At Least the Answer isn't "Blue"

Me to Little Man "What color is your sister's hair?"

Little Man: "orange"

Helpful How-To: In the Land of Milk and...Well, More Milk

Despite the beautiful babies I make, I am anything BUT a walking poster child for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

I talk to so many women who luuuurve being pregnant.

And even more who cherish breastfeeding.

And they all tend to make me feel like something is terribly wrong with me.

I seriously loathe pregnancy.

And breastfeeding isn't really much better.

I don't feel a huge bond with my child while nursing.

I feel sleepy.

(Which is actually completely normal due to the release of endorphins during let down.)

But my point?

Or the point of this post?

Despite the fact that I don't enjoy the nursing process, I can tell you how to make it less painful.

Or what I did to make it less painful.

Not to mention how I avoided the  cracking and bleeding that almost all of my friends have complained of.

It's pretty common sense actually.

Think about it.

You don't go out and run a half marathon without prepping your body, right?

So why would you think you could jump right into anything as rigorous as breastfeeding without doing the same?

And actually, I didn't come up with my idea.

About a month before I delivered Little Man, a nurse friend suggested I start scrubbing the "girls" before I showered every day with a rough washcloth.

And then my lactation consultant in the breastfeeding class I took suggested something similar.

And this time around, I talked to at least 4 doctors/nurses/midwives who agreed.

So around 35 weeks, I started my regimen.

And now, 7 weeks later, I am sooooo thankful. I have had little to no pain while nursing-way different from last time-and not a hint of cracking or bleeding yet.

Honestly.

Let down is actually way more painful than nursing is.

What I'm trying to say is, although breastfeeding can tend to be exhausting and painful and- according to some-completely rewarding, and-according to me- completely FREE, with a little preparation, it can also be completely painless.

And that more than makes up for the fact that you feel like a Jersey cow for a small eternity.

I would love to hear from those of you who have breastfed and or attempted to breastfeed to know if you did anything to peep yourself and or if you experienced any of the messy side affects!

Weekly Weigh-in: Post Pardum Edition

Since I realize this information has probably been keeping you up at night, I figured it was time to update you on the status of my weight gain.

Or in this case, weight loss.

2weeks and 2 days ago, I delivered our baby girl, and 2 weeks and 2 days ago, I weighed myself before going to the hospital.

That morning I weighed in at 179.6 lbs.

Exactly 41.2 lbs. more than my pre-prego weight.

Not too shabby.

And since I totally over-document this crap, one week later I weighed in at 169.6 lbs.

But that was before my milk came in.

Right now, I am sitting at 171.6.

2 lbs. of which I am totally blaming on milk.

Also?

You know how they say you totally can lose all your weight from breastfeeding? Doesn't work.

At least not for me.

Which means I am probably stuck at this weight until I can start exercising again in another 4 weeks.

And even then, my weightloss will be slow because it won't be based on diet just exercise.

For reference sake, after I had little man, I was a size 18 for the first 4 months.

Today I am wearing a size 14.

All things considered I am much farther ahead this time than I was last time.

But I'm still a little (read: a lot) annoyed at how slow this process is for me and how easy it is for other people.

For now, I won't post any before or after pics, mostly because last time I refused to allow anyone to take my picture for 6 months.

All things considered, at least I'm ahead of that curve...

Of Feedings and Fairy Tales

Not gonna lie.

These days there are a lot of extra hours in my day.

And even more diaper changings.

But somewhere in between, there is time for coupon clipping, bleary eyes, and episodes of the newest musical dramas and fairy tale television.

Not to mention a meltdown or two from my 2 year old.

Overall, I'm trying to figure out what in the world to do with all the extra time I now have on my hands.

I mean its so overwhelming.

You can feel sorry for me.

Just know that while you are snoring at 2 am, I am probably drooling, half-asleep, at Jack Davenport or hating the evil queen who is destroying Storybrooke....

Try not to be too jealous....

It's totally understandable.

Especially when I am the lucky one staring at this...

One Week Later...

It's been a week. An exhausting, chaotic, exciting, terrifying week.

I forgot how hard it is to have a newborn...especially in the middle of the night.

I forgot how hard it is to keep a toddler away from a new born...oh wait. Never experienced that before.

Talk about terrifying.

Especially when your toddler is so "all-boy" that he wants to do things like play catch with the baby and share his tractor.

Admittedly, it could be worse so I'll be thankful.

Something else I forgot is just how easy it is to bond with your new baby during these long and lonely midnight feedings.

There was a portion of me who was really worried about not having room in my heart for another baby. Crazy, I know.

But then those first few midnight.feedings happen and that teeny tiny little baby does something simple like grab your finger or curl up on your chest and everything changes.

You end up feeling like the grinch whose "heart grew 3 times that day" and you have more than enough room to love this little person, and to love the others even more.

I don't understand it.

I can't explain it.

But I'm oh so thankful.

Welcome to the World

Baby girl arrived just as planned on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 2:21pm and weighing in at a solid 6 pounds, 10 ounces.

Two Toes Up to An Awesome Football Game

Yesterday, in honor of the most wonderful game of the year, I treated myself to a pedicure.

Or at least that was the plan....

Note to self: never invite your extremely generous to the point of a fault friends to get a mani/pedi with you unless you really don't wanna pay for your pedi.

Either way, at the end of the day, I left with a remarkable set of toesies on my hands...

Or feet....

Or whatever.

With Cheeta Spots!

Yeah.  I'm sexy and I know it...

Speaking of which....

Tell me you caught this moment during the big game last night:

Credit

Poor Madonna...

Trying so hard to be Lady Gaga...

All the while coming off more like Al Gore doing the Macarena.

Just scary.

And stiff.

And so, "please just stop"-ish.

But the commercials were good, right?

This was my favorite:



Closely followed by this:



Oh and did I mention the Giants won?

Credit

Not that I care about football that much...except for an extreme dislike for the New England Patriots.

At the end of day, what more could a girl ask for?

Pretty toes, a couple laughs, and a solid defeat of her least favorite team.

I'm a happy camper!

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 38

Ok, People, we are getting down to the wire.

And we are all so glad, I'm sure.

RIGHT???

For those of you who are keeping up with the weight, this week I {proudly} weighed in at 178.8.

Precisely 40.2 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight.

I may or may not have worked hard to keep off any extra lbs this week.

And I may or may not have shed a lb.

But I am a happy girl.

And my doctor was perfectly fine with the loss of a pound, thankyouverymuch.

So now on to the really fun stuff.

Be prepared to laugh, mk???

All I can think is how on earth was my face that huge or my belly that round???

But seriously, this time I'm not so small, so who am I to judge???

And just for kicks and giggles, let's do a comparison between last week and this week, mk?

Anyone else think torpedo belly seems to be pointing a different direction this week?

And I am actually referring to SOUTH, not EAST.

But thanks for noticing, my directionally competent friends!

I actually had a lady at the grocery store tell me I looked like the baby was about to drop out of me today.

Ah, the things people will say to you when you weigh more than 2 times their weight is amazing to me.

I guess she knew my reflexes were a little off.

Still, worth a good laugh right?

And a week from now, well, I probably won't have time to even think about a weekly weigh-in post.

So let's enjoy this while it lasts!

And breath a sigh of relief that it's almost over!

Thanks for sticking with me!

My Honest Opinion: Kindle FreE-books

Let's see a raise of hands for all of you out there who have smart phones?

And now those of you who have an iPod Touch or iPad?

Or a Kindle?

Ok, you can all put your hands down.

Now, a raise of hands for all of you who have been intelligent enough to download a Kindle app for your device (if your device isn't a Kindle)?

Um, seriously, ya'll.

This is life changing stuff.

Like the first air freshener.

Or the first electric blanket.

No.  Seriously.

It's amazing.

Have I talked about this before???

Because if not....

That was CLEARLY a mistake.

Cause this happens ALL THE TIME.

And although I would have once said, "There's a reason that book is free..."

I have found that a bunch of these free scores end up being amazing reads!

BUT, there's almost always a catch!

Like when I discovered a book....

A free book....

That had sat in my Kindle library for about a year, due to having a stupid title.

But I was desperate.

So, I decided to read the first chapter.

And I was hooked.  

And finished the book in like 4 days.

And then I made the mistake of telling a friend about it. 

And you know what she told me???

"Oh, I just looked it up - there's like 5 books in that series!  Looks good!"

Cue the needle scratching off the record

It just figures.

And I go look up all the other books and they are all like $10 a piece for the Kindle.

And now, the original book is $9.

My point?

Download the app.

Score free reads.

While they are still free.

And then don't brag to your friend about them so they can burst your bubble by telling you the rest of the series is only going to cost you 2 boxes of diapers.

But that's just my opinion!  

And we know what you all think of that, right????

Helpful How To: NOT Going into Labor

In case you wondered or cared how last night turned out....

Baby girl is still snuggly and warm INSIDE my belly.

That's right.

After having contractions-painful ones-for almost 3 hours last night, baby girl changed her mind and stopped.

More than a little frustrated, I am.

Kinda excited about the new 3d release of Star Wars, I am.

Kinda tired of being pregnant, I am.

And yes, kinda thankful last night wasn't the big night, I am.

I'm surprisingly terrified of having 2 kids.

So what did I do to make it stop, you ask?

Well, first, I called my sister, who is the resident expert on baby-having.

Obviously.

Then I drank a gallon of water and put my feet up.

Although all that led to was needing to pee alot, thus getting me ON my feet a lot.

Tell me, why do they tell you to drink plenty of fluids and lie down?

Do they know what happens to a pregnant woman who drinks lots of fluids and lies down?

Because I do.

And it's really not helpful.

Also, do they know what it's like to attempt to pee while you are having a contraction?

But back to the point at hand...

It works.

And about an hour after drinking my water and lying down, my contractions stopped.

I know we are all relieved....

And I'm sure you are so relieved to know that what they say actually works.

Despite all the peeing....