6 months

Georgie Porgie Porge!!  Oh my goodness you are 6 months old!!  Part of me thinks these last six months have been a total blur but there are some moments I'll NEVER forget.  For example, I will never forget him throwing up for two hours straight every time I fed him a little oatmeal or rice cereal.  I will never forget him waking up in the middle of the night while we were in Utah because he was starving.  Out of all of my chiddlers I have worried about George the most.  I am so concerned about his violent reactions to certain foods (something my other kids never had) and I worry a lot about my own personal milk supply. 

George is VERY alert and wiggly.  Getting him to nurse longer than 5 minutes is an absolute miracle and never happens.  He will latch on for less than a second and come off again so he can arch his back and look at the ceiling fan above him or the window to his right.  He is so much more interested in the world around him than relaxing with Mom for some yummy leche. 

Unfortunately breast milk is a supply an demand conspiracy!!  George doesn't eat long enough so I don't produce as much.  It is so frustrating!!  I don't understand why it works this way.  Why do us women have ridiculous amounts of milk when the baby is 7 lbs. and barely big enough to eat more than an ounce (and therefore force Mom to work overtime pumping gallons out over the course of three months for the deep freezer...we've got about 100 bags in there folks:-).  Then when the baby is 15 lbs. with growth spurts every other day, there is barely an ounce left on each side!!!  WHY!!  It should be the other way around!!  Then I wouldn't have had to spend so much time with my friend Medela Pump InSTYLE.

So because George was pretty much starving in Utah we went out and bought some formula and lots of baby food.  I tried to just feed him the baby food and one bottle at night but sometimes he wanted more milk than bananas.  I don't know if I'm the only woman feeling this way but I hate formula.  I feel like because G will drink 4 ounces from a bottle in a snap and won't from me TOTALLY hurts my feelings.  It's like I've been replaced by this smelly white powder!!

After Chase went back to Texas for work my milk supply totally plummeted.  I don't know if it was the stress or just George being a total stinker but the only way I could even get him to latch on was to swaddle him tight and sing either "sunny side of the street" or "getting to know you" while I bounced him around the room.  It took me 45 minutes for the "let down" to come one night and that's when I really started to panic.

I wasn't getting any sleep at night because even if G was sleeping I would lay awake in bed scared to death that any minute he would wake up and want to eat again only to scream because nothing would come out!!  I started calling La Leche League and just bawled on the phone to them in hopes that they could give me some solutions.  I have always wanted to nurse all my babies for at least a year and dag nabbit George was going to make it 6 more months!

Looking back I can now see that I totally bit off more than I could chew.  I thought I could stay in Utah for three weeks with out Chase but I always forget how hard it is with a nursing infant and little help from relatives.  I think the main problem was I was merely snacking for meals.  I just didn't have enough time to cook anything.  Usually Chase comes home at night and holds George so we can whip up some dinner.  I didn't have anyone to hold George at night and it took all my energy just to feed the kids so I mostly just ate something convenient like a Cliff bar (for almost every meal:-)  No wonder I had no milk! 

I can't blame my little George though.  It's not his fault he's so wiggly and hungry. He's so adorable that all is forgiven with one smile from his always moist little lips.  He's always smiling at everyone that greets him.  He laughs really hard when Sadie swings on a swing toward him.  He gets a BIG smile on his face anytime he sees Jack because big brothers are the coolest.  He chews on his own toes and NEVER wants to be swaddled anymore.  His pacifiers are so "last month" and he won't even let you put one in his mouth.  He'd much rather have his two "longhorn" fingers.  When he eats baby food he'll stick his fingers in for a little suck between each bite.  Definitely a George trademark for sure.

So, after 6 days on my own (with out Chase), I called him (Chase) and asked him if I could come home.  It was just too much for me.  Between crying on the phone to La Leche League or choking down a yogurt, it was evident that I wouldn't last another day with out a full nights rest and my own body pillows by my side. 

My knight in shining armour (Chase) flew in the next day and we all flew home the following morning.  I told all my friends on FB that we were cutting our trip short due to George and his "newborness."  I didn't think it appropriate to tell everyone that at that point I was a total basket case!!  I knew I would be missing out on a lot of fun by leaving early (tickets to Wicked, East High Dinner with the ladies, seeing my sisters that were out of town, fun play dates with old friends, and a free photo shoot with Angie Monson) but I was just too homesick for my hubby and my Texas. George missed his crib in our dark closet too.  He slept amazingly our first night back and so did I! 

I was worried about his weight so I took him in for a 6 month check up as soon as I got home.  I was devastated to find he had only gained about 6 ounces in two months.  He went from 40th percentile to 8th!!!  I feel so torn because I want to nurse him but I know I'm not enough for him anymore.  He needs more..obviously.  I am also torn because so much of the food newborns are supposed to eat make him vomit so I just don't know how to get him to gain weight faster.  Vomit certainly won't help.  Dr. Woods suggested nursing him and then giving him a bottle after every feeding.  I've been doing just that and after a two week weight check he had gained another 10 ounces.  My milk supply has somewhat returned as well so that has helped immensely.  I still haven't tried oatmeal again.  I'm too scared to see him get sick again.  

 

We have another weight check in a month.  Until then I'll continue attempting to snuggle this rambunctious, wiggly little guy.