Friday Workout

I feel like I was in my car for hours today and was not motivated to get out....

6:30-7:00pm
31 minutes
2.3 miles
294 calories

I am noticing my jelly belly/muffin top more and more. I know it is totally normal at this point, but I want it to be gone!:)

Thursday Fun

Today was the day I have been waiting for for weeks....MANI/PEDI! My toes were in sad and sorry shape and needed a little TLC. Amy and I went together and she was nice enough to hold Henry for me while I was getting my nails done. Henry did his best to charm everyone in the salon and I don't think there would have been any shortage of ams willing to cuddle him:)


Amy also came to the rescue tonight and babysat Henry while I went to my first Crossfit class. I bought a Gilt City voucher for five classes. It was fun and exhausting. I am going to be interested to see if I can walk tomorrow. 65minutes, 601 calories burned. It feels good to be moving and working hard again!

Six Weeks

Yesterday, Henry was six weeks! I can't belive how fast the time is going by. We saw the Dr for our one month appointment yesterday. I was supposed to bring him in last week, but pushed it a week since I had my OB visit as well and though I could kill two birds with one stone. Good news on all fronts!

Henry weighs 10lbs 6oz and is in the 50% for weight. His head circumference and length were in the 60% percentile. The Dr. commented on how alert he was and how cute he is. I can't help but agree! I also got a good report from my OB, am cleared to exercise and don't have to go back for six weeks. A mammogram is in my future this year since I am going to be 40.

This week, Henry is even more alert and I can tell his vision is improving. He is starting to be happy in his bouncy chair and on the play mat batting at toys. He can clearly see them:) I am also starting to see smiles, which completely melt my heart....

Sunday Wrap Up

The good news is that I still feel good following my "bottom" on Wednesday morning. I did almost 3 miles outside yesterday and walked 1.4 today. I wanted to run today but the body said "no", yesterday might have been a stretch.. Spotting more today so I will take a day off tomorrow (*ha* taking a day off from walking....).

Our big fun on Saturday was a new TV (now referred to as "Allan's Girlfriend"), a trip to Pita Inn (yum), and watching The Hangover. Yes, it was as funny as people told me it would be.....

Unfortunately, we scraped our party on Friday night because of the snow:(

Today Allan and I remembered why brick and mortar stores are going out of business. We went to Barnes and Noble for some Nook support for me and for Allan to use some gift cards. He found the book he wanted, but it was $20 more than the online B&N price (and they would not match it in store). We then went to Best Buy (more GC's) for a heart rate monitor and again struck out. They were in stock at the last BB we were at, but not this one. grrrr

Horray! I got a massage today! It was fabulous and I can't wait to go back

Yipee! A fabulous looking casserole was just dropped off and is now in the oven.

Hiyooo! Allan took Henry when he woke up early this morning and I slept till 9:30am!

Woop - I bought two new nursing bras that FIT! (AND she told me to drink beer to increase my milk supply:)

I've got lots of good things to look forward to this week!

5 weeks - or when I hit the wall....

I've been wanting to do a post about all the things people (and books) told me that would (or would not happen) and how, for me and this pregnancy, it was just not true. The most recent has been hitting the wall between 4 and 5 weeks. Everyone told me that the first 2-3 weeks would be the hardest. Well, not for me.

I am not sure what happened this week. I know that the weather changed and I have not been able to get out for a walk every day. Allan gets home after dark and the snow and ice have also kept me indoors. My gym membership is on hold till March but I am going to reactivate in February after I see my Dr next week and get an all clear. I did go out an run 2 miles in 10 degree weather on Thursday night - it was the best part of my day. Clearly I NEED the physical exertion to maintain my sanity.

Let's review all the things "people say":
1. Morning sickness will be gone by 12 weeks, 20 at the latest. Um, nope, I continued to be sick my entire pregnancy - even with Zofran helping, I was nauseous for 10 months solid. I threw up my entire labor.

2. You will gain a ton of weight, it will take 9 months to get it off. Again, nope - I topped out at 23lbs and FOUGHT for every one. I was below my pre-pregnancy (PP) weight at 10 days post baby and have since leveled off right around where I was PP. I need to firm up and do want to lose the 10-15lbs that I wanted to lose before I got pregnant (to be fabulous at 40), but that is another story.

3. First time Mom's have slow labor and you will push for 2-3 hours. Try 12 minutes and a resident telling me "not to push" while they tried to get the room set up in time.

4. It will take you a while to bounce back after having the baby. I felt better 2 weeks post baby than I had for pretty much the entire pregnancy. So much for the idea of "Irish twins". Mentally, I can't handle the thought of getting pregnant again. I don't want to wait very long since 40 is looming in June. Even hitting the wall this week, it is better than being pregnant.

5. Babies poop up to 6 times a day. Only ONE day so far have we had more than one poop in a day. Usually it is more like every 24-36 hours (which is supposed to be fine). Thank you lactation consultant for completely stressing me out over this one.

I am listing out the above only because I need to keep reminding myself to not believe any of the the things that *they say*. It just gets my hopes up for the crash. The two that are looming right now are:

1. Babies *peak* in fussiness at 6 weeks. Henry is definitely getting more fussy and I was telling myself that I could deal with it since the *peak* is coming. Then I thought, why should ANYTHING follow conventional wisdom.....fingers crossed that this one does.

2. Every pregnancy is different. See above #4 and the "Irish Twins - I am old" debate. I don't want to wait too long to try again and am actually ready to get the "all clear" from the Dr. next week (again, I feel better now than for most of my pregnancy). I am just terrified that I won't get pregnant again and also terrified of what could happen if I do? What if the next pregnancy is WORSE! gah!

Sleep deprivation is an ugly thing. I am getting enough sleep that I feel like I should be ok, but it really smacked me down this week. I fell down the stairs (more than once), get really emotional (my anxiety over things like dishes in the sink is brutal), have parked the car and walked away with it running, and I drop EVERYTHING (except the baby, Thank God). I was supposed to go for a late lunch today with a friend but am going to cancel. I don't have the motor skills to drive in the snow right now. I noticed not being able to focus well yesterday while driving in good conditions. I need to not take chances.
Even River is exhausted....


Wednesday I woke up with what I now think was a migraine (I got sick, light hurt my eyes, I literally could not get out of bed and had to let Henry cry for 30 minutes while I waited for Advil + Tylenol to kick in). It was scary. I could have called a neighbor, but I was literally not functioning well enough to think! Also this week, I felt like I might be starting with Postpartum Depression. I am TERRIFIED of this given my family history of PPD and SAD and my own history of depression (and self diagnosed anxiety issues). Thank God I woke up on Thursday feeling better. Today I also feel OK, even with MORE wake up calls last night. One more reason I NEED to get to the gym.

Here is the good news:
1. I still think Henry is the cutest thing around, he is healthy and growing. I think I started seeing a smile this week (it was intentional and repeated 2-3 times). I am hoping to see it more, even though it makes me cry. He bats at his toys and is awake and alert more of the day.

2. I am feeling good physically. I fit into my clothes (even with muffin top). With my sister in town over the weekend, I had my hair cut and reblonded. It made a huge difference in how I feel about myself.

3. I have amazing friends. PEO did a food drive on Sunday which literally SAVED me. Someone came over yesterday with two bags of food from Whole Foods and a baby present. More food is coming on Sunday. I love to cook, but this week pulled the rug out from under me and having meals in the fridge and freezer saved me.

4. I have amazing family who will drop everything and fly out if I say I need them.

5. Allan is an amazing man who I love and trust my my whole heart. I love how we are still trying to take care of each other.

6. Spring break trip to Phoenix/Sedona is booked (using points)! Just working on details now.

7. Hospital bills started coming (yikes - 4 days in NICU!). I am thankful that we can pay them (even though I will still stress about money).

8. I found a babysitter who will work for this spring till Allan is off for the summer. I am ready to start going back to work part time in Feb. Things are BUSY at the office:)

This week I want to focus on working Henry's sleeping schedule (within reason), taking more pictures, and writing down thoughts at least every other day.

My current obsession is trying to decide if I should go to Mexico (with Henry) in late Feb. I can mostly use miles to fly and have a free place to stay. Henry's passport has been applied for, the pediatrician gave the all clear. Why am I hesitating?

41 years and 4 weeks

Today Allan is 41 and Henry is 4 weeks. The last month has been crazy and fun and exciting. I am not sure if I would recommend having a baby right before Christmas, since there were pros and cons. Considering I am so happy to have Henry here - I am not complaining!

We had a great birthday dinner at Wishbone:

I had shrimp and grits without the shrimp and Allan had pan fried chicken. Yum. I had my first whole beer post baby and was ready for bed when when we got home at 8:00pm.:)

We had cupcakes from Sprinkles when we got home (before I passed out)!


Henry continues to get stronger and more alert every day. He clearly knows me now and will quiet down when he hears me coming or stop crying if I start singing to him. His eye gaze is much more directed and he seems to recognize me. Makes me happy, and more in love every day! Just this week, he started batting at the toys in his bouncy seat. New skills every day!

Sunday Funday

I actually got to go out last night for a Girls Night Out/Wine Tasting at a friends house in the South Loop. I thought the wines were "eh" and the prices were high, but loved getting out for a few hours.

Other highlights of the weekend:

1. I got out this morning and actually incorporated some 30-60 second jogging breaks into my walk with River. It was awesome and I felt great - STARVING this afternoon though. Hopefully I will still feel great tomorrow.

2. Henry continues to seep for about 5 1/2 hours at night, so Allan and I are human. I thought he might be off schedule at one point last night, but he continues to wake up within 5 minutes of 5:30am every morning.

3. Met Laurel for coffee/brunch this morning, which was great.

4. PEO food drive! Food is being dropped off tonight, the freezer is low - LOVE PEO!

Here is what I am stressing about.:

Breastfeeding is better and easier, I think I am producing more milk. I have come to terms with the fact that I am going to continue to both breastfeed and supplement with formula, the nipple shields are not going anywhere. I talked to a friend on Friday who did a 50/50 thing with her son and pumped (and froze) enough in the first three months to bank enough formula to last from 3-6 months. I've been doing some pumping, but we usually just turn around and feed it to Henry within the next few hours. Her plan made sense to me, especially since Henry is going to start to spend some time with a babysitter in Feb (and we have a TON of formula). This morning I pumped and was excited to get about 1.5oz in 10-15 minutes. This afternoon, I pumped less than an ounce in 20 minutes....WTF? So frustrating. I'd like to get enough to freeze 4oz a day at least.

River is soooo needy. Even with daily walks/runs, he is like velcro and follows me around, desperate for attention. The good news is that he is great with the baby and the baby does not seem to notice when he turns into Cujo when someone is at the door.

Poop - Henry is pooping once a day or once ever other day. I think it is supposed to be more. Not sure what I can do about this, he seems fine (not that fussy) and poop when it comes in normal. Again, eh.

Laundry is in, I am vacuuming, getting ready for the week ahead!

Red Sky In the Morning...

I've always heard, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning.". The weather has been BEAUTIFUL for the past two days. I hope the sunrise does not mean that our beautiful weather is not here to stay.....

Finally Friday

I liked what I did yesterday (writing my post/goals early and then updating and posting later) so I am going to do it again today:

Goals:
1. Drink 100oz (water/juice/milk) only 1 cup coffee:( - Done by noon. I am so thirsty this is easy. Not going to have it as a daily goal anymore.

2. eat 5/f/v - fail, not only did I not do this. I waited to long to eat lunch and was then hungry all afternoon and ate waaay to much junk and sugar:(

3. walk at least 3 miles (I have a friend coming to walk with me today so this should be no problem) - done, 4 miles with a friend.

4. print out and fill out passport application for Henry/take passport photo (for possible upcoming trip to Mexico in Feb:) - done, hope this works! We dropped it off Sat morning - done!


5. fold and put away laundry - I asked Allan to do this

6. 5 minutes arm workout w/weights - Fail

I am really happy today is Friday. How lame is it that I miss Allan during the day now that he has gone back to work...? It will be fun to have him around this weekend. Again, Henry slept great last night and Allan and I did the early shift/late shift thing so we each got about a 6 hour chunk of sleep. Considering Henry is only 3 weeks old, I am thrilled with this.

*Meh*

Thursday Goals:
(I am writing this early morning and will mark my goals and post at night)

1. 5 minutes of arm workout with weights - done
2. walk (at least 2 miles) - done
3 eat 5 f/v - done
4. work for at least three hours - sort of....at work for three hours, did a lot, one more thing I MUST get done....
5. grocery store - costco
6. cook dinner - see below, don't be jealous of Taco Thursday....


Allan saved me last night by staying up with a fussy baby from 10:30 -12 (when he fell asleep). I still consider us very lucky that we *bonk* at different times. It was no problem to get up with the baby at 5am when he woke back up because I was well rested!

Mini Goals

I am the queen of the "mini goal". Sometimes I think I am actually to much of a mini goal person. My mini goal for the day was to eat more fruit. I put all the fruit I wanted to eat for the day out in my pretty colander, so I could remind me to eat fruit....and I did! Mini goal reached: 2 clementines, 1 small bunch grapes, 1 small banana, 1 small apple AND I had asparagus for dinner. This is more f/v that I have eaten (in one day) in days. yeah!

Reality TV= Nursing

I saw a lactation consultant yesterday. It was a good news/bad news situation. On one hand, the nipple shields that I have been wearing are not impacting my milk supply, and Henry is getting good hydration and nutrition. On the other hand, I need to be nursing more often and for longer if I want my milk supply to increase. *ugh*

Yesterday was a hard day. I felt like I was nursing constantly and Henry was just not satisfied. Literally, 10 minutes after he was finished nursing, he would be crying and hungry. At 8:00pm we gave up and gave him a bottle (after he had nursed for over an hour). He fell asleep almost immediately and slept till 3:00am! At that point he woke up, nursed and had another bottle and (after being wake for an hour), slept till 8:00am.

I am going to hold off on the bottles today as long as possible, I have a friend who I was supposed to meet for lunch and a walk at an indoor mall in the burbs. She is now going to come to the house for lunch, and I am going to lay low. The good news is that I have NO desire to go outside today since the HIGH is 25. ugh

Reality TV is perfect for nursing. It keeps me a distracted and interested, but if Henry distracts me, I still know what is going on. Current favorites include:
RHW of Beverly Hills (I also like NY but it is not on now)
Biggest Loser - I need the new season to start
Bachelor - needs to get on On Demand
Top Chef
Project Runway - yeah, another one is starting soon
Survivor - I need a new season!

Henry loves his developmental pictures! Don't judge for no sheets, he peed through both early this morning and they are in the wash:)

New Year's Day

There seem to be lots of posts on blogs I follow with recaps of 2011 and goals for 2012. Today I am not into either so *meh*, maybe tomorrow.

I did get out for a good 2.9 mile walk. I did the Horner Park loop with the dog and then left him at home and walked to CVS to do some shopping. Here is a picture I snapped during my walk. Can't wait for the ducklings to come this spring:) The 1/4 mile walk along the river is my favorite part and I usually do that 1/4 mile at least once a day.

My tired point on these walks seems to be around 2 miles. My goal for the week is to walk at least 15 miles and to do 5 minutes of arm weights 4 times (I'd love to do this every day, but the days seem to fly by).

Last night I was asleep by midnight after a yummy dinner of steak, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. I did wake up at 1am to feed the baby. Someone was confused because they were lighting off fireworks at 1am. Allan said there were more at midnight, but I missed them:) Maybe next year!

Henry keeps growing, I still have some breastfeeding concerns (I am not producing enough) and I am excited to see a lactation consultant tomorrow to get some guidance. He is opening his eyes more, is more alert, and started batting at the hanging toys from his bouncy seat. So cute! Boy genius figured out how to hold is bottle today. :) Don't judge me - this kid eats like a beast.