Pasta Night

Nicolette had her first taste of pasta the other night and boy did she love it! We had Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Pasta with Trader Joe's Organic Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms.  (The TJ Brown Rice Pasta is a steal at $1.99 per lb, WAY less than you'd pay for the brown rice pasta at Whole Foods, Earth Fare or even Harris Teeter.  Wheat is a genetically modified crop so the wheat we eat today is NOTHING like the wheat of our ancestors so I try to limit as much of it as possible from our family's diet...you can read more here.  And the Organic Spaghetti Sauce is the only marinara sauce at Trader Joe's that I was able to find that does not include ANY soybean oil.  I think it's creepy how soy is incorporated into SO many different foods and despite popular beliefs soy is NOT a health food...anything but and almost ALL soy is genetically modified so I want to keep as much of it out of Nicolette's body as possible.  You can read more here).

Anyway, enough with the reading material...on with the cuteness!

Seiously...the foot up on the high chair tray cracks me up...every...single...meal.

Night waking...

Ok, so I know I've been a totally absentee "blogger".  To be perfectly honest, we've been struggling with sleep in the Randazzo house and I will only allow myself on the computer if/when Nicolette is asleep.

I don't know what happened to my Sleeping Beauty.  Up until Nicolette was 5 months old she would fall asleep, whenever, wherever and stay asleep for what seemed like forever!  Then things suddenly changed...I would put her down in her crib at bedtime and she would stay asleep for maybe an hour or hour and a half and then she would pop up.  I'd see her little head popped up at the monitor and her trying to push onto all fours to crawl around while crying.  So I'd go back upstairs try to comfort her in the crib (did not work at putting her back to sleep ONE SINGLE TIME over the past 2 months) and I'd end up picking her up, rocking and/or nursing her back to sleep and we'd repeat this cycle over and over either until morning or until I gave up and brought her to bed with me.  (More often than not the latter of the two is how it honestly ended).  I had maybe two nights total over the last 2 1/2 months where she would sleep 5-7 hours without waking.

In the midst of all of this of course I was internet researching and I decided that it must be developmental.  A lot of babies have milestone related night waking.  They get so excited about a new "trick" (i.e. pushing up to all fours, crawling, babbling, etc) that they wake up in the night hours to "practice".  The way she immediately popped up onto all fours I was sure she was waking up to practice pre-crawling and crawling.  Well, milestone related night waking surely cannot last 2 1/2 months NON-STOP right???

Once or twice (against my every gut feeling) I decided to try to do some "sleep training".  I'd stand by the crib and pat Nicolette's back when she would cry and try to calm her down.  This was not successful, not one single time.  I'd wait and try to soothe her but she quickly works herself up into an absolute frenzy...gasping for air sobbing, shrieking frenzy.  I could not deal!  There was one night where I slept on the floor of the nursery and out of sheer exhaustion I did let her cry herself to sleep.  Two days later she had a little tooth popping through and I felt horrible that my baby was in pain that night and I didn't just bring her to bed with us like my gut was telling me to :(

So we're back to co-sleeping but now I'm wondering if there's a bigger issue.  Nicolette earned her nickname "Tootie" early on for good reason...my girl has gas and can rip some big ones.  It doesn't seem to bother her at all during the day (never has) she's happy, smiley, content....just toots and keeps doing whatever she's doing.  This past week I started sitting in the nursery with her more while she's sleeping and I've noticed that she usually toots shortly after waking up and crying so I wonder this whole time, has gas been causing her to wake up????  She'll usually scream/cry, wake up, roll around, toot, then be wide awake crying for a while.  It breaks my heart because I can see that she's in pain, I'll try to bicycle her legs to release the gas and she tightens up stiff as a board making it impossible to move her little legs.  When she's in bed with us she still wakes up, toots and whimpers a little bit but since I'm right here and able to comfort her within seconds she's much quicker to settle down and then doesn't suck in all that extra air from crying and the gas doesn't seem to be as bad as when she's on her own in the crib.

I of course examined her diet to see if there's a culprit...I've switched from Baby Led Weaning to Purees and back and also done a combo and it doesn't seem to change the gas situation so that made me begin to question MY diet.

I have several friends whose babies have dairy and/or soy sensitivities and they've either had to A) give up breastfeeding or B) totally eliminate dairy and soy from their diets to make breastfeeding work.

When Nicolette was a teeny, tiny baby she didn't show any of the classic signs of a dairy/soy sensitivity (i.e. arching back while eating, constant crying, lots of spitting up, vomiting, etc.)  In fact, Nicolette hardly ever spit up, has never vomited and really doesn't cry during the day time at all.  Up until she was 5 months old, night time wasn't really an issue either...then again we were co-sleeping all the time and she would wake several times, fuss a bit and I would easily feed her and she'd be back asleep before ever completely waking up.  Recently I've been reading that night waking can be a sign in older babies of a dairy/soy intolerance.  I don't know if this is what's causing our night waking and gas issues but I'm definitely willing to give it a shot so today was the first day that I consciously went dairy and soy free.

Now this is no easy task for this cheese loving girl.  But at least the dairy is pretty easily identifiable and therefore easier to cut out.  Soy on the other hand is tricky...it is in almost EVERYTHING in some shape or form.  I had the hardest time finding soup today that had no dairy or soy.  You'd think that simple tomato soup would have a short ingredient list...not so.  You really have to read labels so closely and you'll be surprised that it seems like 90% of packaged foods do contain some form of soy.  I've read that it can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks for your body to cycle out all of the dairy and soy that's built up so we'll test this out for a month or so and see how it goes.  If you have any yummy soy/dairy free recipes to share with me please do so!  Edamame was my go to snack/meal and I will miss it so!!!!

Sweet dreams!

And so it begins

So my labs and ultrasound all looked GREAT on Friday and more importantly, the Italian was able to make it back early from his sales trip so that we could have our consent forms notarized so we are officially (and legally) ready to proceed with our IVF protocol.  Nurse Alice emailed late Friday afternoon with instructions to start injections on Sunday (i.e. TODAY), then I head back for more bloodwork and another ultrasound. 

I'm on an antagonist protocol  (In this treatment, a medication other than Lupron is used to supress the pituitary gland and prevent ovulation. This newer type of medication is called a GNRH antagonist. These medications do not have a flare effect. In fact, the supression of the pituitary gland is almost immediate. This is a big advantage since the IVF specialist can start the medication after the ovaries have been stimulated instead of a two week pre-treatment period as is seen with the Lupron. This makes the antagonist IVF protocol much shorter than the Lupron protocol.) so I start with my stimulation meds tonight.  Two injections a day until Thursday and then more monitoring.  Then there will be more meds depending on how my follies are responding.  Nurse A thinks we'll be scheduled for retrieval sometime between October 18th and 22nd.

I've been so nervous / scared / anxious / excited that I've been waking up each morning around 3am and unable to go back to sleep.  I keep thinking that I've refrigerated the wrong meds and then have to go to check them for the millionth time to confirm that I've followed the directions exactly.  So I'm just watching the clock until it's time for my injection (9pm).  Time is definitely dragging by.  I'm trying not to obsess over things (as I'm supposed to be staying calm) - however if you check my internet history, the spreadsheet that I made notating all of my lab & u/s results and medication dosages per day and/or the binder I put together with all of my infertility invoices, information, or the spreadsheet I made itemizing all of our out of pocket medicat expenses this year (over $30k!!!!) etc., you might think that I have psychotic tendencies.  Sorry folks, but that's how this nerd unwinds...I organize things.  I feel much better when everything is in it's place and it is good to know that some of this infertility nonsense will be tax deductible.

I've also been doing a lot of research on diet and how that factors into infertility and IVF success.  I'm trying to incorporate more plant based protein into my diet and making sure that I'm getting plenty of healthy fats.  I came up with a Lentil & Farro Salad recipe that I absolutely love (the Italian digs it too)...

Lentil & Farro Salad
1 c. Farro, uncooked
2 1/2 c. Cooked Lentils
16 oz. Frozen Spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped 
3 Stalks Celery, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 T. EVOO
Salt & Pepper, to taste
*Dressing
1/4 c. Red Wine Vinegar
1 T. Dijon Mustard
1 T. Whole Grain Mustard
3 T. EVOO
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Cook Farro in salted water according to directions (bring to boil in 2c. salted water, simmer 20-30 min).  Thaw spinach and squeeze completely dry.  Combine Farro, Lentils & thawed spinach in a large boil.  Heat 1 T EVOO over med heat and saute onions, carrots & celery until tender, add garlic and cook 1 minute, season with salt & pepper.  Add to Lentil mixture.  Combine ingredients for dressing, whisk thoroughly and pour over "salad".  Strir to combine thoroughly.  Refrigerate at least 30 min to allow dressing to marinate the ingredients.  Serve at room temperature or heat in the microwave (I'm not supposed to be eating cold foods according to Dr. Wang and Chinese Medicine - so I heat mine in the micro for 45 sec - 1 min).  It's super tasty and really, really good for you! 

If you have any recipes to share, please do so!!!!

Bon Apetit!

The Ice Cream Diet - infertility has it's privileges

For those who have not been following since the beginning of my blog, you missed the instructions from my doc which would be  a dream come true for most women: "drink two milkshakes a week and lay of the exercise".... I thought Dr. Katz had lost his mind.  So of course I delve back into the world wide web for verification.  I stumbled across article after article linking full fat dairy to increased ovulatory function in women.  Wow - I guess Dr. K's medical degree really is legit!  It must drive doctors nuts that we all think we're pseudo experts via our WebMD degrees.    


I've included an excerpt from a much longer article on The Daily Beast below. If you have time to read the whole thing, it really has great information regarding exercise, getting the right type of protein, and maintaining the right body weight. Which brings to mind, if you are going on the Ice Cream Fertility Diet, keep in mind that you only need 1 serving (=1/2 c. of ice cream) twice per week. It's not much - a whole pint should last TWO weeks! 

 
If you are having trouble getting pregnant and ovulatory infertility is suspected, think of ice cream sundaes as "health food". OK, maybe that's stretching it, but read on....

• A fascinating finding from the Nurses' Health Study is that a daily serving or two of whole milk and foods made from whole milk—full-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, and, yes, even ice cream—seem to offer some protection against ovulatory infertility, while skim and low-fat milk do the opposite.
• Removing fat from milk radically changes its balance of sex hormones in a way that could tip the scales against ovulation and conception. Proteins added to make skim and low-fat milk look and taste "creamier" push it even farther away.
• The more low-fat dairy products in a woman's diet, the more likely she was to have had trouble getting pregnant. The more full-fat dairy products in a woman's diet, the less likely she was to have had problems getting pregnant.
• Before you sit down to a nightly carton of Häagen-Dazs, keep in mind that it doesn't take much in the way of full-fat dairy foods to measurably affect fertility. Among the women in the Nurses' Health Study, having just one serving a day of a full-fat dairy food, particularly milk, decreased the chances of having ovulatory infertility. The impact of ice cream was seen at two half-cup servings a week. If you eat ice cream at that rate, a pint should last about two weeks.
• Equally important, you'll need to do some dietary readjusting to keep your calorie count and your waistline from expanding. Whole milk has nearly double the calories of skim milk. If you have been following the U.S. government's poorly-thought-out recommendation and are drinking three glasses of milk a day, trading skim milk for whole means an extra 189 calories a day. That could translate into a weight gain of 15 to 20 pounds over a year if you don't cut back somewhere else. Those extra pounds can edge aside any fertility benefits you might get from dairy foods. 
• Aim for one to two servings of dairy products a day, both of them full fat. This can be as easy as having your breakfast cereal with whole milk and a slice of cheese at lunch or a cup of whole-milk yogurt for lunch and a half-cup of ice cream for dessert. Easy targets for cutting back on calories and saturated fat are red and processed meats, along with foods made with fully or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• If you don't like milk or other dairy products, or they don't agree with your digestive system, don't force yourself to have them. There are many other things you can do to fight ovulatory infertility. This one is like dessert—enjoyable but optional.

On a random note, I find it humorous and insulting that my blogger spell check does not recognize "ovulatory" as a correctly spelled word.  

The Green Monster

I've developed a great little support group of girls from various circles of my life and we're all going through this sort of at the same time. It's awesome how we all found each other and is so nice to have friends going through the same thing. My girls were kind enough to share a natural tip with me - Dr. Oz's Green Drink. (see photo and yes, it really does look that disgusting). I'll include the recipe at the bottom of this post for those who are interested. This miracle "drink" (if you can call it that) is FULL of antioxidants and fiber. Warning, I would be reluctant to call this a "drink" - it is THICK (hence the spoon in the glass). I treated it more as a chunky soup and choked it down that way. The flavor was not bad at all - it was a texture thing for me. Anyway, it's definitely HEALTHY and if I'm willing to pump my bod full of hormones and chemicals, I'm certainly going to give this a shot as well! I will tell you, I drank about 6-8 oz this morning at 7am and still am not hungry at 2pm...that is not normal for this girl...me likes to eat! Dr. Oz apparently drinks this regularly in the AM - love me some Dr. Oz!

Anyways, I will be lagging a little behind my girls on the IVF schedule due to some exciting new developments at the Randazzo Estate. The Italian was actually recruited for a new job (he wasn't even looking for a new opportunity - when does that happen in this economy). Well not only does the job include a SUBSTANTIAL pay increase, but there is a chance that their insurance plan will cover some or all of the IVF costs....SAY WHAT????? We'll find out early next week about the insurance, so we decided to be good stewards of all that God has given us and wait until we find out before we schedule our next steps for IVF. It's hard not to believe that God is shining down on us favorably for some unknown reason right now.

Anyway, I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted anything. I hate to say it but I have thoroughly enjoyed the last month - no shots, no pills, no counting days....it's been a welcome break! Work has been crazy enough - we're at peak wedding season, so I can't imagine having been on my injection regimine and trying to keep up with everything at work! Time is flying by and I'm realizing that I'm getting closer and closer to being of "advanced maternal age" - that's such a lovely term that they give to expectant mothers 35 or older. Awesome. Oh well, if I'm lucky enough to get preggers soon, I'll rock the title proudly! Peace out friends - chat soon!

Dr. Oz's Green Drink

2 cups spinach

1 -2 medium cucumber (approx 2 cups)

1 stalk celery

1/2 inch ginger root (or 1 teaspoon)

1 bunch chopped parsley (approx 1/2 cup chopped)

2 apples, cored

1 lime, juice of

1/2 lemon, juice of

Optional ingredients

raw carrot

unsweetened fruit juice

banana

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend completely. Do NOT use a juicer as it will remove the pulp and all the nutrients contained within. I had to chop things up before blending and it took a lot of manhandling the blender in order to get it all mixed up. The texture will be THICK, but you should blend until smooth (no big chunks). Next time I will add a little water or a few ice cubes to loosen it up a little bit.

BON APETIT!