Body After Baby

I was hesitant to write this post, but I know some day I will want to look back and read about the journey to get my body back after having a baby...

It isn't easy for me to admit this, BUT I gained just under 50 pounds when I was pregnant. GULP. Dang, that is a LOT. I knew it was A LOT while I was pregnant, but I also knew a lot of it was water weight, and I also had a 9 pound baby (didn't know that part while I was pregnant!).

Everyone kept telling me: "It takes 10 months to put it on, give yourself 10 months to take it off..." Uhhhh....I understand that logic, but 50 pounds is A LOT (have I mentioned yet that it was A LOT of weight?), and I didn't need to be carrying that much around.

I am proud to say that I am now below my starting weight as of now... we'll see if I maintain it!

While I would like to say that it is because of diet...it's not. I am hungrier now than I was during first trimester of my pregnancy. And I eat 3 times as much as I did then. Literally. While I am writing all of this, I might as well admit what I ate on Sunday: a bagel, a blizzard from Dairy Queen, nachos, 3 chunks of chocolate ship cookie dough, quesadillas. Seriously-- how gross is that?

The main reason for the weight loss is nursing. So many people can't believe I have nursed as long as I have....I can't imagine not nursing (not for the weight loss, but because of the benefits). Doctors tell you the amount of calories burned when you nurse, and I have no idea what they are. I know nursing has increased my appetite immensely.

The other main contribution to the weight loss is walking. I figure I average 20-25 miles a week that I walk. It is a sure fire way to get Cal to sleep in his morning nap when crying it out ain't working! Hank is now trained to heel perfectly beside the jogger and we make great time. I try to keep up a really fast pace. I love that time by myself, either listening to music, listening to a book on tape, or talking on the phone (I have a headset that I can use while I walk-- I don't have enough hands otherwise!). Everyone is happy after a walk: Hank is thrilled, Cal is happy to have napped, and Momma is happy to be outside and getting the heart rate up.

I did Zumba three times and loved it and I have gone to the gym I think 4-5 times since Cal has been born. I just love this beautiful weather and love being outside enjoying it! Soon it will be too hot to walk and I will have to try to go either wayyyy early in the morning or at night.

When I stop nursing, I know I am going to have to cut back on the amount of sweets I am consuming. It's not that I have cravings, per se, but I really want the sweets! Go figure!

Also, my weight is below my starting weight, but my body shape has changed completely. My boobs are twice the size they were previously. My stomach is pudgy with love handles (this is new to me). My legs (my problem area) have slimmed some due to the walking....but everything is different than it was before.

Just to give you a little looksie at what I had to lose........ (I could have been a contestant on The Biggest Loser. Seriously):(I might walk double tomorrow, just to make up for that picture! hahaha)

UP

Cal has been exploring his vocals a lot lately and lately loves the letter P. Yesterday he was doing his normal "chatting" when he put together a u and a p: UP! No, he has no idea what it means, but he says it all the time (non-stop!), so I took a short little video of it. Not sure if I would qualify it as his first word, but it's fun to watch it get put together!

What do you think? Is he saying UP??

http://gallery.mac.com/cewilliamson#100344

Time to take down the mobile....

Mr. Cal was supposed to be taking a nap the other afternoon and I was letting him "cry it out" (something we are STILL doing on a daily basis!). He was doing his thing, screaming like there was a monster in his room, when all of a sudden, it fell silent. I was listening on the monitor and thought he finally gave in and went to sleep. Then I heard the mobile music playing....I didn't put the mobile on. I started kind of panicking that someone was up there (I am a worrier, what can I say?!). When I looked at the video monitor, Cal had ahold of the mobile and was lassoing the little dogs around his head, propelling them around and around, making the music play. It was too cute.

Here is a picture from the video monitor (hard to see with the lines), but you can see he has ahold of the mobile....

I took this one when I went in to get the mobile out of his hands. He was having a blast:
This is a result of me taking the mobile away:
And this is a result of all of the crying:

PHEW!

What a beautiful weekend!

I love this time of year in NC! The weather is just gorgeous!

Eddie left on Wednesday for the Masters and got back super late Saturday night/Sunday morning. Cal and I had a wonderful weekend together!

Playing in the "play corner" I set up for Cal so I could clean up the bedroom/make the bed. He loves it!

Cal slept through the night every night while Eddie was gone--- well, last night he woke up at 1:00 when his daddy got home, but Eddie was so thrilled to see him, he ran in to get him and love on him. He went right back down after a 5 minute feeding. :)

Cal LOVES the remote control. He loves to hold it, chew it, push buttons, etc. Yesterday he was sitting in the middle of the bed carrying on a conversation with the remote-- it was too cute!

Taking his nap this morning in the crib. I watched him on the monitor and thought it was too cute, so I snuck in (what is wrong with me???) to take a quick picture. He was soooo out, he didn't hear a thing!

And lastly, Cal's new trick: I say "gimme a kiss!" and Cal comes at me full on and "smooches" me. It is about the sweetest thing ever. He will do it 100 times if I would let him! What a sweet little thing. Who knew you could love another person this much?

Side note: please pardon the hair- this is after a walk and cleaning the house. I am about to go buy some flowers to plant, so a shower will have to wait!

Hope you had a great weekend!!!

Lesson Learned....

(warning: this story is kinda gross....)

Yesterday morning, Cal and I were snuggling, and I was going to change his diaper and his clothes to start the day. I didn't smell anything, and he was so happy on my bed, so I brought a diaper and clothes into my room to just change him on the bed.

I whipped his diaper off of him, thinking it was just "wet." It wasn't. It was full. VERY full. The "content" of the diaper flew out when I did the whipping of the diaper and landed in a heap on the bed. I just stared at it thinking, "What do I do now??" Oh yes, and Cal, being the boy that he is, loves to play with his....parts...any time I change him. Well, his parts were dirty. So I was trying to hold his hands away from that area, meanwhile, the mess that was in the diaper, was also on his back and he was now squirming around trying to get his hands free so that he could grab hold of his...parts. Did I mention that he was lying in the middle of my bed?? Backside covered, now his hands were dirty too?

So, I quickly take the dirty diaper and scoop up the "pile" from the middle of the bed and set it aside. I take the clean diaper and try to put it under Cal to keep the mess from spreading any more. To do this, I had to let go of Cal's hands. As soon as I let go, he grabbed the dirty diaper filled with the mess and proceeded to wave it back and forth, slamming it on the bed over and over again on each side of him. You'd think I would have been able to stop this, but the little stinker (pun intended) was fast! I started laughing at this point, because really, what else can I do? And I put my hands on my face. Yup-- they were covered in poo too.

So, at the end of this 5 minute ordeal, Cal had poo on his hands, it was on his legs and feet, I had it on my face, and my bed was COVERED in the mess. All I could do was laugh.

The joys of being a mommy!!!

PS-- Cal slept through the night again last night! YAY!

Grocery Store

It's looking like we are figuring it out! Mr. Magoo slept through the night again last night! YAHOO! He slept until 6:00 and then ate and fell back asleep until 8!

Taking a little morning snooze....

We went on another mega walk this morning where he took his morning nap. After the walk we went to the grocery store. Normally, I lug his car seat and put it in the cart, leaving little to no room for my groceries. This time, I decided to put him in one of those infant carriers that is attached to the top of the cart. Normally, those kind of gross me out because you don't know who used it before you and what their kid did in the seat.... ugh-- BUT, I used the sanitation wipes and wiped that thing down. Cal loved it! He was up high and could see everything. He was talking up a storm as we walked up and down the aisles. It was fun!

Hank and Cal

Doing a little lunch clean-up!

Before sweet Cal came into our lives, Hank was pretty much the center of my universe! I must say, Mr. Hank has handled Cal VERY well. He loves to lick him and lay near him, and Cal loves to watch Hank and reach for him (especially his tail), and I think the first time Cal crawls, it will be for Hank-- he is always on his tummy reaching for the dog!

I try to always watch closely when Hank is around Cal just because he is so big and would never hurt him on purpose, but accidents do happen.... yesterday, I was in the study with Cal in the doorway jumperoo. All of a sudden I heard Hank crying-- loudly! I quick looked over and Cal had ahold of Hank's cheek and was jumping up and down!!! I felt TERRIBLE for Hank, but he was such a good dog, he just let Cal hurt him! I am not sure there are many dogs that would have put up with that without snipping a little bit. Hank got a big ol' treat for that one!

As obsessed as Cal is with Hank, Hank is equally as obsessed with Cal! They are really cute together and I can't wait to watch Cal grow to love Hank as much as we do.

Swingless: Day Two

Yesterday was day two without the swing. It was MUCH easier. I have just taken the swing out of the equation. If it isn't an option, I don't have to use it!

Revelation of the day: I am as addicted to the swing as Cal is!

Day two was great. He slept through the night the night before, and that morning, we got up and played, and I had to run a bunch of errands for Eddie's birthday. I loaded up the stroller and took Cal on a long walk before that. He crashed for about 35 minutes of the walk and woke up happy as can be.

He took his afternoon nap in his crib. He woke up a couple of times during his nap, but he would grab his paci and fall right back asleep! I think he was down for just over 2 hours. We are getting there!

We are making process-- he is now going down for bed without screaming, and he slept through the night last night too (YAY!), but wouldn't nap in his crib for his afternoon nap. We took a loooong walk and he crashed then. Baby steps!

Eddie is at the Master's this weekend, so it's just me and Cal (and Hank!). I can be tough momma these next few days when he's crying. I don't want him to wake Eddie up when he has to get up to go to work, so I jump up every time he cries in the night.

It's been 2 nights in a row that he slept through the night.....will tonight make it 3??????? Fingers crossed!!!

Happy Birthday to Eddie!

In honor of Eddie's birthday, I post this video...

They were playing in the kitchen and Eddie was filming it. He was jumping around (with the camera) so I offered to film so that it wouldn't be so jumpy. The result: us laughing for a long time!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet husband!

Swingless: Day One

We have given up the swing. I mean it. We are done with it.

Yesterday was the first day:

Cal struggled to go down for a morning nap. I could feel myself getting frustrated because he was SO tired, but he just wouldn't give it up. I was rocking him to sleep and I should have just let him cry it out. At any rate, I rocked him to sleep and he slept for 45 minutes.

I talked with a good friend in the afternoon who told me about getting her twin boys back into a routine/retraining them and she said her nanny/nurse told her that they have to cry it out and learn that you aren't going to go in and pick them up every time they cry. Soooo...

For the afternoon nap, I put home boy down in his crib and he screamed for 22 minutes and then was sound asleep for over 2 hours. It was great!

Cal went down for bed around 8:30 ish and I sat him up in the crib (I have found that he likes to sit up and then lay down where he's comfortable, as opposed to me laying him down in a spot). He cried for about 10 minutes and then.... HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! We didn't hear a peep from him until 6:30! YAY!

If that lamb swing is the cause of him not sleeping through the night until now, I might scream..... but I love that swing so much......

here's hoping day 2 goes as well as day 1!