It is hard to believe that I gave birth to Lydia almost 4 months ago. It is really bizarre, but the whole pregnancy and birth thing (that lasted for more than 9 months) seems so far away now. I was thinking today about how I don't remember what it felt like for her to move inside of me... and it wasn't that long ago! I also feel the details of birth getting fuzzy too - how much it hurt, the emotions that I had, etc.
If you read Lydia's 2 week update you will remember how amazed I was at how quickly I was recovering, and I truly continue to be amazed at how my body is bouncing back. I am within 2-3 pounts of my pre-pregnancy weight by now, and more importantly I am really starting to feel like my old self again. I have energy, an appetite, and it feels great to sweat and get my heart rate up during exercises. Don't get me wrong, things are still a work in progress, but I am way closer than I thought I would be after 3 months.
Diet:
So I am not "dieting", as in restricting what I eat, in any way. However, I wanted to give you an idea of what I eat on a daily basis. I like to read other mommies' stories and ideas on how to stay healthy but also nourished after having a baby. When I had milk supply issues when Lydia was about 2 months old I really had to take a good look at my diet. Mostly, I had to greatly increase the amount I was eating in a day. When school started back up and I had a 3-week-old baby there was very little time for me to fix myself meals, let alone snacks, but I just decided that it would have to be a priority for me. So I added in quite a few good fats, and a lot of extra calories, and I know it sounds crazy, but doing so helped me to drop weight quickly again. As soon as I started eating more, my body began producing more milk, so Lydia ate more everyday, and therefore I burned a lot more calories. You probably hear it all the time, but if you are a nursing momma, take advantage of it! You will never be able to eat like you can when you are nursing.
Here is what I typically eat in a day:
I wake up with a cup of morning coffee and a bowl of cereal. I have switched to 2% milk to incorporate some more fat.
In between breakfast and lunch (usually around 10:30) I will eat a snack. Most of the time this is a granola or protein bar, a Carnation Instant Breakfast, a muffin or some toast with peanut butter. I try to have protein in this snack.
I eat lunch between 12 and 12:30. Lunch varies a lot - I will sometimes have leftovers from dinner or fix myself a baked potato and a salad. Either way, my old cheese, crackers and fruit staple is no longer enough for lunch. If I do just eat cheese, crackers and fruit I will eat a snack of yogurt and almonds an hour and a half later. No matter what I eat, I try to incorporate a fruit and a vegetable (or fruit and yogurt) into this meal.
Sometimes I will have an afternoon snack of yogurt, almonds, or another bowl of Special K. This just depends on how big my lunch was.
David and I eat dinner sometime between 5:30-6:30 most nights and we are always hungry! Dinner varies a bunch, but this is the meal where I have drastically increased my portions. I used to eat half as much as David and now I serve us equal portions. With all of our dinners we have some form of protein and I really try to always have a veggie.
After dinner is where I splurge a little bit - we have eaten ice cream 3 times this week! If it isn't ice cream, I will have some form of a snack around 8. Usually it is a glass of milk with some chocolate syrup.
I know... I eat a lot. But the key for me is to eat often and always have healthy things around to snack on. Some items I would highly recommend incorporating into your diet if you are a nursing mom are: yogurt, 2% milk, cheese, almonds, oatmeal. All of these things are easy to prepare and are really good for helping your body to make good milk!
Nursing:
One day last week I woke up and realized that it didn't hurt to breast feed anymore! It was glorious.
I don't think I realized how painful nursing still was for me. It legitimately hurt for a good 3 months and I think that I just kind of got used to it and decided that it was just supposed to feel that way. But just in the past week or so it has gotten so, so much better. I know a lot of people who had no trouble breastfeeding, and even though my journey has been a "successful" one it has definitely not been easy. So for anyone out there who is having troubles or pains, try to stick with it! It is normal (or at least it happened for me) if you are still hurting after 3 months. I really think that eventually the pain will subside and then it will become so much more enjoyable.
For a while breastfeeding presented me with so many other challenges beside the pain. What can I wear that makes nursing easy? How can I breastfeed in public while being modest? How do I plan my day around this almost full time job?
All of this issues have really become non-issues as of late. Again - breastfeeding is definitely a lifestyle adjustment, but you will get used to it if you stick with it.
Exercising:
Hmm... do I have to write about this??
This is an area where I am definitely still struggling.. a lot. I simply have no free time. I have been writing this blog post for almost 2 weeks now - that is how little free time I have.
I am staying active but I am not doing well at reaching any new fitness goals. I walk every day (as long as it is not raining) for 30 minutes to an hour. My speed is definitely increasing and it feels great to break a sweat as I push Lydia in my awesome jogging stroller and pull my pup along too. I feel that cardiovascularly I am about where I was pre-pregnancy. The area where I am really struggling is strength training. I knew I wouldn't be making it to the gym this semester, but I told myself that I would do pilates, weights and abs at home. That just isn't happening. I know I have a ton going on and I shouldn't really feel guilty.. but I really miss working out in this way. Weights and abs were always my favorite thing to do because it always felt really satisfying to push my body in these ways. Plus, I think that for my body strength training makes the biggest difference in how it looks.
Starting today I plan on trying to do abs at least 4 times a week. They take like 10 minutes! I really should be able to fit in at least this exercise and since my tummy is the only thing I don't currently like about my body abs should take first priority. Once homeworks are over and finals are finished I will worry about the other stuff. In June I start to teach aerobics again (I am so excited!!), so if nothing else that will definitely whip me back into shape.
In general, I feel great about how things are going. I now fit into most of my pre-pregnancy jeans comfortably, although shirts are a different story. There are definitely days when I miss my flat stretch-mark-free stomach (when will they go away??), but anytime I even start to get down about it I look at my beautiful baby girl and her perfectly round belly and am immediately proud again of what my body did. Our bodies are truly amazing and are made to do much more than just look good. I love what having a baby has done for my body image and my appreciation for this gift I have been given.
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