Life Downtown

Well, he pooped blood after I ate those gluten free oats. So that's a "no" to oats. I'm so sad I won't be introducing solids soon... I so looked forward to it. But if he can't even handle traces of food proteins in breast milk, there's no telling what would happen with actual food.

Luca had his 6 month growth spurt, early, last week. He nursed so much, I thought my milk supply was dropping. But then he started sleeping really hard, and I knew he was just increasing my supply by keeping me empty like that... so he could grow. He outgrew all his socks!! I had to get a pair marked "size 2-3 years" to fit him.

Turns out Ash is also loosing weight! We are both at all time lows. I thought it was just breastfeeding, but it must be that wheat and dairy were making up a huge amount of our diet.

I have started night time ECing. I wasn't doing it before because he was holding his poop, but now that he poops every day, I can trust his poop signs. It's so easy: baby wakes, offer breast. If he doesn't want it (or finishes and still cries/squirms), offer potty. He usually pees at 8pm, 1am and 6am... and it has gotten rid of all that ridiculous squirming all night long, so we are both sleeping more deeply. He even stays dry in between those pee breaks!! He will be night potty trained before he turns a year old at this rate (he already stays dry during naps). He still only sleeps 3-4 hours at the longest... but I think I've given up hope of anything better.

It's amazing how differently people treat you when you become a parent. Definitely... better. With more respect, empathy, and kindness.

Luca is SO GOOD with his hands. He is nowhere near sitting up yet, and rolling over is still really hard but... his hands are no big deal. I held up a single pine needle at the park yesterday, and he grabbed it no problem. He has been passing things from one hand to the other for a couple weeks now. He just picked up a bar of soap and squeezed it and grunted at it... he rarely puts things in his mouth, he just wants to feel them and look at them.

Living downtown is so convenient. It's nice to be minutes from EVERYTHING! Duke Gardens feels like our backyard. Ninth street is our playground. Whole Foods is our pantry. The library is... our library! And Danielle, Greg, and Leo are practically our neighbors. It feels secure being close enough to Ash's job and the grocery store that if we lost use of my parent's third car, we'd be alright. Or if gas suddenly became $5 ($7? $10?) per gallon.

two steps forward, one step back

He seems to be super sensitive to gluten, since he has random grumpy days and night even when I eat the same things every day. It's amazing what has gluten in it or on it.. basically everything that comes in a package. After talking with the ladies at Foodlab, I'll be starting over in the new year, eliminating only the things that make sense to me (gluten, dairy, soy, coconut, tomatoes) and then going from there, eliminating only one food at a time. Much less maddening. I had eggs and bacon for breakfast and it felt so good!! I think eating rice cereal every morning was stupid, there wasn't enough fat or protein and I spent the rest of the morning in extreme low blood sugar mode, frustrated that I had to eat every 30 minutes.

Yesterday he had such a great day, all day. He was so happy. In the morning, I got bold and took his diaper off and never put it back on, so we're back in the game when it comes to ECing. I got peed on a few times, but he started a predictable pattern of peeing once every hour so we started catching them. We caught the daily poop at the end of the day, which is really the most important catch to make :) He would always cry when we put his diaper on, which made me feel so guilty for giving up on ECing right when he needed it most. His chronic diaper rash disappeared, his whining stopped... he just loves to be naked!

Everyone is visiting for the holidays, so mom and dad (us) are getting to enjoy the occasional nap, or free hands to eat a meal, or spare second to run to the bathroom. Aunt Alyssa is sitting with him outside (his favorite place in the world) while I type this. Two-handed typing, what a luxury!!

We're apartment hunting. Everything affordable seems to be in a terrible neighborhood! And the nice places disappear so quickly (we viewed one place and it was unavailable the next day).

11 weeks

So many changes this week... he now laughs directly after we interact with him, rather than there being a 15 second delay. I can also lay him down on the floor or elsewhere and he will be happy for several minutes (WOOHOO). Yesterday, I was talking to him on the floor and my mom walked in the room... he turned his head to see who had come in. He had never done anything like that! It also looks like he can move his hands with slightly more intention... he has tried to rub his eyes a few times. His cradle cap is finally flaking off. Last night he slept TWO 4 hour stretches (I think?? I was too tired to pay much attention) but I don't fell well rested because he still woke me up often with his squirmy fussing (FAKE hunger signs?? grrr).

In the spirit of the fact that NO ONE sees enough breastfeeding, here is a video of Luca comfort sucking while he sleeps. Comfort sucking is different than hunger sucking... I should take a video of him hunger sucking for contrast. When they drink because they are hungry, the gulps are bigger and faster, there are no long breaks (their eyes may or may not be open), and the pauses in between sucks happen while the mouth is open (which is when they swallow). After 15-20 minutes of sucking, their brain releases a hormone (CCK) that tells them to go to sleep. This is one reason why pacifiers interfere with breastfeeding... they trick the baby's brain into thinking he's already full and it's time to go to bed. You can see from the force of his suck why it HURTS SO BAD in the beginning!

The second 30 seconds of the video is him being cute in his wool suit. I am really obsessed with wool lately. I really want to get some sheep and a spinning wheel and a loom and just become a little old lady who makes stuff.



Elimination Communication is going well... it's still only part time, but the day before yesterday I only used like 2 diapers all day long! My record is one diaper.

Videos, 7.5 weeks!

Catching a pee AND a poo in the sink! Well, almost in the sink.



Babbling in the onesie Danielle made for him!

The results are in...

IT'S A BOY!!


James Lucca Hopkins

I knew all along, but I was still really excited to hear it and cried in the ultrasound chair. I could see the penis a mile away before she even pointed it out. It was just a normal 2D ultrasound, but it was really high res on the big screen and we could see every little detail of his anatomy inside. The technician pointed out all his little parts and organs, the umbilical cord, the placenta, my ovaries, my cervix (which is curved!), his little feet (they are big like his daddy's feet).... he is head down already and he's facing my back (I pictured him transverse for some reason), and the placenta is not covering my cervix. I think his face has a good shape for being an Allegretti face (those Italian genes are strong!) but he looks long and proportioned like Ash. They said either I'm a week farther along than I think I am, or he is a bigger baby. There is a New Moon on August 29th, so I'm liking the chances of the birth happening around that day.

The trip to UNC hospital was so... interesting. We showed up and were immediately overwhelmed by the size of the place and the hustle and bustle. There was a large open entrance with an escalator- it felt like a shopping mall. The women's hospital is right next door to the children's hospital, so there were sick, sad-looking kids everywhere. The place was really hot, which is weird because I thought hospitals were supposed to be cold. There was a woman crying in the ultrasound waiting room, and another woman came out of a room crying as we went in. Needless to say, it sort of put a damper on our spirits since we were there under such happy pretenses (and BOY ARE WE GLAD we chose to do a home birth). Our friends Lauren and Carter had their ultrasound technician write down the gender on a card and they read it later when they were alone, and now I really understand why that might have been a great idea!! I'm also really glad we found out the gender, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I can start really mentally prepping for the reality of parenthood.

If the ultrasound is right, then I will be 5 MONTHS PREGNANT next week. I didn't know time could move so quickly. I really don't look 5 months, and I still only weigh about 133-135ish. I still haven't found the time to go to a prenatal yoga class even once!!! I finally have some time tomorrow, I just have to drag my ass out there (everything is 30 minutes away from here).



After the ultrasound we went to the chiropractor who owed us some sessions after we played music at his party for him. He gave me my first ever adjustment! It hurt a little bit, so he just did a couple vertebrae in my neck and a couple in my back, and will do the rest next time. My whole body felt flooded with giddiness after the pops. I got a massage afterward too. Apparently my sacrum is tilted, which makes my right hip a whole inch higher than my left hip (which makes my left shoulder higher than my right shoulder). My posture is pretty good now (I need to lift my collar bone a bit more), but I slouched so much as a teenager that I almost have no lower back curve. The car accident I was in when I was 17 actually did more of a number on my neck than I thought, and all that violin playing as a teen did about as much damage as I thought it did. I don't know why I haven't gone to a chiropractor before!

I finished making that all-in-one cloth diaper. It looks really cute (for something sewn so poorly, haha), but I can't decide if I want to bother making more until I know how many I will be getting at my baby shower, or if the pattern/material is even any good and holds up in the wash. I think I will make some other projects for a while and come back to it if I want to. I bought some really nice wool felt, it's maybe 70% wool which is the highest percentage I have found so far. I want to make some little felt things, like animals and mushrooms and other pretty things that can be mobiles now and toys later.







My mom brings home random baby stuff sometimes. She got me some wipes (disposable... even my own mom has trouble listening sometimes!), some baby powder (does anyone use baby powder these days?), and some diaper rash ointment (I have no idea if it is compatible with cloth diapers though). Hopefully my pottying baby will never need the diaper rash cream, but it's good to have some on hand. She also got a pretty cool baby food musher. You just put whatever you are having for dinner into it, and instant baby food!





My parents implemented mine and Ash's idea of hiding all the dishes in the house except for one per person (so one bowl, one plate, and one cup each). So far it has helped IMMENSELY with cutting down on the kitchen mess. This is essential since my mom is going back to work and therefore the kitchen fairy has retired.

EDIT: Just looked up the Avalon Organics Baby products on consumerdatabase.com, and they got rated a 4 (moderate hazard) because it contains an ingredient that is an 8 (high hazard). SO I guess I won't be using those.