9 1/2 months pregnant

My husband Gabe took some amazing photos of my 9 1/2 month pregnant body just before Elijah was born. We went down to the beach at the Montage Resort, just minutes from our house to shoot in the late afternoon light. I'm so happy to have these photos to document how HUGE my belly was!

                        

Elijah at 9 1/2 months

Elijah is almost 9 1/2 months old now and has come a LONG way since my last post about him when he was 7 1/2 months! I've been horrible about filling his baby book with details so I'm sorta using this post for something I can refer to for when I DO get around to writing in his book, so forgive me if some of this is boring.

He can now crawl with dexterity and speed, even sometimes somehow holding himself up horizontally with just his hands (don't ask me how!!) for a brief moment. Constantly pulling himself up on chairs, tables and just about anything, this boy will be making his own strides fairly soon, I predict. He sometimes likes to walk and take steps with the walker (right).

At just over 23 pounds now, he is quite solid and a tank. He's rambunctious and extra energetic after an evening bath (which I think I have to stop doing at that time of day since it makes it hard for him to settle down to sleep for the night), and maybe that's because he just LOVES to be naked? Some other notables:

Helping Mommy with the dishes

One of his favorite things to do is to "help" his Mommy with the dishes by playing with the open dishwasher. He loves to open and close the rack and bang on any pot bottoms that happen to be in there. He's getting the hang of opening the cupboards and drawers as well as emptying out the linen drawer.

Emptying the kitchen towel drawer

I pretty much spend all day cleaning up after his messes. Along with putting the linens and towels back in the drawer, I have to put the books and DVDs back on the shelves, put the trash (all paper) back in bin and roll the toilet paper back up (though now I keep the bathroom doors closed).

Although not a picky eater, he's picky about how he's fed - in other words, he prefers to feed himself. His diet has extended to tomatoes, blended raw soups, goji berries, grapes, nectarines/peaches and wakame seaweed.

He's still not eating consistently, which is fine as he's still experimenting with food and gets most of his nutrition from my breastmilk.

When he wakes up from a nap, he likes to stand up in the crib holding onto the side rail while jumping.

He has GORGEOUS spiky blond hair that has grown in since losing all of his dark brown baby hair. It appears that he has a mix of my and Gabe's hair, but definitely has Gabe's hairline.

After a bath he loves to crawl on the bed naked

Is starting to say "Mama" now. He's very selective about when he says it, and it's always when he wants me and my attention. I start teaching him what to call me from an early age. I would tap on his chest and say, "Elijah", and then tap on my chest and say, "Mama", over and over. Just started clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth as if making a loud "tha" sound with his tongue.

Bath times are pretty much the highlight of his day I think. I can count on him crawling to the bathroom as fast as he can when he hears me turn on the water in the tub. He eagerly pulls himself up on the tub and squeals with delight, looking at the rushing water from the spout while waiting for me to take his diaper off (while he's standing) and put him in the water. He gnaws furiously on the rubber ducky and eventually crawls all over the tub.

He sleep habits are still pretty irregular. Some nights he'll sleep for as long as 7-8 hours without waking up, but most nights he wakes up several times throughout the night, which requires me nursing him back down. And sometimes it can take as long as two hours for him to go back to sleep, much to my chagrin. I still swaddle him, which has become a cue for him to go to sleep, but he always gets out of it by the time he wakes up. I'm looking forward to not having to swaddle him anymore, but am not sure how to make the transition without there being too much of a change for him. He's a light sleeper, so I tend to do whatever it takes to get him to sleep and stay asleep.

He's very detail-oriented and I'm not sure this is a normal thing for a baby his age or not. He's a proficient user of his pointer finger on small items, buttons, lips and specks of God-knows-what on the ground. He's also very in tune with his surroundings, and will follow a bird flying through the air. He's got a great pincer grasp and is mastering the art of feeding himself.

Along with "Mama", he's making lots of "FFFF" sounds and "DaDaDa" words. He'll occasionally scream when he wants attention, and does lots of grunting when I nurse him down to sleep. But mostly he babbles, which I love hearing. I love his sweet little voice.

He now has eight teeth and it appears that his first molar is bulging through. His bottom teeth first appeared at 4 1/2 months.

Every day brings new changes and developments and love seeing each and every one of them!

Maternity Fall Fashion

Fall is just around the corner and that means an change in my wardrobe. On my other blog, Sierra's Style, I picked out a few favorites for my fall wardrobe. Even though I'm not pregnant again (yet, anyway), I thought it would be fun to compile a list of maternity favorites for fall in hopes of inspiring any pregnant readers. All of the outfits below are from Isabella Oliver Maternity.Enjoy!

SO gorgeous, isn't it?

A great cashmere/silk scarf for accessorizing

One of my faves

Going Barefoot

Up until recently I didn't really give it a second thought when it came to Elijah wearing shoes. Though he's not walking yet (going to be happening VERY soon - I predict by 10 months), we've been putting shoes on him on occasion to complete his outfits when going out. But now that he's getting close to walking, I have decided to let him go barefoot as long as it's safe and not worry about getting him shoes for walking. For when it's NOT safe to go barefoot, I discovered Vivobarefoot shoes by Terra Plana, that Elijah can wear. One of my favorites are these sandals, pictured above. They even make standard black shoes for kids who go to private schools or schools requiring a uniform. What's great about these shoes is that children get the health benefits of going barefoot along with the protection of normal shoes, which are wide, light and flexible with a 3mm puncture-resistant sole.

Why the concern over wearing shoes? According to an article I read online at www.guardian.co.uk , "Walking barefoot....develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the foot's arch, improves proprioception (our awareness of where we are in relation to the space around us) and contributes to good posture," all of which can be delayed or inhibited by wearing ill-fitting and poorly constructed shoes. Most children's shoes are too stiff in the sole and constricting in the toe box that it can be detrimental to the development of their feet.

I'm sure my son and most children would wholeheartedly agree to this article!

Milkalicious

Before I even got pregnant, I knew that I was going to breastfeed my baby. It was a non-issue and when I got pregnant, didn't even research formula, how to use bottles or the like. I had a couple of nursing books I was reading before giving birth, but nothing I read or researched prepared me for what happened right after I had Elijah. Although I'd heard that breastfeeding could be hard, I didn't think it could happen to me. Well, it did.

Because of the emergency situation I was in right after the c-section and being in ICU for nearly two days, I lost the initial bonding experience and couldn't breastfeed. To my utter dismay, he had to be fed formula. Of course I'm glad he was able to get something since I was unable to breastfeed, but I was just completely unprepared for the fact that he would get formula before my own breastmilk. It was one of my biggest disappointments.

Elijah - 1 week old

The following 2-3 days in the hospital were spent with me just trying to recuperate from the surgery and feeling so comatose all I could do was sleep. Every time I was awake and tried to breastfeed, different lactation consultants would come in, giving me their advice on how to do it. As well-intentioned as they were, I got conflicting advice and information and almost nothing was working. Elijah had a hard time latching on and I had little patience since I was so ill. It was utterly frustrating.

They sent us home with some formula and for the next week or so I continued trying to nurse him but to no avail. My milk never came in. We scoured the internet for donated breastmilk and found some, and was able to feed him that until we ran out (and had to then go back to formula). In the meantime, I was trying to figure out what to do about my situation as I was desperate to breastfeed him exclusively without supplementing with formula. I even fed him formula through a tube while he was nursing so that he wouldn't get used to a bottle.

Almost two weeks after having Elijah, after visiting with a chiropractic doctor, she suggested I see Jennifer Ritchie, lactation consultant and owner of Milkalicious. We went on the website and saw they had free breastfeeding workshops, so we made an appointment and went the next day. We walked in and saw that it was a small store full of breastfeeding paraphernalia, nursing clothes, slings, books and also had a room full of bean bag chairs with women breastfeeding their newborn babies. That was when Gabe had to leave, ha ha!

Basically the workshop is that they weigh your baby before you nurse, and then again after they nurse on one side, to see how much milk they take in. The staff in attendant at the workshop also educates you about breastmilk and breastfeeding. It was a wonderful way to see how much, if any, milk your baby was drinking! I told them my birth story and how I was having a hard time producing milk. That was when they had me make an appointment for a private consultation with Jennifer. In the meantime, they gave me some tools and advice to make the feedings easier. It was also great to talk with the other moms in attendance and share stories and tips.

Based on Jennifer's assessment of my situation, it turned out that my being diabetic and having thyroid issues was the culprit for my low prolactin levels and milk supply. She told me about a drug, that was very safe for me and the baby, to take that would raise my prolactin levels, which I am now taking.

It took a while for the drug to go into full effect but once it did I was able to cut back more and more on the formula. I went to the workshop a couple times a week to monitor Elijah's weight gain and also my milk output. I was so encouraged to see the supply steadily increasing. 

When Elijah was almost 2 months old, I was breastfeeding but also still supplementing with formula (with a bottle at this point), thinking that he wasn't ready to wean from the bottle yet.  I took him to see his pediatrician, Dr. Bob Sears for his well visit. I will always be forever grateful to the nurse that checked Elijah's stats because she is the one that suggested that I go ahead and completely stop the formula since he most definitely wasn't starving and was in the 95th percentile for height and weight.

That night I stopped formula feeding and he's been nursing like a champ ever since. I'm ecstatic to say that other than a handful of times he had a few bottles of formula since then (because I didn't have enough pumped breastmilk on hand), he's been exclusively breastfed! Jennifer wasn't even sure I would ever be able to exclusively breastfeed, so she was so happy to hear that I was.

So if you have any issues with breastfeeding at all, Milkalicious is the go-to for your solutions. Jennifer even does consultations via Skype for those who don't live in the area.

I love breastfeeding and nurse him everywhere I go. I am definitely not shy about nursing in public. I even nursed him at the top of the Sacre Couer in Paris earlier this year! It feels so good that he's able to get the best source of nutrition and it clearly shows with his robust health and energy. I plan to nurse until he self-weans.....even if that means until 2-3 years old. 

Nursing at the top of Sacre Couer in Paris

In Gouvieux, France at my friend's country home

Elijah at 9 months