Tanner turns 6 months! Plus, a feeding update

November 17, 2o16 by Drafts & Crafts

Our sweet baby is now 6 months! I wanted to take some time and reflect on the past 6 months, as well as my journey with breastfeeding. 

Tanner’s crown: Wild Mountain Knits -use code “dccold15” for 15% off!
Ikea high chair cover: Yeah Baby Goods -use code “dccold15” for 15% off!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was trying to find the time to write Tanner’s birth story blog post and now our baby boy turned 6 months last week! I have heard it my entire life, time goes by so fast once you have children, but I could not really understand the concept until Tanner was born! The past 6 months are flown by. Don’t get me wrong, some days feel VERY long and some days we are VERY tired, but I can not believe Tanner has been “ours” for 6 months! It is great that his 6 month birthday coincides with thanksgiving time because I am embracing what is means to be thankful for our first children. Being Tanner’s mama is nothing short of a miracle! Jason and I are blessed that God chose us to be his parents.

Tanner weights 19.7 pounds, is 27 inches long, and is one sweet dude!! He is happy, laughing, and talking 95% of the time. The other 5%, he is hungry or fighting sleep. Tanner does sleep through the night, with an occasional off week where he enjoys a 3am feeding. The big boy can sit up by himself now, rolls all around, and is beginning to hold his bottle. It seems like overnight that he went from being a completely helpless baby (i.e you had to hold him and hold his bottle) to now he can sit up and practically feed himself. We love to watch Tanner grow. He is beginning to be introduced to the basic table foods. He loves sweet potato and bananas. We celebrated Tanner’s 6 months with some sweet potatoes and cake for the adults- although Tan man may have gotten to lick some cake.

A few months ago, I shared about my journey of feeding tanner. I had started breastfeeding when Tanner was in the NICU, but when we got home breastfeeding was not easy. Tanner wouldn’t latch for long or he would fall asleep so I began exclusively pumping. I EPed for 3 months. It seemed like the pump was attached to my hip. I pumped every 3 hours for 3 months straight. Until, one week Tanner was extra fussy, not like his usual self, so I decided to try him back on the boob. What do you know!?!?! He went back to breastfeeding and latched on like it was his job! I could not believe it! So fast forward to the present, Tanner will nurse before bed and in the morning. I still EP throughout the day. My goal for breastfeeding was 6 months. There was so many times where I felt hopeless and that I would never make it to my 6 month goal, but here I am and still going!!! I want to encourage any mom who is struggling with breastfeeding that it is all OK. The most important thing is your sanity and health so that you can take care of your baby. I already admit that I don’t think that I will breastfeed baby #2 (one day) because I can not imagine having the energy to breastfeed and chase after Tanner. If you want to talk about EPing or any feeding struggle, please message me! I am so glad that I stuck with exclusively pumping and it can be done! I would love to hear your story or your favorite part about being a mom!

Keep in touch,
Dani