Green is Out, Orange is In...Geez Mom!

I know I say this a lot but, time sure does fly when you have a baby! At Layla's last wellness checkup, (yes, we have reached 6 months already) we learned that she is growing quite well. We were also given the green light to start her on strained foods, yum! As a matter of fact, she has gained very little weight between her 4 month and her 6 month check-ups and in my humble, motherly opinion, my little peanut needed to start on solid foods a little earlier. This may not be true for all babies, but the hard line doctors are drawing at 6 months is a bit much, every kid is different.

But I digress...

So, as per the guidelines given to us by our substitute doctor (our doctor is actually on maternity leave), we started off with orange veggies; carrots, sweet potatoes and squash introducing them one at a time and giving it a few days before introducing something new. Layla was a champion eater and loved everything we gave her. By "loved" I mean she had no reaction at all other than she ate it and wanted more. I couldn't seem to shovel it in fast enough. I definitely think she was not getting enough to eat before we started the solids. However, when it came time to introduce some green vegetables, my little bottomless pit seemed to have finally felt she was getting enough to eat and therefore allowed herself to become picky. My dreams of a child that would eat anything you presented her were dashed with the first spoonful of pureed peas, resulting in a screaming, kicking temper tantrum. I gave it my best to try to get her to eat them, the famous "airplane" technique, telling her how yummy they are, pretending to eat them and really enjoy it, and I even resorted to feeding them to Matthew (I can't eat the stuff myself, I HATE PEAS!). She was having none of it though. I have tried several times since then and she just won't eat peas, she is also not into spinach. I have a few other green veggies I am going to try and I'm hoping she'll like one of them, otherwise I am going to need some good advice on getting your kid to eat things they find absolutely disgusting.

I have attempted to begin introducing fruit as well and that has also had surprising results. Layla wants nothing to do with bananas and will very begrudgingly eat pears. It will be interesting to see what else she likes, but with the way things have been going, I have a feeling this will be an ongoing battle. Perhaps, I can dye all of her food orange??

Watch Out, She Spits!

"Excuse me, monkey boy! Aqui, over here! Here he comes! And what better way to make your grand entrance on the streets of Agrabah, than riding your very own brand new camel! Watch out, they spit!"

Perhaps Layla should lay off the Disney...

The End of My Pregnancy Journey...

For most women, pregnancy lasts approximately 9 months, give or take a few weeks to include recovery from childbirth. However, since I never seem to be able to do anything the "normal" way, mine has lasted a whopping 14 months and 24 days, from beginning to end including all appointments and treatment from complications. Last Saturday I officially went off of blood thinning medication that I was taking as a result of the blood clots that I developed following my c-section and partial hysterectomy while giving birth to my beautiful baby girl. It has been an extremely long road filled with more ups and downs than I could count.

This whole roller-coaster began in January of 2009 when I became pregnant. I wouldn't call it a planned pregnancy but we had pulled the goalie, so I guess for all intensive purposes...we were expecting to get pregnant at some point. Luckily for us it was very easy and for the most part the pregnancy was a breeze. Our little baby that we affectionately referred to as "Pinot Grigio" was very healthy and grew at a normal rate and I really had no major issues, save the two trips to the hospital for cramping pain, which we later figured out was an unusual side effect of prenatal yoga (that's what I get for trying to be trendy and work out while pregnant). Towards the end, in my third trimester, I developed high blood pressure but it was by no means dangerously high. I was put on modified bed rest so that we could keep in under control. Ten days before my due date I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and delivered.

All in all though, it is not terribly uncommon for these things to happen and I was very fortunate in that the baby was considered at term and there were no risks to her health in delivering her a little early. Obviously, I did not anticipate the complications that occurred during her delivery and was devastated with the result. Oddly though, as time has passed I have grown to take a great deal of comfort in all of the post-care I needed. It was as though I was not done with the pregnancy process and that made it not hurt quite so badly. Since this is the only pregnancy I will ever experience, it is a little sad to see it go. I know that I have several options for having more children, whether it be through a surrogate or adoption, but as any woman who has bore a child can tell you, there is nothing at all that compares to carrying your baby for those wonderful nine months. I can honestly say that even if I had to go through all of that pain to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Layla is the most precious, wonderful baby and what I wouldn't give to have so many more!

All woe is me-ing aside (yes, I know that is poorly written, but you get the point), I feel that I have grown as a person through this experience and even though I have moments, sometimes whole days, where I wonder why this happened and where I am supposed to go from here, I am exceptionally happy with my wonderful daughter and the life that my husband and I have created for her. We are so very happy with where we are (especially now that we are all getting more sleep) and are looking forward to watching Layla grow and eventually considering expanding our family.