First Foods

Sweet potatoes. It's a tradition. Then I gave her banana. She doesn't eat out of a jar. I only give her freshly mashed food. I'm thing of avocado next.

Birth Story

I've always thought that the busier you are the more you have to blog about. But you are too busy to blog then. My baby girl is six months old and I still haven't told you the birth story yet. So I guess I'll tell you the short version. My bag of waters broke on November 1st around bedtime. I wasn't ready for the baby. The house was a mess. There were still lots of boxes stacked up that needed to be unpacked. We ran around trying to put everything into some sort of order and put fresh sheets on the bed. Then Brandon moved the birthing tub into the house and got it ready. We went to bed really excited. I went into the midwife the next morning and she made sure my bag of waters did break and I was in labor. I spent the day walking around and then resting as labor progressed some. Labor tapered off in the evening so we went to bed another night all excited thinking that our baby would be born the next day. I had to get my labor going the next morning or I would not be able to have her at home. So our midwife put me on a schedule of walks, squats, etc. My labor got really intense and then slowed and then intense again the afternoon. I reached a point where I thought I was great. The contractions were not hurting much even though they were strong. Then they got painful. I mean like really bad. I was discouraged and got in the birthing tub to relax. I thought to myself that it was worse in the tub and I needed to get out. The tub was too hot as well and I was overheating. I remember feeling so wiped out that I could barely get on my bed. I was totally done with it. I didn't want to labor anymore. The midwife said that I would have to walk around more to keep labor going. I was crying that I didn't want to walk. Then I felt like pushing. The midwife was really surprised and found I was ready when she checked. I did a lot of pushing. I wasn't paying attention to the time so I have no idea how long I pushed but I think it was at least three hours. Finally I pushed her head out and she was looking around and then I pushed the rest of her out. I was so done with the pushing that I had to be convinced to push out the placenta. Finally, I was done. She was so little and perfect. Baby girl weighed 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. I felt so sore and weak after the birth. I was thankful to be able to go to bed and sleep that night with her. Brandon was the best father. He took care of her and changed her diapers the first few nights. I only had to nurse her. It was a beautiful experience. So much has happened since then. Baby girl has grown up so much. She got sick when she was a week old but she hasn't been sick since then. She smiled around three weeks and laughed around six weeks. She enjoyed pushing up on her legs and could support her body weight really early. She can stand now while I hold her hands. She started sitting all by herself a few weeks ago. I still nurse her whenever she wants to. She tasted her first sweet potato yesterday. Baby girl likes to play with her toys, loves being read to and carried around everywhere. She went to the Nutcracker when she was a few weeks old and slept through the whole thing. She traveled to church, toy store, pet store, the bank, grocery store and a college gradation. She goes to the chiropractor and the library every week. Every month she goes to La Leche League. She loves her Uncles and is starting to appreciate her grandparents (she went through a phase of not wanting to be held by anyone.) I love being a mother.