5 Month Update

Landry turned 5 Months Old on August 28, 2014

He's in the 75th percentile for his weight and height.  Last time he was measured at 4 and 1/2 months old he was 17.2 lbs and 26 1/4 inches long.  In the past month he has tried sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, and peas.  He has loved every one of them! 

He loves to jump in his jumper still and is rolling over from his back to his stomach any time we lay him down, which makes diaper changes fun yet challenging! 

He loves Mickey Mouse Club House and you can tell Mickey is his favorite character.  Anytime he sees him pop up on the television he gets a huge smile and wide eyes. 

He's been the biggest joy to watch grow and develop.  I wish I could stay in this moment forever with him.  He's seriously heaven sent, no doubt.  And I thank God for this gift, every single day and night.

I like to caption this picture as "5 Months Old, No Big Deal!"

 

Nothing prepares you for "Mom Guilt"

     I actually felt guilty for giving my little Landry green beans.  He LOVES them.  The very first time he tried them, he gobbled them up.  However, a few hours later, he got gassy.  I didn't contribute his gassiness to just greenbeans, I mean come on, if you have a baby, or even just been around a baby, you know how much they toot.  It could have been the formula he is supplemented with, or it could have even been something I ate and then he ingested while nursing, I do eat my fair share of raw broccoli ya know?.  So...whatever...**shrugs it off**.  We tried green beans again the next week.  Welp, we know for sure now, the green beans are probably giving him gas.  And because I hand fed him the toot producing puree, I felt like crap.  It's my fault he's uncomfortable, how could I not feel like crap. 
  
     What I want every mother to hear that is reading this, and yes I need to re-read this and take this advice myself, is seriously stop blaming yourself.   First of all, do you know how good green beans are for you?  Let's see, green beans rank very low on the list of foods that prompt any type of allergic reaction and they aren't on the "dirty dozen" list of foods highly contaminated with pesticides.  The many nutrients in green beans can help you prevent a number of different conditions, including Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease, colon cancer, asthma, arthritis, acne, ear infections, and maybe even colds and flu’s.  But even with all that positive information I laid out, his couple of farts made me feel like *gasp* a bad mother.
   
     I'm an awesome mom, if not for anything other than feeling like a bad mother for giving their child nutricious food.  I need to remember that, dammit!  Learning these things, like what food gives your baby gas, allergic reactions, or tummy aches is part of the deal in trying out new foods.  What can ya do?  It's not like your baby is going to eat breastmilk/formula for the rest of his life. 

     Don't get me started on how guilty I feel for having my son in daycare while I go to work.  Do you have any idea how much I miss him during the day?  I think of him, literally every single second that I'm not with him.  So when my son cries in the middle of the night, more than once, do I let him cry it out?  Hell no I don't!  He doesn't get me at all during the day, why would I let him cry for me at night time when I'm readily available to him?  Tired? Yes, I'm exhausted, but I'm available to him, and if he wants me, he gets me. 

     Breast milk vs Formula....aye yai yai.  The list could go on of things us mothers feel guilt over.  I felt guilty when my milk supply started to dwindle.  He's still getting breast milk, which is more than I could say for what I thought he was going to get.  When I was pregnant, I said to myself, if I can breast feed with no issues on my end, and no issues on his, then I will do it, no matter how tired it makes me or how demanding his feeding schedule is.  And I'm still doing it, so why do I feel bad if my body is just producing less, when I haven't done anything to make myself produce less?  It is what it is.  Landry is 5 months old and he's gotten breast milk every single day since he was born.  I need to be grateful that I am able to still nurse him and stop dwelling on the fact that I might be producing less than I was the day before.  All good things come to an end eventually.

    I swear, one day I will pat myself on the back and say, "You're doing great."  Until I can do that for myself, I think it's really important to encourage other mothers in the same way, tell your best friend, your sister, your aunt, your co-worker, and especially your own mother, that she is an amazing mother and efforts are noticed. 
    

Lots of Laughs

Landry already makes me laugh so much, but I truly think he enjoys making me laugh. Today while I was nursing him, he would pop off, but his hand on my lips or nose and squeeze and wait for my response. I would either say "honk!" or blow on his little hand and each time he would giggle from it, I'd giggle to.  He is seriously just pure joy. God, I just love him so much. 

Slept through the night!!!

July 31st into August 1st, 2014, my baby slept through the night!!! He slept from 7pm until 10pm and I nursed him. Then at midnight he woke up, hungry, and I tried to nurse him but he wanted nothing to do with my boobs. So, I had Cris heat the bottle that was in the fridge, and he ended up heating it to the point where it was too hot. So, by this time Landry had stopped crying but was wide awake. Finally the bottle was cool enough and he ended up taking 6 ounces.  Welp that's the last thing that happened. I woke up and Landry was STILL sleeping. I can't believe it! I actually had to wake him up before my boobs exploded! I don't expect for it to happen again, it could have been a growth spurt or a fluke, but I'm so happy that I actually got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in over a year. It's pretty amazing. 

My little party animal...

Landry seriously cracks me up.  I hear him crying around 3:30am...so I of course pick his cute ass up from the crib and comfort him.  Shhing him until he quiets, and then taking him to my bed to nurse him.  He nurses for a strong five minutes until his belly is content.  Pops off  the boob and starts to squeal and giggle, kicking his legs in delight, flapping his arms like a baby bird while simultaneously smacking me in the face.  Waking up his daddy, who can't help but flip over to face the little ball of love and laugh right along with him.  I could care less that this baby has been up every two hours since midnight...he's seriously everything I could have ever wanted in a child.  His (gummy) smile is the light of my life.  I never understood pure joy until Landry arrived.  I mean, yes, I have had a happy life, but this...it's honestly indescribable.  The miracle that he is...I'll cherish these memories of his squeals at 3:30am, his flapping little arms and the kicking of his chubby little legs.  I'll cherish every second forever.

Sleep...or lack there of...

Wait, your baby is how old?  He’s not sleeping through the night yet? Have you tried…..

     Honestly…I’ve heard that line more than necessary.  You know what is more frustrating than not getting any sleep?  Listening to everyone else’s magical tale of how they got their baby to sleep through the night.  When are people going to understand that having a baby is not a cookie-cutter type of situation?  Every baby is different, every parent is different, and for pete’s sake, every baby’s sleeping, eating, pooping, and playing pattern is different.  So just zip it already!

     I’m totally all for getting advice, WHEN I ASK FOR IT.  But if you yourself are a mom and know what it feels like to be sleep deprived, why on Earth would you give unsolicited advice about how to put a baby to sleep so that they sleep through the night?  You’re just going to end up the making the overly exhausted mother feel like an even bigger failure.

     On that note, Landry had his first night where he didn’t exactly sleep through the night,  but he also didn’t wake every two hours to eat.  No, I’m not going to list here step by step what we did to make that happen because guess what,  no matter what I say, your baby is different and you might get different result.  On the other hand if you’re interested, just ask, I don’t mind sharing.

     All I really wanted to tell you is that we all have been there and you aren’t alone.  Nothing can prepare you for the exhaustion you are going to experience as a mom.  Or guilt, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.  I just hope you find comfort in knowing that those bags under your eyes and your hair that hasn’t been washed in four days, is all very normal and accepted here in mommy-land. As hard as these nights and days can be, just embrace it, because all too soon that baby that we are getting up for, won’t be a baby anymore and you’ll miss the late night hours of mommy-baby time.

     Ending this blog post with my true feelings…there is nothing that compares to the love I have for my son…I’d stay up every single hour of every single day if I could just to soak up every little ounce of him.  I’m beyond blessed and I’ll never forget the struggle I endured to conceive such a miracle.  I’ll sleep when I’m dead :)

Slacker McSlackerson

Oh my gosh...I can't believe how badly I have slacked at updating my blog!  Welp...better late than never, right?  Landry is 14 weeks old.  He is seriously the light of our lives.  He brings us so much joy it's truly incredible.  The highlights of his third month are jumping in his bouncer and giggling.  He loves attention and will actually make a fuss if he's not getting any.  He wants to make sure you are watching him have fun (just like his daddy).
Landry celebrated his first July 4th holiday this month.  He slept through the LOUD fireworks going off right next to our house.  He also transitioned into the crib that very same night.  He did amazing!  And to be 100% honest, he sleeps so much better in his crib.  His sprawls out and is loving all the space he has.  I guess the bassinet was getting a little tight, but I didn't want to move him to his crib until we an AC unit in his room, which we do now.  Its been quite hot, especially on the 2nd floor of our house.  Having a nice cool room for him to sleep in has helped him stay asleep longer (or so I like to think, because I sleep better when it's cool instead of hot).
My little sister had her baby on June 24th and I am an aunt once again, but this time I have been blessed with a NIECE!  She's beautiful.  Her name is Kellie Grace and I'm smitten.  I can't wait to babysit in the near future.  It's so nice having a sister that was pregnant while I was and now has a little baby.  We swap stories and advice and it is comforting to both of us knowing we are in this together.