The Wonder Weeks: It's a Miracle Book

Lets face it, the first born is just an experimental kid. It's just the way it works. With Gwyn, my first, I didn't know what I was doing. Does anyone really know what to do with their first child? She was a challenge (still is) and I was determined to do everything right. Someone recommend On Becoming Baby Wise to me while I was still pregnant and I thought that was the way it was supposed to be done. Put your kid on a schedule, let them cry themselves to sleep, and teach them to self soothe. If I followed these rules my child should sleep through the night by eight weeks.

Well, she didn't. In fact, she still doesn't sleep through the night. When she wouldn't sleep through the night I felt like a failure. When she wanted to eat more than every 3 hours I felt like a failure. When she didn't follow the routine I felt like a failure. Not only was she not sleeping through the night but sometimes she was waking up ever 45 minutes. It's almost like she was going through phases and she wouldn't sleep, or eat much and she was so grumpy!

I didn't know what to do. I thought it was my diet and the culprit was colic. I was cutting all kinds of things out that may be causing her crankiness. She wasn't grumpy all the time but there were stretches of weeks that I thought I might go crazy. No mother could possibly be experiencing what I was. I remember calling my mom in the middle of the night crying because my baby wouldn't sleep. She told me that some babies just aren't sleepers.

It turns out it wasn't my diet and I wasn't a failure and many other moms have experienced what I have. No, G is not much of a sleeper but there were times when she slept less and was more cranky. She was indeed going through a phase.

The Wonder Weeks by Hetty van de Rijt, Ph.D. and Frans Plooji, Ph.D. discuss the 10 great developmental leaps in your child's first 20 months of development. Turns out that prior to a developmental leap a baby experiences a fussy phase sometimes lasting 6 weeks. During these  fussy phases your baby may not sleep well, may be clingy and cranky and may want to be entertained all the time. In the book it's referred to as the 3 C's (crying, cranky, clingy).

I bought this book on my Kindle when my son, Archer, was a month old. (I would recommend it in paperback though. It has journal areas that I wish I could have filled out.) Immediately, I wished I'd had this book for G. It helped me prepare for those fussy phases and how to stimulate him during his mental growth. The fussy phases are still difficult but it is so reassuring that my baby is not the only one and it will end. He will be a happy little boy again one day soon. I know there is little I can do to prevent these fussy times and that is a huge weight off my shoulders. It makes those endless screaming nights much more tolerable.

One of the best things about this book is it has an app for iPhone and Android that alerts you to these fussy phases and developmental leaps. You can also sign up for Leap Alarm on the Wonder Weeks website with your e-mail address. You can even buy the book by chapters if your baby already is passed many of the leaps.

It really will save your sanity and help you get the most out of your child's development. I lost my sanity long ago thanks to G but I'm hoping this post helps save some of yours.

How Gluten Free Helps Me Lose Weight

In the past four months I have lost 35 pounds. Sounds amazing, right? I wish I could say it was diet and exercise but the truth is I lost 21 pounds of it in one day. That's what happens when you give birth to a 10lb 4oz baby and a giant placenta.

So, now your wondering what's the deal with the title. Well, I did return to my pre-pregnancy weight pretty quickly and have even lost a few more on top of that. I credit this weight lose to my gluten free diet.

Unfortunately, it's more of a correlation than a causation. To explain I need to give you some background info on how I became gluten free.

I first cut out gluten products when I had just finished college. I had some pretty serious digestive health problems* and was taking a variety of medications. I was sick pretty much all the time. At the time my husband and I had only been dating for a few month but he encouraged me to make some diet changes, specifically cutting out dairy and gluten.

In the time following these diet changes there was a significant difference in my health. I stopped taking my medications and was sick less and less frequently. It was very difficult for me to dramatically change my eating habits. Most of my life I had lived off of bread, pasta, and cheese but the results were so obvious even I could not ignore them.

I was doing pretty good my diet until I got pregnant with my daughter. What can I say? The cravings got to me and I wanted gluten. I managed to keep dairy out for the most part but pasta called to me. I managed not to have many problems adding gluten back into my diet. I thought I was cured! This was not the case. Evidently, pregnancy has odd effects on the body including limiting allergic immune responses.

After the birth I knew I should pick back up on gluten free but I decided to put it off for a little longer. In fact, my first meal after she was born was french toast! I continued to put my diet changes off again and again until eventually I stopped trying to convince myself to do it. After a while, as you can imagine, I began having health problem again and I put on a few extra pounds. I would complain endlessly (my husband will vouch for this) but didn't want to make any effort to change.

 It wasn't until my aunt, to whom I am very close, went gluten free that I decided there needed to be a change. I was pregnant with my son and suffering from digestive issues a lot. This pregnancy did not mask my problems as the first one did. I was sick and tired of being well, sick and tired. I was in pain a lot, lethargic, bloated and all around grumpy from my discomfort and this was on top of being pregnant! To make matters worse my daughter, a toddler now, was also experiencing some negative effects from gluten.

I decided enough was enough and ditched the gluten (again). I threw out the bread (it was just the heels anyway), ate all the cookies (didn't want them to go to waste), and donated my pasta (OK, I probably could have done this with the cookies too...). It took some time but I feel better. Expect for the day(s) that I visit my mom and eat flour cheese enchiladas which are the best but leave me a sick mess for a week following. Sooo good, but so bad. :(

OK, so maybe you didn't need that whole story to understand what I meant about correlation/causation stuff. But this really is relative. The thing about eating gluten free is it makes me eat a lot healthier. All the really tasty, fattening delicious foods have gluten in them. Twinkies. Cookies. Fried....anything. Yes, I could buy the products that are made with gluten free flour but I don't like them as well and they tend to be expensive. Also, the really convenient food has gluten in it. Frozen burritos, sandwiches, a bowl of cereal all have gluten! I don't want to take the time to cook myself a meal. Cooking isn't my favorite pastime, so one meal a day is enough to slave over the stove for. For breakfast and lunch I end up eating a lot of eggs, peanut butter on rice cakes, raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, and hummus with corn chips. Basically, the things in my home I do not have to cook.

So, I've lost a few pounds. It's not exactly cutting out gluten products that has caused this but being gluten free has triggered other habits that help maintain a healthy weight:

I don't eat fast food as often because it's mostly gluten products.
I eat healthier foods because the majority of bad foods have gluten in them.
I eat less because I don't like food preparation or cooking and both are required for most gluten free meals.

I know, I've made all of you so excited to be gluten free! It is interesting though, that being gluten free coincides with so many other healthy habits. I don't think this is mere chance. I personally am delighted with the results of being gluten free. I only wish I had chosen to do it sooner.

*FYI: Gluten intolerance is often misdiagnosed as Crohn's, colitis, IBS, and many other digestive diseases and conditions.