I know I've said it before, but where the heck does the time go?? Joey is four months old today. He's been an outside baby for four months. We brought him home from the hospital four months ago. We've been changing diapers and outfits and combating spit-up for four months. Ok, you get the picture. I can still barely believe I was even pregnant! Not that there aren't reminders on my stomach that will never go away, that isn't really what I mean. My whole pregnancy felt like one of those really good dreams you don't want to wake up from. I couldn't believe I was finally pregnant, the entire pregnancy felt surreal. Now that my baby is in my arms, happy and healthy, I still think I might be dreaming. Being a mommy was all I ever wanted to be. Going to college, getting a degree, working a job, they were all means to an end: mommyhood. The degree/job was my backup plan, in the event that the only option to get a bigger family was me being the breadwinner. Turned out that was a good idea but as Joey grows with each passing day, I'm reminded what my true calling is and where my heart really wants to be.
Do I get tired on my days off when I stay home with Joey? Sure. Do I like naps just as much as I did while pregnant? Absolutely. When I do work is there a part of me that enjoys the break from diapers and constant responsibility for another person? Yeah. Does any of that matter when Joey falls asleep in my arms?
Nope.
The
good great moments outweigh the tired/cranky/sleepless/up-every-hour ones a million times over. Everything we went through to get to today, my ER trips, the surgery, the
pain, was totally and completely worth it for the sweet moments when Joey lays his head on my shoulder and snuggles with me. He's not sleeping, he's not tired or fussy, he just wants to be held close and he willingly puts his head on my shoulder and his arms around my neck. He's super good at head control now, so I know that's on purpose, but he doesn't quite know about hugs yet, I just like where he finds it comfortable to put his arms.
Now for the update! We had his four month checkup on Thursday (work is significantly interfering with my willingness to blog, mostly because all I want to do when I get home is cuddle the baby) and he's doing great! He now weighs 15lbs. 9oz. and is 25in. long. Rather than giving us the percentiles, his pedi said that his height and weight are "perfect", I think I like that way better ;) He also said that because Joey is not overweight, we can introduce solids. I think it's still way too early plus my goal is to exclusively breastfeed (EBF) for a year because of my allergies. I don't know if we'll make it a full year, but I'm not giving up at just four months! The doc did give us some papers on how to introduce foods and what to introduce first, so that will be helpful when we do start on solids, it just won't be soon. I figure, if his height an weight are "perfect" and he's not overweight, why mess with what I'm doing?? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! He's nice though so we just smiled and nodded. We don't go back for another two months (Joey will be six months then, OMG!) and introducing solids at this age is more about letting them play with food anyway. Developmentally most babies aren't actually ready until the 6-9 month range.
And just for the record, I'm definitely not alone in this idea of delaying solids. Here's a list (from
kellymom.com) of organizations that recommend EBFing for the first six months of life:
So yeah, not four months, not four-to-six months, delaying solids is recommended until at least six months old. Longer than that if there's a history of food allergies in the family (besides me there's also Dan's dad, so
both sides). It's technical, but it has to do with baby's immature digestive system and the longer you wait to introduce something new, the better off he'll be because you've given him time to develop. Check out the kellymom link if you'd like more detailed information, that's a great resource.
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