Isla's 6 Month Update

trying to play with your tongue

Isla Rose I cannot believe you are already 6 months! Time is going so fast. I feel like I just brought you home from the hospital!

You turned 6 months old today and right on schedule you are in your 6 month growth spurt. You slept 8 hours straight 2 nights ago and napped almost all day and then bam! last night you were up every hour for half the night and you haven't napped longer than 15 mins today. You are trying to kill me. Before your growth spurt you were averaging 2-3 wake-ups a night usually around 12am, 2 and 4. Sometimes you would skip one and I would get a few hours of sleep in a row. You now sleep on your tummy only and I still swaddle your lower half in the sleep sack. I think it just makes you feel extra secure.

You are really enjoy nursing and will stay on there until I pop you off. You nurse for hours. It's definitely showing in your size! You are a healthy 17 lbs (according to my super accurate method of weighing myself while holding you) and you wear 12 month clothes. There are still some 9 month clothes that fit but fewer and fewer every day. 

We started playing around with solids about 10 days ago. I gave you a couple bites of my sweet potato and you loved it! We tried that again a couple of times as well as banana and apple sauce. You are not a fan of apple sauce. You couldn't quite get a good grip on the banana to eat it but you had fun playing with it. We are doing Baby Led Weaning this time and no purees.

You are still a pretty happy baby (minus today since you have had 0 sleep) and your absolute favorite person is your big sister. She is now starting to play with you and enjoy your company too. It melts my heart to see her with you. Last night you were crying on our way home and she was singing song after song to you and telling you "Hold on baby Isla, we almost there!". It is the most perfect thing to see you two together.

My BBG Journey Part 1

So I wanted to talk to y'all about Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide (BBG). I sort of discovered her last year after Christmas. There was this huge movement of girls preparing to do it together starting January 5. I was halfway through my pregnancy with Isla so there was no way I could join in but I started following a bunch of the girls through Instagram so I could track their progress.

Fast forward to 4 weeks postpartum and I was feeling the baby blues pretty strongly. I was trying to wait to begin at the recommended 6 weeks pp but I felt like I would just start and listen to my body if I needed to back off or slow down.

To begin, I created a separate BBG Instagram account (@chrissytx.bbg) so I could track my progress with photos and keep up with all the awesome BBG girls on there. That way I didn't feel too self-conscious or clog up my personal newsfeed with exercise stuff that I knew most people wouldn't be interested in seeing. That IG account really helped to keep me motivated. You can find other girls who are beginning the program at the same time as you and commisserate. You can also see girls who have finished it and hear how they were able to stay on track.

The first IG post I did was my "start" photos or "week 0" as the bbg girls like to say. Those were pretty rough to put out there. I mean, I had just had a baby and my body was swollen and pale and bumpy in the wrong places. I threw it up there and anytime I needed an extra bit of motivation to do my workout that day, I remembered my before photos and decided I didn't want to stay there.

(Keep in mind there is 8 weeks between these because I did the 4 weeks of Pretraining before starting the Week 1)

Another awesome source of motivation for me was doing the program with my sister who lives in Hawaii. She and I did it together until almost the end when she had to quit due to an unhealed hernia. We would text each other a few times a week and give each other pep talks as needed. I know it seems a little overkill in the motivation department but bbg is so intense and difficult at first that most people quit by week 3!

BBG workouts are similar to crossfit. Most involve body weight exercises like burpees (my least favorite in the beginning). The week is set up with 3 resistance workouts (crossfit style) Legs & Cardio, Arms & Abs and Total Body and 2 LISS (low intensity steady state) Cardio which is fast walking. Kayla doesn't add in HIIT until Week 9.

The first workout nearly killed me. Actually that whole first week! I was starting with her PreTraining which sounds easy but had me seeing stars and feeling like I was going to throw up. I was also doing it in our garage in the middle of Texas Summer so there is that. I pushed through and committed that no matter what I was giving this my all! The rush of endorphins after that first workout was all I needed to keep me going!

After the first 2 weeks I could feel myself already getting stronger. Exercises that had me huffing and puffing were now just a really good burn. I was able to do more and faster. I was hooked! I was taking progress photos which helped because the scale was actually going up. Kayla designed her program so that you build muscle in the first few weeks. I knew this would probably happen because I had read about it on other girls bbg account pages. From week 0 to week 5 (9 weeks of bbg including the pretraining) I didn't lose a single pound, I gained 2 lbs. It was frustrating but I started noticing improvements in my progress pictures, that is why they are so important!

To be Continued...

Isla's 5 Month Update

5 Months!

Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz

Height: not sure...big!

(sorry my pictures are so awful! my camera on my phone is broken and takes blurry pics)

Isla went through the dreaded 4 month sleep regression right after she turned 4 months. Sadly we haven't returned to her 8-12 hr stints since. She wakes up twice a night usually around midnight and again around 5 am. She still sleeps better with the miracle swaddle but I just do it on her lower half. She has started rolling onto her tummy to sleep and prefers that position if she isn't in her swing.

We started a new schedule in this past month. Isla was no longer going to bed early and was getting overly tired and staying up until 9:30pm every night. She just refused to go to sleep. I've had to start waking her up from her afternoon nap. This has helped tremendously and we have a pretty comfortable routine now.

Daily Routine

7:30 am – Wake Up, (nurse)

8:00 am – Breakfast

8:30 am – Get Avelyn Dressed, Brush Teeth, Comb Hair 

9:00 am - (Mon, Wed) Take Avelyn to School

9:30 am – Isla's Morning Nap (nurse) – at least 1 hr

10:00 am – Craft Time or Outdoor Playtime with Avelyn (snack for her)

11:00 am – Go to YMCA (nurse either before or after workout)

1:30 pm – Outside/Physical Play

1:45 pm Lunch

2:00 – Nap for both girls (nurse)

4:30 Wake Up (snack for Avelyn and nurse)

5:00-5:30 TV Time or Ipad while I cook dinner

5:30 pm –  Dinner

6:00-6:30 Quiet Activities (Avelyn)  Isla's Bath and Bed Routine (nurse)

6:30 Bath Time for Avelyn

7:00 Bedtime Routine (Lotion, PJ's, Brush Teeth, Read Books, Sing Songs)

7:30 Bed/Lights Out

She is also teething so bad and drool is constant! Because of all her drool, she poops at least 5 times a day. I have never seen so much baby poop. I am ready for those teeth to hurry up and make their arrival! I actually took Isla to see her dr. because she had been so fussy and irritable I thought she may have an ear infection. Dr. Moore said it's just her teeth and to let her sleep in her swing for the next few nights if that is where she is more comfortable.

Isla is still a pretty happy, calm baby. She is happy being held and watching her big sister. She loves to splash in the tub! She puts everything in her mouth and we even let her gum a big piece of garlic bread last night.

We aren't quite mobile yet other than the rolling around. She sits up by herself for short spurts. She has started to try to army crawl but isn't quite there. 

Isla Rose, you are the sweetest little thing! I love you!