6-7 Weeks

My little boy is now 7 weeks old. I'm watching him transform before my eyes. Just the other day, I looked at him and thought, "He looks so much older now!" And when I look back at his pictures from his first week, he looks double the size.

Things continue to get easier and more enjoyable. I've often heard the first 3 months described as "survival mode". I think, for the most part it's true- at least the first month was for me. It's not that I don't/didn't love and treasure my little boy, but that it's quite the learning process... and, unfortunately, there's no concrete answers and what might work one day doesn't the next. Everyone (especially those who specialize in pediatric care) has their advice, and it gets even more complicated when they oppose each other. Combine that with only sleeping an hour or two at a time and feeling that it's a chore to just get up and make yourself lunch (and forget about taking showers!), and you've got a recipe for exhaustion, confusion, and stress. My advice to anyone about to enter this situation is to get as much help as possible. Being the only one to get up in the middle of the night to feed the baby and then spending all day alone with them too while your spouse works can be overwhelming. If someone else can come over and be with you, they can hold your baby while you take a shower, pick up around the house, make lunch, or take a much needed nap. It makes a HUGE difference!

But as I said, it's getting so much better. I've finally got this pumping thing down. I'm making enough milk to feed Josiah, between 6 and 11 oz at a time, which allows me to finally have some stores away in the refrigerator. This gives us the freedom to go longer than 2 hours before I have to pump again. I haven't had any more engorgement with fever or chills for the past 4 weeks. Josiah has some nights that are better than others, but if we lay him in his crib between 10pm and 11pm, he'll only wake up 2 or 3 times before 7, usually just at 3 or 4 and 6 or 7, but after 7:30, he doesn't usually sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. This means I have been having early mornings with little hope of going back to sleep, but, more importantly, just the extra hours sleep during the night make a world of difference.

Josiah is now awake more during the day, enjoys looking around at everything, and smiles more often. He likes the shower much more than the bathtub because he likes the water hitting his body. He used to fuss any time we "bothered" him with things like changing his diaper or clothes, or putting him in his carseat, but he handles it more patiently now. He is able to sit in a swing or lay on the floor for longer periods of time before wanting to be picked up again. All of it makes my day a bit easier and my time with him more enjoyable.

Last Thursday, I had my 6-week post-partum OB-GYN appointment. The nurse asked me if I wanted to weigh-in, which I opted to do. I have lost 28 lbs since having Josiah, 18 lbs lighter than I was pre-pregnancy. Then she took me into the room. I didn't have to do any urine samples this time. She didn't check my blood pressure either. In fact, I don't really remember her saying or doing much aside from informing me that I'd have a PAP smear since I had it last October. Now I'll be on an annual schedule to have it every October. So, I had to strip down from the waist down and then Dr. York came in. She did the normal PAP smear and then checked to make sure that my uterus is returning to its normal size along with checking my incision. I told her that I did end up having to pull out 2 of the staples myself because they were sticking out and the incision wasn't healing up in that place. She said I was brave, but did exactly what she would've done had I come in instead. I thought that I would have a breast exam too, but she didn't do one. Instead, she just asked me if I was breastfeeding and how it was going. She was curious why I was just pumping, but when I explained, she seemed to be fine. I also told her about the engorgement/mastitis that I was having, and she said that I responded just as I should: warm showers, massages, extra pumping, etc. Aside from that, apparently, I'm one of the few people that continues to bleed 7 weeks after giving birth. Lucky me!!! However, because I had a c-section, Dr. York said that we know there's no risk of any part of the placenta being left behind or anything like that, so it should just go away on its own soon. Furthermore, she said that the birth control pills may help do so (although it hasn't yet). And being prescribed the birth control pills was the final part of our discussion. In all honestly, I have no idea how likely I am to get pregnant again. On one hand, it took me over a year and the use of fertility medication to get pregnant the first time. On the other hand, though, sometimes just getting pregnant is what your body needs to kick it into gear, causing you to get pregnant the next time really quickly. My mom, for example, went through 4 years and a miscarriage before having me, but I was only 5 months old when she got pregnant with my brother. So, I have decided to go ahead and use birth control, figuring that it'd protect me if I need it or isn't making a difference- both keeping me from being pregnant until I'm ready again. Jesse and I have discussed waiting until Josiah is 9 months to a year old before trying again. That way, if it happens right away, they'll still be a year and half apart, or if it takes another year, they'll still be reasonably close together. The pills I am on, though, are a mini pill, specifically because I'm breastfeeding and the normal pill tends to dry you up more. They aren't as effective (95% compared to 99%) and are more difficult because, according to the pharmacist, I should take them at the same time everyday (within a half an hour) or they aren't as effective. If I miss a pill or go more than half an hour, I should use another method of birth control too for a week to protect myself, and I also have to do that for the first 2 weeks until they become effective. It's kinda tedious, but I'd rather have that than to do a more invasive procedure like an IUD or go without protection. From there, Dr. York said to come back in a year for my next annual exam unless I get pregnant before that...

In other news, I LOVE this time of year!!! Autumn is my favorite season! I love the leaves changing colors. I love all of the Fall decor. I love the crisp air (not so much the rain) and cozying up in my jeans and sweatshirt. I love Thanksgiving (and Christmas on the way). It's Jesse's birthday on November 5th, mine on November 25th, and my mom's on November 28th. I love celebrating each of these days. This year, I am particularly excited to celebrate my 25th birthday and my mom's 50th birthday. For me, I had set a personal goal of starting a family before I turned 25 years old, and I feel totally blessed to celebrate this year with my baby boy. Also, because my mom has always gone all out on my birthday parties (and her's often gets neglected since it's 3 days later), I am going ALL OUT on her birthday this year- plus, she's 50 years old! That's a big one to celebrate! So, I can't divulge the details of the party planning since my mom reads this blog, but I am super stoked to put it all together, and you'll have to wait a month and a half to find out anything more about it. One of my favorite things to do during this time of year is to go to the pumpkin patch. I like the hundreds of pumpkins scattered along the ground in all shapes and sizes. I like the sunflowers, the petting zoos, and the hayrides. I plan on going this week, and can't wait to get pictures of my little "pumpkin" in the midst of all the others. I'll be sure to post more pictures of that once it happens. In the meanwhile, here are the most recent pictures of Josiah: