In conclusion...

Six weeks postpartum today. 8lbs from pre-pregnancy. My son is up 3.5lbs from birth.
I fit into all my clothes (which isn't saying much since I wore my regular clothes my entire pregnancy...), the weight is mostly muffin top and boobs, and just a little extra junk in the trunk. I somehow found that place where I'm able to resist being a glutton for sweets and am eating properly again, so I've stopped playing with the same 2lbs and am a pound under what I was 2wks postpartum. I hope to have lost the remaining 8 in the next 6wks, and then another 4-9lbs by the end of the year (to reach my goal of being 135-140). But really, I want to fit into some of my favorite items again, so if I can do that before reaching goal weight, then whatever!
I've done some interval training and that was fun to mix it up and got me a little sore. As much as I like running in the cool morning air, I actually miss the gym and the equipment. Or maybe it's more of missing the "me" time and not worrying about getting back. I worry about Bauer waking up and being hungry while I'm out now.
Despite not hitting my postpartum goals as quickly as I aspired, I'm really glad I maintained my fitness throughout my pregnancy. I felt fantastic in all facets; physically, emotionally, self-esteem. My birth experience was awesome. And I am way ahead of where I was 6wks postpartum after my daughter.

5 weeks postpartum

Cravings for sweet junk are irresistible. As the empty Nutella jars and disappointed look on my daughter's face when she asks for a cookie and I have to tell her the batch I made yesterday is GONE, can attest to. Can I blame breastfeeding? Maybe. Exhaustion? Probably. Weak self-control? Definitely.
Most people say I should give myself a break, that I just had a baby. True, and maybe my expectations for bounce-back were a little over-ambitious. But I can't help but be upset with myself for slacking on the parts that should have been easiest, like not eating sugar laden junk all day long.
Exercise is going well though. I'm up to 3.5mi on my runs. And on days where the kiddos manage to wake up before me, I throw the baby in my sling and take a brisk walk instead. Which, when you keep your abs engaged and clench your butt-cheeks, ends up feeling like a decent workout!
While it doesn't look like I'll be back to pre-pregnancy weight by 6wks, I am on my way. And I'm healthy. And I have beautiful children. So, I have to just chill out.

Okay, this is kinda hard

Even though it feels good to get out and be active, giving birth and taking a 2wk break from exercise to heal really does mean I'm starting over. I expected it, but at the same time I'm disappointed. It was easier to run 38wks pregnant than it is now! I keep getting a cramp in my neck and feeling like I can't get my breathing under control. I think the constriction of the double bra might be a factor, but without that, I can't run at all. I haven't done any lunges and squats because the thought of being exhausted AND sore while dealing with a newborn and a 3yo all day just makes me want pull out my hair! Soon though.
My tummy has continued to pull in pretty well, even though I haven't lost any more weight. It's still pretty mushy under my navel. Patience.

First Run

I was enjoying myself, just sitting on my money-maker, nursing away my baby weight. And I have lost 17 of 26lbs doing nothing else. But over the weekend I started to feel an itch. I wanted to run. Insane, right?!
I talked with my midwife at our appointment yesterday and got the okay to get back to exercise! And then my son slept for a nearly 5hr stretch last night, so it was as if the stars were telling me I better get up and run. I did get up. Pulled two sports bras on over the milk jugs and stepped out into the 6am heat. I did intervals of speed walking and running for 1.5mi. It felt pretty good. I'm having a little lower back pain, but I figure that's from my abdominals not quite doing the work they should yet. I'll do some more stretching and some pelvic tilts and hopefully tomorrow will be even better!
Now, if I could just lay off the chocolate cherry oatmeal cookies, I'm sure that I'll finish off the baby weight and feel fantastic in no time!

1wk Postpartum

I've been relaxing and recovering. I don't clearly remember how long it took to for my tummy to go down last time, but I'm pleasantly surprised with how much it's gone down in one week, having done nothing! Well, caring for two children and breastfeeding, but no work outs ;D. This weekend I plan to start doing floor work for abs and buns and see how it goes.

My son is here!

Tuesday, July 20th was my estimated due date, but I had no signs of imminent labor, and aside from being anxious to meet my baby and wanting my mom to be around for the birth, I was actually content to still be pregnant. I went to the chiropractor that morning and had my back adjusted, but my chiropractor also performed some labor inducing acupressure on my palms and legs. My mom and sister also periodically did some acupressure techniques that we found. Other than some crampiness that seemed normal these days, nothing appeared to be happening.
After we picked my daughter up from daycare, I was going into the kitchen to fix her a plate for dinner. It was a little after 5:30. I felt a gush when I went to lift my leg over the child gate. My brother and sister asked "what was that?" because apparently there was an audible "pop," but I didn't hear it. I called my midwife's apprentice and let her know. Since the water was clear and I hadn't had any contractions, she suggested that I eat and rest and let them know when contractions started, otherwise they'd call me in the morning to check in.
I ate, but I felt pretty excitable so I tried listening to my birthing day affirmations to relax. Well, between the dvd player skipping on the cd and intermittent gushes of fluid, I couldn't relax too well. I did have a couple contractions while listening though. I came downstairs, deciding to just watch TV and time any contractions that came. They did start, and were pretty intense but totally erratic. 8min, 14min, 5min, 30min! I decided to call Allyson (the midwifery apprentice) back because with the broken water variable, I didn't really have a clue about when I should call them to come. She and the midwife, April, decided that she would stop by to listen to the baby before I tried to go to bed and come up with a plan from there. I helped get my daughter ready for bed, and while I was standing moving around, the pressure waves became consistently closer together, but less intense. I wasn't sure which was better, and did a combination of sitting on the birth ball and pacing. By the time Allyson arrived just after nine, it felt real and like it was going to happen tonight, that there would be no going to bed for me. She listened to the baby through a contraction, watched me, and decided she wouldn't be going home and would call April. I felt like I needed to get upstairs and sit on the toilet before the intensity found me stuck downstairs! I found toilet really effective for laboring with my daughter.
So I propped my pillow up on the back of the toilet and sat down backwards. I had my husband put my "Deepening" cd in and I began moaning low through the contractions, thinking "relax, release, open," being conscious of relaxing my jaw and shoulders. I don't know when April arrived, but soon Allyson, April and my husband were offering me sips of water, wiping my brow and neck and fanning me. Then a pressure wave hit me where I could really feel the baby's head coming down. I didn't say anything though, because I felt like it was too soon and that I was imagining it. But then the next pressure wave made me push at the end. I told April. She said to just listen to my body, and said if I wanted, I could reach down and see if I could feel anything. They hadn't checked me at all, so I was curious. I went ahead and felt around and there was something immediately inside my birth canal. It felt too squishy to be a head, but since my water was broken, I thought it must be the baby. I went through one more pushy wave on the toilet and as soon as it subsided, I immediately moved to the chux-pad draped area set up for me in front of our bed. I would push just enough to feel relief during the beginning of a pressure wave, but by the end, my body was almost in spasm forcing me to push harder. My hypnobabies was really helping with my perception of the birth canal hugging and stretching over the baby's head, rather than focusing on the size disparity between a baby's head and a vagina. And then there was another pop! I guess there was still a bit of sac in front that burst, and that was what I had touched earlier. I felt an intense stretching feeling and had to kind of pant to keep from pushing really hard. Out came the head, which was relieving, but I remembered my daughter sliding on out with barely a push at that point, and this baby was still in there pretty good. This ended up giving my sister enough time to wake up my daughter. Next pressure wave, I birthed the shoulders and baby had a fist curled up by the neck, so that's why the rest of the body didn't just slide out. Damon caught the baby and announced that we had a boy! Happy Birthday! He was born less than 5hrs from my water breaking, 3.5hrs from the onset of contractions, and 24min after that first "pushy" pressure wave. I didn't tear at all, but did get an abrasion, likely from the fist curled up under his chin. I sat back and we just rubbed and kissed on him. He built into a good cry since he was still attached. Big sister wanted to touch and kiss him but was taken aback by the newborn slime LOL She also took a little convincing that it was in fact a brother, not a sister, but she was excited and happy none-the-less. Within 10min, I had delivered the placenta and I took a shower while they did all the measuring and wiped him down. Then we climbed into bed and Bauer latched on and nursed like a champ practically all night! So in love with our new little man!
My only complaint about my 2nd wonderful birth experience is the afterpains. The cramping is intense, even with staggering tylenol and ibuprofen. I heard that it's worse with each subsequent birth, but I was still surprised.

Training

So now I consider myself training for labor. I've been going to the gym every chance I get, instead of napping, LOL, because I figure I won't work out for 4-6wks once this baby pops on out. Going in the afternoon is different from my usual mornings. It's more crowded. The crowd is younger. And stares more.

39w,2d!

Jinx!

I jinxed myself. It was cooler in my house this morning when I stepped outside to run. I keep my house at 80 degrees and it hasn't been getting there until 7 or 8am lately, but today, at 5:30, it was already 80-something. I ran, but checked out the 10 day forecast when I got home and the lows are just climbing higher. I was hoping I would have one last run Wednesday before ideally going into labor next weekend, but I'm done running outside. And a treadmill sounds like torture right now. So elliptical and bike cross-training for the remainder it is. I'll probably just swim Wednesday in place of my run. I'm sure my mother is pleased :P

No!

I had an interesting evening a couple days ago, the kind where you just feel so off that it crosses the mind that it could be a precursor to labor. But alas, it was apparently nothing. I maybe should have kept it to myself though. My mom asked me twice if I would be stopping the exercise/running now. >:0 No! How anticlimactic would that be!?! To quit with less than two weeks left, especially when the "off" evening happened on a rest day anyway! But according to my mom, my dedication to prenatal fitness is just a big sham to make sure yet another baby makes its way before she can be present. Yes. That was my plan all along. LOL.

Status Quo

My goal now is to just avoid excuses and not lose steam as I barrel toward this baby's birthday.
While I generally feel fantastic, I'll be honest and run through my short list of complaints. Right now I struggle with staying properly hydrated in this heat. I hate having to pee every 15minutes, especially if I'm not just hanging out at home. But I get lots of pressure and braxton hicks in the evening if I don't stay on top of it. And if I don't, it takes a couple days of being well hydrated for the nightly braxton hicks performance to leave town.
The pelvic pain has started to be there every morning no matter what. This is about when it started in my previous pregnancy too. It makes it suck to sit up in bed or try to put on regular underwear, let alone jimmy up the shaper to get out for a run. During runs lately, I have a lot of lactic acid build up in my calves. I don't know if there's something in-discernibly different about my form or what, but in burns. And then I get charlie horses in the middle of the night, disturbing my unusually-great-for-9mo-pregnant sleep. Keeping hydrated and couple bananas keeps the charlie horses at bay, but I don't know what is up with the burn while I run.
And sometimes I'm just so tired. But a couple weeks ago, due to circumstances beyond my control, I had two days in a row where I didn't get in a real workout, just some walking and pool time with my daughter. I didn't feel more energized. I was still tired, but then also feeling crappy about having not worked out. So, suck it up and get it done. According to James Clapp's book, to get the full benefits of exercising through a pregnancy, I have to keep it up at 75%+ of my pre-pregnancy routine, all the way to the end. And if I were to quit, the uber-placenta I've grown with all the exercise would fatten up the baby with the calories I had been burning. I'm not so much worried about a fat baby, since fat is squishy, but if the head is going to get bigger, that's not so cool. Anyway, between chiropractic care and the exercise, this baby better just slide right out!

Here are my latest pics, one of me geared up to run, and another regular one, just to compare how much the shaper sucks that belly in tight. I wonder if the baby will be affected by my pregnancy habits. Like will the running mean the baby has to be bounced to sleep. And will my use of the shaper mean the baby likes to be tightly swaddled... We'll see!

I have arrived!

Yesterday marked 36wks. And I ran 2.5mi this morning. So if I quit now, I can still say I ran into my 9th month of pregnancy :P I'm not stopping though. Aside from residual mild pelvic discomfort that causes a little waddling for the rest of the day, my runs still feel great.

GREAT Morning

It was cloudy yesterday so I was pretty sure it would be a cool morning. I got out there at 5:45, and it was perfectly cool and breezy. In fact, as I started my second mile, I thought, I'm going to run 4 miles! But I always think that, after I get over the initial "Why am I doing this to myself," as I settle into a good rhythm with my breathing and pace. And then I as finish up my requisite 3rd mile, I'll change my mind. Today though, I felt great. I went for it. I ran 4 miles in just over 42min, which is the most I've ran at once since completing the half marathon. Then, as I walked home, I passed a tall, lean middle-aged man who was getting ready to run and he said "Congratulations, keep it up!"
Here I am, once I got home this morning, in all my trappings that keep me running as I close in on 9mo's of pregnancy:



You're thinking, "Certainly, once this get-up no longer does the trick, she'll stop running until the baby's born." You're wrong. There's still duct tape ;)

ETA: While I thought I previously used mapmyrun to determine my usual route to be 3mi, I just did it again and found out that it's only 2.5! And what I thought was 4mi today, was only 3.4. Buzzkill!

I can do jumping jacks?!

Today I decided to keep it inside and do something OnDemand. I did Elle's Bikini Revolution Workout 1. I did the whole thing! I only had to modify two moves. The one where you hop down into plank, hop up and jump. I did it at half time. And then "mountain climbers" where again in plank position you're supposed to bring your knees to your chest rapidly. I just brought my knees in as far as I comfortably could, at about half time.
But jumping rope and jumping jacks? Fine! This is surprising to me because back in my first trimester, I was doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and I felt "off" doing any jumping moves and after one workout, I actually spotted, I'm guessing from the moves irritating my cervix. I don't know how having a 5+ pound baby in there is better, lol, but I did the moves with no discomfort!
Oh, and I got out yesterday morning early enough to run comfortably. My new plug for the high waist shaper is to say it makes running in month 8 feel like running in month 5 :D
Last, here I am, 34wks in my Brazilian cut bikini that I wouldn't even put on last year! Exercise does the body good ;)

Desert Heat

I woke up just before 6 today to run. But I let my daughter's pleas for snuggling keep me in bed and I didn't get outside until 7. OMG. Crotch-hot. I think it was already over 80, since the high for today is 109. I ran my 3mi, but that's the last time. I was dripping when I got home. I sat down, drank a sports drink and was still sweaty. I took a cool shower and once I dried off, beads of sweat were still collecting on my brow. I'd say that's too close to being overheated.
At least it was still early enough for me to see some rabbits and quail on my run.
Of all the reasons for a pregnant woman to stop running, I really didn't think the heat would do me in. But glancing at the forecast, it appears the days with lows below 80 are swiftly ending. I'll keep getting out there in the morning until they do.

Keep on keepin on

I flew back to my mom's for my little sister's graduation last week. Aside from that, my plans revolved mainly around where I would be stuffing my face.
But I wasn't too bad! While I did eat whatever I wanted, the fear of bloated, gassy, heartburn and that taut, "my belly is going rip open at the navel" sensation kept me from going overboard. And I dragged my mom with me to the gym every day.
On the day of my flight out there, I did not enjoy my morning run. So I had resolved to find more support or give it up for cross-training. While shopping with my mom I found a high-waist body shaper, not maternity, that offered some nice compression and came up over my belly button. And I figure I can use it post-partum too! I ran with it on under my running shorts, with my maternity support belt, and while the pressure created a more intense sensation like I needed to pee while I ran, I was pubic/groin/round ligament pain free! I'm too excited!
BUT... the weird spring we were having in Vegas is apparently over. It's hot. So if I'm going to run, it has to be in the early morning. So I haven't run since being back because my husband was out of town and I don't have a padded room in which to lock my three year old LOL
You win some, you lose some.

Why is it so easy?

I've been thinking about why it's so much easier for me to make healthful choices while I'm pregnant than when I'm not. I don't think it's just because my choices affect the baby, though that's the most obvious. I've concluded it's the lack of restriction. I feel like I can eat however much I want. So if after eating all the stuff that's nutritionally required, I still feel like some candy or ice cream, cool. Where as non-pregnant, I focus more on weight loss/maintenance and the idea that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. So do I want an egg sandwich for breakfast or an caloric-ly equal portion of brownies? For non-pregnant me, brownies would frequently win. But pregnant me is realizing that when I eat healthfully, the cravings for the nutritionally void are not only fewer, but less intense.
And because it's fun, here's a side by side comparison of yesterday, 31w3d, and five weeks ago, 26w3d. It was actually kind of comforting to be able to see a difference because although it certainly feels like Baby B is bigger and stronger, sometimes it seems like my belly isn't getting any bigger. It is! And could I possibly carry any lower? :)


ETA: A friend wanted to see a pic from my last pregnancy. Here I am at 31w4d with my daughter. It's cleverly cropped because I didn't like seeing my big ol' butt, but I can still see in my face the fact that I'm about 20lbs heavier than I am now!

*Crazy* Pregnancy Strength

This morning I added 5lbs to the chest press machine. For a total of 5lbs. That's right, the weight of the equipment alone was all I could manage to get through 3 sets of 10. So watch out, I can now hurl a small cat across a field should it have the gall to piss me off LOL
I'm learning to ignore my "all or nothing" mentality. I find now that my heart rate barely gets up before I feel out of breath. I'm not sure why, since as recently confirmed, this baby is low in my pelvis. But somehow my lung capacity has been affected. Maybe it's hormonal. Anyway, part of me wants to either try to push past that or just quit because if I can't go harder than that "it's not worth it." So, I'm still on the bike, step mill and elliptical, going slower than I want to, accepting that the activity is still "worth it."

30 weeks and 3 days

I had an appointment with my midwife today. Everything is great, even my blood pressure, which had started to creep up around now in my pregnancy with my daughter. The baby already has his/her head engaged in my pelvis. Hmmm, might that be why I can't run more than one day at a time? LOL! Baby noggin bruising up my insides...

Karma...

...or something... was looking favorably upon me today! It was a BEAUTIFUL day to run. Cornflower-blue skies dotted with cotton-candy clouds, high in the 60s and a breeze that wasn't too windy. Just in time to keep me motivated. If I didn't know that my ligaments and pubic bone would scream at me tomorrow, I would've thrown in an extra mile...

Strange, strange people

First of all, Happy Mothers' Day!
Now, this morning at the gym I opted to stay downstairs in the dedicated women's gym because climbing the stairs to the regular cardio area puts me so out of breath when I come in the early morning without having eaten much (the gym playroom opens later on Sundays, so I leave my daughter at home and show up nice and early by myself). There was this older lady in there, and the whole time I'm doing cardio, she's singing out loud to herself and cussing at the machines. Since she had earphones in, I don't know if she realized she was talking so loud, or if she thought we all really wanted to hear her self-narration. And then when I start doing my weights, she comments on my pliet squats. But again, loudly, and to herself. Apparently, she thought I was killing my knees. Squats can be hard on the knees, but I know I have great form, so... shut up old lady LOL And then she started contemplating the meaning of the initials on the rear of my cheer shorts. She correctly concluded that it must be a California University. By then I just wanted to get away from her. Luckily I was done, and so I did!
I'm not feeling as enthusiastic about my workouts anymore. My energy levels have seriously nose-dived. I feel like I'm back in the first trimester where I force it because I know I'll feel better for having done it. And I do feel better afterward and I of course enjoy the results, I'm just saying my gung-ho spirit has taken a hit LOL Just 10 more weeks. I can make it :)
Last, here I am post-gym this last Friday, about to go play at the park: