Dropping the Baby Weight

During my pregnancy I gained almost 40 lbs taking me from 130 lbs to 170 lbs at my last prenatal appointment. I weighed five more lbs than my husband. Eeeeeek! After giving birth to my 7 lb 15 oz baby along with the placenta I was excited to weigh myself. However, three days later at Jareth's first ped appt I had only lost five lbs. What many women, including myself, don't realize is how much you swell post birth. The doctor said I was probably carrying around a good five pounds of pure fluid. I didn't swell much while I was pregnant, just my feet sometimes if I had been on them too long. But after Jareth was born my feet, calves, hands, and face all swelled. I could feel my feet jiggle when I walked. It was strange to say the least. Finally about two weeks after giving birth the swelling was completely gone and I weighed myself again. In twelve days I had lost 16 pounds! I was super excited. I weighed less than Jon again! Since then I have lost six more pounds. Twenty-two pounds in five weeks isn't bad. Breastfeeding must be doing it for me. I haven't done much to lose the weight yet other than a few walks and trying to stay away from sweets. After my six week check-up my Ob will clear me for excercise and then it will be on! I plan to do some form of excercise each day. I have an elliptical and some free weights so I will be able to do a lot at home. To mix it up I will take Jareth to the park and walk. I hope to lose twenty more pounds and tighten up my tummy over the next four months. I think thats a pretty reasonable goal. I just hope the holidays don't set me back!

World's Best Dad, My Baby Daddy!

I absolutely have to take a moment to brag on my husband. I've always known I was a lucky woman and that Jon is an amazing husband but my biased opinions of him were confirmed the other day at Jareth's three week ped visit. After we were done with the doctor I went to the front desk to schedule Jareth's next appointment. With Jareth being so tiny everyone wanted to take a look at him. (Plus he is just amazingly adorable of course) Two of the office assistants started asking me how I am doing, how the baby is sleeping, his birth stats, and etc. One of them asked how my husband was doing with having a baby. I said that Jon was really excited about having a son. I told them that he gives Jareth a bottle and changes him once per night most nights and changes him in the morning before leaving for work so that I can sleep. They couldn't believe it. One of the girls said "Now thats a good daddy!" and the other said her husband never did that. One woman said that even though both her and her husband worked full time she was always the one who got up with the baby. The other said that she took time off from work and since her husband worked long days she and the baby slept in the guest room for the first couple of months so her husband could sleep. I didn't go into the other things that Jon does. For example one night he came home from work, ate and played with the baby for three hours while I napped. Another night Jareth was choking on mucus and I had a meltdown, feeling helpless, and he completely took over for the night and once Jareth was asleep he consoled me. Jon even took an extra four days off from work after his five day paternity leave so that he could spend more time with us and help take care of Jareth while I was healing. I'm a stay at home mom now and Jon works full time but he wants to get up with the baby and let me sleep. I almost feel bad that he does so much. He is such a wonderful daddy and a great husband. I thank God everyday for allowing me to have Jon. I should totally get him a World's Best Dad mug!

The Big "C"

I took Jareth to the urologist today for a consult on getting him circumcised. My Ob didn't want to do it at the hospital because there was a question about his foreskin and referred me to a urologist, although he nor the pediatrician saw an issues with it. I get to the urologist today and they decide to go ahead and do the precedure while we were there. I am all for circumcision and understand there are benfits to it but that doesn't mean I want my baby to be in pain even for a second. Plus after waiting almost three weeks I was completely comfortable with the way his penis looked and thought (and still think) he was perfect the way God made him. The plan had been for Jon to take him to get it done. I cried at the very thought of it so it made more sense for it to be a daddy/son thing. So today I was in mild shock when they decided to do it right then and there. As soon as the doctor said "okay let's go ahead with the procedure" I started to cry. Of course they see this in moms everyday but I still felt slightly embarassed at myself. After I gained composure they wisked Jareth away and sent me out to the waiting area where I continued to sob. About fifteen minutes later they brought him out to me. He was quite alert but very calm. I was relieved. I guess I expected him to come out of the room screaming or at least looking as if he had been through something torturous but he was fine. The nurse brought us back to a room where she showed me his circumcision and gave me directions for its care. Then we left and as soon as he was in the car he was out. He has been asleep for almost four hours straight now. Ive tried to wake him to nurse but he only did so for about ten minutes before getting cranky and going back to sleep. This won't be a very fun or restful night but I couldn't bear to make him stay awake after such a big day. I'm glad its finally done and it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. Now if I can only get the courage to give him a bath.....

Yes I Got the Epidural and All the Other Things I Said I Wouldn't Do

Basically everything I said I wouldn't do when it came to labor and delivery I did. First of all I said I wouldn't be induced. However I changed my mind when my nurse practitioner asked me how I was doing at my last prenatal appointment. I teared up complaining about my discomfort, exhaustion, and weight gain. She offered the induction and I took it! Forget all the facts and info I had been cramming into my head about pitocin and artificial hormones. I wanted my little guy out! He was offically served his eviction notice. Then on Monday morning two hours after the pitocin bag was hung and my water broken I begged for an epidural. I allowed my contractions to go off the charts only a few times before giving in. Again, forget all the negative side effects I had read and blogged about. I take no pleasure in pain and I do not regret it at all. Because of the epidural labor and delivery was a breeze. I felt nothing after it kicked in and actually really enjoyed the entire process. That's not to say that women who go the natural route don't enjoy their baby's births but I personally wasn't going to be able to enjoy the birth of my baby while I was in pain. Hats off to the ladies who can go the natural route; it is good for you and your babies. What else have I done differently than I thought I would? I said I wouldn't use a pacifier or a bottle until Jareth was at least four weeks old. Well, the day we brought him home he kept sucking and rooting and crying but not eating. So I gave in and grabbed a paci for him. As soon as he got a hold of it he fell fast asleep. The bottle started about a week and a half in. I was exhausted from nursing at all hours of the night so Jon and I talked about it and decided that he could give Jareth one bottle per night so I could sleep longer. It's much better than my cranky 4:00 am breastfeedings. Momma needs her sleep too, even if she is the one home with the baby all day while papa works.

So here it is, I confess that, although I had good intentions with my predisposed notions about birth and childcare, I had no idea how things were going to go!