Yesterday was a bit of chaos as we were undecided about coming to visit my husband’s family for the weekend. The weather was bad when we woke up and at first he decided he didn’t want to risk driving in a downpour with Valeria in the car. I was grateful for the decision, however I knew how much he wanted to go, so I said if it clears and he would like to we could go later that day. The weather cleared up and the afternoon wasn’t suppose to be too bad, cloudy but no longer rainy so off we went.
The day wasn’t bad, bumps here and there; Valeria got restless in the car quite a few times, and I was falling asleep at one point, so I asked my husband to stop and grab me a coffee. “Dollar” drink days at McDonald’s, delicious iced coffees for the win!
We arrived and had a wonderful time with his brother, his wife and kids. They were kind enough to order pizza, however I didn’t want to burden them by telling them I’m not eating much carbohydrates these days. However, my husband mentioned it to his brother and they went and grabbed me a steak from the butcher shop. I had a DELICIOUS steak and salad for dinner. I don’t know how his brother Barbequed this thing but man, was it tender and juicy. I was grateful.
After the kids were fed and back in the swing of play time, our oldest nephew was holding a book. I asked him if he’d like me to read it to him and he politely said “Sure!” I was happy to, if anyone knows me, they know that I love reading and I love when kids want to read. That’s why I’m obsessive about wanting to get Valeria books….seriously it’s a problem!
He sat down on a chair beside me and it was a customized book with his name in it, the book was filled with nursery rhymes. I knew a fair number of them, and I would poke and tickle him as I read and sang. Eventually his brother came over and sat with us, and Valeria sat on daddy’s lap. She knew immediately when I go into my reading/sing-song voice what I was doing. The kids sat there as I read and sang to them, laughing and enjoying it.
It was a nice moment I shared with the kids, and it’s something I enjoy doing. It was very special for me.
After a bit we called it quits and to be fair it was getting late. We needed to get back to my mother-in-law’s apartment. Valeria was getting tired and so was I from the day to be honest.
But that moment with the kids, I really hope we can have more of those.
Do you have any special moments with your kids, nieces/nephews or even grandchildren that you really cherish?
Now, we were away when she turned seven months, but it was such a beautiful day that we opted to take advantage. There is that beautiful white floral bush in front of our home, I posted a photo of it the other day, but I will share it again down below.
We laid down a blanket and her seven month sign and did a little photo shoot today. Didn’t capture too many pictures as she became very curious of all the plants and flowers surrounding her. She is just motoring around already, so her curiosity gets the better of her.
After the photos we decided for a nice walk, I mean why not enjoy the the heat and sunshine. Maybe my pale skin will get a tan! Sigh, being a pale Italian….it’s rough!
I took my camera with me and snapped some beautiful shots, and maybe need to learn boundaries….I really shouldn’t just roll up on people’s lawns taking photos are their flowers. But they were so beautiful….sorry neighbours! I generally ask if they are outside though.
Valeria is down early tonight, she had a very long day. But enjoy the photos and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are in the world!
I want to wish all the beautiful, patient, tough, loving and caring moms out there a wonderful day! You are truly loved and appreciated for everything you do and go through, even if it’s not shown right away. I hope you enjoyed the day with your family/friends and got to relax, even if it was just a little.
Valeria is in the thick of it now, as mentioned in a previous post, she basically had two little teeth pop out days apart from each other.
Sadly, I didn’t really comprehend how difficult this would be for her and all the symptoms she would be experiencing. Some I didn’t even realize were associated with teething.
This is about to get real and anyone with kids will understand the stress and worry this is causing. She surprisingly didn’t have many symptoms prior to her teeth erupting from the gums, it’s the after that has been effecting her, which I’m assuming is due to inflammation and pain.
Sunday night was the start of it, we noticed she was a bit fussier than normal being put to bed and she really didn’t want us near her mouth.
Monday it only got worse, she was again fussier than normal but she kept chewing on everything and anything. We figured the counter pressure was nice for her, along with the fact she was drooling buckets like a Saint Bernard dog. Her teething toys were her best friend during the day. Night time was a different story, she was literally up every hour crying in pain, and when we did calm her long enough, she would be whimpering in her sleep. Definitely a sleepless night.
Tuesday we all woke up with little bags under our eyes but hers were so terrible. Her eyes were red, along with her nose and cheeks. Than we really noticed the runny nose. She fussed over EVERYTHING and I mean everything. There were times she was inconsolable. Distracting her with walks was our only option and trying to get her to nap any way we could. But sleep still eluded her for the most part. Naps were short. Solid food consisted of whatever was soft, so a bit of fish and potato and a little fried egg. She really didn’t have much of an appetite though. However the diarrhea began so things were just flying out of her. We kept giving her the frozen teething toy to help with the inflammation, along with a bit of chamomile in her bottle. She eventually went down to sleep, later than we would have liked, but she still woke up fairly often.
Side note: Before you judge me for the chamomile, it’s been a remedy used for hundreds of years and you don’t give them a lot. It helps with restlessness and mildly helps with inflammation.
Wednesday was another fussy day, but my husband and I had a game plan. We were going to distract her with walks and go to the mall. Again she really didn’t want us near her mouth; wiping her runny nose and drool were a challenge. Though we took her for a nice LONG walk in the morning, if I recall it was at least an hour if not longer. She fell asleep in the stroller and my husband and I just decided to keep walking until she woke up. Once she was awake, she was a bit happier. We returned home and got her in the car seat and off we went to the mall. We walked around for at least two hours. She was okay, fussy at times, but a little bit of formula or a change in carrier position and she was okay. We noticed her nose was super runny, her cheeks flushed and a touch swollen and she was tired. But she was a trooper, even fell asleep on dad for a bit. When we got home, we put on some teething gel on for her, which she was NOT happy about. From that point on she would cry, fuss and get upset over every little thing. She ate very little solids, really disinterested in food and her formula. But again we gave her the chamomile in her bottle. She only really wanted me last night, so I laid and sang her to sleep. She cuddled up next to me and fell asleep drinking her formula.
Once I knew she was fully asleep and I could hear her little snores, I topped up the bottle and put it in the fridge. I was up all night, however my husband and her snoozed the night away. I was grateful with how much she slept. From 9:15 PM to about 2:15 AM, this is an approximation. She woke up to fed a bit and back to sleep, than she woke up around 3:30 or 4 AM. My husband was kind enough to take over since I didn’t sleep yet. She was crying and whimpering, and the only way she wanted to sleep was more upright and on my husband. She fell back asleep around 5-5:30 AM.
Now for today, things have been getting better thankfully. Her runny nose is still there, but a lot less. She is still pretty fussy and really just wanted to be held by me for the most part. Her diarrhea has disappeared which is great! Her appetite seems to be coming back slowly, we are doing smaller more frequent meals for her today. Sleep is still difficult during the day, her naps tend to be short. However this evening was good, we decided to try a bit of a new routine with her.
We gave her a bath, lavender lotion on her skin, read to her as some Gregorian chants played lightly in the background and when she got a bit fussy we started to give her the bottle. She would eat, pull off and then roll around a bunch. At that point I stopped reading and would sing to her instead. And it was rinse and repeat. At one point she pulled off the bottle and was just rolling around, rocking on her hands and knees and I told my husband just let her be. Her eyes were closed but she was still moving than bam, she laid on her tummy and just passed out.
It was almost as if she just put herself to sleep or wanted to. Her eyes were closed the entire time she was wiggling and rolling around, but we couldn’t understand it.
Has anyone else’s kid done this?
Anyway, it’s been rough and I’ll be honest, my husband and I haven’t exactly been communicating well. Sleep deprivation isn’t nice on relationships. But we are hoping that things are subsiding for her and she can get back to her normal self….until the next enamel nightmare decides to erupt.
Sorry this one was long, but I ask that you please pray for us. Thank you
If you are a regular to my blog, you are well aware that my daughter has been teething for quite some time now. At six months, going on seven, her two bottom teeth have FINALLY emerged! Not sure if that’s late or early, really didn’t look to see.
At first, my husband and I only noticed the bottom left tooth poking out of the gum. We noticed because she had wanted to gnaw on my knuckle and I felt the sharp enamel poking at my skin. Once we checked her mouth, we were absolutely thrilled! We noticed it probably on Wednesday and then SURPRISE, the right side popped out this weekend. I feel like now that we have two coming in, the rest are sure to spring out like crazy!
I’ve tried getting a picture of them, however she just shakes her head like a dog, not wanting us to be near her mouth. For good reason, but oooooo they are so adorable!!! If I can capture her little teeth in a photo when they are fully emerged I’ll post it you.
Still got a whole mouth to go; so the whimpers, crying and tears of pain aren’t over yet, but we are here to soothe and comfort her. Guess I have to start “brushing” her little teeth now…..I think I have one those finger brushes somewhere…
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got today! Hope you had a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world!
This is a post I kept going back and forth about writing for a number of reasons. But I’ve decided to share my story. This will be the first post in a series I will be doing.
***Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, this is just my journey and what I learned. If you are having severe emotional struggles, depression or suicidal thoughts, please seek medical attention immediately. Thank you***
As a first time mother, I always knew I wanted to try breast feeding my baby. As you’ve probably heard time and time again, “Breast is best”…and to some degree it is. But for a lot of women it isn’t a possibility or even a consideration and that’s okay! You do what’s best for you and your child, you are the parent after all and a fed baby is a happy healthy baby.
However in my case, no one told me how difficult it could be or even the repercussions of stopping.
Before I gave birth, I could feel my body getting ready; my breasts were getting heavy and filling with milk. I was informed by my midwife that I should start collecting Colostrum also referred to as “liquid gold”. It’s essentially the thick first milk you produce while pregnant and just after birth. It is high in nutrients, antibodies and antioxidants, which greatly helps your baby’s immune system. So, I did what any mother would after hearing all those fabulous benefits, I bought syringes and began collecting! I collected 15 syringes in total, all varying amounts, but I was so proud of myself and felt ready to take on my breast feeding journey.
Unfortunately, my breast feeding journey with Valeria was a struggle to begin with and then was cut short due to illness. My supply tanked, what little I had to start and I tried everything to up my supply. You name it, I tried it. But I digress at the moment.
I was lucky enough to not have problems with her latching, it came so naturally, even when she was first born. She latched immediately, which I was told is a huge rarity. With the latch not being a problem, we soon found out it was my supply.
My supply was low; I kept attempting to feed her, but she wasn’t gaining the necessary weight, so in came the formula to help supplement what I couldn’t provide. Both my midwife and doula could see I was struggling and they made suggestions of things to try. My midwife suggested Milk Aplenty by Rumina. It was this foul tasting herbal supplement, that I would usually take with a small glass of orange juice to help mask the taste….didn’t really work though. Sadly, I began to noticed I was having a reaction to it; my throat was sore and hurt terribly and I eventually stopped taking it, but it worked!
At one point, my supply was so plentiful that I was leaking every morning and I was happy about it! I was pumping for night time feeds and breast feeding all day long. Though once I discovered the reaction to the supplement, I had to try other options: lactation cookies (nope), power pumping (no), different herbal supplements (yeah right!), even stupid teas (you must be joking? They didn’t work). Nothing worked and at one point I began to resent pumping. Neither the electronic or manual worked all that great, not to mention the little results it yielded.
In the month of December 2023, sickness came into play and took it’s toll on both Valeria and I. She wasn’t able to feed with her congestion and I had to be on antibiotics for a ruptured eardrum (yeah, that’s right, my congestion was so bad it popped my eardrum, nasty right?!). My supply tanked and was pretty much non-existent. I kept attempting to pump, but became discouraged when I would only produce 10-20 mls a day, if I was lucky. Eventually I had to make the very hard decision to stop and strictly formula feed.
Ultimately I wanted Valeria fed and not starving, but it left me feeling disconnected, worthless and a whole slew of emotions I can’t even fully describe. I even had some breakdowns because of it. It’s hard to describe how that loss of connection with your child feels. Almost like a void, an emptiness and I was only able to breast feed her for a very short time. Now imagine a mother who breast feeds for years.
To this day, I wish I could have fed her longer, but that wasn’t the journey we were meant to take. I’m still not fully recovered, but I’m trying to be patient with myself and allow the recovery to take it’s course. It’s getting better each day as I watch her grow and surpass milestones. Recovery time is subjective to the person in my opinion and mine is taking a bit longer. I’m a very emotional person deep down, though most people don’t know it.
While going through the aftermath of “weaning”, which I learned about after I stopped breast feeding. I really didn’t understand what was going on with me. I just thought, ‘Oh I’m feeling really melancholy, it must be postpartum depression…’ but no. Not everything can be chalked up to postpartum depression, it’s not always that simple it seems.
I was shown a video by a family member and I did further investigation into this as well, reading article after article. So I do encourage you to do your own research as well.
Now, I don’t take credit for anything I’m about to say, it all goes to this woman Danielle Facey, who has put in the work to gather the information which I will share now. I’m going to highlight what I think is important, so here it goes…
There is little to no research of the impact that weaning has on a mother’s body, however many women seem to share similar experiences. While you are pregnant, our oestrogen and progesterone levels shoot up, helping us to feel happy and healthy while we are expecting. However, in postpartum these hormone levels plummet and stay low for as long as we are lactating. But during lactation, our prolactin and oxytocin (our feel good hormone) rise, which helps us to feel calm, content and helps us as mothers to fall back to sleep after a night of nursing or pumping.
As we start to breast feed less and lactation lessens/stops, prolactin and oxytocin drop drastically. Because of this hormonal shift, it makes mothers experience an array of emotions and symptoms, such as:
Nausea, Headaches, Insomnia, Nightmares, Irritability, Depression, ‘Brain Fog’, Mood Swings, and more.
Some mothers hardly notice symptoms while other experience post-weaning depression or weaning blues. This can occur up to several months after weaning. Eventually other feel good hormones will come back to normal levels to help combat this. It just takes time, typically four to eight weeks.
This is temporary and things will get back to normal eventually, but if you are concerned please seek medical attention from a health care provider. You can try to cope with your symptoms by:
eating protein with each meal to balance blood sugar levels, necessary vitamins and minerals, regular exercise and exposure to sunlight (Vitamin D is key!)
Now, like I stated before, I think recovery time is subjective to the person. Medically, it’s hormonal shifts and swings, the body is quite fascinating, isn’t it? And yes, this contributes to emotional factors that you go through after weaning. But the emotional and physical connective link to your baby, well it’s special. When that link is chinked, it’s hard to navigate back to fix it.
So what’s the verdict here?
Well.. know that if you just had a baby and are breast feeding, it can be difficult and a true test in an already trying time. Some women are fortunate while others are not so lucky. But the journey is different for everyone and what you are feeling is “normal” in a sense. I really do hate to use the word normal, but you are not alone in your feelings. Try to do your best with breast feeding, try what you feel is good for you and go as long as you need to before you decide to wean. Only you know when you and your baby are ready to take that step.
Remember you are not only food (or as I referred to myself as a cow) for your child, you are so much more to them than that. You are their world!
The emotional turmoil you will or are going through after weaning is also “normal” and it does get easier with time. But don’t clock your recovery based on things you read or are told, take your time to work through the emotions and if need be, seek medical assistance. Don’t be ashamed.
You are never alone in your struggles postpartum, somewhere there is a mama going through the same things you are. It just seems Taboo to discuss them.
I want to change that.
Let’s uncover those Taboo topics together shall we?
Not much to report today, so this post will be short and sweet. Usually compared to my very lengthy ramblings.
We decided to cut Valeria down to three naps a day and it seems okay so far, but this is the first day. We are hoping it will help with her night time sleep. Also, we enjoyed a beautiful walk this evening with her; where she was wide eyed and looking at absolutely everything, including all the dogs passing by. We are always wary of other peoples’ dogs. Nonetheless, the walk was incredible and the warm of the sun, even in the early evening was much needed.
I’ve also decided to start creating little books for Valeria so she can learn Italian, Romanian and English. We will see how I do!
My husband is putting our very tired little girl to sleep right now, but I am off to deal with a butt ton of laundry.
Enjoy your evening or day wherever you are in the world!
Creamy tomato basil soup and sourdough bread grilled cheese…yum!
Today didn’t start ideally as I was so exhausted I didn’t want to get out of bed. I slept on and off most of the morning, it was not great. I didn’t get much sleep the night before for various reasons. Not to mention I had to fast for some blood work I needed to have done today.
Since I didn’t have the glucose test done a few months after giving birth, I was finally able to get the requisition. I got my ass moving around 12:30-1 PM today, but had been fasting since 8 PM the previous night….about 17 hours of fasting. That is much more then necessary. When the lab technician asked how long I had been fasting and I told her, she looked at me like I was an alien. I told her “I have a baby, it’s hard to come right in the morning.” She did that polite smile nod and sideways looks. She informed me to have a seat and wait until I was called in. The wait wasn’t long, I was pretty much in and out with no issues. Hopefully the results come back okay, I really don’t want to have to deal with diabetes after birth. UGH!
While I was out I had to pick up a few things to finish up dinner. Heavy cream, some spices and fresh basil. I also went to Cobbs, which is a bread shop, to pick up some fresh sourdough. The photo above is what I made. I had previously roasted the tomatoes and garlic in a bit of oil yesterday, and blended it up. Ultimately, today all I had to do was heat it up, add my spices/herbs and cream. It was such an easy dinner and I will definitely make it again. Sadly I made up the recipe, so I can’t really share it. But I will give you a tip if you do make tomato soup. If you are finding it too acidic, add a bit of sugar. It helps cut the acidity.
Oh did I mention I could have been in an accident? Yeah… thankfully I listened to my gut instinct and didn’t make the left hand turn. A pickup truck came flying through the red at an extremely high speed. I hate driving in this city. Anyway, thank the Lord for protecting me and giving me that gut feeling not to proceed. It would have been a nasty accident, my car would have been totalled and I would have definitely been in the hospital.
I wish I had my camera, the phone camera didn’t do this sunset justice. It was a beautiful orange, pink and purple….stunning
Once I had finished dinner, my husband was feeding Valeria. She tried pureed squash today. She LOVED IT! She kept banging on her tray whenever she wanted more, it made us laugh.
The previous night she tried Kefir and the face she made! Thank goodness my husband had his phone ready to snap her reaction. If you have never had Kefir, it’s definitely an acquired taste, but it’s like….how to describe it…to me it’s like a really liquidity sour cream. It’s fermented milk essentially. I ended up adding some pear puree that I had made to the kefir and she didn’t mind it nearly as much. It just reminded me of those videos of babies trying a lemon for the first time, I die laughing every time.
Cooler bag for the summer….bring on summer adventures! And my husband’s new shirt inside lol
After dinner we took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk around the block. I was also told by the nutritionist that you should do some movement after you eat to get your digestion working.
Valeria’s eyes were so wide looking at everything. She was born close to winter, so this is all new to her. The green grass, the birds, the sun light, the music coming from passing cars, lawn mowers, etc. We even got to see some neighbours we are familiar with and they came over to see Valeria. We hadn’t seen them since last summer. Like us, they stay inside during the horrible winter months, or maybe they are snowbirds. But I don’t think so.
When we got home, I didn’t want to be in the house and I needed a few things from Homesense and Marshalls, so I asked my husband if he wanted to just go out to the store to walk around and such. He agreed. Valeria was enjoying herself, until she decided to take a 20 minute nap while we walked around the store.
Picture it….Sicily 1912…oops wrong intro!
But seriously, picture this for a moment: She is in her car seat, popped into the shopping cart, holding the Kuromi tumbler, my husband a bit hunched over the cart as he holds the bottle in her mouth, her eyes slowly closing as I push the cart around. She was out like a light until after we went through the checkout. Then she woke up with a terrified look on her face like “Where the heck am I!? Mom?! Dad?!” Then my husband and I called to her and she calmed down.
We found a lot of great stuff and all necessities. I got a new jar for my starter, which sadly I need to start again. The other one died, it made me sad. Then I got a jar for coffee, I’m now drinking organic, but I have to grind the beans myself and I really don’t want to keep it in a plastic container, so glass jar needed! Than we needed a cooler for the summer, a few incredible deals for outfits for Valeria and a shirt for my husband. I also got new measuring cups, they were on sale and the Kuromi tumbler. That will eventually go to Valeria when she is old enough, but for now it’s mommy’s! MUAHAHA!!
When we walked out of the store we say that beautiful sunset and though the camera didn’t do the colouring justice, I did what I could with my old ass cell phone camera. I’m not kidding, my phone is old and the screen is cracked, I really need a new one. But I’m one of those who will use their phone until it craps out on them. I’m not spending over a $1000 dollars for a new phone. Insanity!
Kuromi tumbler and three summer outfits for Valeria…those were a steal!
We headed back home and put everything away, got bottles ready for the night while Valeria played on her mat with her toys, as you can see her little arm in the photo above.
We got her ready for bed and than we allowed her to choose a book. You may think that’s silly, but my husband held her as she reached out for The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. She was enthralled with the book, but once we were done she was showing us all her sleepy queues, so bottle in hand and off she went to bed.
Now I’m just finishing this post as I watch a movie with my cousin online. We chat through text and pick a movie to watch. We really need to find a better method!
But I’m going to end it here, hope you had a wonderful day wherever you are in the world.
I was thinking about one of my favourite quotes and it comes from a very unexpected source. I first heard it in the movie ‘The Crow’, where Brandon Lee’s character helps a mother to realize that poisoning herself with drugs and not actually taking care of her child isn’t a good path to be on. It’s an incredibly powerful scene in the movie and honestly my favourite part.
The quote goes as follows:
“Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children.”– Eric Draven (Brandon Lee)
Now, after doing a bit of searching, this quote was originally said by William Makepeace Thackeray, in his novel Vanity Fair in 1848. Though his quote is slightly different.
Now, I respect that William was the first to say this, but I prefer the portion of the one from the crow which states “of all children.” Neither is bad though, but you’re probably wondering what my point is here right?
I’m getting to the point here I promise!
Reflecting on the quote, it’s essentially stating that a mother is a child’s whole world. A mother gives life to their child or children in the way that God gave humanity life. We teach and guide them through the world.
God is the purest form of love, in my humble opinion. Without hesitation, without wanting and unconditional. Isn’t a mother just the same with their child? We’re created in God’s image after all.
It’s a an extremely powerful quote and honestly can be interpreted so many ways. Now being a mother, this one really hits home for me. I love her with every fibre of my being and I would do anything for my daughter.
I hope you enjoyed the quote and if you’ve never seen The Crow….go watch it. It is a cult classic from the 90’s, a must watch. Sorry off topic, but I hope you enjoyed the post. What do you think about the quote?
Mama on the Move 
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