New Ruthie Developments

Today Ruthie weighed in at 20 lbs 6 ounces at the Dr. office. The girl has slowed down in growth. Lawson and I were joking around the other day saying that Ruthie would become 40 lbs by age one. Between 5 - 12 months, a breastfed baby's weight slows down due to being more mobile. Ruthie's mobility has increased to rolling more often from her stomach to her back and just last week, learned how to sit up independently. Time wise, she could only hold herself up for a few seconds. A couple of days later, she was able to manage 10 minutes and now days afterward, 20 minutes or more without falling backwards or sideways is an accomplishment!

Two weeks ago Ruthie discovered her hands and ears. She would hold her hands up and stare at them and play with her fingers. Other times Ruthie would pull on her ears, making them turn bright red. In addition to this, she enjoyed the sensation of getting dizzy by quickly turning her head back and forth. Now some would say this was an indication Ruthie had an ear infection but persistent crying and fussiness were not present.

Just last week, Ruthie learned about her feet. She realized that there were weird looking objects connected to her legs with strange looking pieces attached that she could curl and move by herself. Ruthie has enjoyed pulling her feet up to her face to sniff and stare at her feet and toes.

Since Ruthie was an infant, she has found the piano to be a tremendous source of excitement. From the time she played her first note to recently playing many notes all at one time with exuberant little hands, Ruthie has loved the piano. In addition to piano, Ruthie relishes her time reading books with Mommy and Daddy. With the hard back Peekaboo book, Ruthie stops "reading" with Daddy every time he says the word; "Peekaboo," she stares at her father's face.

Baby Sleeping, Sleeping Baby

Last week I decided to purposefully stop getting up in the middle of the night to feed Ruthie while she was asleep and see what would happen. The result? Ruthie slept through the night from 9pm to 7am. Since Ruthie was over five months old and possessed enough fat on her, I resisted the urge to get up and let the girl sleep. I had been nursing Ruthie at least one or more times at night since she was two weeks old. People would look at me crazy when I would tell them I fed Ruthie while she was asleep. "Doesn't she wake up?" people would ask. Quite the contrary. All I would do is gently lift sleeping Ruth up, get her into position and she would contentedly "dream feed." After nursing was over, I would gently lay her down and watch her smack her lips a couple of times and sigh before breathing rhythmically in a continued state of deep sleep.

Due to research, I've learned that young babies can get dehydrated if they sleep through the night without eating. This comes to light when the first diaper change in the morning yields no "presents."

Feeding Ruthie throughout the night had kept me from "hurting" and also was an effective way to prevent my cycles from resuming, therefore remaining infertile, which was a plus for Lawson and I. Since we were not using birth control, shots or devices to keep from getting pregnant, maintaining my nursing relationship with Ruthie was essential to hold fertility at bay. I had a personal goal of maintaining infertility for up to a year. Unfortunately, due to missing some feedings with Ruth, my fertility was trying to come back five months post baby. After discussing this with my mother, I learned that her cycles resumed at about five months also. Perhaps genetics has something to do with it.

Don't get me wrong, keeping a record of my body's physical signs on a daily basis is still essential to see what is going on with my body and work with it to continue preventing pregnancy even after cycles have resumed post baby.

Now that little Ruthie is sleeping for longer periods at night, I am a bit sad knowing my girlie is growing up and not so little anymore but I'm also beginning to recall what it is like to have uninterrupted sleep with very little need to nap during the day! Ruthie, on the other hand, needs at least four hours of napping daily in order to have restful sleep at night and not turn into a monster. During my little girl's sleeping breaks (one in the mornings and one during the afternoons), I have learned to make the most of the time by getting things accomplished on my "to do list."

My child's sleeping schedule has helped me be more organized which has been a very good thing!