7 Months

Last night, around 4 a.m., I was awakened by awful heartburn, a side effect of pregnancy that has oh-so-luckily-for-me chosen to stick around well after giving birth. As I sat on the couch in the dark waiting for the pain to go away, I realized that exactly 7 months ago to the hour, I had been awakened by another pain--contractions that 15 hours later brought beautiful baby Libby into the world. So while, 7 months later, I am still not sleeping through the night due to Libby-related pain, most everything else in our lives has changed drastically. For example,

Pre-Libby Date Night: Heading out to Birkdale Village for dinner out at Brixx, followed by drinks at the Fox and Hound until closing time.
Post-Libby Date Night: Taking turns eating pasta with jarred sauce (for the 17th time that month) while someone feeds Libby before settling in for a glass of wine/beer on the couch until one of us looks at the other (around 10:00 or so) and says, "Ready to go up to bed? I'm exhausted."

Pre-Libby Wardrobe: Cute tops, great heels and well-fitting jeans that were updated on a regular basis thanks to frequent shopping trips.
Post-Libby Wardrobe: Wait, what's that you say? Old t-shirts, Target clearance rack purchases and Soffee shorts don't count as a wardrobe? Bummer.

Pre-Libby Hair and Makeup Routine: 30 minutes in the shower + 30 minutes on hair + 30 minutes on makeup = 1 cranky husband wondering "when the hell we can leave."
Post-Libby Hair and Makeup Routine: Flat Iron? Eyeliner? Ah, yes, those old friends. Haven't seem them in a while. We really need to reconnect. I've been spending entirely too much time with my new friends, Ponytail and Tinted Moisturizer.

Pre-Libby Saturday Routine: Sleep in until 10, head out to do some shopping, go out to lunch with Tom, find something in the house to redecorate, cook dinner together, rent a movie and drink wine, go to bed.
Post-Libby Saturday Routine: Wake up at 7, empty dishwasher, feed Libby, put Libby down for nap, clean up mess in kitchen, feed Libby, put Libby down for nap, clean up mess in family room, feed Libby...noticing a pattern yet?

Pre-Libby Social Life: Weekend trips to visit friends and family or check out nearby cities, meeting up with friends at local bars to discuss who's dating who and who's breaking up.
Post-Libby Social Life: Attending Cars-themed birthday parties for 2-year-olds (yes, this has really happened), meeting up with other parents to discuss what age is appropriate to introduce yogurt to a baby.

Okay, so maybe this is painting a less-than-fair picture of life post-Libby. In reality, things have definitely changed big time, but we are l-o-v-i-n-g every minute of it and wouldn't trade this life for the world. Would we love to eat dinner at Brixx once in a blue moon? Sure. Would a I love to wear something that wasn't a giveaway t-shirt from some sporting event or charity walk? Sure. But if that's the sacrifice I have to make to wake up to the insistent but adorable "Ah...Ah...AH!" of Libby's voice over the monitor every morning, I'll do it gladly.


Happy 7-month birthday, Libby! We love you!