Thursday, March 31, 2011

Week 1 Results

So last Thursday I was 2 weeks post-partum (pp) and decided that since I felt pretty good, I decided it was time to start thinking about getting back into shape (and losing the baby weight).  I was going to track my calories on Babyfit and start doing some weights and walking more. 

Weight loss
I am down 1.2 pounds from last week.  I know my weight will be fluncuating a lot because I am nursing.  Aidan didn't eat very much before I got out of bed and weighed myself, so I might have been able to a few more ounces. :)  I also know that once I can really start working out, I will hopefully be able to lose more. 

Eating
According to Babyfit, I should be eating between 1850 and 2150 calories.  That seems like a lot but it's because I am nursing and require more calories to keep that up.  I am not used to eating that much so it's a little hard for me.  Also, because I can eat that much, I feel like I can indulge some and still lose.  I tracked my calories for a week and learned a lot.  I would not eat some of my good for you foods because I would want to "save" those calories for my indulges (I know, bad).  I would also track my calories all day and then when I would see that I have 300 calories left before I hit the minumim calories, I would eat that many calories in sweets (again, I know, bad) even when I am not that hungry.  The whole calorie thing was overwhelming.  I also saw that I didn't eat enough protein several days.  If anyone has some tips for veg people to get in more protein, I would appreciate it.  And no to fake meat.  Here are some break downs.


Thursday, March 24, 2011
Bitmap
Breakfast
 ProteinFatCarbsCaloriesCalcium, CaFolate, totalIron, FeFiber, total dietary
Meal totals1915634524516138
Lunch
Meal totals23105138518696
Dinner
Meal totals181868506241986
Snack
Meal totals102656535130105
Daily totals70692391,87999414024
Recommended totals65 - 8065 - 80 1850 - 2150100 - 200150 - 200140 - 17025 - 35




Friday, March 25, 2011
Bitmap
Breakfast
 ProteinFatCarbsCaloriesCalcium, CaFolate, totalIron, FeFiber, total dietary
Meal totals111360404630222
Lunch
Meal totals311846442108331026
Dinner
Meal totals2033977541134459
Snack
Meal totals9245848020166
Daily totals71882612,0791279718624
Recommended totals65 - 8065 - 80 1850 - 2150100 - 200150 - 200140 - 17025 - 35


Working Out
I have to say that this experience so far has made me at least be consistent with my "workouts." 

Thursday:  Your Shape fitness test (30 minutes)
Friday:  Walk in the neighborhood with double jogging stroller (1.58 miles)
Saturday:  Rest (sick toddler)
Sunday:  Your Shape upper body workout (30 minutes) and abs
Monday:  Walk in neighborhood with double jogging stroller (1.63 miles)
Tuesday:  Your Shape lower body workout (45 minutes) and abs
Wednesday:  Walk on treadmill at 3.5mph at 9.0% incline

What to do this week
  1. I am not going to track my calories.  I know what I should be eating and limit mindless snacking.  I think this will help me with increasing my healthy choices.
  2. Might try a run this week. 
  3. Continue with my weights
  4. Enjoy my time with my son.  :)
Any advice for me as I continue my journey.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Happy news and a yummy breakfast

Adam and I both got into the Peachtree from the lottery!  Yeah!  I wasn't sure if we would or not.  I heard that they only gave special treatment to those who have raced in the race at least 10 times.  Adam and I are at about 5 so we didn't get any special consideration, but we did get in.  I also signed up for the Race for the Cure (in May), so I have a 5k in May and a 10k in July.  I am thinking of finding a 4 mile or 8k to race in June.  If you know of any that are near me (Atlanta) please let me know.

Also, I have been playing around with my breakfasts.  Cereal just won't cut it most days, so I have been making a lot of oatmeal.  Today I decided to try something different.  I have been buying granola (I know it's so high in calories, I only did it while I was pregnant) from the farmer's market.  It's organic and only has a few ingredients.  I buy the one without nuts and raisins and then if I want I can add my own.  While pregnant, I was putting in dried cranberries (raspberry flavored) and nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pumpkin seeds).  So yummy and filling but I know it's a breakfast killer with so many calories.  Today I decided to make a healthy yogurt parfait.

Yummy Yogurt Parfait
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1 cup blueberries (other berries would work too)
1/3 cup granola

Pour half of the yogurt into a glass or bowl, then half of the blueberries, then about half of the granola.  Repeat.

Nutrition
Calories:  370
Fat:  7 grams
Protein:  16 grams
Carbs:  65 grams

And here is a picture of the kids that I took a few days ago.  I got the shirts from Cafe Press.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Aidan's birthday story

Here you go.  FYI - it's long.

Wednesday (3/9/2011)
This was the first day I was starting to work from home the rest of the pregnancy.  It was so nice.  Hope went to MIL's house and I had the house to myself.  I got what I needed to done for work and was even able to do my 3 mile run on the treadmill (approx. 32 minutes).  It was raining so I couldn’t run outside.  It was a pretty good feeling run though.  It was a little hard to get motivated, but once I got on there, I knew I could do it.  I also packed a hospital bag for baby and me.  I picked Hope up at 4:30pm and headed home to make dinner.  Again, around 7pm, contractions started.  I got back on the couch with Hope and started timing them.  I started writing them down again.  They started at 7 minutes apart, then 6 minutes apart.  Again, when Adam called to tell me that he was on his way home (around 7:45pm), I told him I was having contractions again.  I told him they weren’t painful at all, just some tightening again.  Adam came home and put Hope to bed for me.  The contractions started to get closer, about 6 minutes apart.  By the time we went to bed, they were 5 minutes apart according to my chicken scratch so I got my Timex out to measure how long they were lasting.  To my surprise they were about 1 minute apart.  Well contractions 5 minutes apart and lasting for 1 minute is kind of when you should call the doctor.  And Adam was insistent that I call.  I told him, they were not painful contractions and were probably not even dilating my cervix at all, but he insisted.  I called and to my surprise, my OB was on call.  I told her what was going on, and she asked if I wanted to come in and get checked out.  I told her no because they weren’t painful so I doubted I was progressing any.  She said ok, but if my water broke, I had to come in immediately because things could go very quickly.  After that, I tried to go to bed.  Adam, on the other hand, started freaking out.  He was not ready for baby.  He started adding to my hospital bag all of his stuff.  He was a man on a mission.  He was running around cursing and worrying.  It was 11 days before my due date and Adam was planning on me at least getting through the weekend.  He even snapped at me.  I said, hey, I am one having the contractions.  He apologized but wasn’t mentally or physically ready for the baby to come tonight.  Finally, he had enough packed up and got back into bed and put on in a movie for us to watch. 
Thursday (3/10/2011)
I woke up and still had some contractions, but still not painful.  Adam and I decided that I would take Hope to her Mother’s Morning Out Program, but that I would then take Hope’s car seat over to my mother-in-law’s along with Hope’s bag in case I went into real labor.  I had a doctor’s appointment at noon that day, so I went home and worked until my appt.  I wasn’t timing the contractions, but I know they weren’t getting closer together.  I think they were pretty far apart actually.  My OB (Dr. Sun) saw me and I told her I was still having some contractions but they were pretty far apart right now, but I was still having them.  Last week she checked me and I was ½ cm dilated and the baby was pretty far up.  Today she expected to see some progress.  She checked me and I was 3 cm and she suspected all that dilating came from last night’s contractions.  She also did a quick ultrasound and the baby’s head was still down and even turned the right way, head facing back.  She said I could go to the hospital or I could go home.  I said I wanted to go home mostly because the contractions were still not painful and at She said I could go home, but if my water broke I had to rush it to the hospital.  I said ok.  I called Adam and told him that Hope needed to stay with his mom, because we were probably going to have a baby today or tomorrow.  I had been progressing and the contractions were still around.  Actually while at the hospital, I got very nauseous and a few of the contractions were uncomfortable.  He asked if he should come home.  I told him no, that I would keep him updated, but until I was feeling the contractions, there was no need to do anything different.  He also had an important conference call at 2:30pm that I wanted him to take if he could.  So I was on my way home, not feeling well at this point, and thought, hey, this might be my last day being pregnant and I haven’t had any fast food all pregnancy, so I stopped at a combo fast food joint (Arby’s and Wendy’s).  I got a large frosty (chocolate) and a medium curly q fries.  I went home and ate those and got my laptop and went upstairs to my lay in my bed.  I continued to work and rested and started timing my contractions through an online calculator.  The contractions had slowed down to 6-7 minutes apart.  I started to lose my mucus plug at 1:20pm.  I called my sister Val and told her that if my water broke, she would probably have to leave work immediately and drive me to the hospital because Adam was too far away to leave work, come home, and then drive me to the hospital.  Well, Val was a little concerned about me being home alone, so she went ahead and left work and came over.  She hung out with me on the bed and watched me work.  The contractions were 6-7 minutes apart lasting about one minute but not painful.  Adam called before his conference call and I told him I was fine.  Around 4pm, I sat up instead of laying down and folded laundry.  My contractions jumped to 5 minutes apart.  Around 4:30pm, I decided that Adam’s call was over so I could start moving around more and see if it did anything for me contractions.  The bloody show started at 4:30pm.  I decided to take a shower and dry my hair.  My contractions were then 2-5 minutes apart, still lasting about one minute.  Adam called at 4:40pm and said that he either needed to come home or he would go to a function he was supposed to go to.  I told him the contractions were coming closer together, although not painful, so he should come home.  He got home around 5:10pm and got changed and started putting the last of the items into our bag.  He also wanted to get pictures of the nursery and pictures of me like we did before we had Hope.  Around 5:30pm, I stopped laughing during contractions and joking around and started feeling them.  I told Adam, we should plan to leave for the hospital at 6pm if this continued.  I had no idea how far along I was.  I had non-painful contractions all day and now they were started to get painful.  So in between contractions we took pictures and got things ready.  I wanted to change the sheets in the bedrooms so when we got home everything would be nice and clean.  I also put away all of the laundry (yeah).  Well at 6pm, we left for the hospital.  The contractions were mild to moderate, so the ride the hospital was fine.  I wasn’t in that much pain, so it was fine.  As I was calling my OB’s office to tell them I was on my way (my OB was on call again that night, double score), my OB called me to see how I was doing.  I told her I was on my way.  She said she would call the front desk and tell them I was on my way, have the nurse check me and then give her an update.  We got to the hospital and the contractions were getting stronger.  I got checked in relativity quickly and got to my room (D-1).  It was 6:50pm.  We got settled and got some paperwork out of the way before I was too uncomfortable.  I told her I didn’t want drugs and that I didn’t have an epidural when I had my daughter.  She did not have me sign the epi page.  She checked me and I was so hopeful.  Then she said, you are 3-4 cm dilated.  What???  I hadn’t progressed at all.  This was not good in my mind.  After one hour of contractions, I was dying.  I told Adam I might need the epi.  I was hurting so bad.  I asked the nurse to check me again because if I hadn’t made some decent progress, I was going to need some drugs.  I was dying.  She said they didn’t like to check patients very often because it could introduce bacteria.  I was annoyed!  I didn’t know this at the time, but Adam felt like he was failing as my coach because I was wanting drugs and he knew how important it was for me to go natural.  He got on his blackberry and googled labor and positions and breathing techniques (something that we had not revisited since having Hope.  He said, let’s change potions.  I thought I don’t care about changing positions, I am dying here.  He said “Let’s sit you up and lean on me when you have a contraction.  I will rub your back and listen to my breathing and repeat it.”  Well that next contraction was much more manageable and I immediately thought that it must have been a weaker contraction (I couldn’t see the monitor when I was sitting up. Adam encouraged me and told me how well I was doing and that when we got here, the contractions were only in the50’sand now they were in the80’s and I was doing great.  I was shaking like a leaf.
At 9:00pm, my OB, who was on call for the evening, came in to see how I was doing.  She knew I didn’t want drugs, but I told her I was in a lot of pain, the contractions were coming very close together, and I didn’t get much rest between them.  She asked if I wanted her to check me and I said “YES!”  She said that I was about at 5 cm.  In 2 hours, I have progress about 2 cm.  She asked if I wanted my water broken.  I said “NO!”  I told her I was afraid the contractions would come even harder and faster, but not really help me progress that much.  My OB said that she thought I would progress much faster if my water was broken.  She said that if I didn’t, then I could get the epi because I had to go through an entire bag of saline before I could have the epi anyway.  I said ok.  So at 9:05pm, my water was broken.  Not much came out, but what did come out had meconium in it.  I was shocked.  He was 10 days early, so I was surprised there was any meconium.  It wasn’t like he was 10 days late.  So that meant, we had to have a special time in the room when I delivered.  It also meant that he couldn’t be brought on my chest after I delivered him.  That really bummed me out.  I got to do that with Hope and I really felt like that was a big bonding moment for Hope and me.  One contraction later, my OB checked me again, and I was already 6 cm.  A few more contractions, again still sitting up leaning on Adam and him rubbing my back, and my OB checked again, and I was 7-8 cm.  I was progressing fast.  Thank goodness!  Adam was helping me with my breathing too.  I had to start my deep breathing before the contraction was painful to really focus or I wasn’t going to get through it.  That was the nice thing about having no drugs.  I could feel the contraction coming on before the monitors picked it up, so I could tell Adam that I needed him and he could come over and take his position.  He didn’t have to wait for a monitor to tell him anything.  He just listened to me.  He told me to focus on something.  He said for him it would be palm trees like the ones in Hawaii (Hawaii is our favorite place in the world).  I tried to do that, but I was having real trouble with the whole focus point.  I was focusing on Adam’s green shirt instead.  I did notice that my OB had put on some.  All of a sudden during one contraction, I felt the urge to push.  She checked me and said all I had left was a little lip but she thought she could get the baby around it.  I started to move around to get in position during the next contraction as everyone rushed in and they were changing the bed around to put the stirrups in and as a contraction started I asked if I could push.  My OB said yes, so as they are changing the bed, setting up the baby station, etc. I started to push halfway through the contraction.  As the contraction finished, my doctor said, he’s right there, I can see his head.  I replied “I know.”  I could feel his head had come way down and was right there.  I told everyone that the next contraction was coming.  No one was holding my feet or anything.  There was no counting to 10.  I just bared down and pushed as hard as I could.  It took the entire contraction, but with it, my little boy was delivered at 9:44pm (40 minutes after my OB broke my water and just over 4 hours after contractions really started).  At first glance, I thought he looks smaller than I had expected.  Adam had the camera ready and was getting pictures immediately and gushing over his son.  FYI – I got no love from anyone.  My OB quickly suctioned him out and asked Adam he wanted to cut the cord.  Of course Adam did and then my son was whisked away over to the baby station.  He was already crying.  He was crying loud which sounded so good to my ears.  Adam went over there to take pictures and check on our son.  I was now freezing, shaking more, and needed to be fixed up.  All of sudden, I start hearing that my son (who still has no name yet) isn’t holding his oxygen levels and is requiring O2.  Are you serious???  I had gone most of the pregnancy with minimal problems, he has to be ok.  Finally it was decided that our little boy was going to need to go to the NICU.  I wanted to cry.  They hadn’t done any of his measurements, given him a bath or anything.  They wrapped him up and brought him over to me.  They let me hold him for about 30 seconds.  I looked into his eyes and started talking.  He finally stopped crying.  I told him to be good and I would see him later.  They put him in the incubator and took him away from me again.  I told Adam I was fine and that he needed to go with our son and make sure everything would be ok and give me updates since I was still being fixed up.  I think Adam finally gave me a kiss and he went up.  I texted our families that our son was here.  They immediately got in the car, but I told them he was in the NICU and who knew if they would see him.  Adam called and said he was doing better and they had done his stats.  His apgars were 8 and 8.  He weighed 6lb. 5oz., 19 ¼ inches long, head circum. was 12 ½ inches, and chest was 12 ¼ inches.  He was 5oz. smaller than Hope.  I was surprised.  I told him not to come down again until he named our son.  I was all fixed up (2nd degree tear) and given motrin.  I was moved up to my room and 3+ hours later, my son was returned to me with a clean bill of health.  He had just been given formula so I had to wait a few more hours before I could breastfeed him.  I was so happy to have him in my arms, and I don't plan to let him go forever.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

It's go time

It's funny, I am actually psyched to get back into working out and having my body back (well as much as back as I can considering I am nursing).  Aidan is now 2 weeks old and I am feeling pretty good.  I am still a little sore, but I am not taking Motrin for pain anymore and nursing is going really well, so I think I can start to think about watching my eating and start "working out."  I know I can't run yet, but I have been walking a couple times a week. 

My first walk - 3 days pp

I am now going to start incorporating some strength training which will be easy on my healing body, but will help me build muscle and burn calories until I can start running again (still weeks away).  I did The Firm with Hope when she was 3.5 weeks old.  I didn't have as bad of a delivery with Aidan so I thought I would start today and see how it goes.  Any little bit will help.  With Hope I did work out, but I didn't even think about losing any weight because I wanted to make sure my milk was in and I had a good supply (FYI - breastfeeding was/is very important to me.  I BF Hope for 15.5 months and plan to BF Aidan for at least 1 year).  I didn't want to restrict my calories with Hope in case it affected my supply.  This time around, I feel more confident about BFing and my milk came in early and Aidan is nursing great and at 5 days old had already gained back his birth weight plus 3.5 oz.  So I feel good about BFing and would like to lose my baby weight a little faster than last time (3-4 months). 

Me and my belly the evening Aidan was born
I am actually in between contractions which is why I am smiling

Working Out
This time around I plan to use Your Shape to get some strength training in.  I actually got this for Christmas last year, but our PC couldn't handle it so I had to wait until I got a new computer before I could load it up.  I had my first workout today and it was pretty good.  I think it was just a fitness test but I did it for 30 minutes and burned 246 calories.  My goal is to do it 3 times a week and walk 2-3 times a week as well.  That seems like a lot to do with 2 small children and my lack of sleep means I am not getting up early to get my workouts in, so we will see how it goes.  At least right now, Aidan can't go out so I am stuck at home which means no errands at least right now. 

Eating
I gained 24lbs. during my pregnancy.  I did not restrict myself during pregnancy because I knew with Hope I had a very small placenta and that made it difficult for Hope to get enough nutrients and calories.  Aidan started off fine, but really dropped in the end.  Again, another small placenta, so I am glad I gained a good amount of weight.  I signed up for Babyfit.  I will try to track my calories on this site and see how I am doing. My goal is to eat as many whole foods as possible and limit refined foods.  I do know I need extra calories because I am nursing as well as lots of water.  So I do plan to have dessert most nights.  :)  According to babyfit, I need 1,800 - 2,100 calories a day, so that is my plan.  I do not plan to do anything dramatic, just try to be smart. 

Stats
According to the scale, I am 11 lbs. above my pre-pregnancy weight, with a current BMI of 22.2.  With my pre-pregnancy weight, I will have a healthy BMI of 20.2.  I have gotten down to 19.8, but for now we are focused on 20.2.  I also took my measurements today.  I will update you on how many inches I have lost.  I can tell you that my chest measurement is currently 4.5 inches bigger than my pre-pregnancy chest measurement.  Yes, I look like a porn star right now.  :)

My belly today

So, my goal is mainly to just get back into shape so I can get back to my running shape.  I am not so concerned with the weight.  I know it will come off, well at least it did last time.  :)  Wish me luck.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Christmas/Birthday all in one

So I mentioned that Adam got me the Bob Duallie Revolution Double jogging stroller for Christmas.  I was so excited because I have been using my single jogging stroller weekly with Hope since she was 3 months old and absolutely love it.  We have not gotten any other double stroller, so this will likely be our only double stroller at least until we feel like we need another one.  We have seen people with this exact stroller in the mall as well as on the road so we felt like it was a good purchase for us.  We also got it on sale and online so we didn't have to pay for tax, shipping, and got the nice discount because they were coming out with a new line of Bob's, so they were trying to get rid of the older models.  Saved us over $125. 

I have not started running again but I have taken the kids on a couple of walks to get out of the house.  My first walk with both kids, and they both fell asleep. 


I was trying to get my walks in everyday, but I started having some additional pain and realized I was probably doing too much at home too, so I took a few days off and am now back to walking again.  My thought is to start doing some strength training/yoga around 2 weeks post partum (did it with Hope at 3.5 weeks pp) and see how I feel.  I will keep you abreast of my getting back into shape blogging. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

Happy birthday to me

Well with Aidan just a few days old and us just out of the hospital, it was a pretty low key birthday, but it was a wonderful one all the same.  When Hope woke up, Adam took her and Aidan downstairs and told me to sleep in as long as I wanted.  I was able to actually fall back asleep, but just for an hour.  But man that hour felt soooo good.  I got up and fed Aidan and then had some coffee with Adam.  Then Adam took Hope and they ran errands to buy my presents.  Now, I know some of you ladies can't believe Adam wanted that long to get my birthday presents, but he had planned to go out last weekend, but we were in the hospital, so all was forgiven.  Actually the fact that Adam took Hope to run the errands was so nice.  The house was so quiet.  Aidan is still in the newborn phase, so he sleeps a lot.  I was able to relax a lot, take a shower, eat lunch quietly and not have to worry about anyone else other than Aidan.  It was a really nice day for me. 

We had planned to have family over for dinner, but since Aidan came early, we cancelled and just did dinner on our own.  Adam made me breakfast for dinner, homemade waffles with NY maple syrup and mini breakfast burritos.  I was actually feeling kind of sick from everything, but managed to eat every last bit because Adam went to such trouble to make me feel special, I wasn't going to have him think that I didn't appreciate it.  


Most of my family did stop by during the day to drop off gifts, so I was happy to get a couple of the accessories (car seat adaptor and console) for the Bob Duallie I got for Christmas.  Yeah!!!  And then Adam got me some new pans because I was wearing out my old ones.  We went with stainless steel to see how it compares to the nonstick we have been using.  And then he got me some fun shoes that I had been eyeing.


I am not a huge cake person (but don't mistake that for not a sweet person because I totally am), so when I went to get Adam's birthday cake last month at our favorite bakery, I saw the gentleman in front of me order a half chocolate pecan tart that looked amazing.  I told Adam about it and not only did he remember, but he got it for me.  It is so good.

Yum, people, yum!  If you are in Atlanta, or specifically Decatur, I highly recommend this place.

And of course little Aidan wished his mommy a happy birthday.  :)



Happy 32nd to me!