Off The Beaten Path with Amanda & George Vallone

I just did 9 months on the inside… now my parents are serving life
😂😂😂

Accurate Mila! Accurate.

On the road again!
I got my dinar and hopped a royal flight can you guess where my next advevture is starting?

Photo of me holding my purse above my head is because it got stuck in my hair in the bathroom…. Never a dull moment.
I rewarded myself for not ripping my hair out with the wine 😂😂

Going to miss my kiddos while I’m away - even the oldest kiddo (Pita)

We hadn’t posted on here much recently.
We’ve been settling into the life of a family of 4. It’s pretty incredible.

My mother-in-law always tells me a story about how her doctor reminded her that when having multiple children the math does not always equate. She says that he told her you learn very quickly 1+1 equals a lot more than 2.

In many ways, this is true. Trying to drop the girls off to school and daycare. Trying to get out the door to get ready. Trying to do homework at night and feedings at the same time and making dinner all at once. There are many instances it is quite overwhelming, and Focus and our house is almost nonexistent.

Aurora is the type of kiddo that needs a lot of focus and attention on her schoolwork. She needs us to help her every night and does not necessarily do well doing her homework on her own. A lot of this has to do with some learning issues from her triple X syndrome and ADHD. But otherwise just being a kid.

One thing we all noticed when Aurora became a big sister is how much she grew up. Yes, she might need extra help every single night doing schoolwork but let me tell you she can make a bottle, get her sister dressed, help the whole house get organized enough to get out the door, and literally take care of her self, in the meanwhile. George and I are amazed at how much she has grown up in such a short amount of time. 

Mila is 3 months old today. She babbles, she puts her hand to her mouth, she is a very happy baby, most of the time. Having Mila and her life has been incredible.  She brings joy to our world in a similar way that Aurora did when we first had her, as well as, continues to do today.  But she is so different from Aurora too. Mila is pale, complected, and has a red hint to her hair. She sleeps well through the night. And in general, I think we are slightly less hover 🚁 parents because of her. 

This week will be interesting. It’s the first time one of us (George or I) are traveling for work.  Anyone who knows us personally knows that George would travel weekdays about 90% of the year previously. And I would go on 7-8 big trips per year. Some of these trips we went to as a family, but many of them we did separate and ping pong back-and-forth.
I don’t think either of us are looking forward to traveling quite that much in one year… it’s not the plan to ever get back to. But we are both excited to get back on the road again and experience the world in a different way.

With two girls at home needing to be taken care of it makes me question how in the world single moms or single dad’s do it? I mean seriously it’s a lot of work! I also know it will be less work once Mila can hold her own bottle and kind of feed her self. And I know that stage is not far away. So I am not wishing the time to fly by.  

So this week I am in Jordan 🇯🇴 for the ATTA event and conference. George is in charge of the kiddos. And I literally feel guilt for making him do it all. He is such a good sport though totally good with being mr. mom while I’m away and I kinda think getting off on being able to juggle it all.
I know my time of solo parenting is coming very soon. But for now - he’s the man!

📸 of Aurora picking Mila up from daycare In her “mommy I got this” attitude. ❤️❤️❤️

The last several weeks have been crazy!!! But we’re finding our groove.

The verdict is in, having kids 9 years apart is a WIN for us. Aurora helps with practically everything.

She make sure that Mila has her outfit for the day, she washes bottles, she make sure that I pack enough, diapers, bottles, clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and everything else I could need to be able to go out for a day. And she is like a little mother hen protecting her little sister every chance she gets.

Aurora🌈🦄 even asks people if they’ve had their T Dap vaccination or if they’ve washed their hands before holding her little sister ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


Sneak peek 🫣
📸 Newborn photo sesh in progress

Today we had our amazing maternity and newborn photographer out to the house to take baby Mila’s first professional photos. Cannot wait to see what she comes up with for us.

If you are looking for a good photographer in central Florida for your family. Check out Evermore Visuals 📸❤️📸❤️

First moments of life...

On July 8th George and I became parents for the second time.

Many of those who follow this page are friends with me and know us personally already and saw it on my personal page. Others have found us through IVF, Fertility, or Kells… or even travel.

In an effort to share a bit more for my friends in the fertility realm here it is.

We went in Friday at 7 am to be induced… which did not actually happen til about 5pm. Why did it take so long? 🩸 Blood 🩸!

Since I have Kell factor now (due to a blood transfusion with Aurora) and I am at high risk for hemorrhaging we did not feel comfortable starting anything until my 3 extra special, matched blood units were on hand in the hospital. So we waited… and waited… and waited. But the blood finally did arrive. And the party started.

About noon the following day I knew it was about to happen. I called the nurse in about 12:30 and from that point forward they were setting up and double checking all of my medical emergency back ups were in place.

1:13pm After only about 4 contractions of pushing Mila Amari was born 💞💞

She is perfect in every single way and the best addition to our family we could ever ask for. We are truly blessed.

Did I need the special blood? Yes, 1 unit as I did hemorrhage again.

Was I in icu this time? Nope!! Since my doctors and team were ready and prepared for the worst they had everything necessary easily at their disposal and they used it.
I did go into shock for a few hours due to the trauma and loss of blood but nothing as bad as with Aurora.

Will we do it again? No!
We have our perfect family. I’m old -advanced maternal age pregnancy ain’t no joke. Plus all the complications and going through ivf again is not a dream for me! My ass would like a break from all the needles. My body would like a break from the hormones. And I would like a break from the medical.
but am
I happy I did it this time? um
YES! Extatic!
Did Kell get in the way? Cause any issues? Besides waiting on the blood, no, nothing went out of whack because of the kell.

Even in all of the madness and chaos getting ready for the baby, we have to spend a little time celebrating the 4th of July AND the 3rd birthday (or 21st) of our fur baby NOLA aka NOLA beignet chicory sprinkles “the Hurricane” Vallone 

A huge thank you to Deland Fire Station 81 for installing our car seats in the middle of the Florida heat today.

They took time to explain what’s right and wrong and make sure baby Mila will be safe.

It’s official!!!
Baby Mila is in her way. Officially being induced on July 7th!!!

I’m nervous, scared, excited, ready, not ready, you pick it I’m feeling it.

George… is excited it’s national chocolate day- a great day to be born 😂😂

Also national peace day, love day, and rock n roll day.

I think we have a winning date of birth for Mila ❤️❤️

We’re coming into the home stretch!

Lots happening in our crazy house.

The house literally looks like a bomb went off- prepping for baby, getting everything down from the attic and organizing a room that was an office into a nursery.

Aurora had her last day of school today. She’s so excited to get a break and have summer, camps, and getting ready to be a big sister.

George and I are working like crazy to prep for being out of work post delivery.

And today, I just went to the doc on my 33rd week high risk appointment and found out I will now be delivering an estimated 3 weeks early. 

Our 2 months of prep time just moved to 4 weeks.

We thrive under pressure…. But once in a while we like to have a plan 🤣🤣🤣

Hello belly bump and WELCOME Third Trimester. In the final stretch ❤️❤️
Not ready at all. But oh so ready too.

We got some of the best news today!

There is a very minimal chance the baby will be affected by my anti-Kell, Kell antibodies, big K blood 🩸🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

Since George is negative for big K and I got the disease from a blood transfusion it is highly unlikely the baby will be sensitized and have any issues. 💕💕💕💕💕💕

It only took 3 weeks of me freaking out and googling every single thing about Kell to learn that it’s not as big of a stressor for us as it was originally thought.

The reason my doctor called me back 3 times last visit was to review all records and go through George’s history too. But I didn’t know that by George being negative the risk almost went away completely. That only added a handful or two of grey hairs. 🤪

I’m still being closely monitored for the oh s**t scenario. But in general everything is looking so much better. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Thank you all for your amazing prayers and good thoughts!!!

Here is a 3d scan from todays visit.
Apparently since I have an anterior placenta it covers the baby’s face in ultrasounds so the 3 d images will always look a bit like a monster ball of jelly… though I’m totally getting phantom of the opera vibes too.

Can’t wait to meet her in person… at the right time

Baby Mila hit 26 weeks, 2 lbs, and about 14 inches while we were enjoying sone much needed family time on Auroras Spring Break.

As a family we are trying to do little things to maintain our family of 3 bond while getting excited and ready to be a family of 4.

Some of these things include doting over our perfect little peanut a little longer as she is an only child by bringing her to her favorite place on earth - the beach.
Letting her have all the crazy pillow fights with her dad, and splurging on the ice cream or hotdogs when she wants them 🤣🤣.

All while planning and getting excited for her baby sister to arrive.

26 weeks in but we’ve been at this one for literally 3 years. It’s been a loooong journey and it ain’t for the weak. Im ending my second trimester getting ready for the home stretch and I think the biggest thing I’m thinking about is “what the hell am I doing?”… Seriously, I don’t remember mothering a baby. I feel like I need all the crash courses now 😂😂

Other than that, this rollercoaster is fun but I’m ready to get off the ride and start doing the job.

Thank you all so much for the texts, comments, emails, and phone calls.
I’ve been doing tons of research on anti-Kell since my numbers came in. I come up with minimal information on the topic except what I already knew.

Sadly that kind of lack of information makes me even more stressed. I’m one of these people who can handle anything if I know what I have in front of me. But the not knowing is eating me alive.

George will come to my next high risk appointment with me and together we will ask all the questions we have been coming up with over the last week. But until then I’m hopeful my bloodwork this week will show stability in my numbers and no increase. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

I found this youtube video I found helpful. The first 1/3 is a bit of rambling but after that she explains what her doc and nurses told her as well.

https://youtu.be/wxM0maQ1q_o

Anti K Antibodies | 19 week Pregnancy Update Anti K Antibodies | 19 week Pregnancy Update to The Kirrane Family Diaries Youtube channel!We are an...

As most of you could guess, I’m not afraid of needles, shots, or most medical procedures. Hell my ass was a pincushion more times than I can count for IVF, allergic reactions, and any various migraine or other medications.

My husband on the other hand is a big strong ex football 🏈 player who faints at the sight of a needle 💉… I do pick on him for this… often. 😂

Today I get to hang out at my favorite vamp lounge waiting to see if my glucose is ok- please dear god don’t let it be high, I don’t need gestational diabetes too.

They are also testing my KELL antibody numbers again, and whatever else they decide to test for.

If you know a preggo momma drinking this sugar filled concoction anytime soon wish her luck- it is gross.

So today was a really rough day.

I started at 7:30 with a 2 hour appointment with my high risk doctor who ended up calling me back into his office three times to review aspects of my pregnancy that he’s concerned about. Several months ago I found out I had Kell antibodies.
I did not really understand what this was at the time and I’m still confused by it. But essentially I was told that it was likely caused by an infection in delivery with a Aurora or from my blood transfusion. The thing is, I had a lot of blood given to me after delivery and I had an infection which didn’t allow me to hold my daughter for the first 48 hours of her life.
The traumatic experience that I went through with Aurora🌈🦄 has affected me during this pregnancy, but not in the same ways that I would’ve expected it to. Emotionally. I’m very scared but I’m also optimistic.
The part that I was not anticipating, was going through quite so many hoops for this blood disease that was essentially given to me from the blood that I received. Essentially, my blood does not like the foreign blood that saved my life. So my blood is creating antibodies to fight against the blood that was given to me. This is the Kell antibodies.
The problem is these antibodies can attack the fetus. So, from what I understand it’s not if my blood will attack the baby, but when my blood will attack the baby.
This is definitely stressful but today I got results back from my blood test to tell me how bad it is and I was told I had 32 as my level. When I asked if that was a good or bad number, they said it was extremely high. One and one is normal one and four is high One and 16 is extremely high and I am one and 32. Well CRAP.
I will now be going to my high-risk doctor twice as much as I already am and they are keeping track of fluid retention around the babies heart brain or internal organs. This Kell antibody could cause Mila to have anemia or worse. The baby’s way of protecting herself is to hold onto fluid around her organs so we have to keep a very close eye on this. The only way to stop it is after delivery. And there is no way to prevent it.
So at this point since science and medical conventions, cannot do anything to help, I am asking for all of the positive vibes, well wishes, and prayers that I can possibly get for the sake of Mila’s health.

Photo of her face from today’s ultrasound

What's in a name?

We know everyone has been waiting to hear the name we picked for the next love of our life. After Aurora Capri how could we possibly pick a name with as much meaning, heart, and soul to us? Well we have...

Our daughter's name will be Mila Amari Vallone.

What's the meaning behind her name you wonder? Here it is.

George and I chose Mila while we were traveling through Europe this December. We wanted a name that meant to us what she meant to us- "a miracle" from the Spanish word Milagros. But more than that this name is Polish and Italian- just like her heritage (and ours, clearly). In other languages Mila means gracious, dear, emulating, friendly, and loved by the people. This blessing in our lives surely filled all of these meanings before she is even born. She is an answer to our prayers and a "found" missing piece to our family.

The middle name however was much more difficult to come up with. It took us soul-searching and a lot of research and debating. Amari means "possessing great strength" - and girl would we agree. I mean come on this lil one literally survived the ice age when she was put into me from her frozen holding place. She is strong already. Amari has African, Greek, and Arabic origins in language.The greek meaning is eternally lovely. In Arabic she means the moon. How fitting for Aurora (the dawn) to have a sister Amari (the moon). Plus it pulls in a few destinations our family all traveled to and loved- Africa, Jordan, Egypt.

We cannot wait to meet you Mila Amari Vallone.

This is what 20 weeks looks like.
Half way through the pregnancy.
Baby girl is the size of a sweet potato 🍠

Still getting morning sickness which the doc says is no longer considered morning sickness this far along, rather it is now just acid reflux causing me to get sick. So I am on a healthy regimen of Tums on a regular basis. Yum. 🥴🤢

I had a few different pregnancy complications, and one of them (placenta previa) has cleared up so that is very positive. The other one is a Kell big K protein- apparently when I delivered aurora I got several bags of blood from hemorrhaging so bad and this disease is caused by blood transfusions. Lovely. I thought they tested blood before giving it to people…. But I guess I’d rather be alive with a lovely addition than dead without blood.

We are starting to get the nursery set up slowly, but surely.

We still are not 100% on the name but we are getting very close. Any suggestions?

All in all I’m healthy and the baby is healthy. Can’t ask for much more.

Week 18 looks something like this:

😰 crying all the time
😍 happy
🤩 excited
😟 scared to death… literally
👯‍♀️🎀 girl power
🛒 shopping and doing research to prepare
😱 shock at how much has changed
🤔 or how much I forgot
🤢 still getting morning sickness all day
🤰🏻 growing belly
🦵 leg cramps
🥱😴Exhaustion
💜 loved and supported
😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫all around CRAZY
🧠 major brain fog 😶‍🌫️
🫠Overwhelmed
😩Stressed
😃 Healthy
🍎 Hungry 😋

All together great! The good far outweighs the bad. The excitement far outweighs the fear. And the results far outweigh the journey.

Well we did it. We popped the cork and found out that our family of 4 will soon be one female more 💕💕💕 team girl all the way! Daddy will be outnumbered forever more.

To be honest, George and I really did not have a preference. But Aurora very much do wanted a sister. So we’re happy for her.

Thank you for all of the love and support.

Now it’s time to figure out our name.

Many people were thinking we’re going to call the baby Elsa when she is born. That was not really ever the plan. Aurora named the frozen blastocyst Elsa because she was being frozen. We just happened to have a grandma with the same name.

We will be debating about every babe in the book til we find one fit for our second princess 👑💕🎀

I love this app. It’s but it tells you all about the baby and your own changes.
The fun part is seeing the size of the baby and what they compare it’s size to. 😂

Did you know: student loan debt sucks? Yup it does!!
Did you also know the holder of the loans can DOUBLE your interest?
Yup, they can.
🖕🏼
We’ve been working diligently for years to get out of our student loan debt and with our interest rate doubling we took the leap to take our savings and wipe out the last chunk.

And no, loan forgiveness doesn’t and didn’t help all of us with loans. We paid back every single cent and then some!

Freedom!!!!!

Most of the followers on our page know either George or I personally. Some were part of our IVF journey. And some are part of the IVF community I am part of. Some we know from travel. And some are complete strangers.

We decided to start this page as a way to talk about food and wine, travel, parenting, entrepreneurship, and this thing we call life.

Well the last several posts have been about IVF and pregnancy because that’s the stage of our life right now.

Today I had my high risk appointment. 🙀😬🫣😳

Why am I high risk?

3️⃣8️⃣ My advanced maternal age. I’m 38 but you would suppose I was 68 sometimes 🤣

💉 IVF PREGNANCY 🤰🏻

⏳history of my past pregnancy

🧬 genetics

So I met my doc. He’s male. I promised myself I would never go to another male obgyn again but apparently the guys are the only ones who deal with high risk around here. Well I couldn’t have been more surprised and happy at how much I genuinely like my doctor. 🙏🏽🙌🏽

The staff was also awesome. Thourough. And kind.

We discussed my risks and though I have a few things to be concerned about in general we have a plan of action.

With Auroras delivery I had tremendous complications and I needed some life saving blood transfusions. I’m very thankful for that and would never regret it. But I found out today it was from the transfusion that I “caught” a new genetic (I guess it’s genetic since it was on my genetic screening) issue. Who would have thought? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was also informed my placenta is not cooperating right now. Apparently I have placenta previa and it’s likely why I ended up in the ER last week. Right now I just have to take it easy ( I mean, really, what is taking it easy? 🤷🏻‍♀️😂) but if it doesn’t get better or change locations I’m going to have more extreme circumstances.

For me this caused more of a freak out than any genetic condition. It’s like I had ptsd from my delivery trauma all over again. But now I have 5 more months to wait and see how it’s going to turn out.

We’re very optimistic things will shift into place.

Here’s to hoping for the best!! But being prepared for anything life throws at us.

If you’ve made it to the end of this post thanks for sticking with it. Putting my words together has been a little strange and overwhelming.

Cute photo of the babe just for fun 🤩

Sooo… big things happening in the Vallone House.

As many of you know We’ve been going through a fertility journey the last few years… maybe you could even say for over a decade.

We went through IVF to get pregnant with Aurora. And clearly that was a success and one of the best things that ever happened to us in our entire lives. I had a rough delivery so we took many years off of even thinking about having more children.

But we finally decided now is the time. We started going through IVF again and our first transfer was not successful. We had one last chance. Our frozen little embaby whom Aurora lovingly nicknamed Elsa because it was frozen. 

Funny thing is, George’s grandma’s name was Elsa. So we took that as a good omen.

On November 1 we went through our transfer. And after an IVF transfer you have a two week wait or a TWW before you even really know if it’s possible that you’re pregnant.
We did that and our tests came up positive. I took an at home test that was positive. My blood work was positive. And everything looked to be according to plan. Then I had to wait two more days to make sure that my blood levels doubled. The doctor is checking to make sure that my hCG level goes from 500 on the first test to over 1000 on the second one. I passed with flying colors.

Next step is to hear the heartbeat. When you go through IVF your scans are more often and much earlier then if you were to get pregnant the normal way.

This is still extremely early in the pregnancy. We are cautiously optimistic that everything will go as planned and we will have a strong and healthy baby and a easy and safe delivery…

I know so many of you have reached out to me checking in to see if we have any news yet. So George and I decided to go ahead and share this news. we always appreciate continued prayers, positive thoughts, hugs, hope, and any positive juju you can send our way 🙏🏽💓🙏🏽💓🙏🏽💓

Aurora🌈🦄 is clearly stoked. But I think she was more excited that her elf on the shelf came back early to tell her that she’s gonna be a big sister. 😂

If you know of anybody dealing with infertility who has questions about IVF I’m more than happy to answer them open an honestly. I don’t know everything and I’m not a doctor. But I do know it’s nice to have other women who are going through the same thing to lean on. And then all honesty the guy is going through it too so don’t discount his emotions either.

This kid is kicking butt all around.

She lost her 7th tooth 🦷(who’s counting?!?) 🧚‍♂️

And she gave me my shot in da b***y

Like a ROCKSTAR 💫

We have an animal lover through and through. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. We just want her to stop growing up so fast.

Though it’s not done yet, we finally got our first swim in 🍾🙌🏽

So when you go through IVF and have to give yourself multiple injections per day, you stock up on a ton of used syringes… you can’t just throw those suckers out. You have to put them in a sharps container and dispose of them properly.
These babies have been sitting in my spare bedroom, then my car for waaaay tooo long.
It seems im on mission impossible to get rid of them now though.
Currently enjoying the lobby of the police department (where I was told there would be a drop off bin) til  an officer calls me back.

**update- they don’t take them 😫
Orange city apparently does.