Delay

I have been much delayed in posting. The funny thing is I usually have a variety of posts swimming around in my head, but actually taking the time to sit and write is something I haven't done recently.

Let's just start with some updates.....baby girl is 26 1/2 weeks old--6 1/2 months...getting close to 7 months!!  It's always confusing to me about when to say she is 6 or 7 months old because if she was born in August, she would be 7 months old in March. But since some months have more than 4 weeks, she will technically turn 7 months in February.....so, I usually go by the month anniversary rather than the weeks.  In any event she is getting so BIG! Actually so looooong.  She is wearing 12 mo clothes and some 18 month pants fit her.  She is also starting to get heavy.  We are going to get her 6 month shots next week, so will see how big she's gotten....definitely over 15 lbs.

The things we are working on: cereal and sleep.  She wasn't a fan of cereal when I first tried w/ her several weeks ago.  She spit most out, gagged, and frankly didn't like it in her mouth.  The nanny has been giving her cereal regularly and she now does better w/ actually opening her mouth for it....but still spits most of it out. I just keep feeding her the same spoonful.  We try for about 10 minutes (okay maybe 5 if she keeps turning her head), so I just don't want to force it. When she wants more, she'll eat more.  We are also wanting to give her 6 ounces instead of 4. I got the next level up nipple and that seems to help her being able to drink more before falling asleep.....although sometimes she still only eats 4.

The reason for all of this??????? will hopefully help the sleep situation.  Up until a few nights ago, baby girl has still been waking up hungry like a newborn every 2.5 to 3 hours every night....9pm, 12, 3am, and 6am approximately.  If she didn't finish her bottles I would try something else, but she truly has been hungry--and honestly only eating 4 oz at a time, I would expect her to be hungry.
However, just the past two nights she sleep through one bottle feeding.  Last night she fell asleep at 7pm.....woke up at 9:00pm to eat, then didn't wake up until 2:30 am (normally would be midnight), then not again until 7:30am!!  2 five hour stretches...!! WOOP WOOP.  However, since I am used to her waking up it was not restful for me at all.  See, once I feed her I know she is good and content, so I truly relax and sleep as deeply as my body lets me.  But when she didn't wake up on time, I kept waking up looking at her to see if she was waking up too.  It's funny, but I have internally switched to her schedule as well because my body wakes up same as hers.

Needless to say mama is dang tired. AND, once we get a better sleep pattern then next thing I want to work on is transitioning her to the crib.  She has yet to sleep any time in her crib since being a newborn.  Mostly because of her bad reflux I've kept her in the rocky play thing that keeps her at a 45 degree angle--especially because she eats so much at night. She has now become SO used to sleeping/napping in it that I worry about having her sleep flat--especially after a bottle.  She'll play like that, but sleep....ah,....we'll have to see.
It will be necessary soon because she is starting to arch her back and kick her feet and has scooted herself close to being half out of it when she is fussing.  Also, it kind of stresses me out having her in there all scrunched up for long periods of time...since she can't kick her legs out straight....kind of weird it stresses me, but that's how it always has been.

As for the work situation, I am definitely on the hunt for a new job.  I have a new boss as of January and while she is nice, she is a bit more 'involved' in what I am doing, and in many areas I really don't need her to be. I've been a professional for over 10 years now.  I have just started reaching out in my network and I am going to let that play out. I have targeted certain companies and will see how goes.

The other thing I did recently was start a weight program.  It was time.  We get it free at work, but you have to check in w a nurse once a month and walk 35000 steps a week.  I've been bombing on both--so I can do the program for 3 months until they stop paying.  Yes,  I could just start doing the 35000 steps. 
The weight has an online program as well as a mobile app and I really like it.  I was doing quite well for 2 1/2 weeks. Then Friday started a downwards spiral. I had mexican for lunch, then coffeecake at work.  And then another piece and then another piece. I said okay, back on track tomorrow, or saturday.  Well....I don't have ANY groceries...have been planning to go to store for 5 days now and just haven't made it there--anyway, that has lead to a weekend spiral, instead of just a day.  Yesterday I ordered take out veitnamese noodles/egg rolls...not terrible, but volume was big.  Then tonight I was so hungry I ordered pizza and a dessert pizza.  Tonight was the binge...I ate the whole dessert pizza except for one piece---and 3 1/2 pieces of pizza.

I'm disappointed I crashed and burned, but I realized how important it is for me to keep the fridge stocked and keep making food. Remember I mentioned my biggest trigger is eating out and not cooking?
I will get back on track tomorrow.  I was down 7 lbs and feeling pretty good about it.  The other thing I need to work on is I started drinking diet soda here and there again.  I haven't had soda regularly in over a year.  But, I swear the caffeine/drink is crack.  I crave it when I drink it. It is soooo easy to slip back into drinking it, even though caffeine is the worst thing for me to drink as I don't sleep well as it is.

We had a rough weekend.  She was fussy most of Saturday and pretty fussy after 2:30pm tonight.  It stresses me a bit and I eat when I am stressed.  I am also super tired. Today I literally laid on the floor w/ her and just kept giving her toys because that's about how much energy I had....nada.

It's after weekends like this that I wonder how I would manage w/ a baby and a toddler.  I have found that while she has fussy spells, and it is tiring, it is still just her and I.  How would I manage fussy along w/ a toddler running around....and I only have two hands.  Two hands is not enough w/ her sometimes.  I was quite firm on wanting another one lately.....but I still think twice sometimes when we have tough days.

Think that's enough for now.  I still keep reading all of my blogs in my blogroll and enjoy staying caught up w/ everyone.  Even though I hardly comment, I still read almost every day.