6 Months!

Dear My Little Love, Beatrix;
Today you are both 26 weeks old and 6 calander months old. It was so monumental to have both of these milestones on the same day, that we had to throw a party in your honour! You had a great time being held by all of your friends, but mostly I will use any reason to have a party in your honour. I think you're such a great little person that I have this desire to show you off whenever I can (and cooking for a big group of people is always amusing for me).
but it is late now and I need to clean up from the party, so I will finish writing this later.

Babywearing!

OR: I tie, buckle and sling my baby from my body!

Remember this post?

I still stand by what I said, although it was a little harsh about Bjorns.... However, the more I read of people's accounts with them the more I'm glad I've never bought one. I find that often when I am wearing Trixie around other moms with little babies they'll make some comment that they've tried wearing their babies, but the babies didn't like it. So, naturally, I'll ask which carrier they used and their answer is always either a Bjorn or a Snuggli.

le sigh.

Since my last post I have not been blessed with the blue daisy Didymos, I guess Adam didn't get the hint that well! I have bought a Beco Butterfly though, which some people might say is the same as a Bjorn, but it's soooo not. The Beco does have a panel between you and your baby, which I find to be annoying, but it's small and still gives me lots of contact with Trixie. It's also to have the panel there because it makes putting the baby into a back carry really easy.

The Beco also differs from a Bjorn in how it sits the baby. In a Bjorn the baby sits on it's crotch, which is hard on the baby's hips, pelvis and spine (do a Google search if you don't believe me), whereas in a Beco (or Pikklo, Ergo, Jet Pack, etc.) the baby sits on their bum, which is much better for the baby's hips. Laura at the Portable Baby explains this better (and explains why facing out isn't good for a baby).

I've also recently bought a Baby Hawk, which is a great carrier. Trixie fell asleep in it with in a couple minutes of trying it on for the first time, which lets me know that it's a great purchase for us. I'll try to post some pictures of us using it. The Baby Hawk is really easy to put on, it just ties to your body with straps. You can wear your baby on your back with it, although it does take a little practice.

I use my New Native pouch a lot in the carrier rotation, Trixie either lays in it in the cradle hold, which isn't her favourite, or she sits cross legged. She's so cute in the pouch with just her little head poking out. (thanks Regan for the picture!) I also use the pouch to do a hip carry, although Trixie is a little small for this and my pouch is a little big on me. I covet a size 2 or 3 Didymos to use like a Rebozo for a hip carry. It is really quite amazing what you can do with a piece of fabric!

And so concludes my recent forays into one of my new favourite things: Babywearing! (Trixie gives Babywearing a gummy, drooly smile)

Edited to add,
here is an old article (from the 90s) about how some carriers are bad for a baby's spine. At the top of the article it has a disclaimer: "an upright carrier should hold your baby the way your arms would, e.g., facing you with legs in a frog-like, spread-squat position with the baby's weight supported across the buttocks and thighs"

C-Sections suck!

Remember this? My famous last words in an attempt to be an optimist were, "Hopefully it isn't anything serious..."; and so... I should have let my inner pessimist out to play!
Okay it's not that bad, but I do have to go in for another surgery, this time a little more complicated one involving scissors. Which makes me remember this post; especially this line: "I'm pretty sure security is tight so no scissors were admitted without my approval...", and now I have to admit some scissors! (And a camera and a little vacuum!) Sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon, doesn't it?
Okay so why do c-sections suck? The infertility doctor figures that the crazy amounts of scarring I have are related to my c-section! Now please explain to me again why people willingly sign up for these? And, seriously if I hear to avoid tearing I might whip down my pants and show them my ugly c-section scar!

Okay lets talk about my uterus since I've told the internets everything else.
A normal uterus is like a triangle standing on it's point with the wide part at the top. My uterus looks like a heart. The top is rounded out from scar tissue and there is something in the middle making it heart shaped, could be a polyp or just a lot of scarring, the doctor isn't quite sure at this time. We know that the scarring is related to the c-section and pregnancy because we have images from April 2007 of my uterus and it was a perfect triangle, and now it's not. The scarring is in a strange place since the slicing and dicing for baby extraction is done at the bottom of the uterus, but apparently it's still all related.
So it looks like that this is the birth that keeps on giving! (answer me again, why do people sign up for c-sections?*)


*I mean elective c-sections, not emergency ones. I know that I am being a little harsh for judging people for not wanting small tears in their perineum instead opting for a 6 inch gash across their bikini line, but it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

5 Months!

My Dearest Baby Love, Beatrix;


I can hardly believe it, but you're 5 months old now! You've morphed from one of the most loveable loaves of bread (well you had the skills of one) into a baby! I could gush on for many, many paragraphs about how lucky I feel to have you and what a miracle you are, but I will spare you and the internets from that. Suffice to say that A) I am so lucky and B) you are a miracle and I will never forget that. (but that doesn't mean I'll let you get away with bloody murder....)




As for milestones you have been a busy girl this month! With each milestone you reach more and more of your personality surfaces and I delight to see who you are turning into. It really is one of the most amazing things to watch, or rather try to watch as it's happening so fast!


You've learned to blow raspberries this month and you take delight in this new noise that you can make. To my well trained Mama ear I can tell how you are feeling based on how you are blowing your raspberries. If it's a straight raspberry you are happy and playing, but if you are vocalizing a little with it, you are getting fustrated, either from being in a situation you don't want, or you're getting tired. Generally when you are tred you will combine this with scrubbing your head into my shoulder and head butting me as you flop your head down to my shoulder or chest.



Along with blowing raspberries you find it funny when I blow raspberries at you. You will giggle and act like it's the funniest thing ever, which is so good for your Mama's ego. Just like last month your giggle is the greatest thing I've ever heard, and I will do anything to hear it again! Luckily for me you grant me the giggles really easily. It's not an exaggeration to say that you really are the happiest baby on the block! People are always amazed at how easily you smile and how quick you are to giggle. I always tell people that it's all you, I have nothing to do with your easy going personality and that I am truly blessed that you are such a happy little girl.










Your favorite toy this month is your Sophie the Giraffe which is an old school teething toy, but you will spend a lot of time gnawing on her head, face, bum, legs or what ever part you can cram into your drooly, drooly mouth. I will offically declare Sophie to be the best $20 I've ever spent! I know of other moms who have lost their Sophies and have been quick to replace them, because they are such a great toy! I think with my mom's group we might have a little Sophie army to take over the Bay Area!

The mom's group I belong to is made up of moms and babies who were born in 2008, so you are one of the older babies. It's a great group to belong to because we get a chance to socalize and not get bored of staring at each other every day. You seem to love the other babies and you get so excited to see them. You'll squeal and laugh and if I let you get close enough you will grab at the babies, (they react in the same way and there is much Mama cooing at how cute the babies are.)

You are still a petite little girl. You wear mostly 0-3 month clothing, although you're still in some newborn sizes and you can fit into some 3-6 month clothes (mostly because your cloth diaper bum is bigger than a 'sposie bum.) I am trying to make sure that you wear everything that you have since you have a huge wardrobe because we have some of the best friends and family ever, and you were showered with generous gifts!

You have started to take a pacifier or as we call it a suckie. You do not like the Nuk ones and prefer the straight Gerber ones, and you will only take it when you are tired and about to go to sleep. I will only offer it to you if you are resisting sleep and are clearly sleepy, which seems to be a trend for you. To be fair you aren't hard to put down, you just want to be involved with everything going on; the suckie seems to remind you that you are tired and it settles you down, much like a shot of rum would, I imagine.

When I give you a bottle you have taken to rubbing my arm with your left hand as your right hand stroke my face or touches my hair. You are still so gentle when you do this and my heart swells as we share a little moment, it makes waking up at 4 am to feed you so very worth it. It seems that the middle of the night feedings will continue for a little while. I know that some parents talk about letting a baby your age cry themselves back to sleep, in an effort to "train" the baby to not need a bottle or a feeding in the middle of the night. I promise you that I will not try to train you, I understand that you are waking up because you are hungry, and you prove this to me when you drink your bottle, give me your lovey eyes and go back to sleep right away. The way I see it, you'll stop waking in the middle of the night when you're ready to sleep through the night, and I'm okay with you taking your time.

love, Mama.

5 Months ago today

I went into the hospital because I had a bit of a headache....