Know what's awesome about parenting? Everything! It's always a new surprise. KH has started waking up "for good" between 6 & 7 on my days off. I blame having to wake her up at 515ish on my work days. Anyway, I've battled this by moving her from my bed to her crib. I leave the monitor on so I can hear her. So far, it's given me at least 2 hours of extra sleep per try. Saturday morning, I was supposed to be at work at 11. KH decided she wanted to wake up at 6. I said no thanks. Put her in her crib and went back to sleep. My alarm went off at 845 and I was shocked! Almost 3 hours of extra sleep! I hopped in the shower, got dressed, then went to check on her. Huh. Much to my, um, surprise(?) she was laying on her stomach asleep. In poo. That had clearly been there a while. Crap. Literally. I have to be at work soon. I don't have time for this! Baby wipes. Those must be able to do the trick. I laid her on the changing table and one, two, four, six wipes later... I'm still finding poo and she smells atrocious. I text my supervisor. A poop party, not my own, has happened. May be late to work. I text the sitter for the day: "Poo party. Haven't even thought about leaving the house." Luckily that came with an offer to come pick her up. Yes, please!!! It was so nasty. I swear she managed to get it in the neck fat rolls! Sitter picked her up, I got to work on time, whew!

Another thing: I got kicked in the face yesterday by KH. While she was breastfeeding. Yep, I'm watching her eat and smiling along as usual when, "WHAM!" Right in the face! Or as Peter Griffin would say, "Pow, right in the kisser. Pow, right in the kisser. Pow, right in the kisser."

I'm determined my kid's first word will be "boobie." When it is, I will laugh. Hysterically. Thereby, hopefully, causing her to repeat it over and over again. Awesome parenting skills! I have my reasons. I'll mention further at a later date. Until next time!

The verdict is: KH was up to 17 pounds 11 ounces and 71st percentile!!! Holy moly when did my kid get so big? Breast milk is best milk for nutrition. She got her vaccines at the appointment and for the second time, she spiked a fever. The first time was the first round. She had no issues with the second round. This makes me think back to what was done. The only consistency is the Rota Virus vaccine. Is that the cause? I have no idea. I'm not a doctor or a medical professional of any sort. However, it very well could be a possibility. Her fever was never super high. I took it twice during the day and both times it sat at 100.5 degrees. I used the feel method the rest of the time to know she was still warm. Of course the cuddles were a great indicator. Man I loved spending that day with her. It sucked that she felt bad, but for the first time in a while, she fell asleep on my shoulder. She's growing up so fast and I try to savor every opportunity I can.

My pump routine on days off has always been: once in the morning after the morning feed and no more. I hate pumping, I've said this numerous times. So I stopped pumping on days off altogether. My life is so much nicer without that extra nuisance! My stash of milk has stayed pretty solid at 300ish ounces. I'm starting the slow introduction of solid foods so occasionally I pump for fresh milk to use. Mostly, I just don't.

Work is still being amazing with me and my pumping. I'm going to have to reduce my pumping by a session before too long. I just don't know when yet. I'm not ready yet.

Time's up for now. Until next time!

Distracted breastfeeding has become more fun as the days go by.  It's a regular occurrence to "catch" KH if she's eating on the Boppy.  She arches her back, turns her head (nipple included), and looks around.  She's also become amazingly awesome at kicking me so I can't hold her on.  I was feeding her at the lactation consultant's shop earlier this week.  There was a newer mom in the room with me who was also feeding her baby.  She watched KH flip and flop, tuck and roll, and make quick rapid movements.  I swear that poor mom's eyes doubled in size and her jaw dropped.  "I thought this was supposed to get easier!"  Oh honey, don't worry.  It gets easier.  Then it gets interesting.  She's more efficient than she used to be so an average breastfeeding session, compared to 2 months ago, takes a few minutes less. If I could keep her focused, it'd be super quick!  I wonder if I could figure out a way to let her watch tv or something along those lines.  Then again, she's a big fan of grabbing her feet and pulling them with her so maybe that wouldn't work either.  Meh, hogwash!

We still have no teeth.  Thank goodness! I feel around on her bottom gums everyday to make sure I am not about to fall victim to a chomp.  I'm afraid.  Very, very afraid!

Next week is our 6 month (and 2 week) checkup.  I'm super excited to see where she falls on the chart in percentiles.  Remember, we started at 25% in weight and last check were up to 56%.  We shall see!  She enjoys eating food which is exciting, yet sad.  I love breastfeeding.  Introducing food means a reduction in the amount she eats straight from me.  My kiddo's growing up.... I'm happy in that she's happy and completely in line developmentally.  I'm sad at the fact she's not so much my little baby anymore.  Moms, if I even needed to say it, take lots of pictures!!!  KH's hair is getting long to the point of not being able to wear headbands with bows.  I'm still doing it, just not as often.  Another sign of growing up.  Oh well, this little stage will pass and soon she'll let me put clips in her hair.  I sure hope so, anyway.  I've had a few sleepless nights, thanks to my kiddo, so I'm going to head to the sack.  Here's a picture of KH that I took a week and a half ago.  Until next time!

Dear Blog,

     I'm sorry I keep forgetting you exist.  Please forgive me and accept this update as a score evener-outer!

Sincerely,

Me


Now that the awkwardness is out of the way, back to me!  A lot has happened lately.  KH turned 6 months old.  6 months!!! How did that happen?  It seems like yesterday she was a new ball of wonders with a head that could only look up with my support.  Now she's sitting upright, playing with her toes, laughing and smiling, and everything she can touch goes straight into her mouth.  One fun thing to note about her 6 month day is:  we made it!!! What is it?  It is the phenomenal accomplishment of being exclusively breastfed everyday of her life.  No other nutrition entered her body.  No formula, cereal, foods, etc.  Only breast milk! To anyone reading this who doesn't know, that's a heck of an accomplishment.  It's recommended that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their lives.  The recommendation comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization.... Yet doctors encourage their patients to start their babies on solid foods at 4 months.  I don't understand the logic.  In the United States, only 15% of moms and babies make that milestone.  Well, ladies and gents, KH and I are part of that 15%!!

After the 6 month mark, we had to try food.  Had to because it's inevitable, not because I wanted to. I decided her first food would be avocado.  I mushed a bunch of it into a consistency similar to guacamole, then added breast milk.  Lots and lots of breast milk!  She seemed to enjoy it.  The look on her face was classic.  Towards the end of the small meal, I decided to offer her one more bite.  Just one more.  She gave me a face that said, "Yuck, gross, get it away, WTF, how is this happening?"  Okay, okay, okay, we're done for the day.

It's officially July which means we should be well into the Texas summer and 100 degree temps by now.  Thank goodness that's not the case.  The highest temperature I've seen so far is 95. Don't let numbers fool you.  When you're working a wreck on the asphalt street with no breeze, the exhaust from a car hitting you and the sun is relentlessly beating down on you, 95 degrees is hot!  I have been forced in years past to deal with swass.  I know that sounds like a hip new term for something the cool kids are doing.  In actuality, it's a combination of sweaty and ass.  Yes, that's what you get when you combine Texas heat with humidity and a uniform.  Now that I'm pumping so regularly, I'm having to deal with swoob.  Yep, that's right.  Sweaty boob.  It's absolutely disgusting.  Why sweat has such a repulsive effect on the body, I will never know.  There are many factors that can cause your letdown to be greater or lesser.  I wonder if the smell has anything to do with it?  A friend of mine asked me if I knew there was such a thing as underboob deodorant.  My response was: Did you know I put deodorant under my boobs?  It's true!  It keeps the smell down and makes everything a little more pleasant.  And there, my friends, is your TMI for the day.  Remember next time you're running, mowing the yard, or laying in a hammock in the heat:  deodorant for underboob is the answer to your problems!!!

KH still doesn't know how to sleep through the night.  At 6 months, the most sleep I've gotten in a row recently is 2 hours.  Yeah, take that in for just a second.  She's 6 months old and doesn't sleep longer than 2 hours at a time.  That means some nights she sleeps less.  My middle name has become zombie.  I'm not really sure how I've kept up.  I guess because I have no other choice in the matter.  Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead!!  On that note, I'm going to bed.  Until next time!