When does the "baby crying all the time when it's awake" thing end? With Story, we're getting little ten minute- half hour bursts of inquisitive, cute baby, then hours of crying or hours of sleep. I'm just wondering for my own sanity, as we are in constant crying/sleeping land.
Thanks for any input :)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
feeling not so cute
During pregnancy, the weight you gain and the way your body changes is something seen as joyous, blossoming and beautiful. Your round, growing belly is a symbol of ripeness and new life. All the weight change and body morphing is a good thing.
What they don't tell you is that once you have given birth, you don't look un-pregnant. Your belly isn't flat, for the most part, and you aren't magically pre-pregnant looking. A lot of jokes and fun are made of how you'll "lose 20 lbs in the least amount of time ever, just by giving birth," but the truth is very, very different.
I'm struggling a lot with this transition body I have right now. Yes, it's been less than a week and I know, in my rational mind, that it's not reasonable to think I'd be closer to my pre-pregnant shape. But honestly, I had no clue I'd look five months pregnant after giving birth. My belly is going down little by little, but I still have a bit of a swell to it. My ankles and legs are still a bit swollen and I have stretch marks and a bit of loose skin at the bottom of my stomach. I look at myself in the mirror and don't see the hot, awesome mommy bod, but this odd, misshapen form that doesn't know what it wants to be yet, caught between a pregnancy form and my old, curvy self.
Clothes still don't fit right and, due to my c-section incision, I can't actually wear a lot of my maternity pants and skirts because they rub up on it. So, I'm relegated to the same four pairs of pants to alternate with my nursing tanks, all of which make me feel like a frumpy house-frau. I constantly feel like nothing fits and that I am stuck in the same boring clothes all the time. It sucks.
Now, the truth of this whole matter is that I will shrink back and be closer to my original self in time. The real deal is that I had a baby and a c-section, both of which are fairly dramatic and traumatic things to happen to my body and it will take more than a week to adjust to it. And the reasonable approach to this would be to be easy on myself and not get so frustrated with feeling like an unattractive, lumpy frump.
But I have to say that, though I know what makes sense in my mind, it's hard to reconcile right now. Especially when you see all these Hollywood moms who have a baby and are smokin' hot within weeks after. And I think that it's hard as a woman not to find yourself comparing yourself to those images of "perfect" women who go from round pregnancy body to hardbody in the blink of an eye.
I'm lucky that I have a hubby who adores me and thinks I'm beautiful no matter what. I wish I could have some of that confidence right now. But I'll admit that I'm finding myself in a state of "whose body IS this!" right now. I kind of want to just curl up and hide from the world.
Yes, in the end it's still worth it. I still look at Story every day and know that her awesomeness outshines any body issues I'm experiencing. But that doesn't make it tough to just want my old pre-baby body back, or something close to it.
What they don't tell you is that once you have given birth, you don't look un-pregnant. Your belly isn't flat, for the most part, and you aren't magically pre-pregnant looking. A lot of jokes and fun are made of how you'll "lose 20 lbs in the least amount of time ever, just by giving birth," but the truth is very, very different.
I'm struggling a lot with this transition body I have right now. Yes, it's been less than a week and I know, in my rational mind, that it's not reasonable to think I'd be closer to my pre-pregnant shape. But honestly, I had no clue I'd look five months pregnant after giving birth. My belly is going down little by little, but I still have a bit of a swell to it. My ankles and legs are still a bit swollen and I have stretch marks and a bit of loose skin at the bottom of my stomach. I look at myself in the mirror and don't see the hot, awesome mommy bod, but this odd, misshapen form that doesn't know what it wants to be yet, caught between a pregnancy form and my old, curvy self.
Clothes still don't fit right and, due to my c-section incision, I can't actually wear a lot of my maternity pants and skirts because they rub up on it. So, I'm relegated to the same four pairs of pants to alternate with my nursing tanks, all of which make me feel like a frumpy house-frau. I constantly feel like nothing fits and that I am stuck in the same boring clothes all the time. It sucks.
Now, the truth of this whole matter is that I will shrink back and be closer to my original self in time. The real deal is that I had a baby and a c-section, both of which are fairly dramatic and traumatic things to happen to my body and it will take more than a week to adjust to it. And the reasonable approach to this would be to be easy on myself and not get so frustrated with feeling like an unattractive, lumpy frump.
But I have to say that, though I know what makes sense in my mind, it's hard to reconcile right now. Especially when you see all these Hollywood moms who have a baby and are smokin' hot within weeks after. And I think that it's hard as a woman not to find yourself comparing yourself to those images of "perfect" women who go from round pregnancy body to hardbody in the blink of an eye.
I'm lucky that I have a hubby who adores me and thinks I'm beautiful no matter what. I wish I could have some of that confidence right now. But I'll admit that I'm finding myself in a state of "whose body IS this!" right now. I kind of want to just curl up and hide from the world.
Yes, in the end it's still worth it. I still look at Story every day and know that her awesomeness outshines any body issues I'm experiencing. But that doesn't make it tough to just want my old pre-baby body back, or something close to it.
Monday, October 27, 2008
OMG baby carriers
Last night, Tim discovered that there are two things that Story loves.
*Rap Music
*Being carried around while daddy does chores.
The only problem was that daddy was having a helluva time balancing all of his chores and carrying her around. Whenever he'd put her down to go do something he needed both hands for, she'd start wailing all over again. If only there were SOME amazing invention that allowed him to carry her while doing the chores...
Tim mentioned to me that we should make sure we get a sling carrier of some sort and I was like, "UM we were given a baby bjorn type carrier from Chris and Val forever ago!" And he was like, "really? I don't remember that.." Well, just a few moments ago, Tim found it and is currently lugging Story around the house while doing some fun chores- moving dream dinners from the chest freezer into the fridge, working on laundry and who knows what else. There is no extreme wailing, no horrid crying. Sure, Story goes through phases of crying/deciding whether she likes the carrier, but nothing compared to last night.
Ok, seriously... who would have known that something so simple as a knock of baby bjorn could bring so much sanity to our little family? Damn I love this thing.
I can't wait until I'm healed enough to try it out! Oh man, just going on walks around the neighborhood would be awesome!
*Rap Music
*Being carried around while daddy does chores.
The only problem was that daddy was having a helluva time balancing all of his chores and carrying her around. Whenever he'd put her down to go do something he needed both hands for, she'd start wailing all over again. If only there were SOME amazing invention that allowed him to carry her while doing the chores...
Tim mentioned to me that we should make sure we get a sling carrier of some sort and I was like, "UM we were given a baby bjorn type carrier from Chris and Val forever ago!" And he was like, "really? I don't remember that.." Well, just a few moments ago, Tim found it and is currently lugging Story around the house while doing some fun chores- moving dream dinners from the chest freezer into the fridge, working on laundry and who knows what else. There is no extreme wailing, no horrid crying. Sure, Story goes through phases of crying/deciding whether she likes the carrier, but nothing compared to last night.
Ok, seriously... who would have known that something so simple as a knock of baby bjorn could bring so much sanity to our little family? Damn I love this thing.
I can't wait until I'm healed enough to try it out! Oh man, just going on walks around the neighborhood would be awesome!
Other blogs... and FLICKR!
Hello You Crazy Kids-
I wanted to point out that I have finally added links to my other blogs in the left sidebar. I've been bad and never linked all of my blogs together, so I figure it's time I did. So, if you're interested in non-baby posts or dance thoughts, you can find them over on the side.
And it's finally happened... we have started to post waves of disgustingly cute baby photos to Flickr.
Back to play our favorite game...
Why Is The Baby Crying?
:)
I wanted to point out that I have finally added links to my other blogs in the left sidebar. I've been bad and never linked all of my blogs together, so I figure it's time I did. So, if you're interested in non-baby posts or dance thoughts, you can find them over on the side.
And it's finally happened... we have started to post waves of disgustingly cute baby photos to Flickr.
Back to play our favorite game...
Why Is The Baby Crying?
:)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Nursing is tough stuff
Nursing is really hard, or at least for me it is. I'm finding that it's so tough to make it work, especially b/c I have very limited positions right now due to my c-section incision. I can't sit upright extremely well, so the normal cross-body hold is tough to maneuver. But, like Tim Gunn says, I'm "making it work" any way I can.
Did you know that during the first few days of work, you're aiming to have your baby feed 8-12 times a day? That's a lot! We only got six yesterday, but I think we're going to hit the mark today. Already she's hit four feedings since midnight, so we're doing better!
And the nurse taught us the BEST trick ever!!! She gave us a syringe of sugar water that I use to drop on me and in Story's mouth while feeding. This is helping her to latch much better than before (she was oddly motor-boating it and just not fully getting it down every time. This caused her to start wailing like bloody murder!) We've found this to be a great tool to get her to latch and she's already starting to get it without the syringe now. YAY for women's wisdom!
And I made more progress in the last hour- I was able to walk down the hall to the "kitchen" and refill my own water/ice. It doesn't seem like much, but it was a huge triumph for me. I've barely been able to walk around our room, so it was great to get down the hall! And I'm wearing more "normal" clothes, like a nursing tank and a pair of palazzo pants, so I'm feeling more like myself every moment.
Though it's so weird to see how I look five months preggo, still. It's gonna take a while for the belly to settle down a bit again, I know that. But I have to admit it makes me feel porky and unattractive. Thank goodness for hubby who tells me I'm pretty all the time :)
Did you know that during the first few days of work, you're aiming to have your baby feed 8-12 times a day? That's a lot! We only got six yesterday, but I think we're going to hit the mark today. Already she's hit four feedings since midnight, so we're doing better!
And the nurse taught us the BEST trick ever!!! She gave us a syringe of sugar water that I use to drop on me and in Story's mouth while feeding. This is helping her to latch much better than before (she was oddly motor-boating it and just not fully getting it down every time. This caused her to start wailing like bloody murder!) We've found this to be a great tool to get her to latch and she's already starting to get it without the syringe now. YAY for women's wisdom!
And I made more progress in the last hour- I was able to walk down the hall to the "kitchen" and refill my own water/ice. It doesn't seem like much, but it was a huge triumph for me. I've barely been able to walk around our room, so it was great to get down the hall! And I'm wearing more "normal" clothes, like a nursing tank and a pair of palazzo pants, so I'm feeling more like myself every moment.
Though it's so weird to see how I look five months preggo, still. It's gonna take a while for the belly to settle down a bit again, I know that. But I have to admit it makes me feel porky and unattractive. Thank goodness for hubby who tells me I'm pretty all the time :)
too precious
Story LOVES her daddy's snoring. She's on his chest right now, awake and totally fascinated by him. Every time he snores, she touches and strokes his beard in appreciation.
:)
:)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
about the buddha
The doctors LIE my friends, they LIE!
Though by no means small, our Story was not the 9lbs predicted! Story was a "mere" 7lbs 15 ounces at birth! We think they overestimated b/c they were feeling her big butt down near my cervix and were mistaking it for a head, causing them to misinterpret her weight.
So there ya go!
Though by no means small, our Story was not the 9lbs predicted! Story was a "mere" 7lbs 15 ounces at birth! We think they overestimated b/c they were feeling her big butt down near my cervix and were mistaking it for a head, causing them to misinterpret her weight.
So there ya go!
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