Is it teething or sleep regression or separation anxiety? What IS it???!!!

So for the past 3 weeks or so, baby E has been waking up once maybe twice at night after putting her to sleep. At first I chalked it up to sleep regression because they say ("they" as in articles/books I've been finding about the topic) that sleep regression hits when babies are between 8-10 months old. Pretty much, babies at this age are learning SO much; maybe they're crawling/cruising/walking/talking/etc.. that their brains are just on overload and want to use these new found skills. 

An example I read about to help us adults understand this better was this - When you have a big vacation planned, you get excited right? The night before you're anxious and you just can't sleep because you're thinking so much about it. I guess that's how babies get during this sleep regression phase - they wake up and they just want to keep practicing all that they have learned. Well in our case, baby E has been cruising since around March? So we thought maybe that was it..maybe she just wants to walk already. Every time she'd wake up, she's already standing there waiting for us. Ha, not quietly of course. She's screaming/making noises, but not crying.

I brought this up to E's pediatrician last week at her 9 month appt, and she said it coooould be that. I guess she wasn't as convinced as I was...dang internet reading!=P But she also started asking about how much E was eating throughout the day. She was up to 2-3 solids/day and maybe 20-25 oz breast milk/day. So, since I was previously on a non-dairy diet, doc suggested upping E's meals to at least 3x/day and making snacks in between like avocados - more fats to fill her up. And to supplement a nightly bottle with 8oz of soy formula so that she'd have between 24-28oz milk/soy formula per day. We did this and E slept well again last week. Voila, doc was on point- E was just hungry!

Buuuuut, then this week happened. E didn't wake up every night, but 2x this week was enough for me to think is it sleep regression again? Then I thought, maybe it's separation anxiety. Since I've been back at work for 2 months now, I do notice that E seems a little clingier on my days off with her. Yeah, she's clingy when we're around strangers...but when it's just me she seems to want me there ALL the time. Not that I mind, I just noticed a difference compared to when I was with her everyday during maternity leave. 

Then there's the teething. Maybe it's just teething? On Tuesday I noticed a little white protruding next to bottom right center tooth. Ack, this girl - getting so many teeth already! Ha, so maybe it's that? Poor thing, I guess people are right. Once they start teething, it lasts til they get all of their teeth! 

So out of all my guesses, I'm hoping it's just as simple as the teething issue. Lots of things to consider, but that seems to make the most sense. It'll be another thing if she still wakes up at night after this tooth pops through. *sigh* I guess we've been spoiled with her sleeping through the night for so long! 

Anyone else go through something similar?

2 months...

It took 2 months for me to finally have some time to blog. Our baby girl is now 2 months old and is giving mommy and daddy a breather. While daddy watches her, I get my me time. Well not exactly..just a short break before I resume my mommy duties. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom. It has totally changed my life in such an awesome way. But wow, they weren't kidding when they said your life is not your own anymore. All our time is now consumed with our daughter. For the sake of privacy, I'll just refer to her as "E" from now on.

E has been such a joy in our lives while at the same time such a challenge to figure out sometimes! Am I alone on this one? I don't think I have postpartum, but I guess I did have the baby blues? There was one day where my husband came home from work and I was so irritable. As much as he tried to comfort me and tell me to go out or at least just take a drive, I kept telling him I was fine. Ha, the infamous "I'm fine" response from a woman. At the time though I really thought I was okay, just hormonal of course. But in the end I took his advice and decided to go for a drive by myself. Not a big deal to some, I was literally just going out to pick up dinner. Wow, that was an eye opener for me. That was the first time I had ever been away from baby E. As much as I love spending time with my little one, I realized that I need some me time. Maybe not the "me" time that I'm used too, but just that short 30 minute respite to myself was rejuvenating. I guess I needed that drive, and I'm lucky that my husband kept encouraging me to take advantage of the time when he can watch our baby and give me a break.

So here we are....I'm blogging. I can't promise myself that I'll be here all the time. But, I will certainly try. I'm sure I'm not alone out there when I say that it gets lonely sometimes being a stay at home mom. I know that I am blessed to have this free time to take care of our daughter. But this first time mommy is still learning the ins and outs of motherhood. Slowly trying to get by in this new world introduced to me 2 months ago and just striving to be the best mama I can to our baby E. So to keep me sane, I will blog.