Merlin is 6 months

Time flies! Already 6 months that Merlin changed our life!
This gonna be the last update on the blog; friends and family will get updates on  other venue.
He is growing well and everyday is different.
He had and still has some little pain because he is cutting his first teeth.
The teeth he had when he was born actually disappear in the gum; now he has two sharp little teeth at the bottom of his mouth.
He started to eat few 'solid' (mashed food), he loves avocado; bananas and fresh juice when he asked for it.
He still loves to sleep in Mommy's arm during the day and sleep 3 to 6 hours at night.
He loves being outside, watching nature and being tickle by the wind!

Baby Merlin is 5 months old

There is no word to describe this great experience and journey with baby Merlin!
Every day is different and my way of thinking and living is so much different than for my two first child.
Merlin is growing beautifully;
This month he maintain his sitting position a little bit more but not fully yet;
He is still teething and some days are not fun.
As he was very interested and excited to see us drink and eat, it was his first introduction to juices:
He first tried fresh coconut water (we are blessed to be able to have those, love them myself, it's the ultimate drink!), he loves it too; then he tried juices: Apple/grenadillas, oranges, and bananas,orange,lemon smoothie, just few small spoons.
Then he tried mashed banana.
We are really listening to his body and face language to answer his needs.

For the elimination communication, as he become heavier, we started to introduce a little potty (yes, this can be weird at this age but now I believe that elimination can be taught the same way than other body function!); we still hold him under his leg but now over the potty and it works great.
Each time he is done, he gave us a sweet little smile of contentment!
He can hold his sphincters about 8 hours at night. He turns and moves to gave us the signal that he needs to eliminate.
That's very interesting.

Sleeping is still a bit challenging as he still needs to be rock or nursed to fall asleep and he usually does small cat naps from 15 min to 1 hour during the day.
He must have detectors as he feels whenever we try to put him in his bed!
At night, he started to do 5 hours sleep but since few days it's 3 hours again!...

He loves being outside in the baby carrier, hammock or stroller.
and he still loves being in the water.

Thank you for stopping by and following Merlin's journey...

Month 4...

Time flies and baby Merlin is growing fast!
He is a new baby every day! He is discovering his body; hands, feet, head... He is following people with his eyes and he is smiling back; He started to like being hold on his feet and today he tried the sitting position, holding it for few seconds.
He has started teething, not a fun time; looks like he enjoys his teething ring that we put in the freezer.
He is cooing and this is really cute!
He still has a hard time falling asleep and sometimes he sleeps for only 10 to 40 minutes;
Nights are a bit better, he wakes up to nurse a little and fall back to sleep for 3 to 4 hours.
We have started to let him sleep in his little bed during the day, since then we were co sleeping in the big bed!
Also he loves watching what we are eating, he looks very interested.
He makes us practice living in the present moment which is a gift.

Have a wonderful day!

Merlin is 3 month old...

Another month have passed and Merlin is growing well.

By the end of this third month he had double his birth weight!.

We still have a little lack of sleep as Merlin needs to be rock in our arms to fall asleep!
Yes, we do not want to let him cry alone!
He is sleeping more deeply at night with two periods of 3 hours.

We still use The Elimination Communication and combine it with diaper. This is very interesting to see how a baby can control his sphincter and wait until we hold him to release.

I made a little journal on what I ate for about 15 days to find out what food Merlin was sensitive to;
So of course no dairy product (I was enjoying a piece of cheese once in a while!), no gluten, no red onion, no cabbage (including kale)...
So basically what I eat are fruits, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and sometimes steamed potatoes. It can be challenging some time as we learned to help our emotions with comfort food!
I need to think twice before eating anything that can hurt either my body or baby's body.

He enjoys his daily bath like a little fish in the water!
He has more control of his hands and can put his thumb in his mouth; he also started to maintain his head better.
When we carry him in our arms in straight position, he will lean back with his head.
He love watching the lights!
Looks like his little teeth has started to bother him.
That's it for this month; this is so nice to watch him growing.

We cannot resist his smiles!

Merlin is 2 months

Here we are! Second month for Merlin...
It has been an interesting month with more learning even if I have already two (big) kids there is still something to learn as each baby is different.
It has been challenging in getting enough sleep, some days I felt that I only have time to go to the washroom (if I even have the time!), as Merlin love to nurse and to be rock in our arms.
He was breastfeed every one to two and a half hours; only last night he slept 4 and a half hour and 3 hours straight, hooray! But my breast was not prepare for that and they were pretty full!
Breastfeeding has some little challenge as well... I read that it's not suppose to hurt, so I am working on it...it gets better today as well.
Food sensitivity is something I try to keep track for him to reduce gazes and colic
Here is a book I read this month about breastfeeding:
'The drinks are on me' by Veronika Sophia Robinson

Merlin is growing well, he is now around 10 pounds (4.6kg) and gain 10 cm in length !
He is changing so quickly; Everyday he is a new baby!

We had our first get out in town and Merlin Loves car rides! Even on bumpy roads!

We continue the EC (elimination communication) and we are surprise how well it works.

Merlin enjoy being in water and the little plastic tube is already too small! It's way better in the big bathtub .

He is starting to coo a little and he is looking to get his thumb in his mouth...not easy task for a baby!

Thank you for your visit!...

Baby Merlin is 1 month old.

Yes! Already a month!
Baby Merlin is adorable and (his smiles are irresistible!) he is growing fast.
Mommy is lacking some sleep and baby has some colic sometimes but we are getting better.
I'd love to understand why babies have colic if breast milk is suppose to be the best and mommy is watching what she ate!...
I didn't know how hungry and thirsty we can be when we breastfeed! So I am eating more whole food with some mashed potatoes, steam veggies (like swiss chards, beets...) but I still try to keep most of them raw and juices.

Little Merlin love to be in water (it's not a surprise as he lived in it for more than 8 months, he was born in water and I was really attract by water while pregnant).

A little fact about Merlin: we discovered that he was born with two little teeth!

We started to try Communication Elimination with him;
This is really interesting to see how you can answer your baby's needs and how a new born is able to control his sphincters.
It was a bit hard for me to believe but after seeing few families who experienced it and reading the book  Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer), we decided to give it a try and this is really rewarding to be able to answer one of your baby's need.
We don't 'catch' everything but it's a good start.

Our Birth Story...

Merlin was born on February 17th  at 38 weeks and one day; 3 days after the Valentine full moon.

It all started around 1 am, I was having some light contractions like every other nights, so I started my little 'dance'.
At 2:30am, the contractions were closer and I understood it was serious this time, so I started preparing my den!: sweeping the bathroom floor, emptying the garbage can, preparing the towels etc has we had plan an unassisted water birth.
At 3:30am the contractions were every few minutes apart, so I woke up Hubby and asked him to prepare the bath; it was a bit challenging to get in the bath tub between contractions.
We settle a soft lighting and some candles.
Once in water, I squatted and swing on the contractions waves, breathing as I felt it; But I realized I was breathing too deeply and it over ventilated me, I was kind of dizzy and the candles made me see like a white orb, so we blew them up. I thought that the water would have been more helpful but I accepted as it was thinking that it could be worst!
As time went, the contractions were stronger and stronger, I had to find another position and I turned around, I was starting to find the process to be too long and I started to worry a bit but suddenly a big contraction with a push broke my water and I felt like an empty pouch, that worried me as well, but I brought back some positive affirmations and as the pain was very strong I asked hubby for some natural oxytocin that he gave me with kisses and hugs, it helped a lot.
A new feeling came; a feeling to push, I was not sure if it was the right time but once again I trusted  my natural instinct and let my body do his job.
I was massaging and supporting my perineum and suddenly felt baby's head crowning; it was a powerful moment. With each push I was holding hubby's wrists tightly and focusing on opening for the baby ; I tuned with him to work together. A strong push associated with a guttural sound make his head appear; I asked hubby to support his head; he was surprised to feel his little nose; it was a magical and very strong moment. Then another strong push came and baby's body came out with a kind of a twist; hubby helped him gently to get out of the water on Mommy's tummy. Pure bliss moment! We did it!
Our baby boy was here crying a little and calming in Mom's arms.
He was cover with some vernix caseosa.
After few minutes, I decided to get out of the bath to deliver the placenta; we wrapped baby and mommy in towels and it was a bit challenging again as I had not much energy.
I sit over a bucket and waited for the placenta trying to get another contraction...but nothing; I was loosing the rest of my energy and started to faint; Hubby helped me to stay awake and then helped the placenta to come out by pulling gently on the ombilical cord (as we read it in an unassisted birthing book), I was not sure about that but finally after 40 minutes, the placenta came out and I was out of energy and almost fainted 2 more times; I was really pale.
I then went on the floor to rest and drank a fresh coconut water; baby was sleeping peacefully with his umbilical cord still attach to his placenta.
It was a wonderful experience, it was a conscious birthing where we discovered much about the power of our own body.

My Pregnancy little facts

I wanted to share here some of the little facts from this pregnancy...:
- I gain 8 kg (about 16Lbs)
- I had no stretch mark and I think it's from all the green juices I drank and also I massage my belly with coconut oil, that also helps a lot with ligaments pain and cramps.
- I was only able to sleep on my back and sometimes on the right side.
- Baby was usually on the right side; In the last few weeks he had the hiccups 2 to 3 times a day.
- I took a daily warm bath the last three weeks before giving birth; I needed this relaxing time as my belly was really tense by the end.
- I kept all my energy for the baby and didn't do much (if nothing at all) in the house for the last few weeks...
- The last two books I read was: Childbirth Wisdom from Judith Goldsmith; It was very interesting to learn about childbirth in different tribes and helped me to reconnect with my true nature and comfort me with our choice for a unassisted natural birth at home.
And 'Placenta the third chakra' by Robin Lim that help me to understand and apply the ideas of a Lotus birth.

8 Months...almost there!

This month was okay at the beginning; We had to do a 8 hours trip for some paperwork and I am glad I was able to manage it.
By the middle of the month I started to feel pretty tired and couldn't do much; I had trouble standing for even few minutes, this baby is pretty heavy and stretch my ligaments pretty hard!
So I am going very slow...and resting a lot. No more car trip for me!

Baby is still moving a lot and he is pushing my belly like I never experienced in my first pregnancies!

I am pretty happy because my first baby was born at 35 weeks, my second at 36 weeks and I feel that I can carry this one few more weeks (even if it's getting hard to move!) and without a cervical cerclage (stitches) as the doctor told me after my second pregnancy that I would need one!

This month I red few other books some where very technical and other more informative and helping to understand what's going on in our bodies when we are pregnant.
I really liked this one: Guide to childbirth from Ina May
I also red: Spiritual midwifery from Ina May
and Gentle Birth, Gentle mothering from Sarah Buckley

I also did few pretty cute crochet diaper cover, that you can check on my creative blog.

I am finishing to sew some bed sheets and then I will wash the baby's laundry to be ready!

On the food side, I mainly enjoy juices to get most of my nutriments as my stomach and digestive system feels compressed and smaller; but I still have some cravings that I try to listen, like I wanted some dairy products but more like unpasteurized cheese and eggs that I have some time to time in a small amount.
Here are some example of what I ate: Different kind of salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, Kale salad... Raw zucchini linguine with marinara sauce, steamed and saute veggies, tabbouleh, raw banana vanilla sorbet, fruits salads with sometimes chocolate sauce on top!

Lately I've been enjoying being in water a lot, so whenever I can (or need) I take a warm bath and it's really relaxing...

Thank you for stopping by....
The next update will certainly be with this new being!...

Month 7 : 31+ weeks

Looks like, this month went pretty fast...Maybe because of the Holidays Season!
There was some up and down for me with always something to learn from!
I would say pretty emotional and spiritual lessons!
Baby is still moving a lot and I feel he changed position and have his head down now; so sometimes it seems that I am not big anymore and people think I am only few months pregnant!.
Few days later he moved again and take all the space he could to show that I am pretty big!.

We went to the 'big' city (50min drive) to buy some clothes, a little bed and some accessories for the baby...

It feels a bit weird to kind of start over with baby stuff!
We don't want to buy too much as we might have done for our first kids! ...
So each time the question is: Do we really need it!.
Our ideas and point of view on different topic have changed a lot (about labor, breastfeeding, clothing, toys, natural hygiene etc...) It's very interesting for me as it was my field of studies and work! (I was a nursery nurse working in a maternity clinic while I was living in France).

 I started to read few other books this month and one of them really got my attention:
Diaper free from Ingrid Bauer.

The concept is really interesting and make sense to me...so I'll see if I can give it a try!

If any of you experienced it...please share!

I am glad to be aware and out of this consumerism society! (while using what helped me for good purpose).

On the food side, I am doing what I would call intuitive eating: Before I ate anything I am tuning in and see what my body needs and what I would really enjoy eating; Lately I ate some steamed and boiled veggies like cauliflower, green beans, beets, potatoes that I put into a salad and I still have 2 to 3 juices a day and I feel that I really need it.

Yesterday I was inspired and I made an Asian salad with marinated mushrooms, carrots and zucchinis!

Sometimes I think of all my favorite restaurants and dishes while I was in Canada and I wonder if I would still like them...

I love the local dragon fruit (also called Pitaya or pitahaya) that is in season and I have one every morning with a juice.

Otherwise I try to take it easy to be able to bring this pregnancy to its due date without trouble...

So I am working on accepting to be served and helped (and that's not an easy task for me!).

It's hard to find a comfortable place with this big belly and my favorite one is the hammock!
I am bless to be able to enjoy it!

Thank you for stopping by and comments are always welcome!....