Tongue Tied and Reflux

I found this article interesting. If there is just one person that this helps, then it's worth it for me to post it!

Koen was quite tongue tied and a nurse was the one that recognized it in the hospital. Because breastfeeding was working (although extremely painful for 2 months due to being tongue tied), they did not clip his frenulum. If it is true that being tongue tied is related to reflux as well, I am regretting even more that I did not encourage my doctor to clip it. The doctor said we would wait and see if it affected his speech. Koen had to be upright after every feed, had pain with his reflux, had to sleep on his tummy, and had to be held for most of the day. It does not affect him anymore (that I know of) but I wish I had been a bit more `pushy' with the doctor.

So, if your baby is born tongue tied (which you can see when they stick their tongue out, it doesn't go out far and it is heart shaped), please consider having their frenulum snipped. The end.

Skin Update

Thank you for your advice on Koen's skin. We have switched him over to goat's milk and will try it for one week. He is actually still throwing up a little each day, which I'm assuming is still his reflux? I'm going to make a same day app't with my family doctor tomorrow. The other thing it could've been, as per Joanne's suggestion of contact dermatitis, is that he has had 3 bubble baths this month. I wonder if it could be the bubbles? He has very, very sensitive skin as he is pretty much a red head. We'll see. I've been lotioning him up really well 2x per day so hopefully that helps too. Thanks for the advice!

5 Months Old

*If you read this post earlier, I added a bunch of pictures...you can never have enough right?!*

This guy loves hanging out on his tummy

(His shirt actually says, `If you think I'm cute, you should see my uncle'...being that Uncle Tyler is the only one that reads this, I'll say it's referring to you T.C)

Koen is 5 months old today. I weighed him this morning and he was 19lbs which is about what Kai was too and obviously quite chunky. I'm loving each day more and more. Koen is changing a lot. He is very content out in public and loves being held by anyone and everyone. At home, if he is in exersaucer he is VERY noisy. Screaching and squealing to be heard by all. He's not upset, he just loves the sound of his voice I guess. So different than his brother was....

His smile melts me

I love the sporty shorts
Koen is not a good sleeper, however, he doesn't get grumpy when he's overtired. If he misses naps, he's still a happy camper (if you hold him). We still don't have a set schedule yet but generally he has two 45 minute naps and one 2 hour one later in the day. He is eating every 3 hours now and has tried pears, bananas and rice cereal this month. I'd say banana is his favourite.

Yummy pureed pears...if he doesn't eat it, I will! So good:)

As for sleeping at night, what a trying month it was. He was up at least 4 times a night and usually because of a dirty diaper. Last night was the greatest night of the entire month as he was only up once at 3:30 am (dirty diaper and then feed)!! I think that if he didn't poop at night, he would be sleeping through the night. Ah the Chapman digestive systems...:) Below are 2 pictures of Kai at his age. I think they look so different.

(Kai at 5 months)

Both are quiet bald but Kai's face is much rounder. I think they both have the same nose but maybe all babies have such cute little noses.

(Kai at 5.5 months)
I did say that he was outgrowing his reflux but with all this new movement (rolling, trying to sit etc) its been harder to keep the milk in his tummy and he has been spitting up way more. It doesn't bother him so that is good, its just messy, gross, and a waste of my milk!

I lay him down on his tummy to sleep and he rolls over onto his back. Phew, way less stress now that he is sleeping on his back. I hate that feeling every time I open his door to check on him where I'm just praying he's still alive and breathing. Is that normal? I was the same way with Kai until he was 1. He is still sleeping in the cradle which is probably too small for him but I just want him in it for 2 more weeks because we are doing a road trip to Alberta and we're taking the cradle for him to sleep in so hopefully he sleeps better. We will see...

(Can't get enough of the toesies!)
Because he was spitting up so much and getting changed so much, he was pretty much always in sleepers. Now, because its hot and he's a quite a bit better, we have him in normal clothes. It was sad to pack up all the 0-6 month clothes as he really didn't get a chance to wear many of them. Also, because Kai and Koen were born in totally different seasons, Koen now has to wear 12 month old summer clothes but they actually fit quite well!

Trying to get his socks off...

Bad picture but I just wanted to show him up on his knees. Kai never rolled or crawled, he just started walking at about 10 months so this is new territory for me! Oh ya, another thing about Kai is that he hugged Koen for the first time yesterday without me asking him to do anything. Hip hip hooray. Although, yesterday Kai asked that God take Koen back and give us a bigger baby instead. I told him he needs to be very patient but Koen will grow up soon and be lots of fun to play with.

It was a year ago that we announced our pregnancy with Koen. We were so happy and I was so curious about who was growing inside of me and look who it was...

Kokoes, we love you so much. When you are jumping in my arms, squealing, giggling or smiling at your brother, my heart is full. You make me want to try to have more little babies. Don't grow up too fast baby boy. I hope you always know how loved you are. You are so yummy and so precious.

Koen aka Kokoes

Oh Koen. He is seriously such a good little/big boy. If you hold him, he's happy. I mean, he can play by himself for half an hour too but if he gets fussy, just pick him up and play/talk with him and he's good.

He's up way too much at night. He's up twice because he's hungry and twice because he's pooped. For almost a month he was sleeping a good 6-7 hours in a row. I'm hoping the rice cereal will slow him down in the department. I usually end up feeding him each time I'm in his room and I'm not going to feed him after a diaper change any more. He wakes up in the morning and isn't hungry because he's pigged out all night.

(Where am I? What is going on?)
He doesn't like any `solid' foods but I'm really encouraging him with this as one day he's going to have to take it:)

(Mommy, what are you doing?! )

I love this little guy. He makes me smile and never mad. He's just so squishy and yummy and silly. I can change him right after a feed now without him spitting up. I tried eating some yogurt and cheese and I noticed a bit more spitting up so I really don't know about him and dairy...my sister and niece are lactose intolerant and I believe it's genetic so we will see.

He stares at Kai and yearns for his attention and I can't wait til these guys interact a little more, preferably in a positive way!

I guess this is the stage where an infant gets easy for me...around 5 months. This is where you forget about the morning sickness, weight gain, extreme fatigue, sore pelvis, contractions, C-section, engorgement, major lack of sleep etc and think...just one more...just one more:)

Marriage and Maternity Leave

Maternity Leave
I wondered when it would happen. When would I feel like I wanted to go back to work? I'm ready. Obviously I'm not really ready until Koen is ready which will be when he's one year old. However, I have reached the point where I'm ready for something different. It's really hard, with an infant especially, to have a lot of diversity in your day. Most of it is feed, change, play, sleep. Yes, we get out for walks and visits but that's getting a bit old.

(Kai always has several cars, trucks or trains in his hands)

I LOVE being able to be in my pj's til 9am, workout at 10am, shower at noon etc. I LOVE being able to take pictures of my kids during the day. I LOVE hearing the funny things Kai says and seeing Koen grow before my eyes. It is def. relaxing being home but it isn't always fun or stimulating. I am so thankful for maternity leave, I have seen the benefits that it has had on my kids and I am grateful. Maybe it doesn't help that we are all fighting a nasty cold right now. Koen is grumpy and congested which makes feeding him way more difficult (thank goodness for saline drops which he hates). Kai is just tired so I can handle that. I'm just tired.

(Today I said, `Oh man, what is so stinky in the fridge?' and Kai said, `Maybe it's dog poop or cat poop or something'. I hope not. Still haven't found the source)
Maybe I'm ready because Gary was gone for 5 days last week. I did it! He was hiking the Juan de Fuca trail (west coast of Vancouver Island) and I took care of a toddler and an infant (that got up at least 3 times a night) for 5 days. It was easier than I thought but I def. missed my `time outs' that I get when Gary comes home.

MARRIAGE

Okay, not really sure what to say here. Next week, Gary and I will celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We have a good marriage. We love eachother. We appreciate eachother. I know we could have a great marriage. The same thing happened when Kai was little and it's happening again. If you could break it down into numbers, I would say that the kids get about 80% of my energy and attention right now. I give myself about 10% (just working out really), Gary 5% and family and friends about 5%. I'm assuming that this is somewhat normal for this stage of life, but it isn't healthy. Infants require so much time and effort. I'm constantly feeding, changing and holding him. I'm busy playing with, teaching, and disciplining Kai. When Gary gets home, I just want time to myself. I don't want anyone touching me or talking to me. I need my time out.

I know we should get out with just the two of us but I really don't like leaving Koen very much at this stage. We do a lot of family stuff together. Gary and I do talk a lot each day. We communicate well. Next year, I'm hoping we will be able to go on a holiday together without the kids. It's just hard when you have kids because they just take, take, take (energy, time, attention). Obviously I love my kids and it is so worth it but I'm feeling a bit empty. Then it comes back to the fact that my mom is gone. The person who loved me the most is not here to love me. The person who cared about my day more than anyone else is not hear to listen.

(I LOVE his feet!!!!!)

Oh life. I love our lives. Always stuff to learn. Always stuff to work on. I need to be better at asking Gary about his day and caring about what it was like. I need him to continue to say `What can I do for you?' and `Go ahead, get out of the house. I've got the kids'. Always stuff to learn. Always stuff to work on.

And, on a lighter note...Kai is full of a billion questions, `Why can't we eat clouds?' `Why do we have hair?' and on and on. Goofball. He is obsessed with vehicles. He wants to know what kind they are, what colour car someone has etc. Going for walks with him has become mentally exhuasting as he needs to talk about every car we see.

Koen is cute and plump. He gets extremely frustrated when he can't manipulate a toy the way he wants to. And when I say frustrated, I mean, it sounds like he is in major pain. I can't wait until he has better hand eye coordination!

Anytime you touch near his neck, he giggles. Even if I'm changing him at 3am and I'm doing up his top button....giggles. Silly guy. Seriously though, what's up with 2 dirty diapers in the middle of the night, he's 4.5 months old!!! AND....I'm hesitant to say this but I think his reflux is gone! He has normal spitting up several times a day but I can even lay him down on his back and play with him now. His bed is no longer covered in regurgitated milk. He can wear the same outfit all day. Yippee! I'm still off of dairy so I'm not sure if he does have an allergy or insensitivity to it but we will see soon enough. He had some banana yesterday and didn't hate it so that was fun.

Okay, I better take the kids to the park, this weather is AMAZING!

2 Month Check Up and a Haircut

Nothing like being in a doctors office for an hour with those two boys:) We all had to get checked out for various things so I had to take Kai with me. Kai doesn't know how to sit still. Not for one second. The doctor said that boys are like that so I'm assuming he's normal. That wasn't the reason for taking Kai to the doctor by the way:) Koen weighs 14lbs 11oz. Wow. Huge. I think that's kind of off the charts. He's almost as long was Kai was, 24.25". It's funny how I was so fine with him getting his shots considering I was so upset with Kai's first shots:) He did really well and didn't really cry any more than he normally does. It's been tiring having him eat every 2.5 hours or so and having to hold him so much during the day...at least once he's down for the night (9-11pm ish), he eats and goes right back to sleep. Our nights are wonderful. Last night, he was just up once at 3:30am. It was Kai that was up and ready for the day at 5:30am. My milk supply is quite crazy/high still and I'm pumping off several ounces before a feed so that Koen isn't choking as much when he drinks. I know this will keep my supply high but I need to get rid of some of the foremilk too. I am not giving him the Zantac as he hasn't vomitted in over a week. I wonder if its the BioGaia drops or the dairy free diet that is keeping his gas down to a minimum. I REALLY want a bowl of cereal.

Evidence that Kai watches too much Diego/Dora:
1. Kai's prayer at dinner last night: `Dear God, thank you for the food, thank you for tree frogs, thank you for baby Jaguar'
2. Kai: `Mommy, if you see an egg noodle, say `egg noodle!'

As for the haircut...I am getting my hair cut and highlighted tonight. I'm paying more money than I have ever paid so I'm hoping it looks amazing. Not sure what I'm going to do exactly other than the fact that it will be shorter and blonder. I'm just excited to be kid-free for 2 hours this evening:)

My first born

Chubs trying to sit in Koen's car seat..prob. not good for it. Kai's funny. If Gary and I are having a conversation and aren't paying attention to him, he will say in a very forceful, grown up voice, `What's going on here boys?'. I think he got it from watching Gary coach:)

Good thing about not being pregnant...being able to sit down on the floor and cuddle with Kai!! He's letting me hold his hand:) He has been way less grumpy lately. Yippee!!

Taken from Melissa

First Born ShareHere you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it in a new note for yourself!Let's see how much you remember:

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yup...I was a charter:) We started trying after being married for 6 months (if I could do it again, I would wait a full year).
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? We had been married for 7 months

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? very excited and a little nervous

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?no way

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 27

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My temperature rose to the 3rd level(charting) so I took a test 4 days before my period and it had 2 lines! Gary didn't believe it, he said we should see a doctor:)
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Gary
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yup, we did!

9. DUE DATE? August 7th

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? at least 12 weeks...YUCKY!!!!
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? I didn't crave anything...all I could eat were grapes and crackers and other bland things and almost the whole time I could not eat meat. Gary could not cook it in the house.
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? people talking about how much their moms were involved after their babies were born (my mom died 3 months before he was born). This doesn't bother me anymore.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, boys are awesome (although, when they are adults I'll prob. wish I had a girl to be close with).

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?32

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? One...6 weeks after Kai was born. I do not like all the attention on me and still felt overwhelmed from the ones from our wedding:)

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Does labour count??? It was insane. Couldn't get the big guy out...weird positioning, big head etc.
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Langley Hospital
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I had contractions for 32 hours but from water breaking to C-section was 15 hours. I had pushed for 2.5 hours.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Gary

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Gary, 2 doctors, 4 nurses (?), anesthesiologist
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? C-section
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I took gas and I did take some drugs towards the end. No idea what it was called. Had epidural for the C-section. Voltarin afterwards for 1 week. Ibuprofen for engorgement:)
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?9 lbs 11oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? August 3rd, 2006
27. What did you name him/her? Kai Deken Chapman

28. OTHER NAMES YOU CONSIDERED? Rylan, Cohen, Jackson

29. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 2.5

Super baby

Dimples. I have been giving him the BioGaia drops for 4 days and have not noticed a change. He still has tons of gas and discomfort. I'm pretty sure he's got reflux as he needs to be upright after feedings, loves being in the bjorn, and lays best on his tummy. He screams after a feeding and stiffens his entire body. Poor little guy. I feel bad for his pain. He is way more alert and once his pain is gone (about 30 minutes after the feed is over), he is quite content. He has his baby acne in full force right now, and, along with his receding hair line, he is def. not the cutest baby around:)
I have to say that my emotional state is amazing. I haven't cried once since he was born. This is very unusual for me!!! I have gotten frustrated. Mostly at night when he won't stop crying. Gary and I both get very frustrated. I swear sometimes. Yup. Gary kind of let's me get away with it.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:

1. Does anyone have a kitchen cloth that doesn't stink after one day? Is there a special kind out there that I'm missing out on? Stinky kitchen clothes drive me CRAZY.

2. Where is a good place to buy jeans these days? I do not want low rise ones. I do not want to spend too much money but I want them to look nice:)

Potty Training Advice?

Next week, Koen will be one month old and Kai will be exactly 2.5 years old. Wowzers! Koen has been in my life for a month already? Time is flying! Koen slept so well last night. I fed him at 4,6 and 8pm (tanking up for those Baby Whisperer types) and then just fed him at 12:30 and 4am! We lay him on his tummy for naps and he gets all his farts out that way, glamorous I know. I have taken milk out of my diet and it may be helping (I love milk and miss my morning cereal). He still naps downstairs in front of the fireplace but I'm thinking I'll move him to his crib soon for his daytime naps. I just like having him in front of me so I can keep my eye on him, rotate him, make sure he hasn't puked etc. However, Kai's wildness is not allowing him to sleep soundly and I don't want Kai to have to be quiet all the time. He does not sleep flat on his back, he sleeps in his car seat, the swing, the bjorn, or on his stomach. He won't sleep on his back probably due to congestion or his tummy problems. I would like him to learn how to so maybe we'll work on that. His cold is just about gone so that should make it easier.

(Kai asked, `Mommy, can I lay down next to the baby?'. I can totally trust him around Koen and even left them unattended to have a shower yesterday! He also said yesterday that he wanted Koen back in my belly. I asked why and he said so that Koen could grow some more.)

It's snowing. I don't care. I know its just for today. I am SO looking forward to spring/summer. I want to wear flip flops, shorts and tank tops. I want to go for walks and runs. I've decided to join a running group in a month or two. That way I am forced to run certain distances and will be able to do it at night with a group. Gary will be done with bball in about 7 weeks so he'll be around to watch the kiddos. Football starts up mid March too. Love it.

(Yup, Kai in spiderman undies. He has asked to wear them several times so we have let him. We are starting the potty training in one week! I am so, so nervous about this. It's just a huge commitment that I don't know i will ever have the energy for. Any tips?)

Today, the RESP lady came by. It's hard to know what to do because for both Gary and I, our parents helped us out a bit but really, we had to pay for almost all of it. As kids in my family, we always had to put away half of our money for university. Regardless, when a new baby is born, my dad gives us some money for an RESP so we put that in and now we also are making little monthly payments towards both boys education. Two seconds before the lady came, Koen puked again. We made it all the way through Monday without an episode. It seems to happen when he eats and then eats again 2 hours later without sleeping. I will figure this guy out:)

(Gary should be the mom. He can nap whenever and wherever he wants. I cannot. Sometimes I can nap for about 20 minutes but otherwise, my mind is always going and doesn't let me sleep! Gary's brothers and dad are the exact same...must be nice!)

Melissa asked if we were done with 2 or gonna go for 3. I always wanted 3 kids but after Koen was born, I said that we were done. Why? I don't know how I would be with 3 hyper boys (assuming the next one was a boy too!) and the first few weeks of recovery/newborn/breastfeeding are so tough. I know its just a few weeks, but ya. Also, getting back to normal will take longer each time. I def. feel like a complete family right now but I do ask Gary every day if we are done or if we should have a third. I know that we have years to decide but in my head, I just want to know if I am going through this newborn stuff for the last time or not. Does that make sense? I like that Gary and I can each take care of a kid and it just seems very manageable. We will see....won't be selling my baby stuff yet:)

Now, I must attempt a nap!!!

So let the sunshine in...

Face it with a grin, smilers never lose and frowners never win. That song must've been on one of our records growing up:) I love this sun. Beautiful!!!

Check out the cute lil dimple below!

Yesterday I went to Maria's wedding shower and it's just so awesome to think about all the fun that is ahead for her and Mark as the embark on this wonderful journey of marriage! I had Koen with me and he decided to vomit up his entire feed from 2 hours before. Gross. He did it again last night. He's such a content guy but he def. has a lot of stomach pains/gas as most babies do. I actually got a little teary eyed with him last night because of his vomitting. I just feel bad for him and his lil belly pain. His next dr. appt is on Wed so we'll see if he's gaining weight appropriately etc. I feel like he is growing but we will see what the scale says. I wish there was more to do for their gas pain but I know this stage will pass. After my C-section, I had incredibly painful gas so I can relate:)

Yesterday we took a family walk to Extra Foods and I had Koen in the baby bjorn which he liked. I just love getting outside and hope the weather stays sunny and maybe gets a little warmer??

(This guy def. looks like Kai but has a narrower head than him. It will be interesting to see what he looks like as he gets older! I wonder if a girl would've looked like Kai too?)

This morning in church, the worship pastor was praying and Kai had his hands folded and eyes squeezed shut but he whispered to me `Mommy, I'm done praying' and then he yelled out, twice, `AMEN!!! AMEN!!'. People all around us were giggling. I guess it was a long prayer:) He LOVES sunday school and I love that he loves it. They have story time, snack, colouring and singing. On the way to church he said,`My name isn't Kai anymore. It's Ani. I start with an `A' now'.

I just came back from the community sports class that we have Kai signed up for. Basically its six 2.5 year olds running around collecting balls and running into walls. Kai spent most of his time shooting balls into the bball hoop and I have to say, he's not bad:) The one thing that is concerning is that if there is another boy that misbehaves, Kai will copy their behaviour. He did it at the park yesterday (throwing bark mulch around) and at the gym today.

I had a chance to go clothes shopping again today...yup, 3 weeks is still too early to buy clothes. I don't like this stage. Wear maternity clothes? Buy clothes a size too big? Try to squish into your regular clothes? So awkward. Okay, I've got one hour before the next feed...time to relax!

The Chapman Household

So...my perfect, easy baby has decided that I am healthy enough to start making me work a little harder:) Maybe now that I stopped my cough medicine, he isn't as dozy. He is having WAY longer periods of awake time (yesterday from 5-11pm I believe?) but he did have a great night sleep only waking to feed at 2:30 and 6:30am!!! The major problem is that he is either:

a. Not going to sleep in a 3 hour cycle

b. Waking after one hour wanting to eat and not being comforted by anything but milk. He can't keep a soother in his mouth and I have no experience with a soother, will he learn how to use it? If we hold it in his mouth, we can hold him off for an hour or so.
I tried him in a sling today but all he wanted was milk. I don't want him to be a snacker eating all day long. Maybe this is a growth spurt? I don't know. Every kid is so different and when you think you've got them figured out, they change. I still think its weird that once a day (usually around 9pm when he's been up too long), he will vomit up his entire feed. Oh ya, his jaundice is totally gone and the nurse and doctor kept commenting on how strong he is.

Let's see...what's up with Kai? Yesterday he asked to hold his baby brother again so that was nice. He is very gentle with him and I'm no longer concerned that he will do something to hurt Koen. The other night I was checking on him in bed and he said` Can you get daddy? I wanna tell him sumpin (something)'. I said `What do you want to tell him?' and he said, `I wanna tell him that I wuv him'. Aw. So yesterday when he pulled on my leg and said `Mommy, I wanna tell you sumpin' I got excited for the sweet words that would come out of his mouth. Instead, I got `I wanna watch tv mommy'. Kai LOVES fixing things and gets his screwdriver and pliers out for everything. He also loves playing hide and seek although doesn't quite have it all down. If you say `I wonder where Kai is?', he will shout out `here I am!!!'...not the best hider. He loves playing any sport and I love that he isn't deterred by missing the net or the ball, dependent on the sport. He's still a little `off' from being sick for so long and I'm not used to his new eating habits. It's so strange that he isn't eating very much as he is usually such a pig.

Gary is completely immersed in basketball now and fortunately most games are at 8pm which means he can come home from 4:30-6:30pm each night. I saw my surgeon yesterday and she said my incision looks awesome and that I'm a great healer. Yay! She says I have to remember to take it easy but its hard when you have a 35lb 2.5 year old that needs to be changed, put in a car seat etc. Exercise wise I'm only allowed to walk and I can also start lifting some free weights too so that's where I'm at. I had bought a bridesmaid dress 3 days before having Koen so I couldn't try it on but I tried it on the other day and it fits so that is good!!! Wow, our lives our so boring right now but I don't think I could handle anything on top of the regular day to day at this point:)

(I just cropped it so you can see Kai's big hazel eyes)

Finally, breastfeeding. I am not one of those people that loves it. I think its cool that you can completely nourish a child for 6 months on milk alone. I think its great that its portable, cheap and very nutritious. However, I like my body to myself. Yup, I'm selfish. I was able to do it for 10 months with Kai. Not sure how we'll do this time around....I'll for sure do 6 months and I'd like to go all the way to 10 again but we will see. There's just something about being up at 2am, feeding a baby for half an hour, having them vomit it all up, while your husband is snoring and enjoying a wonderful 8 hour sleep.