Friday, July 30, 2010

Bottle Shock

For a few weeks now Hunter has been more and more interested in reaching out for things and grabbing them. He has a rattle he's started taking interest in. But more important to us, he wants to hold his own bottle. It was shocking to me at first, I was convinced he was a genius. But I did some internet research that said babies trying and wanting to hold their own bottle is normal at this age. But they usually don't get the hang of it until the 6-10 month mark.

Focus

Hunter has become so alert and has really started to focus on things. He almost seems to recognize his name now as well. Well, sometimes...

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

8 Eyes

In case you haven't seen this...


This photo is from yesterday but it was too cute not to post. I love my babies!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Grandparents

Hunter got to hang with Grandma and Grandpa today. He thinks they're alright.

Monday, July 26, 2010

And I ran...

6 miles yesterday! 6 miles ya'll! I haven't run over 5 miles in close to 2 years. And I ran the whole time. Maybe jog is a better word, but I did it. I actually followed my whole training plan last week and I'm hoping to continue with it this week. I ran hills, and I did it way faster than I had anticipated. I didn't push too hard, it just felt right. Mind you, I'm still super slow, but I see a glimpse of my potential.

In other news, my goal for weight loss last week was 2 lbs. I'm hoping to lose 2 lbs a week for at least the next 12 weeks then I'll readjust my goals. But I lost 3 lbs! Actually 3.1! Not down to my pre-pregnancy weight just yet, but that's just a matter of 4 lbs. I'm so darned pleased with myself. I just have to stick to what I'm doing, which is actually pretty fun and I'll be marathon ready in no time.

Hunter is doing great these days. He's still up once most nights, but I'm fine with that. He's slept through the night a few times, like 9-5:30, but then he wants to stay up. I much prefer the 8-3 and back to sleep from 3:30 to 7. I guess I'm finally used to being up in the middle of the night.

And he's getting so strong. He doesn't really like tummy time so we have to split it up into a few 10 minute sessions throughout the day. And we were just using the play mat and he hated being on the floor. So now he spends a lot of time on the sofa with us. It's obvious from this picture that he doesn't like the sofa that much better.

He's napping pretty well too, 2 solid naps and 1 or 2 15-30 minute cat naps. We still don't have much of a schedule, but at least I'm getting a bit of rest. I feel totally human and like myself.

Those first 8 weeks were ROOOUUUGH. I'm just realizing now that I was in a fog and maybe had a bit of the baby blues. Nowhere near depression, but we're talking a HUGE change in life. It's nearly impossible to not feel a bit out of sorts. And the exercise has been a huge help.

Giving myself that hour a day to do something that makes me feel and look better has made me feel so much better. I almost want to say it makes me feel free. And I guess I am to have that little bit of time to myself. I do take Hunter with me in the jogger and he naps while I jog, but it still feels like my time. I hope he still enjoys it when he gets older.

xoxo,
Lauren

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Friday, July 23, 2010

Missed a Day

But we got a better camera. It's supposed to have image stabilization, should help my photography skills, which are shoddy at best.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Such a Little Man!!!

He looks so grown up with his collared shirt!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Recovery

So fitness is fairly important to me and I was worried how I would fit the subject into my blog without taking a complete departure from the adventure of parenthood. But recovery after pregnancy is a very real subject for most women. There is that social push to lose the baby weight and lose it FAST. Which is totally unrealistic for most people, by the way. I am a firm believer in the fact that since it takes most women 6 months to put on the bulk of the weight, it could take that long to get it off. And there is no shame in that.

That extra weight is really important too. Breastfeeding alone requires extra fat intake and aggressive exercise can really slow milk production. That said, I'm hoping to lose the weight before 6 months. In fact, I hope to be WAAAAAYYYY below my pre-pregnancy weight come November. But I've had a really tough time with my milk supply and have decided since I can't fully breast feed my child I have to take extra measures to improve our health. And that's where my fitness endeavors fit in. I want to make my body healthier to better take care of my family.

Now I know I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I know I want to have another child, eventually. And because I had so many small problems with this pregnancy, I want to do what I can to make the next pregnancy go a bit smoother. I haven't yet discussed it with my doctor, but I believe the chances of being a candidate for a VBAC are much better if I am in much better shape. And if I do have to have a cesarean again, I know that being fit makes the recovery that much easier.

I exercised throughout my whole pregnancy. I did prenatal yoga for a good part of it and also walked 7 miles a day for the last 24 weeks of pregnancy. I was hoping this would help with the delivery, and it may have in the fact that my post cesarean recovery was so quick. I felt pretty healed after 7 days and after 10 I was ready to get back into the swing of things. I used very little medication in the hospital, although all the nurses tried to push me to take it. I have 2 full bottles of painkillers left over. I do tend to think I'm a pretty tough cookie, but I believe my body was just well prepped to recover quickly. But perhaps the pregnancy would have been easier had I not started out at close to 200 pounds!

That said, I will be tracking my fitness progress here. It keeps me accountable, which is one of my biggest downfalls in weight loss and fitness. I'll post my weekly stats every Monday so we can see how I've advanced. And I won't share my weight, because I'm that kind of girl, but I'll try to post weekly photos so you can watch me shrink (hopefully) and Hunter grow!

Hunter's eyes remind me of Laser Cats
xoxo,
Lauren

Monday, July 19, 2010

Today's Stats

Although I've been running for close to 3 weeks now I am going to consider this coming week as the first week of training. This week I will start hill climbs, tempo runs, as well as Saturday long runs. I will also do 3 days a week of cross training which will most likely be walking. When Hunter can sit up on his own, I'll add a trailer to my bike and we will ride a few days a week. For now I'm pretty happy with our program.


CategoryWalking
LocationBalboa
Event
Tags
Distance4.27mi
Duration1h 7m 23s
Start9:31:30 AM PDT Mon, 19 Jul 10 show
Last Update10:38:53 AM PDT Mon, 19 Jul 10 show
Performance
Max6.20mph show
Max .25miPersonal Best4.12mph / 3m 37s show
Max .5miPersonal Best4.03mph / 7m 25s show
Max 1miPersonal Best3.99mph / 15m 0s show
Max 3miPersonal Best3.90mph / 46m 3s show
Max 1minPersonal Best4.37mph / 117.2m show
Max 5minPersonal Best4.08mph / 548.1m show
Max 10minPersonal Best4.00mph / 0.66mi show
Max 20minPersonal Best3.96mph / 1.32mi show
Max 30minPersonal Best3.94mph / 1.97mi show
Max 1hrPersonal Best3.84mph / 3.84mi show
Ave Speed3.80mph
Calories313

Fort

Pretty soon he'll be making a fort with that blanket.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Play Mat

Hunter is actually starting to interact with the objects on his play mat. He can't really grab them yet, but he reaches out for them. Every once in a while he gets lucky, but it's rare. He seems to enjoy it anyway.

Training

So Adam got me the coolest program for my phone. It uses GPS to track my run. I can use it to track pace, calories, time, and distance and I don't need any extra fancy gadget. It made me push myself a little bit extra. I'm going to try to pick up my pace by 2 seconds each run. Shouldn't be too hard since I'm slow as molasses at this point. You can see my stats below. I'm hoping this will all help in my new marathon training adventure.

CategoryRunning
LocationBalboa
Event
Tags
Distance4.45mi
Duration1h 5m 8s
Start8:03:47 AM PDT Sun, 18 Jul 10 show
Last Update9:08:56 AM PDT Sun, 18 Jul 10 show
Performance
Max7.77mph show
Max .25miPersonal Best4.69mph / 3m 11s show
Max .5miPersonal Best4.59mph / 6m 31s show
Max 1miPersonal Best4.50mph / 13m 18s show
Max 3miPersonal Best4.35mph / 41m 19s show
Max 1minPersonal Best4.88mph / 130.9m show
Max 5minPersonal Best4.59mph / 616.1m show
Max 10minPersonal Best4.53mph / 0.75mi show
Max 20minPersonal Best4.42mph / 1.47mi show
Max 30minPersonal Best4.38mph / 2.19mi show
Max 1hrPersonal Best4.18mph / 4.18mi show
Ave Speed4.10mph
Calories398

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Jogging Companion

Hunter has been jogging with me for almost 3 weeks now. We've been using the car seat adapter, but apparently you're not supposed to actually jog with it. So now we're just putting him directly in the stroller. Technically that's not correct either, but Doc. Howie seems to think it's fine. Anyways, he seems to enjoy it quite a bit. I'm hoping he'll be up for running 6 miles tomorrow, my first long run of my training schedule.


xoxo,
Lauren

Tummy Time

Hunter's not a huge fan of tummy time. We have to split it into 2 separate sessions so he gets enough time in. He enjoys it more now that his friends join in on the fun.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Jeans

I'm wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans right now! And they fit! My goal was to be in them by 12 weeks postpartum, needless to say, I'm stoked to be in them at 10 1/2 weeks postpartum. I'm still not quite to my pre-pregnancy weight but perhaps I will hit that at 12 weeks. If not, at least I have some clothes that fit again.

Oh, and I decided I'm going to start training for the LA Marathon in March. 257 days left to go!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Too Hot for Pants

The mercury hit 104 in the valley today! Not cool, literally! Good thing these diapers are cute because it was definitely too hot for pants.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Birth "Control"


I just read this amazing article about who should be in control of childbirth, the mother or the doctor. The author, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, had a terrible labor and delivery of her first child. She received terrible care from her own OB as well as the L&D staff at the hospital. It was so traumatic that she suffered from PTSD because of the ordeal. She went on to research midwifery, holistic birth, and the idea of "taking back your birth" to sort through her feelings as well as prepare for the delivery of her second child.

What really hit home about this article was how similar Taffy's and my birth stories were as well as our ideas on birthing and how negative her experience was and how positive I found my experience to be.

I've already written my birth story, but it was a bit of a blow by blow. I won't go into gory details, but I too was given a c-section after 30 hours of induced labor. The difference between Taffy and I was that I received impeccable care from my fantastic OB, Dr. Kahen, as well as the L&D staff. (Except for one nurse named Freixenet or something, but I complained and she magically had another labor to assist.)

It was not the labor I intended, however. I wanted to go the natural route and be free of intervention. Unfortunately complications arose and intervention was needed. And to tell you the truth, I did feel like I had somehow failed. No part of my labor went according to plan. I knew that I couldn't have too many expectations because sh*t happens. But I had this perfect labor envisioned and mine didn't even come close.

But as imperfect as it was I was very well cared for. My doctor kept me in the loop on every decision, I felt like I had a bit of a say in what happened to me. And the nurses were incredible and took a real interest in me.

But in my mind, labor was this huge moment that I had been preparing for, this important event. And I got so hung up on imagining this perfect labor and delivery that I forgot what was truly important, I got to have a BABY at the end!

I'm still mourning the labor I didn't have and probably will never get. I constantly think whether or not I could have done something differently. But the important thing is that every morning I wake up to this beautiful smiling face. And I realize that in the grand scheme of things, labor is just a blip.


I LOVE these final lines of Taffy's article:

I have another hope, too. I hope there will be a moment when the noise of the nurses and the doctors and the doula will fall into the background. I will look down at my baby — whether he is handed to me on my belly or from behind a curtain as my body is sewn shut — and I will remember what I've known from the beginning, when I looked down at that plus sign and we were alone together for the first time. Before these questions wrapped around my neck, choking me for answers. I will know that I am his mother and he is my son. And maybe, in that moment, I will be ready to say that the only success and failure is the outcome of the birth, that we are healthy. I hope I mean it.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Naps

Naps are getting few and far between. Hunter woke at 6am and was pretty much up until 2:30pm! Even then it took me close to an hour to get him to sleep for more than 5 minutes. Good thing he's pretty much sleeping through the night. I do stress pretty much, because he was up once last night, and I know this could change at any minute. It is fun having him more active and playful during the day now. But, selfishly, I relish his daytime naps. Otherwise I'd never get anything done!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Abbey's New Best Friend

Abbey is already proving to be a good companion for Hunter. She's the first to him when he cries, she follows us when it's time for a diaper change and lays on the floor during story time. We were so worried that the dogs wouldn't take to having a baby around but their relationship thus far has been better than we could have possibly imagined.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Giggles

This is seconds after Hunter giggled the first time. He did it twice, but only for daddy. I'm looking forward to my giggle!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Man Ray


This isn't the best photo because Mr. Hunter was moving too much, hence the milk on the face. But I liked it because it reminded me of Man Ray's Tears.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Me And My Monkey

He spends an awful lot of time talking now, and playing with his monkey ;)

Get up, Stand up

These days he much prefers being on his feet to sitting and laying down.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

365

I'm going to try to post a picture a day of our little man to document his growth. This is from a few days ago, but I love it!


Thanks to Rachelle for the hat!


Thursday, July 1, 2010

Firsts

Adam and I celebrated our three year anniversary on Tuesday. This also marks 8 weeks of Hunter's life and we're dealing with a lot of 'firsts' which is really fun. This is our first anniversary with a child and it really does feel different to be celebrating it as a family. Especially because it's the leather anniversary and I'm thinking a kinky whip is a little out of the question now that we're parents ;)

Last Monday Hunter and I had our first play date. It was more of a play date with mothers as all the babies did was eat, cry, and drool. It was fun none the less. And great to get out and be around other mothers of similarly aged kids. I have to admit I was a little worried, even though I really like these women, that there might be some judgement on my mothering skills. Of course, the opposite was true, and it was more camaraderie than anything. We were all having or had similar issues and it was nice to discuss those with people that understood.


Hunter and I went on our first hike together on Tuesday. We went to the same canyon I hiked at 37 weeks pregnant, just days before Hunter's birth. We used the Baby Bjorn because some of the terrain was too rough for the jogger to handle. Even though we only hiked for 40 minutes it was quite a work out with 12 pounds strapped to my chest. I was surprised at how much harder it was to hike with him in his carrier than it was to hike at 37 weeks pregnant.

On Thursday Hunter, my mother and I took our first long road trip up to northern California to visit my grandparents. They live near Chico and a normally 7 and 1/2 hour trip took 9 1/2 hours with an infant. I had anticipated it taking longer due to breast feeding stops and diaper changes, but in my head that was about an hour. So I was exhausted by the time we reached our destination.
All in all he was a pretty great traveler since he slept 90% of the trip. The only issue we had was it screwed up his sleeping schedule. He was getting 6 solid hours at a time and during the trip he reverted back to his old schedule of waking every 3 hours. We had a few rough nights but we're getting back on track.

Yesterday I went for my first post pregnancy run. Oh my god, I am so sore! The baby jogger really adds quite a bit of resistance when pushing it uphill. And then the trip down, I was nearly forced to run or it would have dragged me. And I've lost most of my pregnancy weight, but what's left is, apparently, on my thighs because I think I almost started a fire.

Today Hunter got his vaccinations. It was rough to say the least. Adam kept saying to me "It's ok, he'll be tough, just like you." But I saw his little face crinkle up and I lost it. Not so tough, eh? But I got some good advice and nursed him immediately after the shots, gave him some acetaminophen, and now he's sleeping peacefully.


But this was minutes before...


xoxo,
Lauren