Thursday

Walking team

Since I gave birth, I've been weighing 226 or 227 every day. (Let's ignore all those comments about how breastfeeding makes you just shed the pounds because apparently that's not true for everyone).

I've made friends in the neighborhood with two ladies who walk every morning. For the past few weeks, we've been walking two miles every morning. One day last week, it was just me and the retiree (she's only 42, so she's not your typical retiree). We decided to run some and mix it up a bit. Keep in mind that the baby is always with me in the non-jogging stroller. The day after we ran, I noticed that I lost a pound -225

Yesterday, our schedules were a bit off, so I walked 1.5 miles with the workin' momma before she went to work, then the retiree joined us as the workin' momma left so I walked another 1.5-2 miles with her. My sister came over last night and we went for a run/walk - another 3 miles. My feet were tired last night, but this morning, down another pound to 224.


I think there's a moral to this story, folks. My butt needs to be running. And since I don't have a jogging stroller,  I'd prefer to do it when I have childcare. I'm already dreaming about when I go back to work and can run on my lunch break or before I come home to make sure I get it done.

Monday

Happy Monday

Yesterday I did what I'll call my first "real" workout. I've been walking almost every day for a few weeks now, and last week I walked an hour (while watching Downton Abbey) and did some crunches/minor arm stuff. But the real workout was walking 1.5 miles outside and then jogging for just a bit (through the sciatic nerve pain mind you) + 3 sets of 20 squats each + stretching. I don't want to call it yoga, because it wasn't true yoga, but I did a few poses. It started raining while I was out walking (hence the jogging back to the house) so I did everything else on the front porch while listening to the rain. It was a great way to end the workout and seemed so much more peaceful now that my house has a lot of crying and barking most days.

Tuesday

Time to move it!

I have the all clear to work out now. I went to my six-week check-up yesterday so I'm free to do whatever exercise I want! My parents gave me a heart rate monitor for Christmas, and I'm excited to start putting it to good use! The doctor did tell me that I need to take it slow at first because my body is still adjusting to not being pregnant and will continue to do so for three months.

The pain in my leg is definitely my sciatic nerve and she said that if it's still bothering me after three months to call her. That seems like a long time to me, but I guess the body is pretty good at healing itself.

My first step (haha) is to start incorporating some jogging into my daily walks. However, I normally walk with the baby in the baby bjorn, so I'll have to modify some jogging into evening walk/runs when the hubs can take care of the baby while mommy works out.

Thursday

One-handed

After a month, I'm finally figuring out how to do things one-handed. I sort of wish I would have bought a sling or a wrap of some sort so I could get things done around the house. However, I'm also glad I didn't because I don't want the boy to be THAT attached to me that he can't handle it when I put him down. I think we have a happy medium right now. I am his major source of food (though we are still supplementing with formula some) and we spend all day together alone so I am not surprised that he's most comfortable around me. He's also very content in his crib, pack-n-play and his papazan chair. He is okay for a while on the floor, but the dog is usually close by to entertain him. I've caught him staring at the dog a lot more lately and I think it's adorable.

We are now in week 5 of his life. Here's an update from week 1:


Reasons why I'm glad he's out:
  • I'm down 16 of the 45-ish pounds I gained (current weight is 226), so that's good news. Still weigh 226. I did go up to 228 at some point, but I'm not really weighing myself every day and honestly I haven't checked in several days. We wake up and eat immediately (him, not me) so I don't even think about the scale. I refuse to weigh myself at any other time of day.
  • I can also bend and breathe at the same time now. I've done yoga a few times during his naps. It's amazing how inflexible I've become.
  • I can properly work out again (after four weeks of walking only). I've been walking every afternoon with him in the baby bjorn - at least a mile, most of the time we go farther. I go for my six-week check up next week. I want to build up to doing "real" workouts soon.
  • I have energy, which is somewhat crazy considering the amount of sleep I'm still not getting. This is the same. I feel like the hubs is more affected by the lack of sleep than me - probably because he's working all day while I lounge around the house.
  • I can eat chicken again without being disgusted. Yay for lean protein! 
  • I can shave my legs properly. Thank the lord!
  • I can give myself a pedicure - which I did yesterday. I don't have the money to get one in the salon unless it's a special occasion. I think I do just as good of a job here at home. It's almost time to do this again!
  • My clothes are already starting to fit. I'm wearing a size L t-shirt today instead of my husband's XL or XXL that I had been living in for the past few months. Not much change here, but I'm not complaining, yet. 
  • My legs are not cramping up at night while I'm just sleeping. I never did understand why that was happening. It's not like I was using the muscle! My side core muscles still do cramp up occasionally when I strain to one side or the other reaching for something. 
Postpartum things I was unprepared for:
  • I'm still bleeding. It has been 9 days. I guess that's normal. I bled for a good three weeks. I'm still not completely back to normal in this department.
  • The skin on my stomach (the widest part that did the most stretching) still hurts. This is gone, but those pesky stretch marks remain.
  • My heel that developed plantar fasciitis still hurts. Definitely still hurts. It's really hard to do yoga with this pain - especially any standing forward bend or down dog.
  • My ring can get back on my finger, but it's still tight, so that means I'm still swollen a little bit. Can wear my ring like normal.
  • The mushiness of my belly. It's a little disturbing how much mush is there. Still mush.
  • The amount of strength my hands and wrists do not have. Every muscle in my hands hurt and my wrists are killing me every time I pick him up. Getting better, but still sore. I notice it when I do other things now - like driving.
  • Breastfeeding is super hard work. I thought the little nugget would just have an instinct on how to do these things and it would just happen. I think we've found a balance of Bmilk and formula that works for us. The pediatrician is pleased with his weight gain, so I guess we are doing okay. I'm still a little disappointed that I'm not solely breastfeeding, but I'm glad that he's getting more than half of his nutrition from me.
  • Our little nugget is very orally-fixated. He must have something in his mouth at all times - whether that's the pacifier, his fingers, his arm, our fingers, the milk truck, whatever. So true.
  • I also have this weird pain down the back of my leg that started right after birth, but I thought I'd just strained it during the labor process somehow. It's actually probably worse than it was those first few days. I'm guessing it's a nerve thing from the epidural because it only shoots down my right leg (bent or straight) when I arch my back. Very odd and I plan on talking to the OB about it next week.