Worth it All: 6 months old

     This time last year I was 13 weeks pregnant. I felt like he would never get here. I remember seeing his little toes and fingers on the u/s here at work.  I can NOT believe that is has been 6 months since my little Eli entered our world. I remember wanting to savor every moment in the hospital. Even the ones that contained contractions.  I was conquering a fear of mine... a fear that I would never experience child birth.  I was so excited to be in labor and have the whole "hospital experience". I remember sitting on the birthing ball and having major contractions thinking... "it's going to be worth it". A phrase I had told my self over and over during the wait to getting pregnant. Then the monitors started going off while I was on the ball and I jumped up (as much as a girl in labor could jump) and looked at the monitors to see Eli's heart rate drop to 69 then quickly come back up to the 140s.  Being a nurse you just know too much during this process. I obviously was pinching his cord in some way that caused his heart rate to drop. You know I never feared for his life during the whole process of labor. I had overcome fear in the beginning of the pregnancy and thought it may revisit during labor, but it didn't. I'm sure it's because of all the prayers that were going up.
   It was a long labor, but it was so worth it. No one ever talks about how tired you are for weeks afterward. I guess you just learn it all with the 1st. I remember his 1st day of life and laying in the bed with floods of family and friends visiting and being so overwhelming. It truly was a dream come true. Let me rephrase that...it was a promise come true. I remember looking at my friend Mary and telling her that it was more wonderful than I had imagined. I had a perfect healthy beautiful baby boy and he was all mine.
   I'm glad we took pictures of every one that visited and held Eli. I honestly don't think I would have remembered everyone. I'm also glad we took his baby book. I have his 1st foot prints in it and a list of everyone who visited and the gifts they brought. Something I will truly cherish.
I want to remember each month and savor each moment. So I want to document his first 6 months with us. So here goes:
2 days old...

   The first month was a learning experience for sure. Breastfeeding was a challenge and I remember at 5 1/2 weeks I was ready to give up. I was so exhausted all the time. I felt like I just needed to sleep 4 straight hours. I felt like I couldn't be a good mommy being that delirious. After talking to a good friend of mine, Avery,  said she wished she had stuck with it and gave me all the encouragement she could. So I continued the best I could. It was still all worth it.
2 months...

 

  The 2nd month started to become fun. He started smiling and cooing. He changed so much. I loved being with him every day. And did not want to go back to work. Nursing him was going okay, we did have to supplement due to my low milk supply. I'm glad I continued nursing though. We took Eli to church and to the park for the first time.
3 months...

  The 3rd month I went back to work and really enjoyed being back at work. It was good to have a routine. With nursing Eli I had to just nurse on demand and some days that seemed like all day. We never established a scheduled like I had planned. I should know by now that nothing will go as I "had planned".

4 months...

  The fourth month seemed to fly by. He still loved bath time, but moving was a huge adjustment and he didn't want to sleep through the night. Hard on me, but oh so worth it. I loved looking over into his crib and seeing his smiling face beaming back at me. He started laughing and cackling out loud. It was so worth it.

  The fifth month we took him to the beach. He loved the beach and fell asleep every time we took him.  He love laying on his back and playing with his toys in his tent. He rolled over for the first time at the beach. He started laughing so loud when you tickle him that you just had to kiss him all over. His hands always covered his big toothless grin, until 2 teeth popped through.

  So now we begin the 6th month and I can not wait to see what unfolds. I love being his mommy and I love this experience of mommy hood. I am so thankful for our miracle baby. 

Just a post to help me remember all the fun little details of his little life that is flashing before my eyes.
I am finally at pre-pregnancy weight! Super proud of myself and hoping to get it all back in shape. It was all worth it!

EWO,
Jennifer