One door closes, another opens...and then some

I been flooded with a ton of questions asking about Ava's six month milestone, most likely prompted by our graduation from mom's group this past Monday. I can happily report that Ava has been consistently sleeping "through" the night with either one waking or none at all. We have been successfully putting her down to sleep (with little to no crying) around 8pm, with a quick feed at 5am. She goes right back to bed and wakes up for good around 9am. With an apparent need for 12 hours of sleep, it's no question that she takes after her good ol' mom in that department. Yes, we need our beauty sleep and lots of it.

But, as life is a fine balance of give and take, I was recently graced with the lovely return of my period (Hello, old friend. We meet again). It's been a good run of nearly 15 months of no period, so it was to my surprise that while exclusively breastfeeding, old 'Aunt Flo' decided to pay me a visit. Apparently, the body begins to normalize hormonally when the baby starts to nurse less frequently or is physically away from the mother (don't ask me why). So, with the good news of Ava sleeping in her very own room since July and sleeping through the night, comes the not-so-good news of the return of my period. This might be TMI for most of you out there, but I openly discuss this topic because it was something I obsessively asked other mothers about. Not because I'm crazy or overly nosy, but because I truly wanted to know what to expect while breastfeeding. Everyone told me that as long as I exclusively breastfed, I would be period free. Not true. So, again for those of you out there thinking that breastfeeding is a magic pill for weight loss and period aversion, sorry to burst your bubble. It totally depends on your body.

But, as for the good news, it explains my recent bloating and extreme emotions. Quoting my dear husband, Kent- "damn, that was the longest PMS I've ever experienced. At least there's an explanation now!".

Oh Kent, if you only knew you sweet, sweet, naive boy. If you want to blame it on the PMS, you go on right ahead. Yes, it's totally the PMS that has made me the prime definition of crazy these past few weeks. Whatever helps you sleep at night my love. ;)