Post Partum Check-In 2/26

E

emackay

Cathlete
Hello hello,

How is everybody doing? I hope Sienna is doing better - and that Tamal is less restless. I saw your posts, Manmohini - it sounds like Tamal has a great night-time sleep and then mini-naps during the day. Nico is much the same way (although the 8-9 hours straight through the night is still a relatively new thing :). He sleeps better during the day if I make sure he gets a good long walk in. The pediatrician said that doing activities with them really helps them sack out ... I don't know what Tamal does with you during the day, but maybe he could "exercise" with you.

Well ... here is what I remember of the past week:

Tues: Core Max 1; Low Max
Wed: Legs and Glutes; KPC abs; 1 hr. elliptical
Thurs: GS Chest & Tri; ab hits 10 min.
Fri: KPC
Sat: 6 yr. wedding anniversary - rest day ;)
Sun: Butts & Guts
Mon: 1 hr. elliptical in a.m.; 1 hr. elli p.m.
Tues: Body Max 2 Double Upper Body Mix; 1 hour walk carrying Nico and wearing MBTs

Nico loves watching me workout. I plop him in his bouncer and away we go (sometimes we have to stop so he can have a snack though ... but he laughs his head off during kick boxing and step aerobics). Watching the elliptical puts him to sleep ... so I've really lucked out with him lately.

He has started the pre-teething drool-o-rama, but really only throws a big fit around dinner time. He is almost rolling all the way over and has started taking rattles from my hand and then laughing maniacally.

I hope you're all having a good week ...

Take care,

arancini
 
Impressive workouts. Did you really do TWO hours of ellipitcal on Monday? Ahhhhhhh. How I long to have an ellipitcal machine. :)

~Melanie~

Jadon born 11/23/05
Justin born 1/17/04
Jory born 4/9/94
 
does your son really let you work out for an hour at a time?? if i put LJ down he cries with in 20 mins to get picked up.
 
Hey Melanie and Melissa,

Nico lets me workout 60-90 minutes at a time about 1/2 the time. The other times we have to stop so he can eat, but then he goes to sleep ... so the intermission lasts about 20 minutes. Sooo ... it all depends on his tummy.

I love my elliptical. I have a stress injury in my right foot that comes and goes, so I used it exclusively for several months a couple of years ago. I wear my MBTs on it so my foot doesn't bend :) I have a recumbent, too - but I think the elliptical makes me work harder with less concentration. The bike requires me to think about my workout more - something I don't like doing these days (which is why cathe is great - just do what she says and you're good to go).

I'm off to have some coffee and do my millionth load of laundry while Nico sleeps :) He lets me workout b/c he can keep an eye on me - but doing other things around the house where I leave his sight is harder.

How are you guys doing?
arancini
 
I wish LJ would nap long enough to let me take a shower some days. Sleeping hasnt been his forte'. He fights it until the end. I find he sleeps better on his side or even belly. I dont ever put him on his belly unless i can watch him while he sleeps. LJ went for his 2 month check up and got his Dtap vaccine. We are going to scheduale another appt this week to get his HIB and pneunomia vaccine. The others we are going to hold off on. It broke my heart when they gave him the shot..i wanted to cry because he was.

I guess I never thought that someone could come into your life that you have so much love for. I never understood it until i had him. I dont know what i would do with out him now. I find it completely amazing.

I am happy arancini that you have been so faithful with your workouts. I think I only did like 3-4 days last week. I have been trying to get in a good 4 days. Its not always easy to do.

I am so sad I go back to work next week. I am going to miss him so much. But, on the other hand it will be interesting how we are going to manage our scheduales. I am not looking forward to it. We are working on putting our house on the market and selling. We want to move closer to our family and friends. We live like 30-45mins away but would like to live closer( easy babysitters) I am also looking for a new job.

Have either of you just put your babies down in thier cribs and let them fall asleep? I have such a hard time getting him to sleep sometimes. like right now.LOL:)
 
Wow, Nico sounds like the most mellow baby ever. Fitnurse, my Tamal is like your LJ--loves to be picked up, fusses after about 10 minutes in his Boppy while I'm trying to take a shower. I marvel too that anyone can just a baby down and have him or her fall asleep. Tamal fights sleep as well. He sleeps well in my MOby Wrap when I walk around the neighborhood. Even then he fusses and kicks, but suddenly he will fall asleep. My magic bullet is breast feeding at night. He falls alseep pretty nicely after 20 or 30 minutes of comfort sucking. I don't know what I'll do when he gets teeth and we have to clean them before sleeping. I hate to wake the little guy up even to change his diaper because it's such an ordeal getting him back to sleep. Of course, then I lie there having nightmares about diaper rash and his little butt soaked with stool.

Arancini, when you say 8 or 9 hours, you don't mean 8 or 9 hours straight, do you? I mean, Nico wakes up during that time to feed, doesn't he?

Fitnurse, I know what you mean about the love. I really appreciated your comments. My heart swells with so much love for my son that I feel it will split open and a torrent of love will inundate the neighborhood. He has brought back the springtime again to my heart, refreshed my senses. Nothing could have prepared me for the thunderous shock of love that ensnared my heart when he first smiled at me. Lately, he's been looking up after breastfeeding to smile at me, and like Nico, he is laughing more and more. A baby's delight is so pure and unmotivated. I am his forever.

Also, there is something so divine about the breastfeeding arrangement. I never do anything else but "be with" Tamal when he is feeding, because the moment is so special--and it will depart soon--that I want to be in it entirely. Because he is feeding on cue, he has taught me to ignore the clock, and to just live in the present moment enjoying his little guzzling sounds as he drinks from his fountain of life the way a bee sips nectar from a flower. I have an abundance of milk to give, and the more he takes, the more the milk flows. This is divine. Everything else in this material world is so finite, but the love that flows out of us into our children in the form of milk (or whatever) is unbounded.

I hope I didn't get too sentimental. But really, that business about ignoring the clock is real. I'm going to resent the hell out of the clock when I return to working.

By the way, Arancini, we had nice weather FINALLY yesterday, so I took Tamal for a Moby ride. It mellows him out indeed. As soon as he wakes up from his little nap, I plan to get him out in the stroller. When he's cranky, it's just the thing. I am so glad spring is around the corner!

Exercise? What's that? Our 2-BR apt. is so cramped with swings, boppies, tummy gyms, strollers etc. that there is no room to exercise. I did manage to do LO Max in the community room last night though and every so often, I get over to the health club for a step class.
The longwinded Manmohini
 
Ladies, long time no talk!

Here are my last 2 weeks of workouts, this week has been tough with no sleep and back to work, so we'll see what I get in by Sunday.


MON-core max 00:15:00
MON-run 00:32:00
SUN-ab workout 00:15:00
SUN-walk 00:40:00
SAT-bosu abs 00:15:00
SAT-interval run 00:35:00
FRI-Walk 00:50:00
THU-walk 2x 01:20:00
TUE-off 00:00:00
WED-bosu 00:30:00
Total: 05:12:00


SUN-bosu abs 00:10:00
SUN-run 00:35:00
SAT-Bosu weights 00:35:00
FRI-walk 00:45:00
THU-fluidity 00:00:00
WED-walk 00:40:00
MON-walk 00:35:00
Total: 03:20:00

Manmohini and Fitnurse, being back at work has been easier than I thought but it's because I have a temp nanny whom I spent a day with transitioning Sienna. I love this young woman, she's wonderful. She is truly Sienna's first sitter...so scary for me. But after many tears I finally let them be alone together and they bonded. The first day of work Sienna had a big smile to great Becky with. She cried when I left but each time I called she was fine and when I got home she was all smiles. So...it was that much easier to be away. Plus it was a much better choice than leaving her in daycare since she's been so sick. I felt she had extra special attention. :) I'm having the nanny for one more week and then into daycare unless our pediatrician recommends we find an in home person for another 3 months until the flu season is over. We'll see.

I'm so proud of my little Sprout for making a new friend and adjusting! It has affected her night schedule though so her sleep has gone from 10pm -4am 5am -8/9am (9 hours) to sleeping between 9-11pm nap, awake and fussing and finally down at midnight or so and then awake at 3am to nurse and awake again at 6am or 7am for the day (6 -7 hours). So I've had VERY little sleep while back at work. Had to take a nap after work last night and give her to DH. With wanting to nurse as much as possible at night it does get complicated. Now she's napping longer during the day for the nanny and they're not getting in as much activity as I normally do. :-( I guess the good thing about daycare is that there's lots of stimulation so it tends to tire out the kiddo and they sleep better.

I'm so torn about daycare right now, I really don't know what I'll do. It's tough to find a permanent nanny on short notice AND I don't want to piss off the daycare center by not putting her in there. But I also don't want to have to break a contract, that's why we haven't officially started yet. Ughhhhh. I'm hoping the pediatrician will have some advice for a best case scenario given Sienna's health. The daycare could build her immunity or it could make her even sicker.

Anyway, I know it will be tough for you guys and I don't want to minimize it but you will get through it. As long as your little one is in good hands and happy and safe. They'll realize that you're coming home and they'll love you just as much. It really gives you something to look forward to at the end of the day. And everyone at work will be asking you about the bambino, so bring photos and enjoy talking about your boys. :)

Arancini, happy anniversary! How was it? Congrats on so much exercise and such a good kiddo. I haven't tried working out with Sienna near me yet, not sure what she'd do. She does let me take a shower and dry my hair as long as I acknowledge her in her bouncy.

Have a good Thursday everyone, kisses to all the babies.

Love,
Steph and Sprout
 
Hey gang,

It's good to hear from everybody :) I can't imagine having to go back to work and leaving Nico - hugs to you guys who are in the transition. Since I work at home, and haven't started again yet, I feel truly spoiled.

Daycare or not sounds like it is going to be a really tough call, Steph. I'm sure it will work out either way ... how much is a nanny in comparison?

Nico does sleep 8-10 hours without ever waking up - not to feed or anything. Since I can no longer breastfeed (no milk!), he gets bottles of breastmilk from the bank ... but he goes down at 10 or 11 and rises between 7 and 10 demanding 8 ounces ....

oo - gotta go ...


arancini
 
Hey Arancini and everyone,

The pediatrician's office said we should wait to the end of March, if possible. Mainly b/c it's the end of the cold and flu season and Sienna will be bigger and stronger. So, I'll see if we can put them off a bit longer, I don't want to be double charged. The cost is about the same if I find a nanny. It's more the time involved with ensuring I get the right person. If I use the agency I'm with now I'll have to pay an hourly rate plus a daily $50 fee for the agency. Right now the fee is waived for 10 days of sitting -- it's a perk through my employer.

So...I may try to find someone temporarily who's not with an agency. Sittercity.com is great for this, a friend just told me she got her nanny there. We'll see.

You are LUCKY in many ways: that Nico enjoys your workouts, his new long sleep habits, plus your getting to stay home. You are truly blessed!!!

That said, I have to admit that I didn't realize how great it would feel to be back at work. I'm so happy to see my co-workers and they're very understanding and curious about Sienna too...I've spent a lot of time talking about her and I really didn't expect that to be the case. It's also great to flex my brain a bit more...though I'm pooped when I get home so far so we'll see how that impacts my workouts. For now, I'm cutting myself slack on my work days and thinking I'll do more on my off days.

My big question, apart from who should take care of the kiddo, is how I'll make time to do my filmmaking. It's a passion and something I'm not willing to give up, so I really need to carve out a schedule for that too. Arancini, you're an artist, do you have a plan for how you'll get back to your art again? I may do some pay or volunteer work at first to push me into it. It's too easy to choose to spend time with Sienna instead. :) But I know I'll be a happier mama if I follow my passion, even if it's in small chunks of time. I want her to see one day that that's what she should do too.

Steph

p.s. Oh, big hurrah, my scale finally budged and I lost 3 pounds the last time I weighed myself. It's been stuck in the same spot for 2 months so it's a BIG deal to me.
 
Fitnurse,

I have not had much luck with putting Sienna down and having her fall asleep on her own. It does happen sometimes in her bouncy when I'm drying my hair with the bathroom vent noise on too. Or...sometimes she cries in her bouncy or swing and then goes to sleep.

We haven't yet put her in her bassinet and expected her to sleep. We only use it at night and she's usually transferred already asleep. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, it may be the wrong thing to do since it doesn't establish a routine involving her bed. She's been waking up in the morning with a smile and quietly playing on some days. So I imagine she could do the same at night, until she drifts off to sleep. (in theory anyway)

I'm curious to know if others are doing this too...let us know.

Thanks,
Steph
 
Well, i am glad that i am not the only one who is in the same boat with sleeping. I can put LJ down but he starts to get unhappy about 20mins or so depending on what he is doing. He still wakes up to feed during the night but latley he has been sleeping with us and i feed him sidelying so we can both fall back to sleep. He loves our bed which i can see may become a problem. We try to get him to nap in his crib during the day however.
 
Hi Melissa,

I tried to send you an email through the cathe.com system but the sissy#@aol address bounced. Feel free to send me your new email address the same way (by clicking my name and then sending me a message with your email in it) and I'll send you some photos. I'd love to see LJ!

Thanks!
Steph
 
Hey Steph,

How are you and Sienna doing?

I've had some virus this past week ... ugh ... but am back to normal now. I hope you are able to return to filmmaking in earnest - and even the smallest chunks of time count :) I plan to get back into my work when I finish creating my new studio. Since we've moved into the new house I have a huge new space - but it still needs some work. I still need to put the sink in (and toilet - but industrial sink first). It's plumbed already, and now I have the sink - but huge chunks of uninterrupted time are not predictable ...

As soon as that's done, I will start puttering around with some ideas on small canvases, then I need to stretch a new slew of larger ones. It's very zen and usually helps me think ... so, hopefully, after I get the sink in, Nico can keep me company while I do this part. The babysitter I had lined up had something come up, so she may not be starting for a few weeks - but I plan to have her come 2 afternoons a week to start. She also will come all day Sunday so DH and I can do things together.

Congrats on the weight loss!! Every pound is a victory, n'est pas?

Email me your home/work schedule - I'll try to call you this week ...

I'm off to do PUB (Nico is napping - he's not into repetitive weight routines - not enough of me hopping around to entertain him ;)
arancini
 
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