Our Story: November 2014

Month 6: Baby!

Age: 6 months

Weight: 17.9 lbs.

Major calendar events: Playgroup at church, getting baptized, first Rice football game

Milestones: Sitting up!

Sleep: Uuuhh.... where to begin... we FINALLY switched Heidi over to her own crib in her own room. The first night or two went great. She went down easy, didn't wake up in the middle of the night... however, at this point it takes HOURS to get her to go down. She can be completely zonked and then the second she gets put down she's wide awake and screaming her head off. After multiple hours, she eventually is tired enough to stay sleeping when we put her down. Goodness. I don't know how to fix this!! We have tried to let her cry it out... however it's not like a "putting herself to sleep" cry it out - more like a "someone is surely trying to kill me so I will scream bloody murder and work myself up more and more until someone comes to get me" cry. She is never so tired that she just gives up, slows down and eventually zonks out. So sleep is... not good. Terrible. Although finally moving her into her own room was major progress. Somehow we have zero issues getting her to take naps during the day, perhaps because 99% of the time it's on mommy...oops.

Likes: Shrieking and screeching, watching and smiling at the dogs, SHOPPING! phones and remote controls, bath time and yelling like someone is falling off of a cliff (AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.............)

Dislikes: Going to sleep at night.

Best moment: Seeing Heidi baptized in the church that I grew up in and that we got married in! Also, Ryan had to go out of town for work and I was super nervous about Heidi actually sleeping while he was gone - she did AWESOME the first night - yay!!

Worst moment: Nothing comes to mind

Eating: Still exclusively breastfeeding, every 4 hours. However, we have tried a few solid foods just for fun (and in an attempt to fill Heidi up a little bit more before bedtime!) We have tried bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes! Avocado was the only thing that she really didn't care for.

Things I want to remember: Everything!

Month 6: Mama

I do still feel somewhat imbalanced... although just sometimes not very often. Almost like a PMS kind of thing. I am sure this is from the hormones that accompany breastfeeding. I am also So. Freaking. Hot. All the time. I'm always hot and sweaty and I get hot flashes constantly. If I had it my way, I would just hang out with menopausal women all the time because they know what I'm going through!! Other than that I can honestly say that breastfeeding is not something that I hate. It took me several months to get here, and for my boobs to adjust and stop making me feel miserable and gross all the time. But we're here. We did it. 6 months!!! A goal that 5 months ago (hell even 3 months ago) I thought I would never make it to. And guess what? We're going to keep going!

Personal info coming your way.... but OMG yall major scare this month. Remember how last month my period returned for the second month in a row?? Well.... this month the day came and went. Nothing. My brain was telling me "Surely, SURELY my body is still just out of whack and getting back to normal. SURELY." However, there was a part of me deep down thinking... "WHAT IF?!?!?" It's possible. And it wouldn't be the absolute worst thing in the world. But definitely not something that my body is ready for again quite yet. So I was freaking out but trying not to jump to conclusions... but still freaking out... I refused to take a pregnancy test because that would make my fears more real despite the result. I just wanted to stay in a world where that wasn't even a possibility. I told Ryan while we were on a walk one day. He just laughed. For being such a planner, ducks-in-a-row kind of guy, he has always been super unconcerned (maybe unstressed is a better word...) when it comes to having babies (somehow!) and for that I am extremely grateful. He said that I was probably right and that my body was still probably just adjusting to not having a baby in it anymore, but if that WASN'T the case that we would be okay. And he would laugh. Even though I told him that it would NOT be funny. One week later... my suspicions were right and everything was back to normal. WHEW. (Turns out there actually is a pretty decent amount of science backing up the whole "exclusive breasfeeding = birth control, which I might get more into later...it's pretty interesting!) So I basically had a full week of semi-panic mode, but other than that there is nothing really new or exciting to report on my end.

Here are some pics from our 6th month with this angel!!