9 months old

Even though we are told that a pregnancy lasts 9 months, I do realise that it is usually slightly longer than that, like in my case!  Lily was quite happy inside her mommy's tummy and was in no rush to enter this world.  Even though my pregnancy didn't feel too long, I have to say that the 9 months of pregnancy versus the 9 months that Lily has been in my life, definitely went slower.  Like I keep saying, the last 9 months of being a mommy have gone by so extremely quickly!

We had our 9 month check this morning and Lily is still considered a petite little baby, weighing in at 8.5kg.  She is now 70cm long and her head is also growing nicely (of course - she has her mother's brains).  Unfortunately, along with the nice developmental measurements we had done at this clinic visit, Lily also had to have her measles inoculation.  Shame, it breaks my heart - she was all smiles beforehand and when the needle hit, she went bright red and gave a loud cry.  Luckily it lasted all of 5 seconds and she forgot about it much to my relief.  Now we have 3 months to go until the next ouchy injections :(

Otherwise, Lily still has no teeth, is still leopard crawling all over the place, pushing with her right leg and dragging her left one behind (resulting in a rough piece of skin under her right big toe!).  She is also starting to open draws and cupboards, resulting in the child proofing moving up a notch to cupboard locks, especially for the detergent cupboard in the kitchen.  I have to watch her like a hawk as she keeps on making a bee-line for the dogs bowls and the opened sliding door...  I can only begin to imagine how busy I'm going to be when she starts crawling properly!

I am still amazed at how much I totally and unconditionally love my little Lily Monster and of course, how much this love just keeps on growing.  How is it physically possible?  She is our life and lights up our world.

I dream of sleep...

I should be thankful for the good baby I have been blessed with and the very few difficult nights we have experienced.  Many moms have the exact opposite with only a few good nights in between very disturbed, exhausting nights.  However, 3 days ago, Lily woke up with a teary right eye and running left nostril.  Poor baby looked so sick, but it seemed to be the same thing she's had in the past where it just seems to disappear, with no "sickness" to report.  I've been told that these sorts of symptoms that mimic a cold or the flu, can be a result of teething...

I'm not so sure!  Teething seems to be the "go-to" blamed condition for everything that's not quite right with your child.  Lily has had these teething symptoms before, quite some time ago, and still, we have NO teeth!  Her gums are a little more swollen and I do believe they are on their way, but I just wish we had something to show for her little niggles, red eyes, runny nose and bad nights!

Three nights ago, I had the worst night we have yet to experience with Lily and I hope it's the last!  From the moment she was put to sleep at 6:30pm, she woke up every single hour until I eventually got up with her at 5:15am.  It was tiring, very tiring!  Then the next night wasn't much better!  I wasn't up every hour, but I was definitely up about 5 times during the night.  Lily wasn't even awake, she was merely crying out in what appeared to be discomfort.  Poor little baby, I just wanted to make it right for her.  It wasn't helping that her nose seemed blocked and she was having difficulty breathing while breastfeeding or sucking on her dummy.  It was the first time I popped open the baby Nurofen and used Karvol capsules.

So last night, I was fully prepared.  Before putting Lily down for her sleep, I sprayed some of her lavendar "magic sleep" spray on her pillow and mattress, I rubbed Karvol Rub on her little chest, I put some "Breath Easy" on her upper lip and prayed for a better night.  And I am happy to say that she only woke up at 4am for a feed and then 7am to start the day.  I feel so refreshed!

I now have a new found sympathy for my fellow moms who have battled with babies who aren't fond of sleeping and wake up numerous times during the night.  It is exhausting to say the least and I don't believe you can ever quite "catch up" on lost sleep.  But the joys of being a mommy, to see your precious baby's smile when you walk into their room and to have those little snuggles, giggles and precious moments, make it all worth while!

On the move and other news

I've been meaning to update about Lily's mobility for quite some time now, but due to the actual mobility itself, I have less time to update!  For about a week now, Lily has mastered the "leopard crawl" and is moving about all over the floor.  She is no longer only sliding backwards, but in all directions which means those mythical "mother's eyes at the back of my head" are starting to develop!

In the last week I made an emergency trip to Baby City to buy much-needed plug covers as Lily discovered them with much enthusiasm.  I suppose the baby proofing is starting.  We now have the pool net ticked off our list, the plugs all covered up and our bottom medicine draw in the kitchen emptied.  Still on our list of "to dos" is to get gates for our stairs and the highly fashionable (not) chicken mesh for the banisters at the top of the stairs.  Who knew that the once OCD person I was with regards to how my house looked, is now no longer concerned with whether her house is spic and span, but rather that it's safe for Lily.

Unfortunately, due to having dogs in the house and the sliding doors open all day, our floors, even though just cleaned, are never quite spotless.  There are hairs, bits of grass, little black specks and dust that seem to accumulate undetected on the tiles so when Lily goes sliding around the house, she gets absolutely filthy!  I've resorted to only getting her dressed when we are heading out so she can dirty her vests all she wants until then.  My husband and I have joked about putting a wash cloth onto her stomach and letting her clean the floors while she's on the move!

Lily is reluctant to crawl properly just yet, but rather opts for the leopard crawl which she accomplishes by pushing with her right leg and dragging her left leg along behind her.  If she knows she is heading towards an area where she isn't supposed to crawl and I come up behind her, she picks up her pace trying to out run me.  It's too cute I have to say.  Even though she hasn't figured out how to crawl on all 4's just yet, she is definitely getting onto her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but when she's ready to get from point A to B, she drops down onto her stomach and starts with the slide.

I've been reluctant to report on Lily's day time sleeping as I'm nervous about jinxing it, but I have to say that day time sleep appears to no longer be the enemy!  Lily now has 2 day naps and is quite happy to be put into her cot awake and I'm allowed to walk out the room without any protest.  Sometimes she falls asleep quite quickly without any sound and other times she will moan herself to sleep (no crying, just a sleepy moan).  She has a morning sleep of about 2.5 hours after she's woken up and then another one after her lunch.  This does vary according to what time she starts her day, but this is generally how her naps go these last 2 weeks.  Her sleep times range anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, with the longest being 2 hours which was great!  But the long sleeps are few and far between, but at least there's no longer a fight to get her to have one!

On another note, Lily started her first swimming lesson yesterday and looked too adorable in her little swimsuit and her swimming cap.  Too precious!  The lesson was very professional and Lily loved every single moment of it.  The swimming teacher warned us that she was going to submerge our babies which left me rather apprehensive, but Lily didn't even protest!  She was very happy in the pool and didn't complain once.  I was such a proud mommy.  We are now doing swimming twice a week and even though mommy isn't loving the fact that she has to don a costume in front of everyone, it's definitely worth it to have some quality time together and to see Lily having such a fantastic time.

Lily on the move

Practicing wearing our swimming cap!

Interesting facts

When I fell pregnant I obviously had numerous amounts of questions.  This is a completely new, exciting, nerving, worrying and incredible experience and of course the go-to person for my initial few hundred questions was my own mom.  Unfortunately, my mom's pregnancies happened over 30 years before mine, so a few of the questions I had were answered with "Sorry my love, but I honestly can't remember".  I therefore decided that I would document some of the details and facts about my pregnancy for the day I am, please G_d, blessed with these questions from Lily.  Lily can look back on this post and hopefully get some answers should I not remember (something which is highly likely due to my memory bank being like a sieve!).

• You were conceived 5 months, but 4 cycles (1 of my cycles was 2 months long) after we first started trying for you.
• You were conceived around the 22nd July 2009.
• I did my first pregnancy test on 23rd August 2009 and blood tests were done on the 24th August confirming that I was between 4-5 weeks pregnant.  I was beyond ecstatic, shaking with absolute disbelief when 2 lines appeared on the pregnancy test!
• The first few weeks of pregnancy is often accompanied by cramping similar to period type cramping.  This is completely normal!
• The first time we saw you was at 9 weeks pregnant.  We weren't allowed to listen to your heartbeat just yet, but we could see it.  Truly, truly amazing.

Our miracle little bean at 9 weeks

• At 13 weeks we had the Fetal Assessment scan done to confirm that everything was normal with our pregnancy.  We were so relieved when all the scanning and testing showed us that you were absolutely perfect.  We were so blessed.

Precious Lily at 13 weeks

• It was so amazing to feel your first little movements at 18 weeks.  It felt like little gas bubbles - so much so, that I wasn't 100% sure it was you in the beginning.
• Another amazing Fetal Assessment scan was done at 21 weeks.  This was the first time that Dr Victor actually saw that you were in fact a girl.  We decided not to find out what gender you were, but it was really difficult not finding out when we knew that the doctor could see!
• My clothes started getting a little tighter around the 22 week mark, but it was only at about 25 weeks that I started wearing maternity clothes.

Mommy's tummy at 24 weeks

•  You weren't very eager to turn upside down, but eventually at our 33 week scan, you were head down.  Week 36 you were engaging and by week 38 you were face down as opposed to face up like you were previously lying.
• Dr Victor was worried about your size so we were told that you needed to be in this world by no later than your due date.  Unfortunately 2 days before your due date, after an examination, the doctor found that your head was "stuck" and if we went for a natural birth, there was a high chance of ending up in an emergency c-section.  After carrying my precious baby for almost 10 months, I was not going to risk that and we decided to opt for the safer c-section.
• You were born weighing 3.040kg at 4:50pm on Wednesday, 28th April 2010.  The happiest day of my life!
• During my pregnancy I gained around 14kg.  My stomach stayed relatively tiny, however, my bum and thighs definitely grew.  I was carrying "all round" - almost like you were lying in my bum instead of my tummy : )

39 weeks pregnant - 1 week before you arrived.

• I didn't suffer from serious morning sickness - only a constant nausea during the day.  I went off meat and chicken completely and preferred carbohydrates in the form of bread or crackers.
• I had no cravings while pregnant with you except for a few weeks of really loving smarties!
• I didn't have too much pain whilst pregnant, except for some ligament pain in the pubic bone area towards the last few weeks.  I put this "easy" pregnancy down to reflexology and exercise which I did weekly.

I absolutely loved being pregnant.  I loved feeling your little kicks and hiccups (which you had quite often). I loved watching the alien-like movements that resulted when you would give a hard kick or stretch about.  I loved watching my belly grow, knowing that we were getting closer and closer to finally meeting you. As strange as it sounds, I sometimes actually miss being pregnant.

Pregnancy is truly an amazing miracle.  There is no doubt that there is a Higher Power who blessed us with you - our little miracle - and I give thanks every day for being so incredibly lucky.

First post of the year

Reflecting back on 2010, it was the most exhilarating, life-changing, truly amazing, trying, tiring, sleep deprived and best year of my life.  Although I fell pregnant in 2009, it was only at the beginning of 2010 that my pregnancy became visible and ultimately more real. 

I started wearing maternity clothes and receiving smiles from appreciative fellow moms; I started to shop with excitement for Lily's arrival; my sister moved back to South Africa after 12 years abroad; I experienced a scary scan where I was told that my baby wasn't growing and my amniotic fluid was low; quick change in diet to get baby growing again; yay, baby picked up weight and amniotic fluid level was normal; my incredibly special mom and sister threw me an unforgettable baby shower; my spare room changed into a nursery and out went the queen sized bed; natural birth was the plan, but was told c-section would be the safest route as Lily's head was stuck; one last quiet night away at Paternoster before baby's arrival; and finally... 28th April and I was a mom!  To date, the most amazing day in my 32 years of life.

I am proud to say that I found the first few weeks of motherhood easier than I had predicted, or had been warned.  Perhaps it was due to the fact that I was blessed with an incredibly easy baby or maybe it was just the fact that clearly a release of far too much serotonin had made me blissfully happy and able to cope with whatever was thrown my way.  Yes, I did suffer from sleep deprivation on occasion, but it was all worth while when I held my baby girl in my arms.  Having said that, I do at times wish that I had listened more closely to other moms and had slept a little more prior to Lily's arrival.  What I would do for a full, uninterrupted night's sleep or a nice late lie-in in the morning!  One day...

2010 was also trying due to the fact that it was the year that my hubby and I fought the most.  Sleep deprivation was obviously a contributing factor, but literally the birth of a child changes your life so dramatically that some bickering is to be expected. Along with the petty spats were thankfully some unforgettably special moments - the amazement shared at welcoming our creation into the world together; the unconditional love we share for little Lily; the proud moments shared when Lily reaches a new milestone; laughs shared when Lily entertains us...  The list is endless.  Here's hoping that 2011 sees fewer frustrations and more shared tender moments!

I'm looking forward to this year ahead watching my little baby become a little person.  She already has such a strong, funny and outgoing little character that I'm sure my hands are going to be kept very full, but filled with absolute joy!