Sleeping with Baby

I there any image sweeter or more endearing than mommy and daddy sleeping with baby??

Recovery of "SELF" after baby

Well getting back into "shape" is the very general and superficial idea of getting your pre pregnancy "self" (aka body) back after having a baby. Of course this is priority number one, even before the infamous getting baby to "sleep through the night". However, what you can't possibly understand when going through your first pregnancy is that there is no such thing as getting back your pre pregnancy SELF at all! Ok, so maybe you lose the weight and fit back into your old clothes within a couple of months after delivery (if you're one of the lucky ones) but what about the rest of your "self" you've so dearly missed and eagerly awaited? I find myself constantly thinking "didn't I used to be an extremely driven and productive person?" or "emotionally stable person?" "Didn't I used to finish the projects I started?" "Fullfill the goals I set for myself?" "Didn't I used to have a purpose?". What happened to the me I remember and love?? When do the hormones settle down and emotions even out? EVER??? Not if you talk to anyone who has grown kids. Apparently, one of the dirty little secrets of parenthood is that - SORRY - parenthood doesn't only last 18 years or until the kid goes off to college. Suddenly you're thrust into a world that was always there...you just couldn't see it because you were the child and had yet to experience or understand life or the world from the perspective of being the parent. Side note here: it reminds me of our spiritual state as human beings...surrounded daily by the spiritual battle going on constantly around us at all times. We cannot see it or begin to understand it because we have yet to enter into the Kingdom of God and have our eyes open to that world. So many parallels between scripture and parenthood. Why that surprises me I can't even begin to say...after all, didn't God himself set that up by declaring himself our heavenly "Father"?? Should've seen it coming.

Anyways, back to the whole "getting back in shape" dilemma every women dreads going through pregnancy (or at least every normal woman!). These are the rules I've come up with so far, based on my experience with my first pregnancy:

1. Depending upon your fitness level before getting pregnant, continue to exercise, though at a lower intensity level, throughout your pregnancy. Though this will change with each trimester (and perhaps even week to week some months) it is important to continue doing something. I was running and cycling almost every day before I got pregnant and toned that down to walking every day throughout my pregnancy as long as I was doing something I was ok with what that was. I will say, however, during my first trimester I was so sick and tired I literally did NOTHING at all, something that I will not repeat if I ever go through a second pregnancy!

2. DIET! No...I did NOT say GO on a diet, I said diet. Websters Dictionary defines diet as: a) food and drink regularly provided or consumed b) habitual nourishment. So that means, if you're not on one already, you need to get on a healthy eating track and stay on it througout your pregnancy. This was probably the most critical part of my pregnancy and being able to bounce back so quickly.

3. Omega 3's and other essential fatty acids. I personally stayed away from fish oil and supplemented with a lot of flax seed and flax oil all the way up until my third trimester. At that point, I swear my brain cells were falling out of my ears so I started taking a high quality DHA fish oil extracted from sardines which are less likely to have any kind of toxicity. These are especially important during the third trimester when baby is rapidly developing brain cells and connections. This was the only supplement I took throughout my pregancy. I'm not advocating that, just relaying my own experience.

So those are the "during pregnancy" rules I'll follow next time I'm pregnant (if there ever is a next time!). As far as post partum is concerned?? Well I lost about 20 of the 33 lbs I gained within the first 2 weeks and the last 10 seem to be clinging to me as though my life depends on it. I had an episiotomy so recovery was a bit slower, longer and more painful that I would have liked, but I began walking, SLOWLY, just before the 3 week mark. By 5 weeks I was walking two hours at a time, up to 4-5 miles at a time, and riding my bike indoors for up to 30 minutes. Now, just shy of 8 weeks, I just completed my first 2 hour strenuous hike on Saturday, am going to the gym and doing the stair stepper for 45 minutes daily, doing spin classes at least once a week or whenever my schedule and Lane's work together to allow them, lifting weights 3 times a week and doing ab workouts daily.

That's the physical recovery part of things, unfortunately the emotional and hormonal side of the experience is much more complicated and impossible to dictate. As I continue to remind myself, several times throughout each day, that being a mommy and being with my baby is the most important calling a woman can have in life and I am blessed with a situation that allows me to fullfill that role. Therefore, my one and only plan and strategy for now is to pray daily that God continue to grant me patience and grace as I navigate this strange new world of "mommyhood"

After 42 weeks and 1 day our miracle finally decided to grace the world with her adorable presence. Addison Genoa Meyer was born on Wednesday January 21, 2009 at 10:47pm. She weighed in at a grand total of 6lbs 14oz and measured 21in long.

Life for the past 8 days have been filled with the coo's, ca's and occasional scream that make up the vocabulary of a newborn, falling to pieces the first few days of learning to breast feed, realizing it doesn't take BOTH parents to change one diaper, it just seems that way the first day or so, and long sleepless nights that I somehow wouldn't trade for a lifetime worth of sleep. Time passes quickly now and days and nights blend together as they are measured in hours between feedings and naps and little else. Hours are lost to me holding, cuddling and staring at my daughter who I could not imagine being more perfect or beautiful in any way. People have repeatedly told me how difficult life with a newborn is...and though I'm tired and still recovering from a fairly difficult labor, I think magical would be a better word to describe the level of elation I've felt from the first moment I held my precious baby in my arms.

Patience is a Virtue I am long overdue to learn

Today is exactly one week POST my "official" due date. Yesterday I met with my midwife for my and babies weekly check-up and all is well...all except that she's showing no real signs of being in any hurry to enter the real world. At 41 weeks my patience has worn pretty thin, considering that if I was doing this the way 99% of women in our society have children, I would probably have been induced by now...or at least have had the option. Thank the Lord I am NOT doing it that way!! I don't know if I would have the will power to decline...

Anyways, there are things that can be done naturally to get things going and I went on a mad search through town yesterday for an herb, blue cohosh (NOT BLACK, BLUE), that my midwife said is supposed to kick start labor if baby is ready. Truckee Meadow Herbs is the ONLY place in town that carries this stuff, by the way. So here I sit, sipping my red raspberry leaf tea mixed with 10-15 drops of blue cohosh every half hour in an attempt to coax my baby out in my timing. Then, suddenly, I have to wonder...what is my reasoning for trying to force her to come before she is ready? Impatience. Well, that sounds like the epitomy of selfishness once the thought has been said out loud, or written down for that matter. Unbelievable...here I am, on the verge of motherhood, when all that should matter to me is the health and wellbeing of my baby, and all I can think about is my own stupid schedule, timing and convenience. Considering the fact that all babies eventually come, there is obviously a perfect time for labor to begin and that time depends on when baby is fully ready to enter the world. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?? If this blue cohosh doesn't do anything today, I'm not doing another thing to supposedly "induce" labor. She'll come when she's good and ready. Seriously...I need to get a grip.

Wasn't something supposed to happen today...?

Here it is...my "official" due date. I've decided that I will never again focus on a "due date" nor will I be telling anyone what the "date" is that my baby is supposedly going to arrive on. Way too much stress and pressure focused on this one day. Not to mention how frustrating it is to just watch it come and go like any other day...and to still be pregnant on the other side of it. Perhaps I'll just tell people an approximate month...or maybe the month AFTER she's actually due? And, maybe if I say it enough, I'll even trick myself! That would be nice...

I think the hardest part of being pregnant is having absolutely no control over the situation. The biggest event of my life is staring me in the face and I don't even know when (and I'm starting to wonder IF) it's ever going to happen. As for not letting anyone on the date - to avoid the "is that baby STILL in there" statements - I think, at least with this one, I'd have been able to get away with no one suspecting her coming any time soon. All I hear from people when they see me is how "small" I am for being full term. Of course I'm really not small, she's just low and so I look smaller than I would if I were carrying her high.

Anyways...this past month has just been the hardest (excluding week 7-13) because of the lack of stimulation in my life. I'm used to working at least part time, going to school full time and training for some upcoming run or bike race, etc. Now, here I sit, day after day, with nothing to do. My only saving grace is the 3-5 miles I walk every evening. I think maybe today, I'll go waste some time at the library...

Domestic Truth

An inescapable fact is that after cleaning all day, once the house is FINALLY spic and span...it's time to make dinner and all your hard work goes right out the window.

Goals, lists and plans...OH MY!

In light of the never-ending "end" of my pregnancy, I have decided to focus energy on my plans for after Addison is born. My goals for the summer of 2008, before finding out I was pregnant in April, was to work with my newly aquired Massage License and to complete several road bike races and at least one sprint tri. Instead, I did close to nothing the first trimester of my pregnancy and then began hiking and walking in my second trimester all the way up to yesterday - today's walk hasn't happened yet and it's never a good idea to count in exercise before it's been done. However, with that said, I do PLAN on walking every single day until Addison decides to make her debut...which had better be soon!

Ok, in risk of getting off topic and divulging into an endless list of complaints, I'm going to steer away from talking about the impending arrival of my daughter.

Back to the point of this little blurb...what I plan on ATTEMPTING to accomplish in the year of 2009. I think most people call these goals "new years resolutions" but I've never been a fan of such things. I am a very goal oriented person (often to a fault) I constantly am creating lists and plans and goals of things I want to achieve or accomplish within any given amount of time - while simultaneously driving my poor husband crazy. Granted, because of my borderline perfectionism, these goals are in consant limbo and are ever changing - which is what keeps my life fun and at least partially spontaneous. So, this was going to be a blog about my training goals for the year, but what the heck, might as well dive in head first and make a list of all the goals I have for myself and Lane and I have together. After all, lists are one of my very favorite things to do...

1. First and foremost Lane and I are getting out of debt this year. Every extra dime we can scrape together is going toward paying off anything and everything that we owe. Currently, we should be done and out of debt, including school loans, credit cards, etc. by July of this year and we'll have a fully funded emergency fund of 3 months living expenses saved by December of this year at the latest. Bascially we'll be entirely debt free by July '09 except for our mortgage - which is the next plan of attack. The overall, long-term goal is to be mortgage free by the time we're 40. That basically gives us 13 years to be completely done making payments to anyone and we'll finally be out of the rat race!

2. Of course this should have been number one (I'm already feeling like a horrible mother!) But we'll have our new baby to focus on as we adjust to becoming a family. I'm looking forward to MOST of what she has to teach us about life, myself and eachother - not to mention how to survive on virtually zero sleep and that the laundry doesn't always have to be done right now and the house doesn't always have to be spic and span. These are all things I've heard and are just assuming will prove to be true. We have a lot of learning and growing ahead of us this year in the "new family" department.

3. I am fast fowarding my athletic and career goals of last summer into this summer! So, let's see....one at a time. First, I'll start lightly training, as soon as possible, for a 60 mile bike ride in June followed by several more over the summer. I would also like to train for at least one sprint tri that I could do sometime over the course of the summer as well. We'll see...it's always the swimming that drags me down when it comes to the tri's! Either way, whether I race this summer or not, it's going to feel great to be able to head out the front door again for a run or a bike ride!

4. I HAVE GOT TO GET A JOB! The more income we have coming in, the sooner we meet goals number 1&2 and I am ALL about crossing off accomplished goals! Come June, for some reason that is the magic month in my head, I am going to start aggresively job searching. As long as Addison can be without me for a span of 3-4 hrs by that point, I don't see anything that would hinder my working a 4 hour massage shift 2 or 3 nights a week. Not to mention needing to do it for my own sanity.

5. There are some minor (and major) home improvement projects that need to be attended to as well. The major ones will have to wait until we have the money saved up to pay for them, but the minor ones we can do with small adjustments in our current budget. Among these projects are getting a new light fixture for the dining room and entry way, painting the master bedroom and bathroom, fixing up the yard this summer, getting a small vegetable, fruit and herb garden going and getting the garage cleared out (garage sale???) and organized before it drives Lane crazy.

6. Vacation Plans: Lane will be going to Vegas and I am hoping to go see my friend in Montana in May. We're also planning on taking a road trip up to Idaho at the end of the summer to visit some friends.

I guess that about concludes the off the top of my head list of "things to do" for 2009. I feel like I have an entire year to make up for that was "wasted" on pregnancy. Not that Addison has been a waste of time...more like I just wasn't able to do the things I had set out to do for 2008. That means 2009 will hopefully, God willing, be a very busy and productive year:)