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Ivy turned three months old on September 19th. Wow how the time flies! My great friend Angie took some awesome pictures of her! I opted to take her NAM and tape off for the photo shoot in order to really capture who Ivy is. I am so happy that I made that decision. The pictures turned out incredible and really highlight Ivy's perfect smile! Ivy is scheduled to have her lip repaired on November 1st and it is really bitter sweet. I LOVE her sweet face and "wide" smile, as it is referred to in the cleft world. She couldn't be more perfectly beautiful to me. She will look different after the surgery so I am trying to take every chance I get to savor her natural beauty because she will never look the same. It is hard to get my head around that. But, as always, I try to find the upside to everything and so far I have found two upsides to surgery: 1 - I get to go shopping (we need side snapping shirts for Ivy so we don't have to put clothes over her head) and 2 - there is a Starbucks in the lobby at Doernbecher so I can get a cinnamon scone every morning we are at the hospital if I want! Mmmmmm.....cinnamon scone.....

On another note....Ivy is being a bit of a stinker! She had developed reflux which we believe has been caused by a food sensitivity. She has been extra fussy and cries during feedings. She is so wiggly trying to pass the gas in her tiny gut. It is hard to watch her be in such pain and discomfort. I have cut dairy and nuts out of my diet and I am also off sugar (including all fruits) right now because I am battling a yeast infection in my breasts. I am not exactly happy...it's hard to find stuff to eat and still avoid those things plus some other foods like soy that people are commonly allergic to. The upside is that I have lost about 7 pounds in the last week and a half. The biggest concern I have though is to continue to take in enough calories to keep my milk supply up. I feel hungry almost all the time but that is probably more in my head than anything else. Hopefully Ivy will have some relief soon from this issue and we can figure out exactly what is causing it so I can avoid those foods in the future. And hopefully this doesn't mess with my "Mmmmmmm........cinnamon scone..." plan.