So, before I get to the posts with actual thought I figured I'd give y'all a sort of update. Then I promise I'll get one of two posts up that I've been wanting to do for a long long time. I haven't decided which one will go up first...depends on which one I'm in the mood to finish.
Let's start with Hannah. I'm a just over 25 weeks along now. This is just mind boggling to me. This time around it is going so much faster than it did with Mary-Grace. I swear I never thought I'd make it to this point with her. But with Hannah, I feel like I blinked and here I am. I find that to be bittersweet. I don't know how to put this so if it comes out like I'm ungrateful or complaining please know that I'm not. I feel like the faster this pregnancy goes by the faster Mary-Grace's first birthday will be here. I'm not ready for that. I can't believe how fast it is sneaking up on me. Before I know it Hannah will be here. Don't get me wrong, I cannot wait to meet her, however, I feel like my baby is getting big so fast. I miss my little newborn peanut. I've got a weird case of mommy guilt. I know that giving MG a sibling is such a blessing, both to her and to me, but I feel bad because she didn't get much time here on her own (I realize this is ridiculous because only the first child gets alone time at all). I know that my heart has plenty of room to love multiple children (and I do already love Hannah, it's just different) but I can't imagine loving anyone more that I love Mary-Grace. I don't know how to put my love for her into words. I feel like my heart could just explode. How can I possibly love someone else that much at the same time. It hurts my brain trying to wrap my mind around it.
Other than that Hannah seems to be doing great! She's growing and moving more and more everyday. I'm assuming that I passed my glucose test last week since no one has called (wahoo!). I've gained 9 pounds but it feels like 50. I can't sleep to save my life and have to pee every 20 minutes. Sounds about right.
Now for Mary-Grace...
She is doing wonderful! She is 8 1/2 months old. She still has no teeth but has two on the bottom that are trying their hardest to push through making her miserable. She is doing a combination of army crawling and rolling to get around and has just begun to get herself onto her hands and knees and rock. I'm sure crawling is right around the corner. I have mixed feeling about that. She sits up beautifully but if she falls over she can't, or won't, sit herself up. Is this strange? I feel more like she just won't not that she can't. She's extremely stubborn. And the most glorious news of all...SHE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! She goes down any time between 7pm and 9pm (it's usually at 7:30 but does vary from time to time) and sleeps until anywhere from 6am-7am. Well, this morning she got up at 5am but whatever. Lately she's been waking up briefly around midnight of so and fussing for 30 seconds or so and then falling back asleep. I think this is teething related though. Naps still leave something to be desired though. She is typically ready for a morning nap sometime before 9am but how long she sleeps is up in the air. It can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours but is usually closer to 30-45 minutes. Afternoon naps are hit or miss. But hey, I'll take what I can get. This is such an improvement from a few months ago.
Breastfeeding is still going. My milk supply is definitely dwindling as I get further along. We are now having to supplement with about 6-10 ounces of formula a day. It seriously broke my heart at first and was compounding the depression issues I was having but my wonderful husband has been so supportive and helped me to feel much much better about it. He reminded me that feeding my baby formula does not make me a bad mom, starving my child would. She was hungry and obviously not getting enough from me. How could I deny her more food? I've talked to many women who have been there as well as several lactation consultants and I've come to realize that I'm very lucky to still be breastfeeding her as much as I am at this point in my pregnancy. A lot of women totally dry up by this point or their babies wean themselves to to the change in taste. The LC reminded me that often when you hear of women bfing all the way through their pregnancies are women who get pregnant when their nursing baby is much older than MG was so they aren't needing as much milk as she does. I was fortunate enough that a wonderful fellow blogger sent me some of her extra frozen milk. Now that that is gone I would love to find more donor milk but the only bank anywhere near me is 2 hours away and the cost is $5 per ounce. I just cannot afford that. I will supplement as necessary and refuse to feel guilty for it. I will also breastfeed her as much as possible, even if that means she only get an ounce from me a day. I love the time we spend together and I figure the comfort she receives from it is just as important as the nutrition.
Yikes! This is getting long! I had more to share but I'll hold off for now. I'll end with this:
Thanks Brenda over at Life As We Know It was so sweet to honor me with the Liebster Award for up and coming blogs. I don't know that I would call myself "up and coming" seeing as how I'm lucky to pump out one post a month...but I was honored non the less. :)
I'm sure I'm going to name ladies who have already received the award but my blogging world is a bit small. :)
1.Isaiah 55:8-9 - She was my prayer buddy during Lent and I love her blog. I don't comment over there as often as I should but she is wonderful!
2.Angela at Mary Grace Holmes - I found her awhile ago and I just love her! I ready her blog from the very beginning and fell in love with her faith through such tragedy. Her beautiful daughter Isabel and son Ian are pretty darn awesome too!
3.Lauren at Magnify the LORD with me - Oh my, how I love Lauren! She adopted a beautiful daughter last year and was just blessed with the adoption of another sweet baby girl a few weeks ago. I was so fortunate to be able to visit her a few months ago for my first blogger meet up. She is an amazing hostess and has an amazing husband. And that sweet little Abigail of hers is even cuter in person.
4. Sew at Sew Hormonal - Can I even nominate her? Isn't she the queen of these blogs? Haha! I seriously love Sew! We often joke that she and I must be twins. Our crazy hormonal antics often mirror each other. I feel blessed to have found her. She is the first person I've ever talked to about my hormonal hell that actually gets it because she experiences the same things.
5. Awaiting at Awaiting a Child of God - She was also able to join us for the blogger meet up at Lauren's and I fell in love with her instantly. She is such a sweet southern girl with the most adorable accent. She is due any day now with a sweet little baby that I just cannot wait to meet!
Thanks again Brenda! And you made me chuckle...we definitely share the same sense of humor. ;)
