Smiley Unscheduled Leah

I am loving being a mom! There are definitely some moments when it's rough, but I usually just sit there in awe most days over how much I am in love with this little girl.  The other day I was sitting on the couch with her and I thought.. Wow! I made this. How cool is that! 

So what are we up to?

Well after my last post, I skowered the Internet looking for different schedules and I found one that I thought would work for me. (There are some eh hem... Interesting "methods" out there. Just google Denmark's Divas.) The one that I liked was from a book called Baby Wise. I actually heard there was some controversy over the book, but I wanted to at least try it. Now I haven't read the book, but I thought that the 3 hours feeding schedule seemed nice and consistent and I know as a classroom teacher that I like consistency. Consistency makes expectations clear therefore making a more safe and predictable situation. Safety = happy baby, right?

So, I tried it. ...admittedly only for a day, but it was a NIGHTMARE!

New plan.

Do whatever the heck Leah wants until she's a little older.

When she is sleeping, I will let her sleep as long as she likes doesn't matter day or night. When she is hungry, I will feed her. Sounds simple enough... And it's actually working. I'm sure we'll get to a schedule eventually. I think I'm just going to try to be patient and allow it to start happening on its own.

Our major rough time starts around 6pm. I've heard this is called "The Bewitching Hour." She just wants to nurse and fuss and nurse some more. My supply in the evenings is lower, so I've been pumping during her morning nap and giving her a bottle of that in the evenings once she's drained me. There's still a lot of crying, but it's improving gradually.

Hmmm.. What else?

I had my post pardem visit today at 5 weeks. I'm trying out the Depo provera shot as a form of birth control. Pregnancy was good for me emotionally besides the morning sickness and huge uncomfortableness toward the end. The Depo shot mimics the hormones in a placenta, so it seemed like a good enough choice. If I have any adverse side effects for the next 3 months that it lasts, I guess I can just switch to something else. The best news of the appointment is that my doctors says that it is possible that pregnancy could have "cured" my endometriosis!  She sent me an email today after our appointment and decided that she wanted to schedule me to a follow-up ultrasound just to check things out. I'm feeling optimistic about my chance for future pregnancies!

After the appointment, I decided to stop by the school since its pretty close to my doctor's office. I texted my long term sub to see if it would be okay and then I headed over after my appointment. It was SO nice to see everyone and show them Leah. I was hanging out in the teachers lounge and the kids had no clue I was in the school, so we decided it would be funny if I just went to the cafeteria to pick them up from lunch.

They.  FLIPPED.  OUT.    In a good way of course. :)

I stayed around for recess as well since it was a nice day, but none of my kids wanted to play. They were just mobbing around Leah and I the whole time. I felt like Justin Bieber. ;)

Once I was home I thought Leah would crash HARD. She had already been awake for FIVE hours by the time I got home, so I put her in her crib and she just started smiling and cooing, so I got these great pictures. Seeing this little girl smile just melts me!