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. :)
- Continued to sleep through the night. These past few days she's been up at 5am though, which kind of sucks, but I'm still not complaining. We're really lucky in the sleep department.
- Continued to suck at day sleeps! ;) I've been timing them over the Baby Connect app & she has a pretty poor napping pattern. The community nurses all recommended that she has three main naps per day, but that certainly isn't happening.
- Met some more lovely babies her age & let her mama socialise with other new parents!
- Been shoving her hands in her mouth at any given opportunity. Mmmm, hands.
- Started grabbing her toys and aiming them for her mouth - favourites are Slim Shady {her scrunchy monkey} & her two Lamaze animal toys. She also loves Sophie the Giraffe.
- Smiled constantly! She is super cheerful during the mornings, and is happy as a clam when she is on the change table with her little bum in the air.
- Managed to go a full month without nappy rash. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that out loud...
- Breastfed like a rockstar. We're down to just one 50ml top-up before bed, and some nights she doesn't even want that - she goes straight for the boob, and then straight to sleep in her wrap.
- Has GROWN! We have officially cracked the 6.06kg mark & she is now 61cm long!
- Managed to fill out her 000 clothing with surprising speed; I guess the growth spurt will do that. Some smaller brands, like Bonds Wondersuits, have already grown tight, so she's in 00 for them.
- Been a champion tummy-timer. Her neck is so strong now! I realised that I've been holding her in a hip hold while walking around - it wasn't that long ago that we were ever so cautiously supporting her neck, and now all she wants to do is look around.
- Gone on a car-seat and pram strike. Not a fan of those things at the moment.
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. :)
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:
It always bothers me when people boast about what an easy baby they have - or on the other extreme, complain about what a tough baby they have. It's not that I don't doubt that their babies are awesome, or challenging, but aren't all babies a little bit of both?
Lately I've been surrounded by two kinds of people. The boasters {which is all well and good - I get it - we love our kids!} that go on and on about the achievements their kids have made & have little sympathy for us normal folk and our babies. And the complainers - and when I say that, I mean the type that have made their minds up about the fact that their kid is obviously a hindrance, and who don't want, or respond to, the advice and suggestions given by others. These extremes are what make me twitchy: we're all human, can't we just own up to it?
- How loud they are when they're asleep. Georgia alternates from sounding like a snuffling miniature warthog, to whimpering quietly in her sleep. Both are very endearing - unless it's 5am.
- How they behave when other people are visiting, but can be little terrors the second you're home alone.
- How hilarious her hairy ears are. {Will this ever go away?}
- How long it takes for me to get out of the house. It's not just shower, grab purse, go. It's shower with screaming child in the bouncer, pack bag while baby sleeps, put bag in car, dress and change baby's nappy, head to the car, get puked on, go back to dress and change baby's nappy again, and so on, and so forth.
- How certain things they do remind you of yourself. Georgia sneezes when she goes outside in the sunlight, like I do, nearly every time.
- How quickly they don't look like newborns anymore.
- How many outfits they can go through in a day. {And this is me counting myself lucky that we don't have an epic puking baby, or a crazy leaking butt baby.}
- How you can spend countless hours of every day acting like an idiot just to try and make them smile. :)
We have been at this parenting gig for three months now. Three months of warm, snuggly baby. Best. Job. Ever.
- Been sleeping through the night. We have a fairly late bedtime (around 10pm) but she lasts through until around 6-7am most of the time. Very happy mama, right here.
- Met up with a few other little babies & bad lots of friends visit her at home.
- Figured out that she has hands - and that they can fit in her mouth.
- Had cuddles with her other Uncle & Aunty from the UK when they came to visit. Very special.
- Started shoving anything and everything into her mouth, and sticking out her tongue to taste things. You know what that means? BABY SLOBBER. She's like a dribbling machine.
- Smiled constantly! It is the most adorable thing ever. She's the smiliest {& chattiest} in the morning - when she first wakes up, after feeds, and during her wide awake time.
- Gone through yet another batch of nappy rash - followed by a pooping strike. The aftermath of that has NOT been pleasant.
- Continued breastfeeding like a champion, mostly with the nipple shields, but occasionally on her own.
- Been growing!! At our last weigh in, she was 5.4kg & 58cm long.
- Officially started wearing size 000 {0-3 month} clothes. Some are still a little baggy, but they fit her well length-wise now.
- Kept on rolling over. She doesn't like tummy time much, and screeches until she flips onto her back.
- Started swatting at & touching her toys. I'm loving the new interest in bright colours & sounds.
- Gotten cuter and cuter by the day!
A lot of people assume that once you've had a baby, the sting of infertility melts away. I wish that were true.
Now, don't think for one second that I don't wake up every morning or go to bed each night, not remembering how blessed we are to have Georgia in our lives. Trust me, it's something I will never take for granted.
But hearing pregnancy announcements still feels like a kick in the guts. It's a reminder of something that should have been 'easy', should have just 'happened', was that 'natural' thing that most women can choose to plan.
So many things make me angry. Hearing people complain about it taking so long to conceive - and by 'so long', we're talking two or three months. It's just so unreal: we tried for almost two years, two years that felt like an eternity. And sadly, two years is small fry compared to so many others in the Infertility circles I'm in! Hearing about the OOPS pregnancies. Hearing the complaints and gripes about being pregnant: 'Why am I doing this?' - or worse - 'Why did I choose to do this AGAIN?' They have no idea how lucky they are.
Even people who I would consider close to me can't escape my bitterness. While I'm happy, and glad things have worked out for the best for them, I still feel sad. Why did it have to be us that had the hard slog? Why did we have to pay money, a LOT of money, for a child? Why did we have to go through months of disappointment, of surgical procedures, of loaded negative pregnancy tests, when others can get that BFP without even needing to think?
I'm sad that when it comes time to try for a future baby, we won't be able to 'time it'. We won't be able to try 'when the time is right' or plan for that perfect age-gap between babies. I'm sad that it'll take money, doctors appointments, stress. And I'm nervous that despite all those things, it may not even work.
I'm not an awful person. I'm so thankful to have this little person in my life, that we were able to add to our family of fur-babies with our beautiful baby girl. I just wish people understood that the infertility and the pain doesn't magically disappear after becoming a parent. It still hurts, and it sucks.
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