The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of emotions. We've continued with the sleep training, and Georgia is trying so, so hard to sleep. I'm learning so much as I go along, and I'm a LOT calmer - so I'm thrilled that things are progressing. It's hard, and draining, but I'm finding the better she sleeps in the day, the calmer she sleeps at night.

Win win!

I realised a few days ago that I had quite a few new followers in the online world - I've been pretty open with sharing pictures of my wee girl, but after a few odd faces and comments, I decided to make a switch. The blog here will stay as it is, where I can monitor what I put up & how often. But I have removed my previous accounts on Twitter & Instagram and have started over privately on both of those mediums. I could have blocked and removed accounts on both, but I tried that out and it was far too tedious. Easier just to start over.

I know many people don't like to share photos of their little ones, or at least keep more control over their online presence. I've always been fairly open, although I'd like to think sensible, about what I share. The support I received through blogging and other social mediums while I was going through infertility, IVF & then pregnancy was nothing short of amazing, so sharing my ventures into parenthood seems only natural. Besides, I love the advice I get here & reading other people's stories makes me feel that little bit less lonely on the tough days.

Hubby has started his new job & I'm on my own with Georgia from Monday mornings to Friday nights.

It's been 20 weeks since Georgia was born, and I'm still learning about motherhood as I go along.

Here on the blog, it's been all Georgia, all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that; she's been the centre of everything since her arrival - but there are other things that have been happening, too.

Hubby has been working overseas in New Zealand quite a bit - what was supposed to be a six week project turned into an ongoing one with no end date in sight. He fought them {using G as his reasoning} and got out of going there consecutively, but those Sunday-Wednesday night weeks were exhausting, for him and for us. He gave his notice in a few weeks ago, and starts his new job next week.

Yep, new job! My clever husband found a new job quite quickly. Sad news is there's a little travelling involved in this one too, but it's interstate in Melbourne, and they're quite happy to fly him back and forth on Monday-Fridays. They've also offered to put him up in a serviced apartment, so that Georgia & I can fly down every now and then to be there with him! This one's for three months, and then he'll be based in Sydney for a change.

I've been trying to get out and about now that Georgia is bigger and has had her second batch of vaccinations. We've visited my old workplace, friends and a few family members, and I've been making an effort to catch up with other local mums that I've met through due-in-groups. There are a few lovely local mums that are very sweet, with babies close to her age. It's so fun seeing them all hanging out together, even though they don't do much other than tummy time & coo-ing at one another. It'll be even better when they're on the move!

Sometimes this motherhood thing can be lonely, though. Apparently having a baby can make you a social leper.

I've been putting my energy into planning Georgia's christening, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. The church is booked, the invitations have been sent out - outfit sort of planned, candle planned. Next up is getting things ready for afterwards at our place. I think Mum & I are going to attempt the cake again, and we'll just grab some sandwich platters & snacks. The biggest question is going to be whether Georgia will fit into my old christening gown, which I'd really love for her to wear - my late Nanna hand-sewed little bows on the dress, and it would mean a lot for her to wear it. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Speaking of snacks.. I've rekindled my love for my slow cooker. Having a baby that sleeps well at night but hardly naps during the day means that my hands are full nearly all the time - so cooking can be tricky. The slow cooker means that I can throw something into it in the morning and leave it all day... easy peasy. My favourites are apricot chicken & roast meats, but I'm starting to get a bit adventurous. If you have any favourite slow cooker recipes, feel free to point them out to me. There's a roast lamb in mine at the moment & it smells amazeballs.

Since my life has changed so much in the last year, I can't NOT end this post with my beautiful daughter. This exact day last year I was blown away when my second IVF flashed up as PREGNANT on a digital test.

We've come a long way, baby. Georgia is 19 weeks old now, say what?

I feel like I need to make a comment about time going by too fast, but I say it all the time. Later on, I'll rock back and forth in my chair looking at her newborn pictures and cry.. but for now, I'll carry on with this post instead. :)

We are busy GROWING around these parts! In the last 23 days, Georgia has been busy getting heavier AND longer.
She now weighs 6.06kg & is 61cm long - a big jump from her last weigh in at 5.42kg and 58cm. Huzzah, baby girl!

It's been a while since I talked about how things are going on the feeding front. In fact, the last update was when Georgia was three weeks old! Before you start reading this post, yes, this will talk about boobs. Here's a random baby picture to make it worth your while, if you choose to stop reading here. :)

Georgia is 16 weeks old now. She'll be 4 months old next week. And, I'm happy to say, we are still exclusively breastfeeding! It's been a long, hard stretch, but I am so pleased that we managed to get this far. 

I still enjoy feeding her this way. It's convenient, and it's comforting. She's starting to become more efficient too, which makes for a much quicker feeding session. I must say, I like this a LOT. In the early days we went from falling asleep at the boob, then switched to marathon 30-40 minute sessions. We're currently at 10 minutes a side, sometimes less, and feeds are around every 3.5 hours. {As a side note, she's also becoming more curious and cheeky while she feeds. I can't count the amount of times that she pulls away and just gives me the biggest grin. Love this child so much!}

My supply is holding up, for now. I don't have a lot leftover at the end of the day, and I'm down to one pumping session just before bed. I usually only get around 40-60ml. Certainly not a power pumper! But the good news is, I have a nice little freezer stash - and I'm only topping up with expressed milk ONCE a day. That 40-60ml I get from the previous night, is what I feed Georgia before bed the following night. It's probably not a necessary top up, but it makes me feel better. Our bedtime routine is usually bath, bottle of expressed milk, boob {mostly for comfort} & bed. We'll be introducing a bedtime book to our routine soon.

The next few months are going to be interesting. The solid food guidelines have gone from 6 months to 4 months to 6 months again, and we're aiming to start her closer to 6 months. She's not showing any interest in food yet, though is watching us more closely at dinner time now. And since she did come that little bit early, feeding her solid foods later rather than sooner seems to make more sense to us.  

As for breastfeeding, it would be pretty bloody awesome to keep it up until she's done needing it/me - but I'm not getting too far ahead of myself. If I can continue solely breastfeeding until we start solids, that would be the dream. And if I can keep it up while we're mix feeding solids, I'll be thrilled. One week at a time, though. :)

I still remember buying my first piece of baby clothing. It had owls on it, of course {I still love birdies} and it was fairly gender neutral - although at the time, I was sure Baby Jag would be a boy! It looked like this: