Nerves and Soy

Yesterday we received the call from Loma Linda that Gavin's surgery check-in time is 6:00 a.m.  That was good news because the earlier, the better.  Gav usually wakes up to eat somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00, so if we just keep him up really late tomorrow night, he might not have such a rough morning.  I know I'll have a rough morning regardless, because I have been overwhelmed with emotions about the surgery.  I feel anxious, nervous, sad, and glad all at the same time.  Whenever I think about it, I cry.  Thank goodness we have such wonderful, supportive family and friends who will be there for us through this experience.

I decided that I wanted to get Gavin's 3-month pictures done before his surgery, so I scheduled an appointment at JCPenney's.  I have never used their portrait studio before (because we have a photographer in the family - check out her work by clicking here), but I have seen some of their work and it's very cute.  However, I read a review online and it made me nervous, because the reviewer said that the appointments are only 10 minutes apart, he had to wait 1-hour, the photographers were rude, and they wouldn't allow him and his wife to interact with their child in order to make their baby laugh.  Ayyy!!  If I have an experience like that I will be so upset.  I hope it goes well.  It is so important to me to have great photos of his sweet wide-smile before he gets a new smile on Monday.

On another note, I have been craving ice cream for a few days now, but still can't have dairy due to Gavin's colic.  So I finally bought some soy ice cream on Friday from Trader Joe's and yahooo!!  It's delicious.  The soy milk I have been drinking is not so great, but the ice cream and ice cream sandwiches are very tasty.  Soy is one of my new favorite things!

A Good Night's Sleep

Yesterday, Matt went to the boat drags, so I took Gav to a friend's house. He looked so cute wearing jeans for the first time! They are still a little big, but I know he will grow into them soon.

After we left our friend's house, we went over to Matt's parent's house where Gavin got to have some quality time with his Grandma and Grandpa S. Since we were gone most of the day, Gavin never got to lay down and take a good nap. He fell asleep in my arms a few times, but that just isn't the same. Also, just before we left for Grandma and Grandpa's house, Gavin had some gas pain and began screaming. He screamed on the car ride over there and what was probably half-an-hour seemed like three hours. Any time he screams it is absolutely heartbreaking! When I finally got to Matt's parent's house, I jumped out the car to scoop him up as fast as I could. He finally calmed down after a bit and spent some time cuddling in Grandma's arms.

The combination of not getting a good nap and having gas pain for awhile made him exhausted. So I knew my sweet boy would sleep well. He slept 7 3/4 hours last night! A new record! And, now that he has been changed and fed, he is taking another nap. My poor baby was so tired!

No Cheese, Please!

When Gavin was about 6 weeks old, we discovered he had colic. I had suspected it for some time, but after doing some investigation, I was certain that he had it. He was very gassy and would often arch his back and scream in pain. This was awful for me because it broke my heart to see my little man in pain when there was nothing I could do about it. I read that the most common offender of colic is cow's milk and other dairy products. Unfortunately, I pretty much live on dairy products and high-fiber foods - bean and cheese burritos, cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etcetera; so I knew it would be a difficult transition for me. Well, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought. For someone who ate Taco Bell bean and cheese burritos at least three times a week, I thought that I would go through withdrawals, but I didn't. When it comes to doing what is best for Gav, anything is doable. So I cut out all dairy products and bought Mylecon drops to help with Gavin's gas pains and over the course of the next few weeks, we saw a big improvement.

Unfortunately, when we tried the bottle the other day, the milk I had frozen was pumped prior to my change in diet, so poor Gavin had more gas pains that evening. He didn't even sleep through the night that night. He went to bed at his usual 10 p.m., but then woke up at 1:30 a.m. crying in pain. We had discovered quite by accident that the sound of the blow dryer soothes him, so Grandpa and Grandma S created a 40-minute blow dryer CD for us! :o) When he wouldn't stop crying that night, I rocked him in our recliner while the blow dryer CD played. He finally calmed down and was back to bed by about 3:45 a.m.

The next day (yesterday), he was still feeling the effects of that gas-inducing milk. He was a bit fussy all day and cried in pain on and off. He didn't take very many naps so I figured he would sleep well. Thankfully, he slept last night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. - a very nice 7-hour stretch after our rough previous night!