Body Funk

Ok, yes I know I just had a baby about 6 weeks ago, but ugh; I'm feeling so frumpy.  At about two weeks post partum I was only about 5 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight.  Then I started doing some light exercise and I swear I gained weight.  Right now I feel like I'm always hungry.  I'm fluctuating between 7-9 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight.  Being 6 weeks out from giving birth, I know that's still good.  The thing is, I'm not feeling sexy or beautiful.  It probably doesn't help that I live in spandex or elastic waist bands.  While I can button my pre-pregnancy jeans, they're not comfortable.  I don't even want to talk about my shorts and how they don't fit.  See, the thing is, I had gained a little weight before getting pregnant and was just, and I mean just, fitting into my jeans and last summer I was dealing with my miscarriage, so I don't think I fit into my shorts then either.  Now that I'm even a couple more pounds heavier, my bottoms really don't fit well at all.  I sprung and bought a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts in the next size up.  They fit me, but I'm still coming to grips with the fact that I'm a size larger.  I shouldn't beat myself up about it though.  I'm breast feeding so I'm trying not to diet.  Heck, I hate dieting.  However, the past two weeks I have seriously overindulged in dessert.  I think that's truly why I'm feeling ugh.  I go back to work in one week, so I think I'm also doing some stress eating.  I don't like that I do that, but I do and at least I recognize it.  Here's to embracing my new size and trying to go back to eating fruit instead of ice cream!

Solas Caomh Blanket

What's the word in the title?  I'm not quite sure either, but it Irish for tender comfort.  While looking for nursery ideas a few months back, I came across a pattern for a beautiful crocheted blanket with Celtic knots.  Since I love all things Celtic, I knew I wanted for our little one.  For a brief second I contemplated trying to teach myself how to do the crochet work, but then I realized I had enough on my plate already.  So, I'm fortunate that my neighbor knows how to crochet and agreed to take on my request.  She noted the pattern was a challenge, but fun.  Since she was so kind to make me the blanket, I felt it only appropriate to plug her etsy store Gifts by Gwen.  She has some outfits and table runners on there.

And, in case you want to take on the project yourself, here's the pattern from interweavers.com.

Nutella Banana French Toast

I think the picture says enough. I'm going to miss making breakfast once I go back to work!

Angels Above

Angels above were watching out for us yesterday. I attempted to wash our pillows for the first and last time. If we didn't smell the burning I know our house would have been on fire. While drying, the drum stopped rotating. Now to try up fix our dryer sometime this week. Personally, if your pillows are dirty, just buy new ones.

Angel

Angel by Mary E. Kingsley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Overall an enjoyable read. I think Kingsley did an excellent job capturing the emotions and thoughts of a thirteen year old and I really fell in love with the main character, Angel. However, I feel like the actual conflict and ending was not as strong as I would have expected based on the beginning. I'm not sure how to make it better, but I felt I reached the end and was like, "well that's it."

View all my reviews

Happy 1 Month!

Wow, it's hard to believe R2D2 is one month old already. Yes, there were some long days, but overall it went fast, too fast. (Honestly, not too fast, I'm anxiously awaiting more head control and interaction, but I digress).

I'm fortunate enough to still be on maternity leave, so we had the opportunity for a mini photo shoot! I think the laundry basket photo is my favorite, well honestly, I love all of them. I love watching her facial expressions and hearing her start to realize she can make sounds other than crying.

We don't quite have a schedule yet.  Sometime she takes long morning naps, and other days it's afternoon naps.  Just when I try to do something, she changes her routine up.  We're continuing to breast feed and she's a champ!  The past two days I think she's been in a growth spurt because she's waking more at night to feed.  For about 3 days in a row she slept 5 hours at night.  I was in heaven.

She's still a little peanut, but has exceeded her birthweight, which makes Mommy happy.  My liquid gold is working!  She is still in size newborn clothing and diapers.  The onesie in this photo is a size 0-3 months, which is starting to fit her better.  At her 1 mos check up, she weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches in length.

We've started to get out of the house more and R2D2 loves car rides!  She loves to be held when she's awake, which is increasing.  She enjoys the swing and vibrating chair, but not for more than 10-15 minutes if she's awake.  I have taken to using the Moby to try to get things done.  Bath time is hit or miss, but she loves the sound of running water!

 

And to close things, here is our first family portrait!  Love you! (Family photo taken by Lisa Marie Photography).

Protective Much?

I walked out of the room and came back to this. I love our dog!

Shopping!

R2D2 and I successfully went to 4 stores today, one of which was the grocery store!  I was a little hesitant about introducing her to the public world so young, but she stayed in her stroller and no body touched her.  I feel comfortable she didn't get the new swine flu.  Seriously though, it's a fine balance between being secluded and protecting their young immune system.  I breastfed in a fitting room for the first time and wore her in a Moby while grocery shopping.  My shoulders hurt from the Moby by the end, but it was a success.  I learned errands take three times as long and are at least twice as exhausting with a baby.  In this picture, R2D2 is in her Moby, 26 days old.

A Dog and a Newborn

Last night was a rough night.  Joe was at work, so it was just me, the baby, and our dog. I don't think R2D2 likes when I eat seafood and I had seafood for lunch. She either nursed or cried for 3 hours straight. I even made a bottle of formula thinking she was starving and I wasn't producing enough. After an ounce of the bottle, she started screaming again, so that made me feel better at least; it wasn't only my milk that was making her upset. On top of that, the dog wanted something. At first I thought he needed to go potty. Nope. Then I thought he wanted me to throw his toy. Nope. I sat on the floor with him while nursing to try to help give him attention. Nope that wasn't it either. I felt helpless. I had before me two individuals I love and neither could tell me what was wrong. Fortunately R2D2 eventually fell asleep and we're having a much better morning today. I needed to do something relaxing for me this morning, so I made pancakes. It felt good.

Here's to a new day! (Plus Joe doesn't have to work tonight :) )

Banana Peanut Butter Flax Seed Cookies

Wow, I made these in October of 2011 and I'm just blogging them in August of 2012, almost a full year later.  Oh well.  That's life.  Don't like the ingredients of the cookies deter you, they are quite delicious!!  In fact, I'm thinking about when I can make them again.

Recipe from Clean Eating Magazine

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups 6.75 ounces whole-wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 medium banana, mashed
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup unsalted natural peanut butter
2 tsp pure vanilla
1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, flaxseed, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mash banana with a fork. Stir in maple syrup, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
• Add flour mixture to banana mixture, stirring just to combine; do not over-mix. Fold in chocolate chips, if desired. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove cookies from sheet and let cool directly on rack.

Happy Due Date

Today was my due date for Miss R2D2.  I am beyond excited she decided to make her appearance 18 days early instead! I honestly thought I'd still be pregnant today and now I can't even imagine being pregnant still.  Having her in the world has become such a part of our lives now and gone are the days of feeling her move inside me. 

Post Partum Body Aches

People may have mentioned it, but I don't remember ever being warned about how much my body would ache after labor.  Postpartum day one, oh my goodness, I could not get over how much my back hurt and shoulders ached from pushing.  I mean it makes sense, I think I used every muscle in my body, but I wasn't expecting it.  The next couple of days, I felt my body realigning and found myself using different butt and leg muscles, making more soreness.  Our bodies are wonderful things.

Then I started breastfeeding.  Despite trying to prop her up, I still found myself slouched over.  This slouching over just continued the cycle of aching shoulders.  A couple of years ago I purchased a microwave heat neck pad from The Ferris Wheels on Etsy.  It has come in quite handy and definitely helps relieve my shoulder/neck aches.  I high recommend it, just be sure not to use it when actually holding or breastfeeding your baby so she doesn't get burned.

I tried to stay active while pregnant.  I purchased Complete Pregnancy Fitness with Erin O'Brien and I'm glad I did.  The prenatal workout can be a little strenous if you're out of shape, but ultimately very good.  Right now I'm absolutely loving, and I mean loving, the postnatal work outs.  The post natal DVD has basic stretches you can do your first day back from the hospital.  After that, the DVD has three 15 minute workouts.  The first starts with teaching your muscle groups to refire properly and then goes from there.  I've done the first two workouts and they're just the right amount of workout for being so close to delivery.  They are helping my abs and focusing on the muscle groups that have been neglected, aka some butt muscles!  I haven't started any cardio workouts yet.


So, if you're postpartum or about to be, these are two must haves, in my opinion!