes to daycare.  In fact, she seems happy to be there.  Don't get me wrong, she's happy at home, but it's like the minute she sees me, she is whining for me to pick her up.
Last night she wouldn't go to sleep.  I had her next to me and she just kept kicking and punching me.  I gave her her paci, I gave her a bottle, I gave her more applesauce just in case she was hungry, gave her a teether, put ice in her mesh feeder for her to chomp on, let her suck on my finger.  I rocked her, bounced her, sang to her, read to her, turned the TV up, turned the TV off, NOTHING WORKED.  Just when I thought I was about to lose my marbles, I put her in her crib.  She screamed.  I was just too exhausted.  Finally, she went to sleep.  I went to check on her because I was feeling guilty, and I swear she sensed me come into the room.  She cried for me to pick her up, but I just rubbed her belly and talked to her softly.  She kept her eyes on me until they were too heavy to remain open, and after about 10 minutes, she went back to sleep.  Happy to say, she slept the whole night, and was back to her usual self this morning.

She's also been hitting me lately.  What is she trying to tell me?  Is she trying to figure out her boundaries? We've noticed that the more I give in, the more she acts out.  If I ignore her cries for a little while, she stops crying and is content again.  But it is SO HARD for me to ignore her.  When she's crying, it literally feels like all the air is being sucked out of my lungs.

The Adventures of Yorlee Belle

Yorlee is so fun!  It amazes me how much she changes every day.  Her personality is shining through!

Lately, she has been having a ball using my husband and I as her personal jungle gym.  She climbs all over us, stepping on our faces, her little elbows flying everywhere.  She wants to crawl so desperately, but still hasn't quite got the coordination to do so.

She pulls up on us, can go from sitting to the crawling position.  Rolls, bounces, etc.

It is only a matter of time before she is walking.

I'll add her stats soon, she has her 6 month appointment on Thursday.

Weaning has been going well so far.  I can tell she is still interested, but she doesn't fuss about it.  Honestly, she's taking it better than I am.  I've been pretty sore while waiting to dry up, and I really miss the bonding that nursing gave.  But, I've noticed a positive change in Yorlee, she doesn't seem a clingy, and my husband is able to soothe her much easier now.  Her face completely cleared up, and her diaper rash is gone as well.  Now we are just left with a little bit of eczema, which I treat twice a day.

It broke my heart to see her skin with rashes over it.  The products that contain hidden dairy are so numerous.  In this instance, I'm so grateful to have formula.  It has really helped keep my daughter healthy.  I'm also proud of myself for doing the best I could.  Hopefully she outgrows her dairy allergy, but if not, we will mange.