Reflections

Yesterday, Darby had his 1/2 birthday :0) He's 6 month's old! That mark started me thinking...

1. Yay! I've gone 6 months with breastfeeding... kind of. It might be TMI but its okay. Darby and I never really got a hang of breastfeeding. After his birth, literally a dozen nurses and 1/2 a dozen lactation consultants later, we couldn't get it down. We tried EVERYTHING. It just wasn't working. So I decided to just pump and bottle feed. It ended up being the right thing because Darby had to take medicine in a bottle with his milk and it worked out just fine. But its been really hard... I'm connected to a machine instead of just being connected to an infant when i travel, and i have double the amount of bottles and pump parts to wash constantly during the day... but it has its perks too. I don't have to always be the one to feed the baby! I can go out for the evening or sleep in late, and someone else can warm a bottle and feed him. I read a statistic the other day, 60% of babies are not breastfed past 8 weeks. I figure, I'm doing pretty good then. I also think it might have something to do with how healthy darby has been as well... like cold sickness and whatnot. We have been in and out of the hosptials 3 times already and darby still hasn't even had a cold. The fact that I live with him in the hospital, create antibodies, and feed him, I think it helps :0) or I try to tell myself that at least.
However, I did think of it the other way... I have to pump at minimum 3 times a day, and for another 6 months (a lofty goal), oye.... 530 times left at least? Yuck. ;0)

2. I can't believe its been 6 months. Only 6 months? Haven't we had Darby forever? And yet, I completely remember the days when Jason and I could just spontaneously go out or spend the night somewhere without having to plan and pack a whole ton of things. Or even when I used to be able to run in to the post office and buy a couple stamps, or go to eat fast food that wasn't a drive thru (like subway... i miss subway).

3. I think about how my life has changed a lot in the last 6 months. Its all been for the good. I never would have expected all of these changes, but I welcome them because they are good. We still have a rough road ahead... lots of what ifs and probably some more difficult times, but we're going to be okay... not only okay, but probably absolutely great :0)

4. darby's stats:
-19 lbs (about 75th percentile)
-27 inches long (about 90th percentile? but it might not have been accurate)
- He can see us and hear us when we walk in a room.
- He's getting his fingers in his mouth and playing with his pacifier.
- He has figured out how to get some things in his mouth... not always, but sometimes he gets something in his hands just right and tries to pull it to his mouth.
- He's getting on his side, from his back, but hasn't rolled quite yet.
- He's holding his head okay, and when he sits up, he kind of folds in half... but we are working on it!
- He's eating sweet potatoes, prunes, and pears. Although since his eating habits have decreased significantly this last week or so, he hasn't had any 'solids'. We're lucky to get 15oz of breastmilk in him!
-He found his tongue this week! And just in the last day or two he has learned to raspberry! I find it impressive because I can't do it.
-He is a talker! Chatty chatty chatty... he mostly moans (we try to think of it as singing or something more pleasant) and when he gets his fingers in his mouth it turns to babbling. More often then not, we can leave the room and then hear some strange new sound and run back to see that it was darby... smiling and figuring out new sounds that he can make.
- He is such a happy baby. Maybe even abnormally happy... he really rarely cries. Maybe we're just too attentive and don't really make him wait long before we get him something that he needs or wants.
-He's a little behind, but we believe he'll catch up one day. We have to believe it! I can't imagine my little guy actually crawling or even walking around... its almost unfathomable! But wouldn't it be great? It might take a little longer than his friends, but darby will get there :0)

Happy 6 months baby boy!