8 Months

8 Month Check-in
I'm on time! E was completely unimpressed with my attempts at a cute photo this month. Ah well. We tried.

Weight: 18 lbs

Height: Still 29 inches

Hair: His mullet-hawk is getting extra long. We have to do a full on comb-over after his baths.

Eyes: I think they'll probably stay blue at this point, right?

Sleep: Not bad. Most nights he sleeps 4-7 hours, wakes to eat once and then sleeps until morning. The other nights, he will wake a second time. I'm happy with this and he seems to be doing well. We are having some trouble with separation anxiety, but that's just something he'll grow out of eventually. 

Milestones: It was another big month for E. Actually, he sort of crammed it all into one week. 1) He finally started doing a proper on-all-fours crawl. 2) He learned to go from his belly to a sit position. 3) He figured out how to stand in his crib. 4) He says "mama" all the time now and he knows that it means me! I have been waiting 3 years for that moment and it's exactly as amazing as I imagined it would be. 5) He can free stand on his own for a few seconds at a time.

Likes: I think his two favorite things are reading and his dogs. I love the reading because it means we can sit still for 20 minutes. I also love that he loves the dogs and I love that they love him. He likes to chase them and let them lick his hands. Binks and Bear hate when he cries and they'll start howling whenever E gets upset. It's awesome.

Dislikes: Still hates - HATES - having his diaper changed and getting dressed. I don't know if it's PTSD from when he had horrible diaper rash or what. It's challenging though.

What's going on: Things are pretty good. We're still struggling with the eating most days, but we have had two awesome days in a row so I'm not going to dwell on it. It seems that E will eat when he's hungry so I just need to relax about it. I'm doing everything that I can. He will be fine. 

Things are going really well for me too in terms of the PPD/PPA. I have been feeling really good lately. I've made a big effort to get more involved in my local mom group and I actually met a few other girls (women? ladies? what are we?) that have babies around E's age. It's been really nice to have plans to look forward to and people to talk to. I also stopped taking the pill and I've been weaning very gradually. I think both of those things have also helped a lot as well. 

What's Next: For E, next up will be his 9 moth appointment. For me, well....

My cycle is back! We went to see Dr. M back in August to talk about what we need to do to prepare for a FET. He recommended that I wean and said that as soon as my cycle is back, I can call him and we can get started. I'll need to do one month of testing (blood work, trial transfer, etc) and then we're good to go. Right now, Seth and I are thinking that we'll sit this cycle out and then get started with testing on the next cycle. As long as things are fairly regular, that would mean we'd be doing a FET in November. I'm happy with that. I'd be happy to start sooner, but I think this will be good. It means I don't have to rush to completely wean. I can nurse for at least one more month and then possibly during the testing cycle as well. That would put us at 9.5 months which is way longer than I ever thought I'd be able to keep doing this.