Ok, I think someone slipped some "sexiness" into my water this morning. Just got back from the gym. Monday, I took a kickboxing class, yesterday a yoga class and today just got out of a Zumba class. No makeup, hair in a ponytail - I heard a bunch of brothers catcalling and whistling... I looked around to see what the commotion was all about, only to find out they were directed at moi. Still in shock, I walked to the cafeteria and got a quick flirty smile and and attention from the brother behind the counter. He offered me extra on my order, and flashed me a sweet smile wishing me a wonderful weekend.
I'm not saying this is all new to me, but ever since I've gotten pregnant and had Aesha, I haven't felt very sexy. There's an extra 10lbs on me, flaps of skin on my abs, stretch marks and 2lbs bags under my eyes. It's been a long time since I received attention from the brothers... so who put the sexiness in my coffee this morning?
Friday, October 03, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Fall, coconut milk and Aesha
I didn't want readers to think that my life is just all about being tired. In my last post, I was tired when I wrote it, and maybe didn't include all the wonderful daily things that happen in between the feedings, work and life. Some really wonderful things that are happening with Aesha: she's definitely learning to blow kisses, calls the dogs "daw"; calls her daddy "da, da" and tells me exactly what she wants to eat by nodding yes or no. She's very interested in how things are mechanically put together, and likes to open jars and lids. Her favorite word is still "no" which I'm sure she picked up from AG and I when we talk to the dogs. Last night, in her sleep, wheneverI attempted to put her in her crib, she would repeat "no no no no no" deliriously in her sleep instead of crying. It must be ingrained. She also follows AG often now and is interested in trying to get down the stairs when he goes to let the dogs out. She is frequently playing by herself more; in the kitchen corner, by the dog's water bowls, in her room.... In summary, we are having a blast communicating with her and the her biggest frustration is with us idiots who can't understand her communicative efforts.
On another note, Aesha had her 12 month checkup last Friday. Our doctor is now more concerned about her lack of weight gain. She has gone from 75th at birth to now less than 10% percentile. I see a connection between her weight gain and her inability to drink/eat milk/dairy. At this age, most kids are picky and where they get most of their nutrition is through milk/dairy products. I've been doing research on lactose intolerant vs. milk allergies. Most infants are intolerant to casein which is the protein in milk, and the inability to break that down. Only 2-3% of all children are actually allergic to milk. Which is why as they get older, they outgrow this and are able to break it down. Whereas most adults are intolerant to lactose, the sugar, within milk. On Friday, we ran a series of blood tests on Aesha to determine her allergies and what's going on with her body.
Dr. Treece recommended that I also take Aesha to a nutritionist. So the last several days, I've reached out to our community to find one. I've also disclosed to our doctor and researched more online about 2vc - the condition Aesha had inutero. I remembered that 2VC infants had gastrointestinal issues and when we had one ultrasound prior to birth, the nurses thought they saw some debris in her kidneys. There is a link between 2VC and kidney-related issues. It's scary to think about. But after discussing the 2vc with our doctor, we decided to do an ultrasound on her kidneys either this week or next. I've also booked an appointment with UCSF GI/Nutrutionist Clinic. I felt that it was important for me to figure out biologically what's happening with Aesha, and that will include a more clinical assessment than the holistic approach we would have gone. Some blood reports came back indicating that Aesha is slightly anemic. I'm hoping that the remaining results will confirm that she's actually not allergic to dairy. I have a hunch her kidneys might not be processing waste properly and thereby causing a reaction in her skin.
My research on dairy also resulted in discovering that if one is lactose/casein intolerant, there are varying degrees and I can give Aesha up to 1 cup of milk a day if her case is not extreme. Since she doesn't have diarhea nor vomit with milk, I assumed her case is less severe. I haven't quite given her 1 cup of milk yet, that will need to wait. Yesterday, I gave her 10 spoonfuls of youghurt, which has a lot less casein. As of today, she's responded well, with no immediate breakouts. I added youghurt to her daily lunch at daycare and am hoping she'll be able to digest more calcium through this medium.
Through my research, I stumbled upon more great health information. Coconut milk and coconut juice is the current "wonder food." Coconut milk is made by extracting the meat, boiling it in water and straining it through a cheesecloth. The coconut juice is the watery substance when you crack open a young green coconut. Both have amazing healing powers, including high levels of lauric acid which is most common in breastmilk and has the ability to boost one's immune system. Coconut juice is also very similar to the plasma in our blood and has been used in WWII for transfusion purposes. It's one of the best hydrating vehicle in mother nature for humans because its makeup is so similar to our blood. This information is extremly fascinating to me since I love coconut juice and always bring tons of it out to BurningMan. Little did I know that my body had instinctually brougth out the best thing for us to hydrate with, in an environment where hydration is an issue.
Of course, I ran out to our Asian market and bought tons of coconut milk and juice. I have yet to figure out to get Aesha to drink the milk and juice since she has an aversion to cold beverages. Today, instead of packing a bottle of rice milk, I filled her bottle with a little coconut milk. I'm hoping that she will drink it if it's warm. Coconut milk is also rich in fat, which Aesha desperately needs for brain/neurological development. For our benefit, I've been making smoothies in the morning with coconut milk instead of milk. I add a banana, frozen pineapple and mango and 1 package of coconut milk instead of regular milk and some orange juice. It's delicious. Today I added raw cacao - which has the highest amount of antioxidants (better than blueberries).
Our GI/nutritionist appointment with UCSF is scheduled for Dec. 3rd. However, I've contacted teh nutritionist (that was referred to me) and my doctor and had them contact USCF to get us an earlier appointment. I can't wait that long to get Aesha on track.
On another note, Aesha had her 12 month checkup last Friday. Our doctor is now more concerned about her lack of weight gain. She has gone from 75th at birth to now less than 10% percentile. I see a connection between her weight gain and her inability to drink/eat milk/dairy. At this age, most kids are picky and where they get most of their nutrition is through milk/dairy products. I've been doing research on lactose intolerant vs. milk allergies. Most infants are intolerant to casein which is the protein in milk, and the inability to break that down. Only 2-3% of all children are actually allergic to milk. Which is why as they get older, they outgrow this and are able to break it down. Whereas most adults are intolerant to lactose, the sugar, within milk. On Friday, we ran a series of blood tests on Aesha to determine her allergies and what's going on with her body.
Dr. Treece recommended that I also take Aesha to a nutritionist. So the last several days, I've reached out to our community to find one. I've also disclosed to our doctor and researched more online about 2vc - the condition Aesha had inutero. I remembered that 2VC infants had gastrointestinal issues and when we had one ultrasound prior to birth, the nurses thought they saw some debris in her kidneys. There is a link between 2VC and kidney-related issues. It's scary to think about. But after discussing the 2vc with our doctor, we decided to do an ultrasound on her kidneys either this week or next. I've also booked an appointment with UCSF GI/Nutrutionist Clinic. I felt that it was important for me to figure out biologically what's happening with Aesha, and that will include a more clinical assessment than the holistic approach we would have gone. Some blood reports came back indicating that Aesha is slightly anemic. I'm hoping that the remaining results will confirm that she's actually not allergic to dairy. I have a hunch her kidneys might not be processing waste properly and thereby causing a reaction in her skin.
My research on dairy also resulted in discovering that if one is lactose/casein intolerant, there are varying degrees and I can give Aesha up to 1 cup of milk a day if her case is not extreme. Since she doesn't have diarhea nor vomit with milk, I assumed her case is less severe. I haven't quite given her 1 cup of milk yet, that will need to wait. Yesterday, I gave her 10 spoonfuls of youghurt, which has a lot less casein. As of today, she's responded well, with no immediate breakouts. I added youghurt to her daily lunch at daycare and am hoping she'll be able to digest more calcium through this medium.
Through my research, I stumbled upon more great health information. Coconut milk and coconut juice is the current "wonder food." Coconut milk is made by extracting the meat, boiling it in water and straining it through a cheesecloth. The coconut juice is the watery substance when you crack open a young green coconut. Both have amazing healing powers, including high levels of lauric acid which is most common in breastmilk and has the ability to boost one's immune system. Coconut juice is also very similar to the plasma in our blood and has been used in WWII for transfusion purposes. It's one of the best hydrating vehicle in mother nature for humans because its makeup is so similar to our blood. This information is extremly fascinating to me since I love coconut juice and always bring tons of it out to BurningMan. Little did I know that my body had instinctually brougth out the best thing for us to hydrate with, in an environment where hydration is an issue.
Of course, I ran out to our Asian market and bought tons of coconut milk and juice. I have yet to figure out to get Aesha to drink the milk and juice since she has an aversion to cold beverages. Today, instead of packing a bottle of rice milk, I filled her bottle with a little coconut milk. I'm hoping that she will drink it if it's warm. Coconut milk is also rich in fat, which Aesha desperately needs for brain/neurological development. For our benefit, I've been making smoothies in the morning with coconut milk instead of milk. I add a banana, frozen pineapple and mango and 1 package of coconut milk instead of regular milk and some orange juice. It's delicious. Today I added raw cacao - which has the highest amount of antioxidants (better than blueberries).
Our GI/nutritionist appointment with UCSF is scheduled for Dec. 3rd. However, I've contacted teh nutritionist (that was referred to me) and my doctor and had them contact USCF to get us an earlier appointment. I can't wait that long to get Aesha on track.
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