So I managed to go to my TOPS meeting on Monday night, and renewed my membership. I weighed in, and got my new starting weight. I'm not sure how it's going to work, whether I'm considered to be starting over from this weight, or whether I'll go from my original starting weight. I'm only about 5 lbs lighter than what I started out at in January 2007. I felt like a bit of a fraud wearing my name sash with my big "20 lbs lost" ribbon. Oh well, it'll be earned all over again I guess. :)
We are doing well adjusting to our new addition. I've signed my son up for Kinderswim, which is a parent attended swimming class, so I'll be carrying my son around a swimming pool every Friday morning starting next week. I tried to get into a Women's strength training class, but it filled up really quickly, and I missed out. I'm on the waitlist for January though. So it looks like my exercise will consist of what I can get done with the kids around and the occasional drop in evening class I can get to, when hubby can watch the kids. That's assuming that Lorelei's breastfeeding can be put on a reliable schedule. I feel like we're almost there, but I have no back up supply of milk for bottle feedings, so we're pretty much attached at the breast. :)
For weight loss, I've been maintaining for the last few weeks, but I've been eating way too much junk food. It's been really bad for me motivation wise. I eat all this crappy fod, but the scale shows no increases, so I feel justified in my cravings. I feel like my body needs the calories ( I am still kind of eating for two.). I feel hungry all the time. I have been craving carbs like crazy, and eating cookies, chocolate and ice cream way too much. I'm eating way more crap than when I was pregnant. I think I may be trying to replace sleep with food, but it's not working. All I can say is that at least It's not showing on the scale. I'm planning on cutting down on them slowly, because I don't want the weight to drop too quickly, and I'm not sure I could stick to a restrictive diet right now anyway.
Hopefully you're all doing well. I'll be visiting your blogs, once I get used to the new EP layout and format.
Lorelei Isabelle was born Friday, August 15, 2008 at 11:32 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz, and was 21 inches long. She was 10 days overdue, when she finally chose to make her appearance, but she was well worth the wait. We did manage to get the vaginal birth that I had wanted, and were able to come home relatively quickly under the care of our midwife. (About 36 hours after I arrived). Because I had to have a C-section with my son Ryan, we were a little uncertain as to whether I would have problems delivering naturally with Lorelei. After about 12 hours of labour and 40 minutes of pushing, she finally arrived.
Because I was already 10 days overdue, I was scheduled for induction on Friday, August 15th. We had an ultrasound that Monday, and the baby had been measuring at an esimated 8 lbs 14 oz. So we had assumed we had an 9lb baby on our hands. My contractions started around 10:30 am, and I got an epidural aroun 6:30 pm. By around 10:30 pm I was fully dilated, and we were ready to start pushing.
After the first few pushes, I was able to reach down and feel her head, while she was still inside me. That was the weirdest and most wonderful feeling. The time went by really quickly, but I was told that I pushed for about 40 minutes. She was in the perfect position, so the pushing went well. Finally she was born at 11:32 pm! The midwife placed her on my chest while they cleaned her, and I immediately started crying. She was so little! I had been expecting a 9 lb baby. Her big brother was 9 lbs 11 oz when born, and we were expecting a similar size. Then the midwife took her for some suction and cleaning, and swaddling. It was at this point I found out that I had a 2nd degree tear, but I only required 3 stitches. It still hurts ALOT, but it's a hell of alot better than the c-section recovery was.
In the end, I have to say I am extremely HAPPY! My little girl is healthy and beautiful, I got to have the VBAC delivery I had been hoping for, and breastfeeding is going wonderfully well. (My son was a nightmare, and I almost had a breakdown trying to breastfeed him.) She is 2 1/2 weeks old now, and has aleady gained a pound!
So, I'm back on here tracking my weight again. I haven't really been watching what I eat because I was more worried about getting breastfeeding started and I didn't want to affect my milk supply. I gained about 35 lbs with this pregnancy, and so far I've lost 15 lbs. The next 20 will come off alot slower I'm sure, but I really don't feel too worried about it. Exercise wise, I think I'm going to be limited, what with watching the kids. I've gotten in a couple of walks with the double stroller, so I think that's what I'll stick to for now. Lorelei is a wonderful baby, and she is so easy compared to my son. She only cries when she is hungry, or wants to be held. I'm hoping things continue this way for a while. I'm actually getting decent amounts of sleep, and am starting to sync her up to my son's afternoon nap time. If that works I'll be able to shower and do housework then. Maybe eventually exercise as well. :)
I'm planning on starting back at my TOPS meetings either this upcoming Monday or the Monday after. It will depend on how the day goes, and what time hubby gets home from work. Thanks to everyone who still came to visit my page and check up on me.
So here I am, 5 days before my due date, waiting for my baby to make an appearance. My son is napping and my husband is moving furniture, so that he can finish the living room and dining room renovations before the baby comes. I guess he's finally starting to feel the time pinch. Everything is *supposed* to be done before the baby arrives, and he's always been a bit of a procrastinator. I've been living without a dining room or kitchen for the last month! and I have no running water on the first floor. This means I'm doing dishes in the bathtub, and filling water jugs from the upstairs bathroom. All while 9 months pregnant! Our new appliances are getting delivered on Aug 14th, and he says he will definitely be done before they arrive. And I'm getting a new dishwasher, Yay!
I'm on maternity leave now, and I won't be going back to work until August 4, 2009! Yay me! On the baby front, at my last Midwife visit I was 50% effaced, but barely dilated. Only about 1 cm, enough to do an exam. This morning the baby dropped, and it is definitely noticable. My stomach isn't forcing my breasts up like a shelf anymore. It's lowered, and I actually look a bit smaller I think when I check out the mirror. I am going to try and get a 40 week shot of myself up soon, but for now I'll post one of me at 36 weeks.
The other big news is that at my 37 week u/s we found out we're having a girl!!! She was estimated as being 7 lbs 3 oz., which would put her at about 9 lbs by her due date. My son was 9 lbs 11 oz. (12 days late) and both my hubby (9 lbs) and me (8 lbs) were big babies too. I will try to get online and post pictures and stuff after she's born, but I 'm not sure how long I'll need to adjust to another newborn in the house. :)
Oh, and I'm up about 32 lbs for the whole pregnancy.
I went to my midwife appt last week and my Gestational Diabetes tests came back normal. The Baby's heart rate was high again, in the 150's. I know it means nothing, but it still gets my hopes up for a girl. Well it keeps my hope alive anyway. I measured 1 cm small again. 30 cm at 31 weeks. My midwife assures me this is a normal measurement, so I'm not really worried.
Weight gain - I'm at around 26-27 lbs weight gain, it fluctuates back and forth right now. I'm sure by the end of the weekend it'll stay at 27, and just keep going up.
The baby has been putting a real beating on me the past few weeks. Even my husband has been surprised at the number and strength of baby's kicks. We were laying together on the couch last night and hubby actually saw my tummy move! Sometimes the baby surprises the hell out of me, with these sudden painful kicks and stretches. I didn't feel the movements as strongly with my son. They certainly were never painful. Fortunately, I read online that this is the time of the pregnancy when fetal movement reaches it's peak. From here on in, there won't be as much room for the baby to move around in.
I'm also trying to figure out right now how to move my son from his crib to his big bed, but I'm still not sure he's ready for the change. He's only 18 months. Ideally I'd like to have him moved over before the baby comes, so that there's not as many feelings of jealousy, and replacement. I'm hoping that we can get him moved over, and leave the crib empty for a few months, while the baby co-sleeps with us. If anyone has any thoughts please feel free to share. :)
So I figured I'd come on today to give a small update. I'm 27 weeks pregnant now, and I'm back up to 222 lbs. I don't feel too bad about it, because I'm gaining my weight pretty much on schedule, almost the same as I did my last pregnancy. I'm going up by about a lb a week (not counting the first trimester), a total of 17 lbs so far. I've got about 13 weeks left, so it looks like I may end up gaining less weight than last time. ( I gained 40 lbs with my son.)
The only disheartening thing is that it's hard watching those numbers on the scale (and the graph on the right!) go back up, when I worked for months to get them to go down. :( I'm sure a large part of it is the baby, or will be. With my son I had lost 20 lbs by the time I went home from the hospital, so I know that part of it will come off very quickly. :P
Anyway the baby is doing fine. We're not scheduled for any more ultrasounds, so I'm not sure what we'll be having. But everything looks normal. On my last midwives visit the heart rate was high, which often indicates a girl, but I won't hold my breath. :) I'm going for my 2nd Blood glucose test next week, which will test to see if I've developed Gestational Diabetes, but I'm sure everything will be fine. My first test was normal and my last pregnancy was fine all the way through as well.
Now, I'm off to get updated with all of your blogs. :)
So I'm back to give a bit of an update on my pregnancy so far. I'm back up to 215 lbs. That's about 11 lbs up from my lowest weight, and I'm in my 21st week. I think that I'm gaining at a healthy rate for this pregnancy. I'd like to keep my weight gain at or below 40 lbs, which is what I gained with my last pregnancy. If this one goes like my last one, I'll gain the bulk of my weight in the last month. I gained 10 lbs in my 9th month last time, although I think most of it was water weight. At least that's what my swollen feet and ankles indicated!
I'm doing well so far. We've had two ultrasounds neither of which have been able to determine the sex, which was a little bit disappointing, but at least the US's showed a healthy baby! This time I'm attempting to have a vaginal birth. I had a C-section with my son, so there are some extra factors to having a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean). Since it is less than a year between my two conceptions, I went and spoke with my previous OB, although I am using a midwife for this birth. He had two recommendations for me. One, that I get another blood sugar test done at 28 weeks. I've already had one done and tested normal, but he wants to make sure that I don't develop Gestational Diabetes later in the Pregnancy. I'm not too worried about it, I was fine my last pregnancy. Two, he wants me to have another Ultrasound closer to my due date, to determine the size of the baby. Size is an important factor in VBAC's, since larger babies, stretch the uterus and scars more. He also said that 2nd babies are almost always larger than the first, and since my son was 9 lbs 11 oz. (12 days overdue) there is some risk of a large baby.
He told me that I am a good candidate for a VBAC, depending on a few factors. Basically we are all planning on a VBAC, and we will reassess at my Due Date. The Dr. measured my fundal height yesterday, and I'm measuring 22 cm at 21 weeks (they should be equal). So I'm already measuring large. :
So, I've been a bad EP'er. I admit it. I haven't been on here in almost 5 months. I've got reasons, I've got excuses! I've been meaning to come back on and give an update. Especially since I keep getting little nudge emails from a few of you, but I always put it off until tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes. :(
First I'll catch you up, in case any of you are still coming back to read this. :) My hubby left for Alberta on Oct 14th as scheduled, and I had my hands busy being at home alone with my son. I ended up arranging a home daycare for my son, and was getting prepared to go back to work. THEN, my hubby called me on a Friday and said "Guess what? My project's been canceled, I'll be home on Monday!" So, my Husband came home on November 12th, after being away for only a month. I was so happy, and Ryan was too. Plus we ended up being able to celebrate my son's first birthday as a family.
On to the next part of the news. I'm pregnant!
After Bill got home we reunited like bunnies. :) I was no longer on BC, becuase of his planned absence, and when he got back we just didn't care. I was due to start my actual period on Monday Nov 26th, but it didn't come. My son's birthday was on the Wednesday of that week, so we were busy with that. Finally on the 28th I got around to taking a pregnancy test. So after my son went to bed, I took out the test, did it and it was positive!
So, I'm about 18 weeks pregnant and due on August 5, 2008. My pregancy symptoms have not been fun to deal with and for the first 3 months I have been suffering from constant nausea and tiredness. Added to that is that I returned to work on Dec 3rd, and dealing with my fun but challenging little toddler. :) Some nights for the past few months I was going to bed at 6 or 7 pm, and sleeping through until the morning. Luckily it seems that the worst is over. I'm finally feeling back to myself again. I'm sure the days getting longer is helping too. The winter just seems to make me want to hibernate every year.
So, obviously for the next 6 months or so, I will be gaining some weight. I have been watching what I eat, and trying to eat nutritiously. Of course I have been having cravings, but not for anything too abnormal. Just random things like chicken wings, mashed potatoes and bacon (not all at once though!). I have lost my taste for onions, and garlic doesn't seem to be sitting well with me any more either. The biggest changes to my diet have been that I have full fat versions of things like salad dressing, cheese, yogurt and butter. Although I am still drinking skim milk. I also eat almost immediately after getting up in the morning, although this is good for my metabolism anyway. So far I've gained about 5 lbs. I weigh about 208-209 depending on when I weigh myself. I also stopped going to my Tops meeting, although they say I am still welcome to attend as a pregnant member. I'm just not sure what I'd get out of it at this point. I don't want to add anything right now, that might make me feel self-conscious about gaining weight or my body.
I do plan on still writing on here, just not as often. I'll keep those of you that are interested updated on how I'm doing. I do still plan on tracking my weight while I'm pregnant, because I don't want to get too out of control. I've got 22 weeks left, and I anticipate gaining another 20-30 lbs. But you know what, even if I do gain 30 lbs, I'll still weigh less than I did with my last pregnancy, because of the weight I lost before getting pregnant.
I'm sure I'll be visiting and catching up with all your blogs soon!
Shirls
PS: Thanks Kimby and Kia for those extra nudges. :)
Sorry I haven't been around (again!) but I've been doing alot of thinking the past week. I'm feeling pre-emptively lonely. My hubby is leaving for a work assignment next Sunday, and he won't be back until Christmas. :( So I've been spending as much time with him as I can.
I feel like such a suck for complaining, he's only going to Alberta, and it's really good for us financially. Added to that is, if he decided to stay, he faces the possibility of getting laid off for the winter. He's really excited and pleased since he was one of only 8 chosen from 64 internal applicants. I am happy for our credit rating, but I'm also feeling really sad. :P This happened last winter too, except that it was only for one month, February. This time he'll be gone from Oct 14th to around Feb 10th. He'll be home for 10 days at Christmas, but that hardly seems long enough. I also start back to work myself in December, and it's not going to be easy on me or our son.
Anyway, I know others of you have it harder than me, being single parents, or with husbands in the armed forces and/or more than one child. I'm going to use you ladies for my inspiration (I'm thinking of you Kimby). If you guys can handle it, then I certainly can. Maybe by Christmas I can have 20 lbs off, and surprise my hubby with a new wife under the tree. ;)
Here's to thinking positive!
Unofficial Weigh In: Due to Thanksgiving I don't have a meeting this week, but my unofficial weigh-in at home tonight showed me down 2 lbs. :)
So, today was pretty good, except for eating some of those new Oreo Wafer Sticks. I didn't think I'd like them, since I'm not a big oreo fan. I had a box or oreos in my house for two months without touching them once. I wanted to try them just to see, and man that was a mistake. I'll have to make sure to get them packed in hubby's lunches, eaten and out of my house as soon as possible.
I'm caught up again with everyone's blogs. I didn't leave any comments though because I was doing my speed-reading thing. Speaking of reading, if any of you are looking for a good book I just finished a really good (fiction) book. "FAT" by Rob Grant. It's a book set in the (very) near future, where being fat is the last approved discrimination. There are several voices in the book, including a "normal" guy, an anorexic girl, and an obese man. I enjoyed it.
Also, in catching up with everyone's blogs, I'm realizing how slack I've become with exercise. The only exercise I've gotten in the last month has been going for walks around the neighbourhood, at the grocery store, and the mall. Needless to say I'm not setting a very quick pace on these walks. :) I'm going to try to kick it up a notch.
Oooh, almost forgot! I wanted to comment on TBL last night. I thought the trainer temptation bit was a bit lame, like there was any chance they were going to cheat! Watching the weigh ins made me feel less proud of myself though. I mean when they're complaining of "only losing 3 lbs" it bothers me. That is a good loss for a week. I would be so proud of that No one can maintain double digit losses till the end. I guess being there, having it become the focus of your week, being on tv, ups the stakes a little too. :P So, I'm wondering what the big change is going to be next week. Maybe sending them home for a week, or on vacation (like a cruise ship), or the opposite, like Marines boot camp? I'm also wondering if that'll be the time they switch to pairs or individuals.... Can't wait for next week. :) GO BLACK!
I went to my meeting tonight, and I was up again. I'm up a total of 3 lbs from my last weigh in before vacation. It's not too bad, but I'm finding it very hard to get motivated to get back on track. I've been home almost two weeks, and I still feel the urge to stay on the junk food band wagon. I've been falling to the urges a little too often. Oh well, I'm going to work really hard this week to see if I can get back to where I was pre-vacation.
Ryan is sick, he's got a runny nose and threw up on me and himself this morning. What's worse is that he did in public. :) Yay ! <sarcasm>
Anyway, not too much else to say at this point, I've been missing my blog, and my scale shows it. I know when I'm on here everyday, I do so much better, so why don't I make it a habit? I don't know, but I'm going to try again. I go back to work in 2 months and I want to be in ONEderland at least!
Well I'll end this ramble here, and hopefully get caught up with all of you tomorrow.
