March Madness

We have had a busy couple of weeks...

We celebrated Ryan's 29th birthday by having dinner with friends & family. Ryan has been working a lot of overtime lately so it was nice to have 2 nights that we could go out & have dinner with everyone.

I cant believe it is already time for me to go back to work! The past 8 weeks have flown by. I spent the last week of my leave trying to fit in last minute Dr appointments & doing some spring cleaning. My family Dr is now in charge of monitoring my blood pressure. Since I was on such a low dose he told me to stop taking it and monitor my BP at home. I would then follow up with him in 2 weeks. He said if my BP went 130/90 or higher to start taking my meds again. Unfortunately I was only off of the medication for a day and my BP was 139/90 so I had to resume taking them :( I still have 20 pounds to lose till I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. I am hoping that once the weight is off my blood pressure will go back to normal. I meet with my Dr again on Monday so I am anxious to see what he thinks. Until then I am trying to watch my sodium intake the best I can. I never realized how much sodium is in some of my favorite foods!

March has been an exciting month. Dylan had his first "friend over" LOL. Taylor & Brian came over one night to watch the UL game. We had so much fun with Taylor. I think she had a fun playing with all of Dylan's toys. She was very gentle with him. I cant wait for him to get more mobile so they can interact & play together. We joke that Taylor will be his future girlfriend! We definitely will have to convert her to a Cards fan before they can date!!! LOL

We didn't do much for St Patrick's day but I made sure I got plenty of pics of Dylan in all his Irish gear. My family is very big on our Irish heritage so I had to get Dylan off to a good start :) He looked so cute in all his green.



The most exciting part of March was the day Dylan rolled over for the first time. He was exactly 7 weeks & I put him on his tummy for some tummy time. Next thing I knew he rolled over to his back. I was in shock.  I put him back on his tummy and he did it again. Ryan grabbed the video camera but of course we could not get him to do it a third time. A week later we tried again & finally got it on camera. It was so exciting.



My first day back to work went very well. I thought for sure I would cry all the way to work. I think it helped that I was really busy that day & I knew he was in good hands at home with my mom. As soon as I got home from work I held & loved on Dylan the rest of the night. I cant get enough of him. Mom will be watching him on Wed & my sister will be watching him on Thursdays. They both just love to spend time with him.  They want to watch him as much as they can.  When Ryan gets off work he is home with Dylan for a few hours till I get home. Ryan is such a great dad. He is very involved and is always there to pitch in & help. I am so thankful to have him.

It amazes me that Dylan is already 2 months old!! I think I fall in love with him more each day.  He had his 2 month check up just the other day. He now weighs 10 1/2 pounds! He has gained almost 5 pounds since we came home from hospital ( 6 weeks ago). He has been on a high calorie formula so that definitely has helped. The Dr said he can now start on regular formula.  He had to get 3 shots that day... I think I cried more than he did! He took it like a champ :)

He is beginning to smile alot. I love that he recognizes mine & Ryan's voices and looks at us when we start to talk. He laughs in his sleep sometimes..it makes me wonder what he dreams about. I cant wait till he starts laughing when he is actually awake. He still sleeps alot  & we are still working on  sleeping longer at night. He eats every 4 hours so by the time he is fed & changed I get about 3 hours at a time at night. I have adjusted and I know it is only a matter of time before he starts sleeping longer.  There have been a few times he has gone 5 hours between feedings  but nothing consistent just yet.

I am enjoying seeing him change and learn new things each day. Everyone tells me "they grow up so fast" so I am just trying to cherish each milestone.

The Truth about The Weight Game

So I know I am going to get some criticism for this entry....

Let me start off by saying I have always been hard on myself for my weight. So of course after having a baby I am going to be just the same. I am simply writing this to vent!

Today will be 6 weeks since I  had Dylan. Over the past 6 weeks my body has gone through a dramatic transformation. AFTER delivery ( because of the toxemia) I gained an estimated 50 pounds of fluid. Yes you read that right 50 pounds!! That was on top of the 37 pounds I gained during my pregnancy. At my first week check up with my doctor I was heavier than the morning I went to the hospital to deliver.. During my 2 stays in the hospital they were able to take a total  10 liters of fluid off of me by giving me a diuretic through an IV. Once I left the hospital I was prescribed a diuretic to help with blood pressure and excess fluid. One week later at my check up I was 19 pounds lighter. In a matter of 3 weeks I had gone from a very swollen & puffy well over 200 pound woman to a chunkier version of me that finally had ankles again! LOL  With all of this being said I was pretty excited about how rapidly the numbers on the scale were going down!  I was now 23 pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight. I figured at this rate I would be back in my skinny jeans in no time.

At this time I was cleared by my Doctor to begin a light exercise regimen. I begin walking daily and doing one of my pregnancy workout dvds. This is when the waiting game begin....one week went by then two, and not a single pound was lost. By this time my doctor said I could begin easing back into my old exercise habits just no ab work or lifting over 10 pounds. (because of C Section) I joined the YMCA and immediately went to Zumba. Since then I have been walking & lifting light weights. Still no results! Tomorrow is my 6 week checkup & I am hoping to be cleared with no restrictions so I can really get back into the swing of things.

I know they say " it took 9 months to put it on ..." but I cant help but feel frustrated. Like I said earlier I am mainly writing this to vent but also so other women know they are not alone in this battle.  Its hard to be stuck in this in between body, when you see or know other women who have a baby and one week later look like they did 9 months before.  I didn't realize 6 weeks after having a baby I would still be wearing my maternity jeans. I pulled out my "fat" jeans ( my weight has been up & down over the years so I keep bigger sizes & smaller size pants around)  the other day assuming they would fit...I was very wrong :( 

I wish more women would talk about how they feel about their bodies after pregnancy. Or how hard it is for them to lose the weight. All we hear about is how fast this celebrity or that friend was back into her bikini. It makes the rest of us feel bad about ourselves. I wish people would tell you what the majority of us go through. No one tells you that after delivery your belly is like a bowl full of jelly! I thought that since I made it my entire pregnancy with out a single stretch mark that I was good to go. Once again wish someone had warned me. Now if someone had told me all the awkward & uncomfortable changes my body would go through after having the baby would I have ever decided to get pregnant...Of COURSE, but maybe then I would have been more realistic about how everything was going to happen. To all my pregnant friends..If you ask I promise to tell you all the Good, Bad & Ugly things pregnancy has to offer!!!

Ok ...that is all the negative venting about my weight I am going to do. Sometimes it just feels good to have a little pity party for yourself and then to move on. From here on out I promise nothing but positive remarks about my weight.  That being said...I am very proud of  how far I have come along. I just need to stop and remind myself of this sometimes.  I know if I continue to workout & eat good I will eventually get back to the "old Brooke" I was last May. Until then I am going to try my hardest to enjoy my new body. I'm going to remind myself that without all of these changes I would not have received the most amazing gift..my sweet baby boy :)  He means the world to me & has changed my life in the most incredible way. I Thank god everyday for giving us both back our health & allowing me the opportunity to be the best mother I can possibly be :)