all the things we do

"Disadvantages" of breastfeeding

2012-10-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I am the type of person that likes to not only to hear the good but also the bad of certain things. Im not like this with everything but for example I had my friends tell me all the painful, gross, and terrifying stuff of labor, delivery and postpartum. That way I could prepare myself for the worst and if the worst didn't happen then it made things even better! I unfortunately wasn't prepared for breastfeeding. I had heard all the good stuff and read about all the great things about breastfeeding but wasn't really told much about all the struggles I would have. My cousin had told me that the first month would be very painful but once you get past that its smooth sailing. Well I was lucky enough to not have to go through much pain when it came to breastfeeding, but I was definitely thrown many other hurdles. Now almost everything has both positives and negatives. When it comes to breastfeeding I personally thing the positives completely out weigh the negatives! Here are the "negatives" to breastfeeding (I hate calling them negatives because most of the "negatives" are only temporary or really aren't that bad). Also not everyone experiences all of these things. Breastfeeding varies mother to mother.

*In the beginning there can be some pain- I took a 2 hour breastfeeding class and was told that some pain is normal. But that if it is very painful and continues for more than a few days then the baby is most likely not latching on correctly.

*Although breastfeeding is a natural thing it may not come natural to you and baby- This was something I did not realize. Going in to breastfeeding I figured that since it is your bodies natural way of feeding your baby that it should just come natural and Mommy and baby should just be able to master it from the beginning. Mom has to help baby latch on correctly and baby has to learn how to latch on. I thought that Hailyn would just know how to latch on, I didn't know that I would have to "teach" her.

*Your breast will leak- Now this may sound silly but this was one of the things I was worried about the most. I was worried I would leak through my shirt while out in public, how embarrassing would that be? Now like I said every woman is different but I didn't have any issues with leaking. I definitely leaked but I never leaked through a breast pad or ever had excessive leaking. One thing that is important to know is that you will leak more in the beginning and once your supply starts adjusting you wont leak as much.

*Feeding in public may be difficult- This is another one of those things that gets easier the longer you have been nursing. It also depends on how you feel about nursing in public. I am completely fine with nursing in public but I have to use a nursing cover, thats just what I feel comfortable with. I wish I was able to nurse without a cover but at this point I personally just don't feel comfortable doing it. I think it is awesome when woman feel comfortable nursinig with out a cover, they have every right to be able to feed their baby in public. Now during the first two months or so nursing in pubic, even with a cover, was hard because my daughter and I were still getting the hang of breastfeeding so having a cover over her made things kind of hard. I am not able to do it no problem!

*If you want someone else to feed the baby you have to pump- During the first month or so you may feel like all you are doing is nursing. It can be very overwhelming when you are exhausted and just want to take a nap but you little one wants to eat. Its not like you can just ask someone else to make a bottle and feed your little one while you get a little nap. The first month or so they really depend on you. On the bright side there are breast pumps! Depending on who you talk to there are different theories on when you should introduce a bottle if you are wanting to pump and bottle feed every once in awhile. Some people believe that if you give a baby a bottle too early that they will have issue with latching or may prefer a bottle (since it is more work for a baby to get milk out of the breast than from a bottle). We introduced Hailyn to a bottle at 3 weeks and she had no issues with latching. I personally think that when you introduce a bottle should depend on your baby. If your baby is latching well, and is having no issues with nursing I think it is fine to introduce a bottle. I think as long as you are only doing a bottle a day for the first few weeks there should be no reason for them to prefer the bottle since most of the time they will be eating from the breast.

*Breastfed babies eat more often- Now this isn't always the case. Hailyn has alway gone 3-4 hours between feedings since she was born, and even longer at night. The reason some breastfed babies eat more often is because breast milk is easier for babies to digest so it is digested faster, which can then cause them to eat more often.

*You can only take certain medicines and pain relieves- Just like when you are pregnant, you can only take certain medicines and pain relievers. For me this isn't really that big of a deal because I am the type of person that doesn't really like taking anything unless I absolutely need it. Now I haven't been sick yet since I had Hailyn so I may feel differently once I get sick and can't take just anything. When I do get sick (I plan on getting sick at least once this winter, it is just a given), I will just call my doctor to find out what I am aloud to take while nursing.

*Dietary restrictions- Similar to when you were pregnant you have to continue to be careful about your own nutrition and continue to avoid certain food and limit your intake of others, e.g. alcohol and caffeine. Some mothers say they notice certain foods can cause gassiness and/or upset stomachs in their babies. I personally haven't noticed any issues with any foods. I did have to eliminate dairy and soy from my diet for a few months. Some babies have issues dairy and/or soy. In order to solve this I had to eliminate all dairy and soy from my diet, babies usually grow out of this by 12-18 months and sometimes even earlier, Hailyn is now 4 months and is doing fine with dairy and soy.

Top 5 Favorite Baby Items

2012-10-15T10:32:00.002-07:00

While I was pregnant many people would tell me "Oh you have to have this, it was a life saver!" or "Don't get this it's just a waste of money!"And I totally agree there are things that I probably didn't need and there are things that I couldn't live without. I think it varies person to person and baby to baby but I thought I would share my "must have" items.

1. The first item I couldn't live without are the SwaddleMe wraps. We were given a few as gifts and I honestly don't know what we would do without them. For the first few weeks after Hailyn was born she didn't fit into the SwaddleMe because she was too tiny. We would just swaddle her with a receiving blanket. But as she got bigger and stronger she would just wiggle her way out of the receiving blanket, so we started putting her in the SwaddleMe. They keep her wrapped up tightly and she sleeps so well in them! She started sleeping through the night at 3 months old and I honestly believe part of the reason is because of the SwaddleMe. This is a great gift for baby showers, they come in many different colors and designs! Your friends will be thanking you.

2. A second "must have" item in my opinion is a Fisher-Price Swing. We have the My Little Snugabunny version. I don't know what we would do without it! It's a great place to be able to lay the baby down when you need to get stuff done around the house or just need a break from holding the baby. It is literally the only place, other than in our arms, that Hailyn will nap for longer than 10 or 20 minutes. It has many great features: it can be plugged in OR battery operated, two different swing motions, six speeds, 16 songs, the seat on the swing is made with a very soft fabric, 5 point safety harness, mobile with a mirror to keep baby busy and folds well for easy storage. These swings are a little bit on the spendy side, but you will get your moneys worth within just the first month!

3. Now this third item has been a lifesaver for my husband and I many times now, its the ERGObaby carrier. Hailyn isn't a huge fan of her car seat and only last a short time in it if we are out running errands or grocery shopping. About 99% of the time when we are out and about I put her in the ERGObaby carrier and she is happy as can be, she usually ends up falling asleep! Not only is it nice because she enjoys it but it also leaves me hands free so that I can grocery shop, load the groceries in the car, sort through the clothes racks at the store and much more! I don't only use it while out of the house either, I use it when she is being fussy and I have stuff around the house to get done, vacuum, sweeping, etc. It's also useful when we don't want to push the big stroller around. I have used other carriers before, like the Babybjorn, and nothing compares to the ERGObaby. The straps on the ERGObaby are very padded and very comfortable. I was in a car accident it high school that messed up my back a bit and the ERGObaby hasn't bothered my back at all.

4. For Mother's Day this year my husband surprised me with a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag. I never thought I would be so excited to recieve a diaper bag as a gift! While I was pregnant I spent forever looking for the "perfect" diaper bag. I wanted something that was cute but gender neutral (most of the stuff we got is gender neutral, that way if we have a boy in the future we can use the same stuff). I wanted to be able to carry it over the shoulder and as a backpack. I wanted something that would hold all the babies stuff, but I didn't want a huge bag. I also wanted something that was going to last a long time. My sister-in-law bought $30-$50 diaper bags and ended up going through three of them within a year. I wanted something that would last through all of my kids, or at least more than one. I had many people recommend Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags to me, I looked them up and fell in love. They were everything I was looking for. But then I saw the price and realized I would have to continue my search for a cheaper "perfect" diaper bag. Long story short my husband surprised me and got me the bag for Mother's day. He said that is seemed like such a good quality diaper bag and the reviews on it were great. He said if we can get it to last through two of our kids that we will definitely get our moneys worth.

5. Last but not least is the Cloud B Sleep Sheep. We were received it as a gift at our baby shower and Hailyn has been using it since she came home from the hospital. Hailyn is a huge fan of white noise and pretty much can't sleep without some sort of white noise. The Cloud B Sleep Sheep is awesome because it is light weight and very portable so that we can take it wherever we go. It also has a velcro strap on it so that you can attach it to the car seat, stroller, etc. It has four different sounds, two different timer options and a volume control.

I can have dairy and soy again!!

2012-10-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

I keep saying I am going to get better at posting blogs but I am still getting the hang of blogging, let alone blogging with a 4 month old. It seems like every time I sit down to write a blog Hailyn either wants to eat, wants to be held, needs a diaper change or just she looks up at me and smiles and I just have to go over and play with her. Right now she is napping so I am going to try and hurry and write this blog before she wakes up and distracts me. This blog is a pretty big deal! Well at least to me it is.

A few posts back I wrote that I think we figured out what was causing all of Hailyn symptoms. We had originally thought it was a dairy/soy intolerance, which part of me still thinks that was part of it but I think there was something else causing some of the symptoms. It all started because after I cut out dairy and soy from my diet we started noticing Hailyn was doing a lot better. She wasn't as fussy, her poop was no longer green and slimy, and she was spitting up a lot less. The weird part was she would ocassionaly have her old symptoms again, but I was still not eating any dairy or soy. I went through all my food I was eating and double checked to make sure there wasn't any hidden ingredients I was missing. But none of the foods contained dairy or soy. I then noticed blood in her poop again. We originally figured out it was a dairy/soy intolerance after the first time I discovered blood in her poop. So it didn't make sense that there was blood again since I had cut out all dairy/soy. So I went online and started doing research. I found that a foremilk imbalance had almost the EXACT say symptoms as a dairy/soy intolerance. A foremilk imbalance is when the baby is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. Foremilk has a greater amount of lactose in it. When the baby gets too much foremilk that can then result in a oversupply of lactose. Babies stomachs are not yet developed enough to handle a large amount of lactose. Some common symptoms of a foremilk imbalance are...

*Green frothy explosive stools

*Baby spits up a lot

*Colic symptoms

*Gassiness

*Blood in stools

*Slow weight gain

*Diaper rash due to acidic stools

*Baby has bowl movement immediately after feeding

I then started to research what you can do to solve a foremilk imbalance. Thankfully it is pretty simple. To make sure your baby doesn't consume too much foremilk you can block feed. Block feeding is feeding on one breast for multiple feedings. For example feeding off of the right breast for two feedings in a row and then the next two feedings on the left side. I started doing this and noticed Hailyns symptoms were starting to go away. She still will have green poop here and there but I have not seen any more blood.

After a few weeks of blocking feeding Hailyn and continuing the dairy/soy free diet, I decided to try a little bit of dairy to see how Hailyn reacted to it. I was really excited to finally be able to have a little bit of something dairy but at the same time I was terrified that she would not react well and the last thing I wanted was for her to be in pain again.

That evening I had a thin slice of cheese on my hamburger. It was SOOO good! But then it was the waiting game to see how Hailyn reacted. After it had been a full 24 hours and no reaction, my husband and I decided that I would slowly add dairy back into my diet. For the past two weeks I have been having a little dairy here and there but was really scared to have an actual glass of milk. Well two nights ago I had a glass of milk and all went well!! I still think that she had an issue with dairy and soy but I believe she outgrew it. I am so thankful that the foremilk imbalance was an easy fix because the dairy/soy free diet was not easy. But it was so worth it and I am so glad I continued to nurse her and not give up. Even though I only had to do it for two months or so it felt WAY longer than that! I know that if I would have switched her to formula I would really would have regretted it.

Breast milk ingredients vs. Formula ingredients

2012-10-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

I took an hour long breastfeeding class before I had Hailyn. I didn't really learn a whole lot from it but they showed this to us and I wanted to share it with everyone else. It's a really good visual and shows how different breast milk is from formula. This is why they say that there will never be a formula that is exactly like breast milk.

Even though you cant see the names of each ingredient it really puts it in to perspective when you look at the difference between the two.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

2012-10-07T10:50:00.001-07:00

Before I got pregnant with Hailyn I knew that I wanted to breastfeed. I think a big reason was because my mom breastfed my sister and I. I also knew there were many benefits for the baby. I didn't know the extent to how many benefits there truly were until I started doing a little research while I was pregnant. I thought I would share some of what I found out. I think it's important for moms to be informed of all the benefits before they make the decision on whether they want to breastfed or formula feed. I do believe that a mother has choice to make what ever decision they want for their baby, but I also think that a mother should be well educated on the matter before their decision is made. So here are only SOME of the great benefits of breastfeeding and some interesting facts!

*Breast milk fights diseases- Babies who are breastfed are less likely to get ear infections, diarrhea, necrotizing enterocolitis ( a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.), lower respiratory infections, asthma, obesity, type 1 & 2 diabetes, childhood leikemia, atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash), SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and other many others. The hormones, cells, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illnesses. At this point NO formula can match the chemical makeup of human breast milk.

*Breast milk is easier to digest- For most babies breast milk is easier to digest than formula, especially for premature babies.

* As your baby grows your breast milk changes- Colostrum (also known as liquid gold) is a thick yellow milk that you make during pregnancy and just after birth. It is very rich in nutrients and antibodies that protect your baby. Colostrum then changes into what is called mature milk, which typically happens around the third to fifth day after birth. The mature milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, protein and water to help your baby continue to grow (its crazy how your body can just do this all on its own!).

*You will never have to worry about formula recalls- It happens at least once a year, it is recalled for one reason or another. With breast milk you will never have to worry about giving your baby milk that is "bad." Even when you are sick breast milk is still safe to give your baby, you're baby actually benefits from it (see fact below). Only in VERY rare cases will a mother be told her milk is no okay to feed her baby, i.e. HIV.

*Breastfed babies are less likely to develop allergies- Babies that are breastfed are less likely to allergic reactions, compared to babies who are formula fed.

* When a mother is sick, she passes on antibodies to the baby- When a mother is sick, her body produces antibodies that are present in her breast milk. These antibodies help protect the baby from getting the same illness (I found this SO interesting, it amazed me that our bodies can do this).

* Reduces the mothers risk of breast cancer- Woman who breastfeed have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, it can reduce their chances by as much as 25%. The longer a mother breast feeds, the lower her risk of breast cancer.

*Reduces the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer

*Lessons osteoporosis- Non-breastfeeding woman have a four times greater chance of developing osteoporosis and are more likely to suffer from hip fractures in the post-menopausal years.

*Promotes emotional health- Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to suffer from postpartum anxiety and depression.

*Promotes postpartum weight loss- Mothers who breastfeed show a significantly larger reductions in hip circumference and more fat lass by one month postpartum when compared with formula-feeding moms. Breastfeeding mothers tend to have an earlier return to their pre-pregnancy weight.

* Cost less to breastfeed- The cost for formula feeding for a year is around $1,200- $2,500. Now that only covers the cost of formula. There is still the cost of bottles, sterilizer, bottle drying rack, etc. Although breastfeeding moms have other expenses, i.e. nursing bras, breast pads, breast pump, etc. It is still usually cheaper than formula feeding.

*Convenience- Breastfeeding is very convenient! You can never forget it, you always have it with you. Its always the perfect temperature for baby. No bottles to clean. No need to get up and make bottles at night.

Now these are only SOME of the benefits to breastfeeding. Below are some links I used to find some of this information. You can also google "benefits of breastfeeding" to find more information.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/why-breast-best/7-ways-breastfeeding-benefits-mothers

http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/why-breastfeeding-is-important/

1st Pumpkin Patch Trip

2012-09-30T10:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took Hailyn on her first trip to the pumpkin patch! It was sunny and 75 degrees, perfect weather for a day at the pumpkin patch. Even though Hailyn wont remember her first time at the pumpkin patch it was so fun to take her and get cute pictures that we can show her when she is older.

Checking out the goats

Going down the slide with Daddy

Hailyn with her cousin

She wasn't too happy about getting a picture with the pumpkins

I just love those cheeks!

Hailyn's 3 Month Milestones

2012-09-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

So again I am WAY late on posting this! Hailyn will be 4 months on Wednesday and I just realized that I never posted her 3 month milestones. Better late then never right?

It is so crazy to me how much she had changed in these last 3 months! From month to month, week to week and even day to day she is changing so much! It makes me so happy but at the same time so sad. I look forward to seeing her grow but am sad at how fast time is already going. Daddy and I love her so much and she keeps amazing us as she gets over. We still can't believe she is our little girl! Everything about her is so perfect! We are absolutely loving being parents, it is by far the best thing ever!!

3 Month Milestones

Date: 9/3/12 Height: Weight: 10lbs. 12oz.

Sleeping patterns: Hailyn is still sleeping really well! She had her first 8 hours stretch of sleep this month, Mommy and Daddy were so happy to get such good rest! Most night she is waking up every 3-5 hours but will occasionally have a night where she will go a longer stretch between feeds.

Eating habits: She eats every 3-4 hours during the day. When mom pumps Hailyn will drink a 4 oz. bottle during the day and a 6 oz. bottle right before bed. Mommy and Daddy couldn't believe it there first time she drank 6 oz. Hailyn is so tiny we aren't sure where she stores all her food, its starting to look like it all goes to her cheeks!

New discoveries she made: Hailyn just started discovering her voice. It is the cutest thing ever and you can tell she works really hard and trying to get those noises out. A lot of the time she will open her mouth and nothing comes out. She tries talking back to you if you talk to her.

Her accomplishments: Her neck is getting even stronger and she is getting better at holding her head up. Hailyn is also starting to finally enjoy bath time and doesn't scream the whole time.

Places she went: Hailyn went on her first vacation to Lake Chelan! She had so much fun relaxing pool side and hanging out with Daddy's side of the family.

Spicy Fish Taco Bowl

2012-09-27T20:47:00.001-07:00

Here is a recipe that my husband and I love! If you aren't a big fan of spicy foods you can change the seasonings on the fish so that it's not spicy. This recipe does suggest that you can use cheese and sour cream but that can easily be left out so that it can be a dairy free meal. And to be completely honest it doesn't need cheese or sour cream. It was delicious without them!

Spicy Fish Taco Bowl

Ingredients

1 T Chili Powder

1T Cumin

1/2 t Cayenne Pepper

3-4 Tilapia Filets (or fish filet of your choice)

1-2 cloves minced Garlic

1 cup Sweet Corn Kernels

1 Red Onion, diced

1 Red pepper, diced

1 can Black Beans

Cooked Brown or White Rice

Fresh Cilantro, Avacado, Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, or Pico De gallo (or salsa) for topping

Instructions

1. Mix the spiced together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over both sides of the fish filets. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the fish filets to the pan. Grill the fish on each side for several minutes, checking the middle for doneness (fish should be completely white and flake apart easily). Remove fish filets and set aside.

3. Add corn, red peppers, and onions to the pan with no additional oil. Heat over high heat for several minutes WITHOUT stirring to get a brown/black roasted look on the outside. Repeat for several minutes (stir, wait, stir, wait) until the peppers and onions are tender-crips. Add the drained black beans and heat through.

4. Layer rice, corn/pepper mixture, and fish in a bowl or plate (all our bowls were dirty) - or mix together in the skillet. Top with any of the toppings listed above!

Hailyns Halloween Costume

2012-09-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Halloween is only 35 days away and I still haven't decided what Hailyn should be. It's her first Halloween and I want to find a costume that is cute and will keep her warm. I don't want the costume to be super common either, I feel like so many little girls are either a lady bug, cat, or pumpkin. Nothing is wrong with those costumes but I love the costumes that are a little different and aren't common. I have been looking at the baby costumes on the Spirit Halloween website and there are just so many cute ones! I would love to hear which costumes everyone likes, leave a comment and let me know!

Here a few of the costumes that I like..

Take a look at the baby costumes on Spirit Halloweens website and leave me a comment about which costumes you like! Once I decided I am going to keep it a secret on which one I chose and Ill post pictures of Hailyn in her costume on Halloween.

New Recipes!

2012-09-26T10:33:00.004-07:00

I plan on posting at least two new recipes this week. One of them is a family recipe for homemade salsa, I may be bias but it is the best salsa I have ever had. My husband was begging me to make it as soon as our tomatoes in our garden were ripe. The other recipe is a spicy fish taco bowl. Both of these recipes are dairy and soy free! I can't wait to share both of these recipes with you :-)

Also we are starting to think Hailyn may not have a dairy or soy intolerance. Ill write more later about what we think it is and why.

Hailyns 1st Camping Trip!

2012-09-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Even though this is over a month late, I thought I would still blog about Hailyns first camping trip. Over Labor Day weekend we went camping with some friends at Rock Creek Reservoir. It was Hailyns first camping trip and she did great and the weather was perfect! We all had a blast and I am so happy we decided to go. We had been debating on whether we should go or not since Hailyn is so young, but I am so glad we chose to go!

I am really sad that I didn't take more pictures though! I have always been really bad at remembering to take pictures and now that I have a baby it is even harder to remember, but it is even more important to me to take pictures because I want to capture all the memories. I beat myself up over it every time I forget to take pictures. I wish I would have gotten a family picture of us camping, or a picture of Hailyn in front of the tent. Oh well I can't dwell on it, hopefully I get better at remembering to take pictures. Here are a few pictures...

Hailyn taking a nap while camping.

Daddy and Hailyn sitting around the campfire.

A view of our campsite!

Dairy & Soy Free Pizza Recipe

2012-09-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Before I went dairy and soy free one of our families favorite meals was homemade pizza. I was sad when I realized that I couldn't have pizza anymore. I decided to look at the ingredients of all the items I use when making pizza and realized that cheese was the only ingredient that I wouldn't be able to use. All the other ingredients were dairy and soy free. At first I didn't even want to try making pizza without cheese, I thought there was no way it would be good. The best part about pizza is cheese, right?! Well my husband kept begging for pizza so I finally made it. Half with cheese for him and half without cheese for me. Well to my surprise it was DELICIOUS! To be completely honestly I didn't even really miss the cheese. The only thing that I really missed was being able to dip my pizza in ranch dressing. I know some people think its weird but both my husband and I love it! So I searched and searched and came across a dairy/soy free ranch dressing recipe. I was kind of skeptical while making it but it surprisingly tastes almost exactly like ranch.

Dairy/Soy Free Pizza & Pizza Sauce Recipe

(Not in picture: Garlic, Cornmeal, and Pepper)

Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 can of Tomato Sauce

1 small can of Tomato Paste

1 tsp. dried Oregano

1 tsp. dried Basil

1 tsp. chopped Garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Place the Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste in a medium sauce pan. Turn the heat to medium (lower the heat if it starts to bubble too much).

2. Place the remaining ingredients in the pan. Stir and let simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Take pan off heat and let the sauce cool before using.

Pizza Recipe

Ingredients

1 package of pre-made Pizza Dough (We buy ours from Winco, I know you can also buy it at Trader Joe's and other grocery stores.)

Homemade Pizza Sauce (See recipe above) or store bought Pizza Sauce (Check label to make sure it is dairy and soy free)

Toppings of your choice (Veggies, Meat, Pineapple, etc.)
Cornmeal

Directions
1. Place pizza stone in the oven (do not preheat the oven, set the temperature once the stone is in the oven) at 400 degrees.
2. Roll out the pizza dough, roll it out so that it is a little bit larger than the pizza stone.
3. Take pizza stone out of the oven after it has been in the oven for about 20 minutes.
4. Sprinkle cornmeal on the stone. Carefully put the dough on the pizza stone. To create the crust fold the outside of the dough towards the center and pinch down, do this all the way around the pizza.
5. Place the stone in the oven. (don't add the sauce or toppings yet!)
6. Check on it after 5 minutes. If there are any bubbles pop them with a fork. Carefully press the middle of the pizza with your finger to see if it is firm and not doughy (the longer the dough is left in the crispier the crust will be).
7. After you have taken the pizza stone out put a few spoonfuls of pizza sauce on the dough and spread it around.
8. Next put on the toppings of your choice.
9. Place pizza back in oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes check to see if the crust is golden brown. once the crust is golden brown it is ready to eat!!

( The right side has cheese on it for my husband)

Dairy & Soy Free Ranch Dressing Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup Mayo

1/4 cup Dairy-free "Buttermilk" (See recipe below)

1/2 tsp. dried Parsley

1/2 tsp. dried Chives

1/2 tsp. dried Dill

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

1/8 tsp. Sea Salt

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Directions

1. Combing all ingredients except for the dairy free"buttermilk" in a medium bowl.

2. Slowly whisk in the dairy free "buttermilk."

3. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week (Taste best if you let it sit in the fridge over night before using).

Dairy Free Buttermilk Recipe

1. Add 1 1/2 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice to a 1/4 measuring cup.

2. Add enough Dairy Free Milk of your choice to bring the total amount of liquid to 1/4 cup ( I use Almond Milk but unsweetened coconut milk could also be used.)

3. Stir and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, until milk curdles. Then it's ready to use!

Eating on vacation

2012-09-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago we were on vacation and it was the first time I had gone on vacation while being dairy and soy free. Going in to it I didn't think it would be that difficult, since I felt like I really had the hang of it and knew what I could and couldn't eat. I made sure to bring a few snacks that I could eat and figured that whatever we were having for dinner I could just pick and chose the items that I could eat and just not eat the stuff with dairy and soy. I can't believe that I even thought it would be that easy since EVERYTHING has dairy and or soy! I forgot to add that my mother-in-law did all the grocery shopping for the trip, she knows that I am dairy and soy free but unless you really know what you are looking for in the ingredients and have done it for awhile it can be really hard. I didn't expect her to do that. Which is my fault that I didn't bring more foods that I could eat.

Luckily I was able to eat the bread that she bought so I pretty much had a ham sandwich with avocado every day for lunch. It definitely got old after awhile but it was really my only option. For dinner I could usually eat whatever meat they were eating but then usually couldn't eat any of the sides. For example we had ribs one night with baked potatoes. I can have baked potatoes, I just can't put all of the good stuff on it. So I had a baked potato with seasoning salt, yuck! If I would have been back at home I would have been able to put my dairy free/ soy free butter spread that I have but since we didn't have that I ate a very dry baked potato. It wasn't horrible but it definitely was a lot harder than when I am at my own house.

Here's a website that I found that is pretty helpful when you are traveling and want to stop at a fast food restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat http://www.godairyfree.org/eating-out/fast-food-dairy-free-listings Its so helpful that more and more restaurants are offering allergen menus online.

Its been roughly a month and a half since I went dairy/ soy free and even though it has gotten a lot easier, I still have my days that I just want to cave in and eat a big slice of cheese or a glass of milk. I think I really have a hard time because I am someone who LOVES food! Being dairy/soy free really eliminates a lot of the good foods, although I am starting to discover a lot of good meals that I can eat. I hope to find more and be able to share the recipes on my blog. I have been slacking with posting recipes so I plan to add a few within the next few weeks.

I'm back!

2012-08-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any new blogs the past week because we were gone on vacation, we spent a week up at Lake Chelan. It was our 1st family vacation! I was a little nervous since it was a 6 hour drive, but Hailyn did great! We all had so much fun and it was nice being able to spend so much time as a family.

We stayed at a placed called The Lake House at Chelan, which is a great family place. They have a year round heated pool, hot tub and fire pit for families to enjoy. There was also a miniature golf corse and go-carts right across the street. The lake was within a 5 minute walk from us and there was also a park near by.

While we were up there we laid by the pool, hung out by the lake, rented a wave runner, spent a day at the local water slide park, took walks and relaxed! It was a great way to spend a vacation.

Oh and how can I forget Hailyn slept AMAZING while we were up there. I was a little worried that she wouldn't sleep as well while we were up there sine we were in a new place, but one of the nights she slept 9 hours and 45 minutes. I couldn't believe it! But as nice as it was to get a good solid stretch of sleep I was in a bit of pain when I woke up and ready to nurse her lol

Speaking of nursing Hailyn and I had a big accomplishment on this trip. I nursed in public (with a cover) a few times without feeling stressed or embarrassed. Before this trip I think I had only nursed Hailyn once in public. Hailyn still will unlatch a few times during feedings and need to be burped halfway through her feeding, which can make it kind of hard feeding her with a cover out in public. On the day we rented the wave runner we were all out by the lake and about to head back to the condo when Hailyn started to scream and cry and I could tell she was hungry. I had no other choice than to try and feed her while we were walking back. She ended up doing great and we stopped at a picnic table and I sat down and finished feeding her. It was still tricky because she does unlatch and then I had to burp her but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After feeding her and it being pretty successful I felt more confident feeding her in public. The next day we went and sat down by the fire that they have every evening and I fed her down there. Its nice having the option of being able to feed her out in public, that way I don't have to try and make plans around when she is going to eat. Or have to worry about pumping so that I can give her a bottle when we are out and about.

Later this week I am going to post about being dairy/soy free while on vacation.

1st Month Milestones

2012-08-11T23:19:00.001-07:00

So since I wasn't blogging back when Hailyn turned 1 month old I thought I would add her 1 month milestones now, even though it's a month late :-)

1st Month Milestones

Date: 7/3/12 Height: 20.5 in. Weight: 8lbs. 3oz.

Sleeping patterns: Hailyn LOVES sleeping. She pretty much sleeps around the clock only waking up to eat and usually back to sleep. Sometimes she will stake awake for a little while but usually no more than 45 minutes at most.

Eating habits: She eats every 3-5 hours and is pretty fussy while eating and unlatches often. Her and mommy as still trying to get the hang of breastfeeding down.

New discoveries she made: She loves white noise! Mommy and daddy downloaded a white noise app that we use a lot. Any time she gets fussy we turn it on and most of the time it will calm her down.

Her accomplishments: Sleeping in her Arms Reach Co-sleeper (instead of needing be held, while sleeping in bed with mom and dad).

Places she went: To the doctors office for the first time. She did so good!

Past few days

2012-08-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a few days due to being super busy. Hailyn had her 2 month well visit on Monday and the doctor said she is a healthy little girl. She weighs 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 22 inches long. The poor little thing had to get 3 shots. It killed me seeing her in so much pain. She did really well with the shots though she cried for about 30 seconds and as soon as I was able to pick her up she stopped crying. She actually cried more when we took the Band-Aids off yesterday than she did when she got the shots.

I talked to the doctor about her dairy intolerance and he said that he suggest I slowly try adding dairy back into my diet when Hailyn is 6 months. He said sometimes a babies digestive system just needs a little longer to develop and be able to digest the protein in dairy. I am crossing my fingers that she will have outgrown the dairy allergy by 6 months but if not I probably wont be having dairy until she is a year old. He also said that in a week or two I should try adding soy back into my diet to see if she reacts to it. I originally eliminated dairy and soy because I had read that the allergies usually go hand in hand. Her doctor said that usually only 30% of babies that have a dairy allergy also have a soy allergy. As much as I would love it if she didn't have a soy allergy, I am kind of scared to have soy because I would hate for her to react negatively to it. I hate seeing her in pain. So I haven't really decided when I will try eating soy. We have a family vacation coming up so I might wait till we get back from vacation to try soy. I would hate for her to not feel well on her 1st vacation.

Oh, and last night I made my husband the cod a la veracruz since he was working the night I went over to my parents and had it and he LOVED it! Which says a lot because he is a pretty picky eater. I was suprised he liked it as much as he did because he doesn't like tomatoes or green olives. Which the recipe calls for both of those and he ate all of it! Its nice being able to find recipes that are dairy and soy free that both me and my husband enjoy. One of my favorite times of the day is sitting down to eat dinner with my husband. Which dinner times around here are a little different now that Hailyn is here (I swear she knows when its dinner time, she always wants to be held as soon as we are ready to eat). But it's nice to still be able to make dinner for my husband and I and not have to both eat separate things every night. I look forward to finding more recipes that I can share!

Cod a la Veracruz

2012-08-05T20:40:00.001-07:00

My parents called and asked if me and Hailyn wanted to come over for dinner tonight since my husband had to work till 7:00. I was a little hesitant because I don't want people to feel like they have to cook special meals in order to cater to my no dairy/soy diet but my mom said that they were cooking up a new fish recipe that she was almost positive didn't have any dairy or soy in it. I decided to go over there and figured if there was in dairy or soy in the recipe I could just cook my fish separately. After I got over there I looked through all the ingredients that the recipe called for and sure enough there was no dairy or soy. I was pretty excited.

Well the fish came out delicious so I thought I would share the recipe. It is a great recipe if you are looking for something that is dairy/soy free, but even if you're not on a dairy/soy free diet it is a great recipe! It is also pretty fast to prepare, which is also good if you have kids :-)

Cod a la Veracruz

Ingredients

1/4 cup pitted, chopped green olives

2 T capers

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 handful fresh parsley or cilantro, roughly chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup olive oil

fresh or pickled jalapenos, chopped (optional)

4 fillets (any firm white fish, like cod, halibut, or snapper), 4 to 6oz each

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the grill to medium low

2. Prepare the salsa, in a mixing bowl combine the olives, capers, cherry tomatoes, parsley or cilantro, lime, olive oil, and jalapenos if using

3. Assemble the packets, fold four sheets of aluminum foil in half lengthwise, and then unfold and lay them on the counter. Season each fish filet with salt and pepper. Place it on one side of the foil, parallel to the crease. Top each fillet with one-quarter of the salsa. Fold the foil over so it covers the fish completely, and then roll the edges tightly to seal the package.
4. Cook the fish, place the packets on the grill grate and close the lid. Cook the filets until they are done all the way through, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

We had bread, salad and artichoke with this but I think that it would be really good over rice too.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2012-08-04T23:18:00.002-07:00

Today was my 25th birthday and my first birthday as a Mommy! While I was pregnant I had already decided that on my birthday we were going to go to this restaurant that I had been wanting to try and I really wanted some delicious crab. Well when my mom called me a week ago asking if she should make reservations for my birthday dinner I realized that there wasn't really any point in going there because the only way to eat crab is dipped in lots of butter, but that wasn't an option now that I cant have any dairy. I was pretty disappointed at first since I had been looking forward to it for so long. But then I realized it is just something I can look forward to once I am done breastfeeding.

For my birthday dinner we ended up going to a Japanese restaurant. I got sushi and made sure to let them know I had a severe dairy and soy allergy (even though it is not me with the allergy it is just easier than explain it to them and it makes them take is seriously). They were very considerate and made sure to check with the chef that everything I order would be dairy and soy free. It felt good to know that there still are food options when I go out to eat. It was a little hard looking at the menu though and realizing all the things that sound so good but that I can't have. All I had to do though was look over at my daughter and remind myself that I was doing this for her :-)

Now typically people have cake on their birthday but since I am unable to have dairy and soy I had a lot less options. The funny part is before I started the dairy/soy free diet I was never really in to sweets, especially stuff like cake and ice cream. But of course now that I can't have it I want it. I had been told to try So Delicious ice cream. They have ice cream made from coconut that is both dairy and soy free. They also have ice cream made from almond milk that is also dairy and soy free (the store I went to did not cary the almond milk ice cream). Now not all of the coconut ice cream flavors are dairy and soy free so I only had a few options flavor wise. I ended up choosing mint chip. After taking my first bite of it I was a bit disappointed, it totally tasted like coconut and I am not a huge fan of coconut flavor. But it was weird after a few bites I no longer tasted the coconut and only tasted mint and chocolate. It obviously wasn't too bad because I ended up having seconds lol I would definitely buy it again. I am going to keep my eye out for the almond milk ice cream, I would like to see how that one tastes.

Oh and how can I forget my husband, my parents and my in-laws chipped in together and got me an amazing new camera for my birthday.

Its a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR camera and I absolutely love it. I have been wanting a camera like this for awhile, and ever since I had Hailyn I wanted one even more. I want to be able to capture all the little moments and the quality of the pictures with a camera like this are just amazing. I will share more about the camera once I get some more practice using it.

Hailyn's 2 months old!

2012-08-03T21:15:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my little baby is already 2 months old! I want to keep track of all of Hailyns milestones in the first year, so I thought what's a better place than on here! Of course I'll also write them down in her baby book but I figured I would also share them on here.

2nd Month Milestones

Date: 7/3/12 Height: 20.5 in. Weight: 8lbs. 3oz.

Sleeping patterns: Hailyn is a pretty good sleeper (knock on wood). She wakes up every 3-5 hours during the night to eat.

Eating habits: She eats every 3-5 hours and she loves eating! When Mom pumps and Dad gives her a bottle she drinks about 3 oz.

New discoveries she made: She discovered the ceiling fan and absolutely loves it! She will just stare at the ceiling fan (when it's on or off) and will get a big grin on her face.

Her accomplishments: She has gotten a lot better at holding her head up and she started smiling at Mommy and Daddy. She has started playing with the hanging toys on her play mat.

Places she went: She went to the Old Time Fair for the first time!

Bye bye dairy, Bye bye soy

2012-08-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

So in my last post I talked about the struggles I came across with breastfeeding. After figuring out how to solve my problem of oversupply and a fast let down I thought breastfeeding was going to be easy hear on out. Well little did I know I was going to be thrown one of the most challenging things I have had to do.

When Hailyn was 4 weeks old (she is currently 8 weeks, 9 weeks this sunday) I noticed her poop went from being mustard yellow to dark green. I had recently just started giving her vitamin D drops that also had iron in them and I had found some posts online where other moms had noticed their babies poop turn green from the drops. After reading this I felt a lot better and figured that it was just from the vitamin drops I had just started giving her. Well the next day I went to change her diaper and this time not only was her poop green but there was a little blood in it. This really worried me so I immediately made an appointment with her doctor, which I had been planning on doing anyways because she had been spitting up quiet a bit and I was concerned she may have acid reflux.

Her doctor was not overly concerned about the blood in her poop. He said it could be from many different things and that I should stop giving her the vitamin D drops because the iron in them can sometimes upset the babies stomach. I then mentioned to him that she had been spitting up a lot and would sometimes act like she was in pain after spitting up. She had also recently been throwing these "fits", she would scream, cry and tense up. Nothing could sooth her when she had one of these "fits". He said that he thought it could be acid reflux and that he wanted to put her on Zantac to see if that helped at all. He also briefly mention a dairy intolerance but said he didn't think that's what it was because he said she most likely would have been showing signs earlier. He wrote a prescription for the Zantac and told me to keep an eye out for blood in her poop and if it appeared again to call in.

A week goes by and the Zantac seemed to be helping. She was spitting up a lot less but she was still having her "fits". My husband and I started to think that maybe she was just colicky. But then I go to change her diaper and I see a little bit of blood in her poop. I immediately got online and start searching dairy intolerance, since the doctor had mentioned it at her last appointment. Even though he said he didn't think that's what it was I figured I would look it up to find out more about it. After looking at a few sites I was almost 100% sure that Hailyn had a dairy intolerance. The green mucousy poop, the blood, fussiness/colic, excessive spitting up, acid reflux, and congestion were all symptoms she had. I instantly decided I was going to cut dairy out of my diet, as easy as it would be to just switch her to formula I knew that I really wanted to breastfeed her and I wasn't going to let this stop me. Well the more research I continued to do I realized dairy was in EVERYTHING! It started overwhelming me thinking about how much I was going to have to change my diet. If you know me at all I LOVE food. I mean I look forward to dinner even before I have had lunch. And of course dairy is in almost all my favorite foods. I was literally almost in tears thinking about all the foods that I could no longer eat for the next year (my husband was so sweet and offered to go dairy free with me but I told him there was no point, but it was nice knowing he would do that) . But I knew that this was what was best for my daughter and I would do anything for her.

Long story short I decided to only cut out the main dairy items like milk, cheese, sour cream, etc. I was hoping that her intolerance wasn't very serious and that I could just cut the main dairy out. But after about 2 weeks I hadn't really noticed any differences so I decided to completely cut dairy out, I decided to also cut out soy because from what I had read online many babies with a dairy intolerance also have an allergy to soy. She now no longer has green poop (well on occasion she will have a bit of green poop but nothing like she use to), and I am hoping that she continues to show improvement. It takes dairy 2-3 weeks to get out of your system and then another 2-3 weeks to get out of the babies system, so I am hoping that she continues to start feeling better. Now that I am seeing improvements in her it makes the no dairy, no soy thing a whole lot easier!

I plan to use this blog to share our day to day stuff, and to also share our journey of being dairy and soy free. I want to share recipes that I find and give encouragement to other moms going through the same thing.

Breast Feeding: Not As Easy As I Thought

2012-08-02T13:23:00.002-07:00

Before I even got pregnant I knew that once I had a baby that I was going to breast feed. There are just so many benefits for both the baby and the mom, plus it comes with a great price, free! Towards the end of my pregnancy I took a 2 hour long breast feeding class that went over the basics. After the class I felt like I knew everything I needed to know, I mean breast feeding is a natural thing so it can't be hard, right? Well I was wrong!

Right after Hailyn was born my midwife laid her on my chest so that we could have skin to skin which was recommended in my breast feeding class. Within an hour after she was born I nursed her for the first time, which was what was recommended in the breast feeding class. She did fairly well, one of the nurses helped me get her to latch on and she nursed for about 15 minutes. For the first 24 hours after she was born she did pretty good with nursing, I would sometimes have to call in one of the nurses to help me get her to latch but other than that we had no problems. But then day 2 rolled around and every time I would try to nurse Hailyn she would latch on but then unlatch after 30 seconds and start crying. I would then get her to latch back on and the same thing would happen. After doing this a few times Hailyn went from crying to screaming and pushing me away. At first I thought maybe she just wasn't hungry so I stopped and tried an hour later. Same thing happened. This continued to happen and she ended up crying the whole second night. I felt like I was failing as a mom. It was one of the worst feelings ever I had ever felt.

The next morning a lactation nurse came and tried to help us. Hailyn continued to refuse to nurse. After the lactation nurse tried getting her to latch a few times she told us that we needed to discus another option. The nurse was worried that if we continued to try getting her to latch while she was crying and pushing away that she would associated nursing as a bad thing, which we obviously didn't want. She was also about an ounce away from losing 10% of her birth weight. After my husband and I discussed it we decided to supplement her with a little bit of formula. This was something I did not want to do but at this point I felt like I was starving my baby and just wanted her to eat. We did not want her to have nipple confusion so instead of giving her the forumula through a bottle the nurse showed us how to put it in a syringe that had a tiny tube connected to it. We would get Hailyn to latch on and then we would insert the tube into her mouth and then my husband would slowly press on the syringe to add the formula. Boy was this a long process but she was finally happy after getting some formula in her belly. We continued to do this until my milk came in which was about 4 days after I gave birth. Now you would think once my milk came in it was smooth sailing from there, right? Nope!

So after about 24 hours of being extremely engorged (OUCH! No one warned me about this!) my milk came in. Shortly after my milk came in I realized I had a new issue. Hailyn would latch on and nurse for about 30 seconds and then she would unlatch and start crying and choking. I finally realized it was because I had a fast let down and oversupply. She wasn't able to swallow as fast as the milk was coming out. I would get super frustrated while nursing her because I didn't know what to do and I hated seeing her so upset. Not to mention it took over an hour to nurse her because she was only staying latched on for about 30 seconds. After a few days I started to do some research online and read that I could decrease my supply by nursing off of one breast and then the next feed nursing her on the other side (up until this point I was starting on one side and then half way through the feeding switching to the other breast). Within two days or so I noticed a HUGE difference. Now I felt like both Hailyn and I had the hang of breast feeding and there was nothing else possible that could get it our way. Well you guessed it I was wrong, AGAIN!

Tomorrow I'll post about the next bump in our road. I will have to say this next one has been by far the hardest! But I am doing this all for her and she is SO worth it!

First Blog

2012-08-01T11:33:00.001-07:00

I am new to blogging so bare with me while I figure this whole new world of blogging out. Lets see where to start, almost two months ago I gave birth to my first child, a beautiful little girl named Hailyn Rae. My husband and I have been enjoying every second of the last two months, well let me reword that ALMOST every second. There were issues with breastfeeding from the beginning which we were able to work through but then just a few weeks ago we discovered that our daughter might have a dairy intolerance. Which means Mom cant eat any dairy :-( I plan to use this blog to share my journey through breastfeeding a baby with a dairy intolerance, our day to day life, recipes and any DIY projects I find time to work on.