Attempt No. 2-4: Rice Cereal & Weaning

I am happy to report that our second, third, and fourth attempts at rice cereal have been quite a success!  She has really come to like eating the cereal and has got the hang of eating from a spoon.  She now moves towards the spoon with her mouth open and keeps most of the cereal in her mouth!  Just another step in her little life that seems to be flashing before our eyes.

I am also excited to again get some sleep at night!  We have adjusted her night routine a little to include eating her rice cereal, which has really seemed to work for her and satisfy her through the night.  My plan is to just keep feeding her once per day at this point and let her tell me when she is ready for more. 

I have also given up my mid-day pumping in preparations for weaning at 6 months.  We have enough breast milk in the freezer to last her these next six months and we will then start her on cows milk at a year old.  This decision was really hard for me because I feel that this is really the last thing that I have to hold on to her "newborness."  It is the one thing that only I can provide for her.  On top of that, I had a rough weekend and was pretty uncomfortable, but in a few days it will get better!  My milk supply has not gone down yet, I am still pumping about 10oz. in one breast and 5oz. from the other (yes I know - I am going to have lop-sided boobs...ugh!!).  So we still have about 30oz. of fresh milk per day, which is enough to feed Addison throughout the day when we mix her last two bottles with formula and now with starting her cereal.

I was doing some research on how many calories you burn while breastfeeding so that I could keep up with my weight loss.  I found a website that said you burn about 20 calories per oz. of milk you pump.  When my milk supply was at its best, I was pumping about 120-130 oz. per day.  This is why we have SO much milk frozen.  That adds up to be about 2400-2600 calories I was burning per day...WOW.  I am really wishing there was a workout that was as easy as that!  No wonder I have lost so much weight so fast!  I really need to keep up the calories I have been burning to maintain my weight!  I was just amazed by these numbers!  If giving your baby the healthiest option isn't enough incentive, I would think this would be...lol!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We will be celebrating 23 weeks on Tuesday...YAY! (I say YAY, but really am just sighing at how fast this time goes, and am SO glad to be soaking up every moment of it!)