The past 10 days M2 has done awesome with consistently eating two meals a day of solids. After her 6 month well check, we started her back up on oatmeal cereal mixed with fruit (since the cereal is iron fortified and the pediatrician felt this was necessary). We mix up about 3-4 oz of cereal, and mix in about 2 oz of fruit (pears and mangos are her favorites, but so far she's eaten all the fruits we've given her). In the evening we also give her about two ounces of a vegetable before giving her the sweet fruit/cereal mixture. She seems to really be enjoying her new meals. I've figured out a good schedule for fitting in the solid feedings to be less disruptive to her milk drinking habits, and I would guess that she is still getting about 24-30 oz of milk in per day. She gets about 20-24 oz of breast milk a day, and 4-6 oz of formula.
This morning when I was dressing her I noticed that her legs are really chunking up. They are so cute with little fat rolls! This is good, we want her to be getting the fat she needs to grow and develop her gross motor skills. She's been sitting up a lot better too. The other day when Mr.P picked her up at daycare, she was sitting on a mat on the floor playing by herself without any support to hold her up.
As for me....I've still got some baby chub. Actually, I had some non-baby chub before I got pregnant, though in my defense I did successfully lose 40 lbs on Weight Watchers before I got pregnant. But then during the TTC process and the stress and emotions that accompanied it, I gained back 15 lbs before getting the two pink lines on a stick. Right now I weigh 5 lbs less than when I got pregnant. I'd like to lose about 25 lbs by M2's first birthday, which seems like a reasonable goal.
During my pregnancy, I gained 32 lbs. Within the first three weeks of having M2, I was down to 5 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight. But then my progress stalled and my weight didn't budge. In late October I started back up on Weight Watchers. I was happy to learn that as a nursing mother I got extra points. Sweet! At first it was like I wasn't even on a diet because I was still home and so focused on caring for M2 that I wasn't eating regularly. I stuck with the program through November and lost about 7 lbs. Into December with the holidays and stress of going back to work, I fell off the wagon and decided to pick back up in January. I did the program for one week in January, and again the stress of working full time and traveling on the weekends kept me from really sticking to the program.
Fast forward to last week - I decided it was time to get back on the wagon. I weighed myself and was pleased to see I had hardly gained any weight back the past few months. I started tracking my food in points and stuck to the program this past week. This morning stepped on the scale and was pleased to see I am down 2.8 lbs! Woo hoo (though it may be a little skewed by the fact that I donated a pint of blood last night). Even still, I lost weight. I am now officially 5 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. I can do this, I am motivated to stick with this program.
In other diet news, I gave up gluten for lent. What is gluten, you may ask? Gluten includes wheat, rye and barley products. Basically, most bread, pasta, cookies, and beer contain gluten. I have to be deliberate about everything I eat and make sure that it doesn't contain gluten. It has been a good thing for me to give up because it does make me think and I am constantly reminded of Jesus and how he gave his life for me to be washed clean of my sins. In the protestant tradition (we are Presbyterian) during lent Sundays are considered feast days. We are allowed to enjoy what we've given up on Sundays through the Lenten season as a mini-Easter celebration of Jesus' victory over death. The protestant practice of lent goes from Ash Wednesday until the day before Easter. I have been eating a lot more fresh fruits, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, and rice and soups. I do really miss having bread and beer.
The practice of giving something up for lent is good for me because it helps me focus more on my faith. I know that I should strive to focus on my faith more all the time, but sometimes the day to day of modern life takes over, and I do appreciate this time of year to help me center more on Christianity. I am looking forward to getting involved with a bible study at our church once I am a SAHM this spring.
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