Articles

Happy Two Months, Isla

8/26/2017

As we approach the three-month mark, I wanted to take time to document Isla's life during her second month. As we near the end of this stage, a lot of peace and healing has come to our little girl who was initially struggling with several food allergies. It has also been filled with lots of joy as her smile emerged and giggles are beginning.

When Isla was born she seemed to be the calm baby we were so desperately hoping for during my pregnancy. (Our house didn't need a fifth strong-willed persona!) A couple weeks later, she was miserable. Isla cried her entire wake periods and was clearly in discomfort. I assumed her fussiness and symptoms were related to food allergies, as I experienced the same thing with our other two children. I immediately took out dairy and wheat, but three weeks later, she was still unhappy and experiencing several food allergy symptoms. A doctor visit confirmed allergies, and we made a nutritionist appointment to help us further. The nutritionist recommended I go off all allergens and add one back in each week. Isla cleared up quickly thereafter and returned to her easygoing demeanor--as long as she was with mom =). I began to add allergens back into my diet and she reacted each time. Soy--allergic. Egg--allergic. Nuts--allergic. Fish--allergic. Wheat--allergic. Dairy--allergic. Isla has it all. My doctor recommended that I stay away from these foods until Isla is six months old and then try to reintroduce again. This diet is super challenging and I often feel pretty hungry, but there is no way I could continue nursing her on a normal diet. I contemplated formula to make this whole processes a little easier, but have decided to keep nursing.

Skin before allergen removal

Skin after allergen removal

During the second month, we flew home with Isla so she could meet her namesake, my grandma. She did phenomenally on all four flights, sleeping most of the way. It was beautiful to witness her time with my grandmother and all our other family.

On the milestone front, Isla is smiling all the time, starting to giggle, working on sitting up, and has finally found the thumb she has been trying to suck since she was born. She is a pretty good sleeper, usually waking one to two times per night to eat and then goes immediately back to sleep. One of my favorite parts of the day is getting her when she wakes up because she is so smiley and sweet. Lincoln races upstairs the second she's awake and has claimed unswaddling her as his job. We are almost three months in and both kids are still totally enamored with her, something for which I am beyond thankful!