6 weeks (almost)

Miss Harlow is nearly 6 weeks old which means my big six week checkup is Friday. The one where I basically get the yay or nay to resume my sex life and live with the fear that I will instantaneously become pregnant again. Some camps would have you believe that breastfeeding exclusively is a natural barrier against such a horror, and it makes sense. When the milk comes in and the baby nurses, the estrogen levels plummet and prevent ovulation. (I could technically not get my period for another year, but 6 months seems to be about average.) As long as the baby demands such exclusive attention from the mom, the body won't allow her to create an interloper to take its place. Again, makes sense. Yet. I've done enough lurking on message boards and read too many warnings to take that leap. And since my readership seems to be exclusively made up of family members, I'm gonna leave it at that.

Harlow is thriving, and by thriving I mean HUGE. The girl can eat. We're not operating under exact science here by stepping up on the scale with her and then jumping back on the scale solo, but if those calculations are correct, she's 13 pounds. That would be nearly doubling her weight in 6 weeks! At the 1 and under group, one of the moms introduced us to her 7 week old daughter - who is much smaller than Harlow. I'm learning quickly that there really is no system of comparison, only that as humans and moms we will continue to do so.

And so the momnesia doesn't take over completely...

This week she's been sleeping a lot, we think due to a (HA!) growth spurt. She tends to wake at 5 AM and is WIDE awake, but she's so fun to cuddle with. Even in the dark I can see her smile and take in the room with her still spooky eyes. She swivels her head around to see you and has started making these cute high pitched coos. The constant spit up that is pretty much after every feeding - not so cute.