2 months

This week I saw a 7 week old baby, and I thought, “Oh, 7 week old babies are so little. I wish Evalana were still that young. Now she’s two months old.” Then I remembered that I’m just not so good at math, and I actually just have a big baby. Although, I learned that most breastfed infants are bigger for the first few months and then they grow less rapidly during the sixth through twelfth months. Our doctor said that a little girl said that her baby looked like a balloon animal because of all of her creases. That’s actually kind of a good description of Evalana’s chubby arms and legs.
Because Evalana had her vaccinations on Friday, I haven’t been able to add in any new foods to my diet yet. Maybe I can try one thing tomorrow. I’m getting tired of this elimination diet; I look forward to more variety hopefully soon. I did get to go to Whole Foods yesterday and found lots of things that do fit into my diet, though.
Yesterday we also went to Old Navy to get some clothes that fit. Joshua and I each found several good things on sale, and I was so excited to get clothes that fit me. When we checked out, the lady said that everything was 40% off, so we went back for more. I’m so happy that I’ll have decent clothes to wear to work now.
I start back at Westside tomorrow. Evalana gets to go to childcare there 9:00-11:30 and 12:30-3:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ll mostly only be in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then I’ll work from home some, too. I’m looking forward to work since I love the people I work with, and I enjoy what I get to do, but I am worried about getting Evalana and I going in the mornings. She’s been going to sleep around midnight and then sleeping until about 9am. Maybe once we start leaving the house earlier a few days a week, Evalana will start going to sleep earlier.
Last week Joshua accepted a new job with Fishnet Securities. He really likes working at Perceptive Software, but my brother, Alex, (who also referred him to the Perceptive job) told Joshua about an opening at Fishnet, and it turned out to be a great opportunity for Joshua. I’ll miss having him five minutes from my work, but he’ll get to work downtown, which Joshua likes (even though I think that’s strange). Joshua’s working on finding a bike so that he can take the bus to work. He’ll start his new job on October 27th. We’re excited about this new change.

Joshua and Evalana having a conversation. Evalana was so amazed that Joshua knew how to speak baby.

the dreaded vaccinations

Okay, we had Evalana’s first vaccination appointment. Joshua and I stayed up late last night trying to come to a decision together. After doing some reading, we decided that most of the toxins that are in the vaccinations are in very small amounts, but our biggest concern is the large amounts of aluminum in many of the vaccinations. So we went back and forth on what, if any, vaccinations to give her today. If we wait until she’s older and has a bigger body able to handle a higher level of aluminum, it’ll be past the time of the greatest danger of the diseases we’re wanting to protect her from. So we went back on and forth on whether it’s better to go the natural way with more risk of disease or purposely inject toxins into our baby and hope that it’s not too much for her body to get rid of in order to have less risk of her getting seriously sick. I pray that by the time Evalana has kids that there will be much better vaccine choices. We finally decided to go with Dr. Robert Sears’ alternative vaccination schedule that he lists in The Vaccine Book. It basically gives no more than two vaccinations each month, gives only one aluminum-containing vaccine at a time, and gives only one live vaccine at a time. We’re hoping that this schedule will give Evalana a chance to be protected from some diseases and also a little time to recover from each shot without overwhelming her body too much in any month. But the CDC-recommended schedule has up to six vaccinations at a time and up to 1225 micrograms of aluminum at the two-month, four-month, and six-month visits (30 micrograms is the amount determined to be safe for a healthy two-month old). Our alternative schedule gives the most important vaccinations first and selects the brand that has the least risk to it, so today Evalana received a DTaP (tetnus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) shot and a rotavirus oral vaccine. There are three brands of DTaP. One has a high level of aluminum, one has low aluminum but has mercury in it, and we chose to use the one that has less aluminum and no mercury. The CDC schedule recommended HepB at birth, and at two-months HepB, Rota, DTaP, Hib, PCV, and IPV. As long as we continue on this same alternative plan, Evalana will instead get the HepB (hepatitis B) at 30 months, the Hib (haemophilus influenzae type b) and PCV (pnumococcal) at 3 months, and the IPV (inactivated poliovirus) at 12 months. Anyway, I know that’s more information than most people care about, but I know some of you are trying to make decisions yourselves, so I just thought I’d share what we’re doing. I also really recommend The Vaccine Book. I’m sure there are many other great books and articles on this subject, but this book helped us to learn about some risks and benefits and think things through. Although our doctor (Holly Kaufman at College Park Family Care) felt like vaccinations are fairly safe, she was supportive of our choice to spread things out and use certain brands, so I’m very thankful for that. The other thing I tried to do to help Evalana was to breastfeed when they gave the shot. I’ve read several studies that show that babies experience less pain when breastfed during painful procedures. The nurse said she’d never had anyone do that before, but she let me try it. Evalana still cried when they poked her, but hopefully it helped a little; it didn’t hurt anything anyway. Okay, that’s our story about Evalana’s vaccinations today. I don't know that we made the "right" decision, but it seems like the best one for us for now. We also had the normal well baby checkup, and Evalana is 23 inches (81%), 12 lbs 14 oz (96%), and head circumference 16 ½ inches (100%).

vaccinations

I love to research. When I am curious about something, I like to gather all the details I can from all different perspectives. I’ve been trying to gather information on vaccines since April. The information doesn't seem very clear, though. One side says vaccines are definitely safe, and the other side says they’re absolutely dangerous. Letting her possibly get sick or possibly have a reaction to the vaccination seem like bad options; I don't like either choice. I keep praying that I can take the best care of Evalana that I'm able to, but I don't know which way to go on this. I understand the importance of vaccines, and they make sense to me. If we could give Evalana just the plain old vaccine, we’d do that. But there are actually a lot of ingredients in the vaccines that I’m concerned about. I have tried so hard, since before I even knew I was pregnant, to make sure that I’m only putting good things into Evalana’s little growing body. At her two-month checkup on Friday, Evalana’s supposed to get vaccinations for Hepitatis B, Rota, DTaP, Hib, PCV, and IPV. The ingredients are: Aluminum Hydroxide, Aluminum Phosphate, Bovine Protein, Lactalbumin Hydrolysate, Formaldehyde or Formalin, Glutaraldhyde, Monkey Kidney Tissue, Neomycin, 2-Phenoxyethanol, Polymyxin B, Polysorbate 80, Yeast Protein, Cell Culture Media, Fetal Bovine Serum, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Monohydrate, Sodium Hydroxide Sucrose, Polysorbate 80, Ammonium Sulfate, and Sucrose. Ugh. Sometimes decisions are difficult.

Tongue appreciation

God makes every little part of us. Have you taken time today to appreciate your tongue? Evalana is discovering all sorts of things that her tongue can do. It is amazing to think that less than a year ago Evalana was just a couple of cells. God is so amazing.
Evalana posted her tongue workout video below. There’s no grand finish to it, so you don’t need to watch the whole thing. Or, if you do want more of her videos, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/rachelkarleen.

birth

I saw a birth story on TV and just wanted to say a few things about evalana’s birth that was different from many movie births. I know all births go differently, depending on the baby, the mom, and what the parents are wanting, but I don’t think that many births are like in the movies. Here's a little about our experience:

• There was no screaming
• No one was yelling “push!” or counting to 10.
• The baby doesn’t immediately need to be bathed, weighed, and wrapped up.
• The mom doesn’t have to lay flat down in a bed during labor.
• God is amazing in the way he created our bodies to work in making, growing, birthing, and feeding babies.

seven weeks

Evalana is now seven weeks old. Thursday I went in for my postpartum appointment with my doctor. It amazes me that I can carry around a baby inside of me, and then everything just goes right back to its normal size—well, at least most things do. I’ve realized that my pre-pregnancy clothes will never fit again. I’ve mostly been wearing Joshua’s large t-shirts and workout pants, but I think I’ll need to find some decent clothes that fit before I start working back in the office in another week. After my appointment I had to take Evalana to get poked for her newborn screening test again. The first time Joshua was with her in the hospital, and they had to stick her twice to get enough blood, and they didn’t put the date on the form, so the state of Missouri wouldn’t accept it. The second time I had to take her, and I felt really bad for her, but I understood that sometimes people make mistakes. But that time they put the wrong date and no time on the form. So I took her again. This time I cried when she cried, and I looked over the form when they finished it. I really really hope that it works this time.
I thought that something I’m eating was bothering Evalana, so for the past week I’ve been on an elimination diet (mostly eating rice, chicken, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pears). Then I started eating more fruits and vegetables because I was worried about getting enough nutrition for her. But I’m avoiding anything that contains milk, soy, peanuts, wheat, corn, or eggs. Once you start reading labels carefully, you realize how much those are in everything. So I have no quick grab and eat meals. It’s probably good to eat less processed foods, but it’s hard with a new baby. Evalana has been happier and much less fussy since I started this diet, so I’m thankful for that! Thursday I tried eating peanuts, but she cried a lot for the next couple of days, so no more peanuts for now. We’ll try them again later. By the way, if you want to see something scary about our food in the US, I recently watched a Netfliks movie called The Future of Food, which talked about genetically modified foods. If you're interested, you can find more information at http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm. (And there are also some cool alternatives at http://www.kcfoodcircle.org/).
Every day Evalana seems to discover new things about this world she lives in. here’s a video of her making music with her rattle; she just needed a little help getting her thumb into the right position.

Angels

Sometimes Evalana stares at nothing and acts like she’s seeing the most wonderful thing ever. Maybe she is. Joshua says maybe she’s seeing angels. At church recently, Troy gave a message about angels, and Randy Coleman talked about spiritual warfare and told stories about his child seeing angels. You can watch these great messages at http://www.westsidefamilychurch.com/worship/audio.htm (Aug 10).

Adults can get so caught up in the practical and routine of life, and we try to understand everything. Remember to look around, really see God’s creation, and have faith that God is so much bigger than we could ever comprehend. We can learn so much about God from children who don’t try to put limits on Him.

six weeks

Evalana must have found out that there’s another growth spurt at six weeks because Friday evening she ate for eight hours straight. When I weighed her today, she weighed 13.5 pounds, so I guess she is growing. Over the weekend, Joshua’s parents came for a visit; it was good to see them. I wish that all of our family lived in Kansas City, but I'm so thankful that our parents live within a drive (no more than five hours). Sunday Evalana went into the church children's program for the first time (picture on the right). She did great through the first half of the service and then they paged me since she was ready to eat. The children's ministry is so great at Westside. The teachers pray with and for the kids, even before the babies understand all that's going on. And I was thankful that they paged me when she was just starting to say that she was hungry, rather than waiting until she was upset and crying. I think Evalana's looking forward to going back again this weekend. Evalana had recently decided that her bedtime is between 1am and 3am, which isn’t so great since I’m going back to work in two weeks and won’t be able to sleep in anymore. Last night, though, she slept for 9 hours straight! It made me nervous, though, since she’d never slept close to that long without eating. Don’t worry; I’m not expecting it to happen again for a long time. We had a busy day yesterday. We went to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers, meaning moms of kids who aren’t in school yet) in the morning. I’m looking forward to getting to know the other moms there and learning lots from that group! Then, in the afternoon, we went to William Jewell College to talk with some nursing students about our birth experience. There was a panel of five moms there, and it was great to see the students really want to learn how to be good nurses for their patients. Tonight I have an adoption ministry meeting that I’m leading for work. Then I actually go back to work at Westside on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting on the 30th. I’m so thankful to have a job that I really enjoy. And I’m really glad that Evalana will be getting childcare right there in the building with me. Things are going well here, and Joshua and I are enjoying every day with our Evalana.

Oh, one other thing. Several people asked more about EC. Here's a four-minute youtube that kind of summarizes it (although most people who have done EC would not agree with their comment that it takes more time. I know many people who work and do EC. And I think diapers and potty training take plenty of time, too.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9euAepQPqQ

good morning!

evalana is usually pretty happy in the mornings and through the day, but i think i'm eating something that she's sensitive to that is making her unhappy in the evenings. i'm hoping to get that figured out since i don't like making her uncomfortable. plus, it'll be great if she decides to start going to bed before 1am. once she goes to bed, she still sleeps for 6 hours and then another 3-4 hours, so i'm very thankful for that! this week i've finally been able to take samson and evalana on walks, and we've all enjoyed that. when evalana was a couple days old, i remember seeing some six-week-old babies and thinking that they looked enormous, but now evalana's even big for a six-week-old.

waking up from a nap (this one is grandparent-length):

time with daddy

Last night, when Joshua got home from work, as soon as Evalana heard his voice, she turned to him and gave him a huge sweet smile. Then I left for a few hours for a MOPs meeting at Westside. MOPs is a program for mothers who have children under the age of six, so I’m looking forward to connecting with other moms. Today Evalana and I went and visited people at Perceptive (where Joshua works) and Westside (where I work). People kept saying, "Look at those big cheeks! Rachel, she looks just like you." I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for her or me, so I guess I'll just be thankful for the faces God has given us. It seems like just as many people think she looks like Joshua, though. While I was at Westside, I got a tour of the babies’ classroom and got lots of information. Before Evalana was born, I thought it’d be good to leave her in there as soon as she was old enough (six weeks old), but, as that became next week, I got nervous about leaving her. Even though I know the people who teach at Westside are great and do a wonderful job, I was still feeling nervous about leaving my baby with them. So Erin and Chris helped me out. Westside does such a great job of loving the kids and praying for them and teaching them about God, even from six weeks old. It makes me so thankful that she’ll have all of these people sharing God’s love with her.

5 weeks

Things are going great here. Evalana was five weeks old on Friday, and we're all having such a good time together. I'm finally feeling better than I did when I was pregnant, and I'm continuing to feel better each day, so I no longer feel confined to the couch. Evalana seems to be getting on a slightly predictable schedule, and we've been taking more outings. Last night we went to the Greek Festival, and this afternoon we're watching the Chiefs' game before church at Westside this evening. This weekend Joshua has taken Evalana in the mornings, so I’ve gotten some extra sleep, which is great. And my mom's been coming over to help and hang out with Evalana lots, too. Evalana’s been going potty in her pot several times a day, which makes all of us smile. We continue to thank God for this amazing blessing.

infant pottying

In much of the world babies don’t wear diapers, and they don’t even have “accidents.” Today in the United States most people put their babies in disposable diapers, so many times they don’t even know when the baby has pottied. But babies are actually born not wanting to potty on themselves, and, when we put them in diapers, we train them that that’s where they’re supposed to go. The practice of not using diapers is generally referred to as elimination communication or EC in the US. I know most people around here haven’t even heard of this, but we’re ECing Evalana, and I love it. We still have her in cloth diapers much of the time, depending on what we’re doing, but I know she’s always going to pee a few minutes after she wakes up since she usually stays dry while she sleeps. So, when she wakes up, I take off her diaper and hold her over our lap potty and make a psss psss sound. It’s so much fun when she potties in the potty bowl. She smiles, and I have one less diaper to wash :-).

1 month

Evalana turned one month old! This girl is growing. I know everyone says babies grow up so quickly, but this one really is. I weighed and measured her, which is probably not the most accurate, but I think it’s close. She now seems to be above 95% in all of the areas. Her length is 23 inches, her head circumference is 16 inches, and her weight is 12 ½ pounds. I wonder if she’s going to slow down any day. She’s been sleeping really well at night—for about 5 or 6 hours and then another few hours after that. Right now she thinks both bedtime and morning time should happen a lot later than I think they should, so I think I need to work on that, but so far this week she’s convinced me to join her in sleeping in in the mornings.

weight: length: head:

Her earmuffs just came in the mail.

Now she can go into church for the music, too!

Evalana in action

She always does this after she sneezes, and i think it's the funniest thing.

on pause

Evalana tells a story