Crawling Milestone Reached @ 5 months 3 weeks old

So last week, for a period of 3-4 days, AJ went through an extremely fussy phase. Up until this stage he would sleep from 9pm to 3am, wake to feed and back to sleep immediately till about 7am.

In this fussy period, he would only finally fall asleep at around 11pm to 12 am (after 2 hours of non stop fussing) only to wake up screaming bloody murder one hour later; needing to be rocked back to sleep; then waking up again within the hour screaming bloody murder again. This went on for 4 days and at a time when John and I both fell sick. So by the end of it, we were so exhausted.

I didn't realise we were actually experience his 6 month growth spurt at the time.  All I wanted was for it to end!  Miraculously by the 5th day, things went back to normal and at the same time he started crawling! Army crawling to be precise.

So, at 5 months and 3 weeks old, our dearest baby boy has started to crawl :)

"6 month Sleep Regression"

AJ's 6 month old Sleep Regression came when he was just 5.5 months old - and it reared it's ugly little head at the most inappropriate time (I mean, when it is ever an appropriate time for a sleep regression anyway?!)

By that I mean, it came the very day I fell sick with a high fever, tonsilitis and had to manage an inflamed tendon (tendonitis).
It will still lurking around as an evil entity when John fell equally sick with a very high fever. Just when you thought things couldnt get ANY worse, my period decided to make its appearance, coupled with the sickness & the immense stress ive been feeling the last week or so, my milk supply took a huge dip.

So by day 3 of the regression, it was us 2 extremely exhausted, wearied and broken bodies with a fussy, screaming baby who simply won't settle down (even with boob!) or go to bed.

And then, magically, by day 4 he was sleeping well again (by about 4 months old he'd been sleeping from 8-9pm to 2-4am feed then back to sleep for another 3-4 hours).

My milk supply is slowly creeping back up but it is during this time that I've finally properly appreciated my freezer milk stash. Before this, the bags were sitting untouched and I actually thought I would've to throw them all away because we are moving to brissy in a month's time (permanent move) & will not ship them over because of the amount of trouble it will take plus I have already established a good milk supply and AJ will be starting solids by the time we are in brissy anyway.

So as I'm typing this it's day 5, 1020pm and he's sound asleep in his cot. I'd better use this time to catch up on some sleep!

The almost 4 month old!

Wow. It has been a long time since I last updated this space. Heaps have happened in this time..

- mum and dad went back to melbourne
- our little family went on a 1 week trip to melbourne
- AJ started rolling over and army crawling
- I'm back to the workforce after a 3 month maternity leave
- new role, new responsibilities, new structure (2 top dogs left my team)
- possible migration
- AJ got his second booster immunization!
- 120ml intake

I've just named the main ones. . A lot of smaller scenarios have happened in between these larger ones.

Anyway AJ has just gotten his second jab yesterday.  In the butt. He was such a good boy though - crying only for the first few seconds and then quickly calming down after with the help, hug & cuddles from his daddy.

He's turning 4 months old tomorrow (how time flies!) and can now roll over, army crawl, babble & coo, giggle and smile (heaps!). He's such a happy, lovable baby and John and I are more than blessed to have this little man in our lives.

He's also started to lean forward ALOT especially when he's put down in his bouncer. The more I push him to lean backwards the more he resists and tries to lean forward - makes for a funny scene actually. And when he's sitting down he clamours to get on his feet (but obviously at this age he isn't able to do so yet) so the moment we lift him up on his feet, he goes all smiley and giggly. What a cutie.

Tempted to get him the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo soon. I've seen so many good reviews on it (amazon) & I'm sure AJ will love it since he gets to stand and bounce!

Daycare is turning out to be fine as well. Santhy, Patricia and Katsuri (Aunty "Sura") are all looking after him well. The only thing I dislike is the fact that it gets hot & sweaty there sometimes and his bottles come home with tiny crawling gifts (read: ants) however that is to be expected since the daycare is a landed property (essentially a house-turned-daycare-centre). In the past month AJ's breastmilk intake has gone from 90ml to 120ml!! This is after we got feedback from Santhy that he's been finishing all 5 90ml bottles within 10 hours AND still sucking for more at the end of each feed! We increased it to 100ml and still nothing changed so we increased it to 120ml just 2 days ago and we shall see how it goes within the next week. 

I still can't believe how much he's thriving on breastmilk alone - it inspires and motivates me to keep continuing on this breastfeeding journey up until for some reason, I physically can't anymore! I truly love how it comforts him too and ill surely be sad when the day comes that this breastfeeding journey comes to an end!

[Monspiration] Self-Improvement

Source: acidcow.com

Keep striving to be a better version of yourself everyday (even in the smallest things).. that's the only way to develop and improve yourself.

Happy Monday!

[Monspiration] Just Breathe.

Source: pinterest.com

As we approach a new week & a new month, in the middle of your piles of incomplete & overdue assignments, hectic workload and working schedule, dealing with a nasty colleague or trying to  meet your boss' high expectations... remember to pause, and Just Breathe.

Because sometimes what we need to keep our sanity in check is to have that space (even if for a few seconds) to clear our minds & recompose ourselves. 

Happy Monday all!

Postpartum : Week 4

How I feel (Overall): As expected, I'm feeling better with each passing week. That said my little pooch is still there albeit flattening out, slowly but surely.

I can't wait till my 6 week post natal checkup with kamaljit. Pretty sure I'd be able to start exercising afte that!

Pain areas: The incision itself I believe is almost fully healed. The occasional pain I feel is from the inside which I believe is from the inner wound.

A new pain area would be my back and hips - from carrying AJ all day! He's getting heavier and my arms are not getting proportionately stronger to support that, in fact my wrists started aching last week and sometimes I wake up from my nap feeling my someone has taken a hammer and smashed my wrists.  Yeah it's that bad. I hope this subsides eventually as they get used to all the carrying. 

Back and hips hurt due to my scoliosis. Carrying him on one side of my shoulder creates an imbalance in these areas - a circumstance that definitely doesn't help my current situation! Gotta get that Moby wrap,  apparently it evenly distributes the weight of the baby across both shoulders thereby causing less impact on the back and hips.  Anywho we shall see about that - might even do a review on it!

How I coped: I've started going out & regaining some normalcy of my life - meeting my dearest colleague and friend Gladys for breakfast at our usual hot spot below the office - Grab.

And to be honest I feel like these are much needed breaks from the repetitive baby schedule I'm on otherwise.
I'm very grateful mum is around to allow me to do this - however I do still have a 2-3 hour "curfew", one set by my boobs otherwise they become angry and engorged. Yeah, #breastfeedinglife.

Next short term goal : hitting the gym!

AJ's Progress: Now that we are a month old he will need to get his booster shot soon - Dr. Altaf recommended we get it done at our local public clinic since that is where the stash of vaccines coming into the country are prioritised. Other than that, I think im starting to see the beginning signs of him smiling and it's so damn cute. I can't wait for the day when he can smile & talk!

[Monspiration] Courage

Source: fromupnorth.com


Too often we get so used to being in our own comfort zones, that we lose sight of the bigger things in life that we can achieve. Today's quote is to encourage you to have the courage to step out of your comfort zone & take risks because if you don't, then you won't fulfil your potential in life. 

Happy Monday!