This month was a blur. Definitely a bit of a challenge as well. Lena was doing really well, sleeping better and then all the sudden, she was sleeping a lot. Like 19 hours a day and couldn't make it from one nap to the next. She didn't want to be put down. Her development came to a screeching halt, as did her happy personality, smiles and laughs. We became very worried. We had her tested for anemia, and it turns out she wasn't anemic but very sick. Pediatrician suspects Mono. That would explain her sleeping so much. We had also discovered she had grown one inch in just two weeks.
She's now back to her happy, laughing self and nursing every two hours almost around the clock. My supply took a BIG dip down with her sleeping so much and my dreaded Aunt Flo coming back with a vengeance. Seriously. I have never been sick like that before because of my cycle. I was dehydrated myself. So now we are trying to bounce back. Its been REALLY hard for me to get up and nurse Lena every two hours every night. But I know she must need it and so does my supply. After all this time of having babies and nursing them, I've come to learn to trust their connection with my body. They know when they need to up my supply and they know how to do it. I just have to try to hang on until better nights come along. Luckily, while I am struggling to do the best I can to take care of the girls, my husband does a pretty amazing job of taking care of me. His work schedule isn't very flexible right now, but every chance he gets, he's helping us get caught up around the house, offering to watch the girls so I can go for a jog. I haven't been able to get to crossfit in several weeks and it takes a toll on my mental well being. I would be lost without that man.
Anyway, back to Lena!
Since she has been on the mend, she has been making up for lost time! She now rocks on all fours trying to get herself to crawl. She will also push off any thing or any one nearby to do the same. Up until recently, she hasn't been the most vocal baby. Probably because her sister is so dominant in that area that she can't ever get a word in. The other night though, Elise wasn't feeling well and went to lay in our room to watch a movie while we ate dinner. Lena just sat and talked and babbled the ENTIRE time. She has started using some consonants along with her established vowels. We couldn't hardly get through our meal because we were so excited listening to her and trying to get more out of her. She was so happy to tell us all the things she's been waiting so long to say!
Like I said, she is still nursing frequently and she has had some tummy issues with certain solid foods so we have opted to give her tummy a break and stick to just breastmilk until her bowels become more regular again. Occasionally we will give her a lone cookie or cracker, but nothing with any regularity just yet. We are in no rush to see her leave her baby-ness behind!
This month has been full of Holidays and family time as well. Elise and I have done these holidays together just us two for 3 years now, but this year really felt like it was the first time. It was perfect. More on that in another blog.
Lena is now closer to being a 1 year old toddler than she is to the day she blessed us with her presence. I say it a lot, but I am just flabbergasted at the rate at which time is passing. I know that it won't be long until we are reminiscing on her baby days and feeling sad that they are over. But after having had Elise, I also know that those moments will be short lived in between new and even more fun stages that her life will bring us. We are starting to plan family trips for the next year and we cannot wait to start new traditions and make more memories together. I love that we kind of have a blank canvas right now and what we wind up doing and what will make our family unique hasn't been decided yet. We plan to try all kinds of things, camping, skiing, amusement parks, tropical vacations, flying overseas, etc. To see which ones work best for our kids and what we enjoy doing most together. Frankly? As long as its the four of us, I don't really care where we go or what we do.
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