Newlywed Hares: Much Needed Update!

Wow....when was the last time I updated on here? I mean to just about every day, but the day is always so much more busy than I had planned. August will be 3 months old on Thursday (well....he'll be 12 weeks, calendar speaking August 3rd = 3 months). Can you believe it?!?! It has been 3 months since he was born. The time has just flown by. I can't believe it. My good friend Samantha came over this morning and took his 3 month pictures. I don't have any really good pictures of August since his newborn pictures from the hospital, so it was time. Golly, we have been through so much in the past 3 months. I wish I could update on everything, but I couldn't possibly cover that much with the time I have. I'll hit the highlights.

Breastfeeding. Wow. No one told me it would be so hard. But it's probably a good thing they didn't. It was so so hard in the beginning. It was the most painful thing I have ever ever done in my life. August had a lot of trouble with it in the beginning, as did I. He was born with a tongue tie, and it took 3 weeks after he was born to get an appointment to correct it. A tongue tie is where the skin that attaches your tongue to your mouth goes all the way to the tip of your tongue. So the whole underside of his tongue was connected to his mouth. This made it to where he had no use of his tongue, so breastfeeding was very exhausting for him, and he wasn't getting much. I think I also struggled with supply issues in the beginning because I just wasn't nursing him frequently enough due to the pain from his latch issues. Breastfeeding took me to lows I had never been to before. It was a whirlwind of emotion. I wanted to feed my child, but it was so painful that I dreaded it. I cried every time it was time for him to eat. I felt like a terrible mother. I know I could have switched to formula, but I really wanted this experience with August. I wanted to be his lifeline just like I was before. I wanted to give him the most selfless gift I could. We did supplement a few times, and I would cry every time I did that as well. Before August was born, I admittedly would look down on women who did not breastfeed. I don't do that anymore. I completely and totally understand why some women don't. I get that most women that don't breastfeed don't do it because they have to work. Some try and decide it's not for them. Either way, I get it. It's not for everyone. It is really, really hard. However, I had a lot of encouragement from close friends. They said the only way to get through it was to use creams and nurse frequently. And they were right. It took us 6 weeks to get it down pat, which is a long time in newborn days. August is now 100% breastfed and is thriving. So far, besides his birth, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Sleeping is going really well. August has always been a good sleeper. I had to wake him up during the night to eat every few hours when he was a newborn because he wasn't growing as quickly as the doctors liked (due to the tongue tie). Some nights I would sleep through my alarm and wouldn't wake him up, and he would sleep 4-5 hour stretches. Then he kind of got on a schedule and would wake up about every 3-4 hours. He started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. He would sleep for 5-6 hours at a time, then 7-8, and now he sleeps for 10 hours a night! I am one blessed girl. I am addicted to my sleep now. I know he could go back to not sleeping through the night, but right now I am soaking it up. He slept in our room in a co-sleeper next to our bed for the first 3 weeks. When he turned 3 weeks old, I moved him to his own room in the crib. I know this is really early for most people, but with our nursing difficulties (the pain, me crying, August crying, etc.) it was hard for Adam to get any sleep when I would wake up to feed him. So we started using the baby monitor. He sleeps so much better in his own room, and so do we! I would nurse August in his room or the living room, and Adam never woke up. He needs his sleep because he is working 10 hour days. Now, we are all sleeping through the night, and I hope it stays that way! :)

Weight loss. It has been harder than I thought it would be. Although, I honestly didn't really expect to be one of those women who just had the weight fall off. I knew it would be hard for me because it usually is. I gained 51 pounds with August. Yep, sure did. So far, I have lost about 30 of it so far. I lost 23 pounds in the first week after I had him....so that shows you how swollen I was and how much fluid I was carrying around. Thanks, preeclampsia. So I am watching what I'm eating, mostly just trying to eat more fruits and veggies, and I'm watching my portions. We eat a lot of baked/grilled chicken and fish. Those are our staples. So far I have lost another 5 pounds eating this way, so it seems to be working. I'm also doing 30 minutes to an hour on the elliptical every day. I try to squeeze that in during August's nap time (along with laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc.).

August is getting really interactive now. He is constantly smiling. He loves the sheep song. It's his favorite. You can watch it HERE.

Here is a video of the first time I got smiles on camera. Adam was out of town, so I sent it to him. Please excuse my man voice. It was really early. :)

He also loves the tootsie roll song! Here is a clip of him gettin down!

I am crazy over this boy. I love being his mommy. He is such a precious gift.