Ilona: a change in temperment 1.24.13

i have to admit, in the first few weeks of Ilona's life I was beyond thrilled to believe her temperament to be more closely akin to her calm, reasonable and always "chill" father. from all of jason's stories from childhood and infancy, he was one happy and relaxed child. never testing the boundaries set by his parents or the limits school and society placed on him. he accepted what he was told without a fight and longed to please those around him. me? not so much. again, from stories of my childhood (and memories from my teenage years and after) i would sum up my temperament as, "spirited". we had two girls names chosen if our bambino would indeed be a girl, Ilona and much spirited and spunky alternative. as soon as we held and cuddled Ilona for a few minutes we both knew without a doubt, our daughter was the calmer of the two we envisioned, tenderhearted and sensitive, like a warm light in our hearts and in our lives. that's why we landed on Ilona. now, don't get me wrong. Ilona is still the same tender, sensitive and sweet daughter as her first few days and weeks of life, but this second month has brought some unique challenges. one of which is her change in temperament. we are in the midst of determining the cause (if there even is one) for her increased fussiness and at times inconsolable crying that starts right about 6 or 7 pm as we're trying to wind down for the day. she, on the other hand, is winding right back up. this began literally the day jason went back to work, ironically enough, it was also her one month birthday. immediately my thoughts went to, "does she miss him? does she feel abandoned? she can't stand being home with just me! how in the world am i going to take care of her by myself?!" while there is probably some truth in all of those thoughts, we figured out a few days later that she was suffering from an increase in gas, and has had several "poopless" days in the past two weeks. it's clear from her body language, her facial expressions, the rank smell she has started to emit and her very loud and conversation halting "toots" that gas is the culprit in this scenario. as any new mother would do, i blamed myself and immediately restricted my diet. no wheat? already done. no dairy? fine...i've maintained that diet before and can do it again. no acidic food? okay...harder to do as my diet is getting restricted so much. no caffein? done, already. no garlic? what?! no garlic? are you serious. that was nearly impossible, even though my crazy irrational diet only lasted about 48 hours. why did i stop? as only a parent would love and celebrate, Ilona gifted us with one massive explosion of pent up nastiness. finally, after an almost 72 hour "dry" spell. in the meantime, our pediatrician had recommended gas pills, which i begrudgingly purchased, but avoided giving her for the first week and half of her discomfort. i did not/do not want to subject her to anything unnatural this early and will avoid chemicals/drugs/whatever at all costs. instead, i started drinking cup upon cups of chamomile tea in hopes it would make its way into my breast-milk and then in to her sad little (and quite hard) belly. after 24 hours of tea, tea and more tea without a change, we decided it wouldn't hurt to give her a bottle of warm chamomile tea directly, hoping to avoid the medicine route. she took to the tea right away, i think she likes the warm sensation of sweet goodness rolling down your throat- at least i do. :) the tea helped for the short term for the two nights we tried, but by the next morning she was upset and raring to go again. in a moment of desperation (last night) we gave in to her agonizing cries and administered the gas drops. and again this morning. she was back to normal (somewhat) today. she napped again...slept longer than an hour (that has been a distant memory since her crazy crying spells) and passed a lot more gas in seemingly more comfort. tonight? another nasty explosion. whatever is bothering her system is slowly and dramatically taking it's exit. finally. we are so thankful. that's an understatement. now what? i am going to return to a strict gluten free (as always) and lactose free diet to see if we can keep her tummy more happy. i have suffered from lactose intolerance in my past, and so has jason, so we're hoping this simply dietary change will do the trick. we have missed our happy, smiling and laughing daughter. she really is such a light and the delight of our life. i'll do anything to keep her happy. even forgo cheese and ice cream. you're welcome, Ilona, you're welcome. :) here are some "happy" shots of you, gas free!