The days of wearing pajamas day and night are coming to an end as I am really starting to recover. Thoughts of leaving the house are actually entering my mind again. I even made it to church last Sunday. It is crazy how somebody who really loves to be social can feel so attached to home these days. Now I have to start thinking about what to wear again. Every woman likes to think she doesn't care and maybe some really do not care, but I have to say I do. As simple as it sounds I feel better when I take some time to get ready for the day.
So here I am putting off taking out my regular clothes. This is the first time I don't really want to know if my jeans fit yet, or if I can pull off wearing a top that does not belong on a pregnant woman. Unfortunately, I have gotten sick and tired of maternity clothing too. There are two pairs of jeans that I can wear and not feel like I am still pregnant and the maternity tops are starting to make me feel three to five months pregnant again. "I have been through this before," I tell myself when I am frustrated with what to wear.
I wish I could just give birth and not think about the next several months of shedding baby weight, but it is impossible. After being pregnant several years in a row, I know it important to stay healthy and stay in shape. My kids are quick on the move and one needs to be capable of running after them.
The first month after birth I like to think of as the do not stress too much month. Embrace weeks of rest and when one feels up to it, consider a little bit of walking. If you are like me, this stage goes on for way too long. I find myself longing to workout again because when I start to feel better, I want the full use of my stomach muscles back and I want my legs to be strong again. These are the places that get hit so hard during pregnancy and labor. Even after preparing my body for several months, there is no way to easily bounce back. Nine months of pregnancy equals about two years of recovery. I have never had a full two years of recovery, so maybe I need close to seven years of recovery? Does it even work that way?
When I hit the second month I will start using "Post Natal Rescue with Erin O'Brien" and when this starts to be easy around three months out I like to add in "The New York City Ballet Workout." This is not to much stress on the body and one can skip the floor work and just work on standing moves. It is great for the stomach muscles and legs. Then there is more walking a more difficult workouts to tackle. Maybe even some running when one feels stronger. I am trying to enjoy the month I am in, but also looking forward to what is ahead.
No matter what the case is, do not get down on the extra chub taking over post baby delivery. It is normal and I do not know anyone who likes this look. Clothing will fit again and pj days will end. Someday I will wear my favorite clothes again!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Week 2 Postpartum: Lack of Sleep
This has been a full week of sleeping very little at night and trying to catch up with odd naps when my baby is sleeping. She sleeps great most of the day so I can take a nap in the morning or the afternoon or recently I have just been sleeping in until eight A.M. There was a time in my life when eight A.M. was actually early for me, but those days were gone after I gave birth to my first child. So here I am hoping I am averaging about six hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period of time. I seem to be functioning and not too overly emotional. Thanks to my loving husband I have been off the hook for most of my motherly duties and I am soaking up a lot of the rest and relaxation still. He will probably be picking up more work this coming week, but it worked out well have a baby so close to Thanksgiving, so there is even more time to rest.
With all my great 'free' time, now I use this lightly since I am taking care of an infant around the clock, I keep picturing recipes I want to make and projects I want to work on. It is like I am back in the second trimester of pregnancy where I need/want to nest as much as possible. Now that my baby is here and I know she is a girl I want to take care of all the stuff I did not want to do before I knew the gender of my child. I am caught up in designing headbands and fun girl extras. My mind is back to pink, it is not difficult to be back to pink since my last baby was a girl too. I am enjoying gifts people did not want to purchase without knowing the gender of our baby too.
In the back of my mind I know that this first month, recovery month, will be over faster than I can imagine. Bria is already starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby everyday. It is hard for me to admit I need to slow down and just enjoy this time. This time around my body is forcing me to since I cannot really lift my two year old or even my sixteen month old without feeling some pain afterwards. Let's face it, we were designed to lift our newborns right after birth. House work does not seem to be a difficult, but I know I need to wait on many of the tasks I would like to be doing. If the kitchen floor is not spotless, that is not the end of the world. If the laundry gets backed up, it bothers me, but not really anyone else. I like to be ahead of the mess, but that is not as important as I think it is.
I tell myself this just as much as other people, ENJOY the rest...it will not be long before the expectations of motherhood will set in again. :)
With all my great 'free' time, now I use this lightly since I am taking care of an infant around the clock, I keep picturing recipes I want to make and projects I want to work on. It is like I am back in the second trimester of pregnancy where I need/want to nest as much as possible. Now that my baby is here and I know she is a girl I want to take care of all the stuff I did not want to do before I knew the gender of my child. I am caught up in designing headbands and fun girl extras. My mind is back to pink, it is not difficult to be back to pink since my last baby was a girl too. I am enjoying gifts people did not want to purchase without knowing the gender of our baby too.
In the back of my mind I know that this first month, recovery month, will be over faster than I can imagine. Bria is already starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby everyday. It is hard for me to admit I need to slow down and just enjoy this time. This time around my body is forcing me to since I cannot really lift my two year old or even my sixteen month old without feeling some pain afterwards. Let's face it, we were designed to lift our newborns right after birth. House work does not seem to be a difficult, but I know I need to wait on many of the tasks I would like to be doing. If the kitchen floor is not spotless, that is not the end of the world. If the laundry gets backed up, it bothers me, but not really anyone else. I like to be ahead of the mess, but that is not as important as I think it is.
I tell myself this just as much as other people, ENJOY the rest...it will not be long before the expectations of motherhood will set in again. :)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Week 1 Postpartum: New Life
The first week after having a baby is the work your way back into reality week. I have been holding my baby for a week now, but I still cannot believe she is no longer in my belly. I feel like I was pregnant forever and holding her in my arms should be more real, but it is not. She is beautiful and sweet tempered. In so many ways I did not know what I was expecting, but she seems to fit what seems natural to me at his point (if that even makes sense).
Nights are long, filled with lots of awake time for baby. She sleeps though my four other kids crashing around and as soon as it is quite she is alert and ready to go. I have gotten used to this routine since all of my kids have gone through it. My husband and I take shifts in the night, but he always makes sure I get as much rest as possible. I do not know how he has so much energy, but he knows my body is still healing from the birth.
With my first few children it did not seem long before my energy was back up to normal speed. Maybe it took about ten days. This time, I am in the middle of that ten day window and feeling wiped. I have had five babies in seven years and my body is telling me to enjoy the rest for as long as I can. I am loving taking naps throughout the day and I am thankful my husband can work for home while I recover. It is fun to have meals presented to me and laundry washed and ready for me to wear. Mom's do not get this princess treatment everyday. I am a mom who enjoys serving my family though housework, so I think it has been hard in the past for me to enjoy having my spouse serve me in this way. He has really been such a blessing this time and know he is working really hard to keep up with everything.
Baths are a great way to get fifteen to thirty minutes alone at this point. I love my new little one, but let's face it...alone time will always be important and taking a bath forces me to have it. My baby shower friends made me different scented bath salts, so my routine since the birth has been to pick a scent different scent a day. It has been so much fun trying them all. I honestly do not remember the last time I relaxed this much. When my last child was born I was so focused on being recovered from it all, that I let this time of rest slip away from me. Take my advice, enjoy resting because motherhood is a lot of work.
As we enter the second week with five kids, ( I still cannot believe it!) I think about the blessing of having such a big family. My kids are running around playing and taking small breaks to kiss their new sister on the head. Even my smallest little girl, only sixteen months old, is trying to be my helper by bringing my nursing pillow to me when she sees me feeding the baby. It is so amazing to see how smoothly the transition is going. Everyone is so loving. That is not to say it is always so perfect, but I will take as much of this special time as we can get.
Nights are long, filled with lots of awake time for baby. She sleeps though my four other kids crashing around and as soon as it is quite she is alert and ready to go. I have gotten used to this routine since all of my kids have gone through it. My husband and I take shifts in the night, but he always makes sure I get as much rest as possible. I do not know how he has so much energy, but he knows my body is still healing from the birth.
With my first few children it did not seem long before my energy was back up to normal speed. Maybe it took about ten days. This time, I am in the middle of that ten day window and feeling wiped. I have had five babies in seven years and my body is telling me to enjoy the rest for as long as I can. I am loving taking naps throughout the day and I am thankful my husband can work for home while I recover. It is fun to have meals presented to me and laundry washed and ready for me to wear. Mom's do not get this princess treatment everyday. I am a mom who enjoys serving my family though housework, so I think it has been hard in the past for me to enjoy having my spouse serve me in this way. He has really been such a blessing this time and know he is working really hard to keep up with everything.
Baths are a great way to get fifteen to thirty minutes alone at this point. I love my new little one, but let's face it...alone time will always be important and taking a bath forces me to have it. My baby shower friends made me different scented bath salts, so my routine since the birth has been to pick a scent different scent a day. It has been so much fun trying them all. I honestly do not remember the last time I relaxed this much. When my last child was born I was so focused on being recovered from it all, that I let this time of rest slip away from me. Take my advice, enjoy resting because motherhood is a lot of work.
As we enter the second week with five kids, ( I still cannot believe it!) I think about the blessing of having such a big family. My kids are running around playing and taking small breaks to kiss their new sister on the head. Even my smallest little girl, only sixteen months old, is trying to be my helper by bringing my nursing pillow to me when she sees me feeding the baby. It is so amazing to see how smoothly the transition is going. Everyone is so loving. That is not to say it is always so perfect, but I will take as much of this special time as we can get.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
39 Weeks and 3 Days: Bria's Birth
After the longest pregnancy in my history of pregnancies, Bria was finally ready to appear. I know for some people it would be a relief to deliver as early as 39 weeks instead of 40 or even 42 weeks. I have been spoiled to only be pregnant for 38 weeks in the past. In my own defense, I am small, so delivering small babies has been in my favor.
This pregnancy has been different all around for me. It was the first time I guessed the gender until I met my baby. I was measuring giant by 30 weeks instead of small. I grew out of all my maternity clothing and spent about a week and a half borrowing my husband's clothing. All I can say is I was humbled by the fact that it does not matter how many times I am pregnant, every single child is different, so every single pregnancy is as well.
Just when I thought I could not possibly be pregnant anymore my desire to clean the entire house finally kicked in. It always does somehow, but this time I questioned if it would because I would usually have my home prepared for a birth a week in advance. This time it was just hours before Bria's arrival. My husband seemed to start nesting along with me as we finally decided to move our deep freezer out of the kitchen and into the garage. This triggered the need to mop the kitchen floor and it all began. Before I knew it I was dusting, cleaning bathrooms, putting our birth sheets on the bed and thinking about filling up our birthing tub. This was kind of in faith because I was not sure if the mild contractions I was experiencing all day were the real thing yet.
As we put the kids in bed I could tell something was different about that day. I had a sense that I was in labor. It always frustrated me when people would say, "You just know you are in labor," but it is true. After so many practice contractions I thought it would be hard to "just know." A few hours passed and things began to pick up. One thing I have not experienced is a text book contraction pattern. My contractions tend to be everywhere from three minutes apart to fifteen even near the end of labor. For me it is all about the intensity. By the time I would normally be considering going to bed, we were filling up the birth tub and I was getting into it. Things were still moving along and I began to feel like we should tell our midwife I was in labor.
About two more hours went by before we called and requested the midwife show up at our house. She lives about a half an hour away so I did not want to wait too long, but I was enjoying the labor being just my husband and I at that point. She took her time coming over and when she arrived I feared my labor would stop. This has happened to me in the past and taken a few hours to get going again. Things did not stop, but my contraction patterned continued to be irregular. When I was checked for the first time I was already at six centimeters, but I felt like it was all going so slowly this time. I have also been spoiled with pretty quick labors. This one was feeling long. (It actually was not very long, maybe 5 hours total).
I paced around my living room and kitchen, spent time in the shower, napped for about two seconds on the bed before my contractions became more intense. Now things were really going and I went through a stage of feeling very discouraged. I just wanted it all to be over. This contraction business had gone on long enough. Finally, when things felt unbearable, I got into the birth tub with my husband. I am so thankful he is willing to be in there with me because his presence really helps me relax through all of the contractions.
My water broke in the tub, it felt like a balloon burst. That next contraction was it. I was on to the pushing phase. Little did I know that pushing, was really going to mean pushing for me. In the past, my five pound babies have arrived in about three pushes total. This baby was bigger. In fact, I had to concentrate on controlled pushing. My body wanted to push as much as possible, but I might have torn badly had I taken this approach. As my midwife encouraged me to lay my head back and pant I felt a giant head arriving. This baby would be much bigger than my others. The body did not feel like a frog coming out of me, I had to push it out little by little. I felt spent at the end as my midwife placed my beautiful baby girl on my chest.
It would have been easy to think now I am done, but there was still the placenta to push out. I had just been watching a video clips about the third stage of labor on www.oneworldbirth.net. This is an important stage of labor that is often forgotten about. Maybe I had been watching these clips to prepare myself to push when I really did not want to anymore. My placenta came out pretty easily in the end, but when I was done, I was really done.
I had hoped that I would have been able to enjoy this labor a little bit more than I did. I know that sounds like a crazy comment, but there is something so amazing about labor even in all the pain. It is a mystery why this pain feels great even when it is the worst it is going to get. I remember thinking, when I did not want to keep taking on contractions, I still do not know the gender of my baby. This was exciting. I always have looked forward to seeing my baby, but this time it was much more than that. Who would my baby be?
Her name is Bria Esme Ruybalid and she was born at 5:56 am on November 4, 2011. She was a very big baby for me, 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long. Her hair is thick and jet black, her eyes are dark brown, and personality it peaceful. Even though I felt frustrated about waiting so long to meet her, I would not take back one minute of my pregnancy or labor. I still cannot believe she is here and I am thankful for each moment we have enjoyed together so far.
This pregnancy has been different all around for me. It was the first time I guessed the gender until I met my baby. I was measuring giant by 30 weeks instead of small. I grew out of all my maternity clothing and spent about a week and a half borrowing my husband's clothing. All I can say is I was humbled by the fact that it does not matter how many times I am pregnant, every single child is different, so every single pregnancy is as well.
Just when I thought I could not possibly be pregnant anymore my desire to clean the entire house finally kicked in. It always does somehow, but this time I questioned if it would because I would usually have my home prepared for a birth a week in advance. This time it was just hours before Bria's arrival. My husband seemed to start nesting along with me as we finally decided to move our deep freezer out of the kitchen and into the garage. This triggered the need to mop the kitchen floor and it all began. Before I knew it I was dusting, cleaning bathrooms, putting our birth sheets on the bed and thinking about filling up our birthing tub. This was kind of in faith because I was not sure if the mild contractions I was experiencing all day were the real thing yet.
As we put the kids in bed I could tell something was different about that day. I had a sense that I was in labor. It always frustrated me when people would say, "You just know you are in labor," but it is true. After so many practice contractions I thought it would be hard to "just know." A few hours passed and things began to pick up. One thing I have not experienced is a text book contraction pattern. My contractions tend to be everywhere from three minutes apart to fifteen even near the end of labor. For me it is all about the intensity. By the time I would normally be considering going to bed, we were filling up the birth tub and I was getting into it. Things were still moving along and I began to feel like we should tell our midwife I was in labor.
About two more hours went by before we called and requested the midwife show up at our house. She lives about a half an hour away so I did not want to wait too long, but I was enjoying the labor being just my husband and I at that point. She took her time coming over and when she arrived I feared my labor would stop. This has happened to me in the past and taken a few hours to get going again. Things did not stop, but my contraction patterned continued to be irregular. When I was checked for the first time I was already at six centimeters, but I felt like it was all going so slowly this time. I have also been spoiled with pretty quick labors. This one was feeling long. (It actually was not very long, maybe 5 hours total).
I paced around my living room and kitchen, spent time in the shower, napped for about two seconds on the bed before my contractions became more intense. Now things were really going and I went through a stage of feeling very discouraged. I just wanted it all to be over. This contraction business had gone on long enough. Finally, when things felt unbearable, I got into the birth tub with my husband. I am so thankful he is willing to be in there with me because his presence really helps me relax through all of the contractions.
My water broke in the tub, it felt like a balloon burst. That next contraction was it. I was on to the pushing phase. Little did I know that pushing, was really going to mean pushing for me. In the past, my five pound babies have arrived in about three pushes total. This baby was bigger. In fact, I had to concentrate on controlled pushing. My body wanted to push as much as possible, but I might have torn badly had I taken this approach. As my midwife encouraged me to lay my head back and pant I felt a giant head arriving. This baby would be much bigger than my others. The body did not feel like a frog coming out of me, I had to push it out little by little. I felt spent at the end as my midwife placed my beautiful baby girl on my chest.
It would have been easy to think now I am done, but there was still the placenta to push out. I had just been watching a video clips about the third stage of labor on www.oneworldbirth.net. This is an important stage of labor that is often forgotten about. Maybe I had been watching these clips to prepare myself to push when I really did not want to anymore. My placenta came out pretty easily in the end, but when I was done, I was really done.
I had hoped that I would have been able to enjoy this labor a little bit more than I did. I know that sounds like a crazy comment, but there is something so amazing about labor even in all the pain. It is a mystery why this pain feels great even when it is the worst it is going to get. I remember thinking, when I did not want to keep taking on contractions, I still do not know the gender of my baby. This was exciting. I always have looked forward to seeing my baby, but this time it was much more than that. Who would my baby be?
Her name is Bria Esme Ruybalid and she was born at 5:56 am on November 4, 2011. She was a very big baby for me, 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long. Her hair is thick and jet black, her eyes are dark brown, and personality it peaceful. Even though I felt frustrated about waiting so long to meet her, I would not take back one minute of my pregnancy or labor. I still cannot believe she is here and I am thankful for each moment we have enjoyed together so far.
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