Half A Year With Harrison | The 6 Month Update

We've had 182 days with Harrison. 4331 hours, and more minutes than I'll bother to count. It's been a journey, an amazing one at times, but also one that felt like an uphill battle for the first few months. It's taken time, very little blood, but a lot of sweat and a tonne of tears, but we've made it to Harrison's half birthday and we could not be in a better place. I feel like I'm turning into the girl I used to judge for celebrating the little milestones: I never thought I'd be one to even recognize a half birthday, but at 6 months, it feels like we're celebrating so much more than half a year. 6 months has marked a major turning point for him, and an even bigger one for me. This month, I lost my phone. I lost 6 months of pictures, of videos, of ridiculous feed updates in my notes. I lost my google search history, my favorited websites of irrational and quite frankly ridiculous suggestions on how to get your baby to sleep. I have the DSLR images I take, but those probably aren't the ones I'd miss in the long run. I want the dimly lit 5 second snapchat videos of the first night he smiled, or giggled, or the aftermath of the first poo explosion. I've been criticized for taking so many pictures of my child, for celebrating the mini milestones that aren't really milestones, for oversharing, and recently I've forgotten about the reasons I done those things in the first place. Losing the pictures and videos just confirmed in my head that I do want them, I miss them, and if I didn't have a blog of written updates, I'd have been much more upset. I want to remember the little tiny moments, the ones that don't justify the big camera, the ones that matter. I want to document the half birthdays, the silly days that don't mean anything to anyone else but us, the hard days and the ones that may otherwise go forgotten. 6 Months is a milestone for us, and will forever hold a place in my heart. At 6 months, motherhood became what I always wanted it to be.

H is 4 Months Old

I'm not going to mention how quickly this last month has gone, because it would seem that it's all I ever do in these monthly updates. It's hard to find another way to start these off as it is the truth; the early days pass so quickly, and with each update I can't help but realize we're quickly leaving them behind. Harrison's fourth month has been my favourite one yet. He's now more interactive than ever and super alert, but he can be a cheeky little sod and has forgotten how to sleep again, yet still, it's been my favorite month so far. In the last two weeks especially, we've bonded in a way that we never have done before, and I feel like I'm finally stepping into the role of being a mum, rather than simply a caregiver. A friend asked me today if I was enjoying being a mum, and I still don't have a straight yes or no answer - but I'm definitely beginning to enjoy it a lot more than I had been in previous months. I had never realized there was a difference before, but now, my feelings have completely changed, and I've completely rid myself of the baby blues that I've held onto for so long. He's my son, my little best friend and my motivation to make the most of our lives. He's also growing up to be one hell of a little character.

H is 3 Months Old

Harrison is 3 months old. I have a three month old baby. I honestly cannot get my head around this. I can hand on heart say that my pregnancy (which was essentially just over 3 months long) felt like the longest stretch of time in the world. Every day dragged in, and the weeks didn’t go in any quicker. I was in a constant cycle of wishing my days away, whilst being terrified of what was to come. Now though, time has absolutely flown. It feels like yesterday I was bringing Harrison home from the hospital, absolutely clueless as to what I was supposed to be doing and to what motherhood would hold. Whilst it feels like no time at all has passed since then, I also cannot remember a time when I wasn’t a mother. I can’t remember a reality where I didn’t have someone to rely on me 24 hours a day, and although I complain often, I wouldn’t want to. In the last week especially, Harrison has hit my favourite stage yet. He’s happy, giggly, and a joy to be around. I’ve accepted the lack of sleep, and my body has adjusted to living off of what feels like next to none, but he makes up for that shortcoming with the smiles during the day.

H is Two Months Old

I cannot believe it's already been two months with Harrison: it's completely flew in, but at the same time, I can't remember a time before he was born. I can't remember a full nights sleep, or what it feels like to have clean jeans on, or what a hot meal tastes like, and to be honest, I don't mind at all. I'll apologise in advance for the length of this post - in the month since the last update, my little newborn is no longer newborn, he's changed entirely and he's already becoming a little character. I hate to say he's growing up too quickly, as anyone who's read my last updates will know that it's all I seem to say in them, but it really is true. I look at the pictures I took in the first few days, and he looks nothing like that anymore, he truly has changed completely and I can't even fathom the changes he'll make in the next few months.

H is 1 Month Old

 

Harrison is one month old today. I've started every single one of these updates off saying how terrifying it is that we're another week down, and this week is no different.  It is terrifying. It's terrifying that I no longer have a baby that I can describe as weeks old; from here on out we're into the months, and I can only imagine how fast time will fly from here. I keep on wishing away the days - I can't wait for him to smile, to laugh, to roll over and to crawl, but I can't bear the thought of losing the newborn days. Everyone said it would go quickly, but I didn't quite imagine it would go this quickly. He's doing well, I can't say that enough. Sleeps not great, but it never was going to be, he's a newborn, he doesn't know the difference between night and day. I've gotten used to being tired, if that's the only struggle we have to face in these first few weeks then I'll be forever grateful. Babies aren't easy, I expected it to be difficult, not easy, but worth it in the end. He definitely is worth it.

H is Three Weeks Old

I swear I only wrote Harrisons' two week update a few days ago - these weeks are absolutely flying by, and I have no idea how to slow them down. I know I say it every single update, but I truly cannot fathom the fact that next week little chunk will be a month old already. I think it's about time we get over the month mark so I can move onto monthly updates rather than weekly, as doing weekly updates just highlights how quickly these weeks are actually going.

Harrison has had a great week this week, as have I. We finally made a little bit of a breakthrough with sleep, and he's been managing to keep his milk down, which he hadn't been doing up until now. It's baby steps, but we're slowly but surely adjusting, and he's coming on leaps and bounds with every week, and is already becoming a little character.

H is Two Weeks Old

This update is now 4 days late, which kind of defeats the purpose of having weekly updates... but we're playing catch up here. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get back into a routine that means I can actually get posts out on time, doubtful though!

H is One Week Old

Harrison is no longer days old, that is absolutely crazy. Well, he is still days old, but that's not how we'll count. It's weeks now. Before we know it it'll be months, and that is even crazier. This week has been the most mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting week of my life, but it has also already been the best. Harrison is perfect: an absolute pest at night, completely draining, and leaves me covered in sick, pee or poo 90% of the time, but still completely perfect. This week has absolutely flew in, it is crazy to think that only a 8 days ago he was still in my stomach, and now I can't imagine life without him.

32 Week Update

32 weeks, done and dusted. 

How crazy to think I only have 8 and a half weeks left.. give or take. As far as updates go, I'm not really sure what else I have to update on, as far as pregnancy symptoms go, i'm still relatively unaffected (I do say this with a pinch of salt, I've no doubt jinxed myself and will end up with nausea up to my ears, swollen feet and cravings like no one's business). 

In the 6 weeks since my last update, I started light duties at my workplace, meaning I'm now confined  to a desk for the time being, I've spent 10 days in Tenerife, and we've managed to get a fair amount of the basics ready for the arrival. In term's of the new job, I'm generally pretty uncomfortable throughout the day. There's a persistent dull ache in my ribs, which is probably just them stretching out to compensate, but sitting at an upright desk for 8 hours just mean's everything stiffens up a bit. I've been trying to make sure I go for a half hour walk or so every lunch time to get circulation moving and get some feeling back in my bum! Speaking of exercise, mines is all but non-existent right now. I plan on doing an entire post on this subject, but in short, it's not for lack of motivation. I love the gym, I really do, and there's nothing more I'd rather do than people to work out in the way I did before, but my work-out motivation comes solely from a superficial perspective, I do it to look good and to improve my physique, and I can't do that right now, which is ultimately frustrating. I also find it extremely embarrassing going to the gym at the minute, which is something I've not had in years. I previously found the weights room very daunting, and in the past two years I've really come to my own in there, no issue, but with a bump I can't help but feel the stares, and it's definitely a deterrent. My new plan is to return to Kayla Itsine's BBG program, which can be done at home, for the remainder of my pregnancy, so I'll keep everyone updated on that.

Baby J is still moving a healthy amount according to the midwife, although once again there doesn’t seem to be any pattern to his movement, or at least not one that I’ve noticed yet. While I was on holiday I had been a bit worried as I didn't feel like he was moving enough, watching other blogs and reading blogs about specific movement patterns and visible kicks left me a bit antsy, but quite literally seconds after I got on the flight to come home he started doing what felt like roll-pollies in my rib cage, and hasn't stopped since. My bump measured 26cm at my 29 week midwife appointment, which is slightly under what I am expected to be, but I am a small person, and in the past week or so I've definitely grown a lot, so at my next midwife appointment I'd imagine my size will have rectified. Speaking of midwife appointments, I'm still a bit worried, how many do we normally get? I'll have had 3 by Week 34, and 1 scan, and I just feel completely clueless, as though I've not had nearly enough input. Hopefully my visits will get more frequent as I near the final stretch, if not, i'm going in blind.... 

Baby furniture has now been purchased, and I'll do a full post on that in the coming fortnight, but I'm very excited to get the nursery decorated and all ready for Baby J, it will make it so much more real, although the stress of off-white versus cream paint is already too much, lord help Jordan come the dreaded trip to B&Q. I've managed to resist the urge to buy too much so far, but a few bits and bobs are starting to slip through the net.... 

That's pretty much everything up until this point, from here I'll try and update more frequently as things pick up a bit. Obviously it goes without saying I am still new to this mummy-blogging, and any tips anyone can offer on ways to make pregnancy easier, or recommendations for when Baby J arrives are welcomed with open arms. Until next time,

Kirsty