Body after baby week 4- Do you snack?

So this week’s topic is snacking and what is your favorite snack. So do I snack, in a word yes. I’ve found that snacking during the day and eating smaller meals I generally feel better about myself and what I eat. At work I keep snacks at my desk that are healthier than vending machine stuff or leftovers from meetings. Right now at my desk I have baked chips (to eat with lunch some days), 25% less sugar peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars, a couple of packets of hot chocolate (for the massive chocolate cravings, oatmeal and honey bunches of oats. I also keep crystal light drink mix and skim milk at my desk along with my coffee supplies. With all these things I still only snack or eat meals when I’m really hungry. My favorite snack though lately has been chips and salsa. I’ve been on quite the spicy food kick lately and that really satisfies the snack craving.

So this past week has been pretty good. I’m still logging all my food/ activity on fat secret and syncing it with my blackberry. I think the thing I like most is that I can put in all the activity I do during a day from sleeping, nursing, desk work ect. The program counts all of it and shows you how many calories you burn during a day vs how many calories you’ve consumed.

Since starting this I’ve been able to see how much I’ve lost. I normally weigh in twice a week before I go to work. I try and do it around the same time so that the conditions are the same each time. This week I weighed in on Sunday at 132.8 and when I weighed in Thursday morning I was down to 131.6. If I can keep this up I’ll reach my initial goal of getting down to 130 in a couple of weeks. After that my goal is to get down to 125lbs which is where I started before I got pregnant with Dot.

My goals for this week are pretty simple. I just want to stay on track and keep up with my food tracking. Also a side goal is to not manage to injure myself this week in our ice hockey scrimmage!

Changes

So some of you have noticed the last post I did was a product review. Well I wanted to let people know that my blog is about to start changing slightly. I’ve been contacted by a couple of other companies about doing product reviews. I have accepted and they will be posted here in the coming months.

I will still be posting about how things are. I have a couple of posts in mind with more about the reverse roll family that we have and about current things going on (kids, school, hockey ect).

I’ll be getting to these posts when I get a chance. To be perfectly honest I do all these posts when I get a chance in my free time. I tend to do them during lunch at work or after the kids are in bed so at times they can be few and far between depending on how busy I am between work and home. So please bear with me in the coming weeks while I attempt to get things going again and get these posts done.

Wordless Wednesday

My little hockey player in training.

Body after baby week 3. What motivates you.

This week went by extremely fast once again. Between work and family I feel like I've been in constant motion.

The good news is I am still gradually loosing weight. I weighed in this morning at 132.8. Also even after I said I wasn't going to track everything I eat, W found a site that syncs with my blackberry called fat secret. I've been tracking everything for about the past week and I'm really surprised. I'm not getting really bent out of shape about the days I cheat and I still do just about everything in moderation. Doing this has really helped me with my portion control this week. I'm feeling pretty good about things and have only had problems with my body a few times this week.

Also this week was my first hockey scrimmage. Thankfully the coach matched up the beginners vs beginners and the advanced vs other advanced players. The game went really well and I felt after the first period that I was starting to remember things. After my first two shifts on the ice though I felt the pain. I was so out of breath and winded I thought that I was doomed. But that was the least of my worries. I ended up falling and nailing my tailbone twice during the game. By the end of the game I was still going but man was I sore. When I got home that night I told W that I broke my butt and all he could do was laugh!

So this week's question for body after baby over at Mama Notes was what motivates you. Well both my kids and husband motivate me. I want to show my kids a good example and also take care of my self to be there for W as well. I truely enjoy being active and playing most sports. Its important to me for the kids to see me as an active healthy mom.

Also this week's challenge was to do 30 minutes of excersize 5 to 6 days a week. So far I'm doing well. Most of mine gets broken up into 10 minutes at a time or so but I generally can get 30 minutes in every day just in smaller incriments.

Honeysuckle Breastmilk Storage Bags Review

When I saw Melodie of Breastfeeding Mom’s Unite post a tweet about needing a pumping mom to review a new milk storage bag that is biodegradable I jumped at the chance.

I’ve talked on my blog before about my pumping situation. Right now I pump 3 times a day and normally get around 20oz and Dot normally only eats at most 12oz while I’m gone to the office. So basically I end up freezing one bag 4 to 5 days a week of about 8oz each.

After using these bags for a week I really can't find anything I didn't like. They have a tamper evident tear off seal, a large opening at the mouth and a double zipper at the top to prevent leaks. The write on tab is quite large which is very nice. One other thing is the texture of the write on tab. I write the date with a permanent marker and the tab seemed to help the ink dry quickly to reduce smearing once in the deep freeze.

The other thing I noticed about the bag was the reinforced bottom. The bottom portion of the bag where it folds in has what looks to be an extra layer of plastic. This is where I have seen leaks in the past during the thawing process.

I did what I thought was a good test of the bag. On Sunday I put about 8oz of milk in the bag and dated it like normal then put it in the deep freezer. On Thursday night I brought it back out and did a quick thaw under cold running water.

The bag shows markers for the amount in it and I purposely filled it fuller than expected to really test it. I am happy to report that we had no leaks at all during the thawing process. The bag held up very well after being in the bottom of my deep freezer for the week.

Overall I was very happy with the bags and the opportunity to review them. the bags worked well and I really had no complaints at all. They can be purchased from Amazon.com  and the company is working to get them on store shelves soon. 

Body after baby week 2

This week was very busy between work and family. Dot decided to do a bottle strike and her reflux has been really bad! So needless to say this will be a short post.

While I didn't get on the Wii fit as much as I would have like (meaning not at all after Sunday), I did continue to do mini work outs at work.

Also I started hockey back this week. It was great to see everyone again. When we split up to start practice I voluntarily went with the beginners after being out of practice for 9 months. After a few minutes I remembered how much fun it was. Granted we were working on basics but I really enjoyed it. By the end of the hour and a half I was soaked in sweat and generally feeling that I got a good work out. Next week is going to be the real test when we scrimmage for an hour and a half. This will definitely be a test of my cardio endurance.

Also we have skate with the Chargers this week. I know Butters will have a great time seeing all the guys again and it is one hell of a work out for me trying to hold up a 40lb 2 year old on the ice!

Now to address the question of the week. What is your favorite part of your workout? My favorite part is right after I stretch out and really get into it. The endorphins start to flow and I just tend to really get into it.

Body after baby week 1

Week one of body after baby went pretty well. I stepped on the scale today and one pound is gone.

On the exercise front I was able to work out on the Wii fit a few times this week plus increase the mini workouts that I do at the office. I mainly do squats and leg lifts while I pump since I have nothing else to do during that time. Plus I spend most of my day sitting at a computer so it always helps wake me up a little to get up and get moving in some small way. Due to the really cold weather we have had lately I haven’t been walking during lunch. I can’t wait til it warms up a little more and we can start walking again.

On Thursday I start practicing with the women's hockey team again and I’m really excited. I know I’m going to be really sore and tired come Friday but it should be a lot of fun to put all the gear on and lace up my skates once again.

My desk at work is stocked with healthy items such as baked lays (so I can stay away from the vending machine chips), oatmeal, special K granola and Archer Farms triple berry granola bars. The Archer Farms bars are just sweet enough and have a good bit of fiber and protein in them which helps me feel like I’m eating something more substancial.Well this week went pretty well. I stepped on the scale and one pound is gone.
On the exercise front I was able to work out on the Wii fit a few times this week plus increase the mini workouts that I do at the office. I mainly do squats and leg lifts while I pump since I have nothing else to do during that time. Plus I spend most of my day sitting at a computer so it always helps wake me up a little to get up and get moving in some small way. Due to the really cold weather we have had lately I haven’t been walking during lunch. I can’t wait til it warms up a little more and we can start walking again.
On Thursday I start practicing with the women’s hockey team again and I’m really excited. I know I’m going to be really sore and tired come Friday but it should be a lot of fun to put all the gear on and lace up my skates once again.
My desk at work is stocked with healthy items such as baked lays (so I can stay away from the vending machine chips), oatmeal, special K granola and Archer Farms triple berry granola bars. The Archer Farms bars are just sweet enough and have a good bit of fiber and protein in them which helps me feel like I’m eating something more substantial.

My hypoglycemia has been ok. Monday and Tuesday were bad. I just couldn’t seem to get control of it. Gradually I am getting better but some days are just really difficult. I try and snack before I feel it get really bad.

So far though so good. I'm happy with my progress and I know the ares that I need to work on.

NICU x2

How many parents know how it feels to have their baby only minutes old be taken away to the NICU? How many with their second have the exact same thing happen? These questions have been on my mind lately.

When I was pregnant with Butters I remember sitting in childbirth class and watching the video of the NICU. All I wanted to do was cry the entire time. I just thought that things were going so well with the pregnancy that there was little chance we would end up there.

I vividly remember Butter's birth. When I went into labor I was 37 weeks pregnant and so close to full term that we and my OB thought things would be fine. He said there was a slight chance of respiratory issues, but the chances were pretty low. Only minutes after he was born I was still in shock and he had barely let out a cry. I was told by a nurse within a couple of minutes that they were going to take him to the NICU for further observation. Luckily W got to bring him to me and let me see him before he walked with the nurse up to the NICU. Then about an hour later we got the call that he would be there for 4 days minimum. The 4 days turned into 7 before he finally got to come home.

Fast forward 2.5 years. I was pregnant with Dot and having constant contractions. I was on meds to stop labor and yet they kept coming. All of this started at around 28 weeks. We were so focused on getting as far as we could to give her the best shot at not having to go to the NICU like her big brother. Finally at 37 weeks and 1 day I was admitted to the hospital to finally let nature take its course after having contractions the night before. We were told so many times that girls do much better so we didn't think there was any reason to worry. After she was born she did cry, but the NICU was called for a consult. Once again my child was taken from me. And once again about 2 hours after she was born I got the call in my room that she was being admitted. I remember the neonatologist said that they did everything they could but she was following in her brother’s footsteps.

A couple of days into Dot’s stay I got to talk to Dr. Morris as he made his rounds. He told me that the studies are still being reported on, but it looks like if the first baby has respiratory distress like Butter’s did, that the chances of a sibling having are in the 80 to 90% range. He even said that there was another baby in the NICU that the exact same thing happened to his/her older sibling.

When your child is in the NICU there aren’t the normal visitors of friends and family for the most part. When Dot was born we did have W’s family come up and another good friend, but that was it. For me the biggest support with both kids was W and the nurses and lactation consultants at the hospital. The one we had at night with Dot was wonderful. One night she stayed in the room and just talked about things with us. Because sometimes after a situation like that you just need someone who has been there / done that kind of thing. There was also the lactation consultant came by one day before I headed down to the NICU. Her words of encouragement were priceless and just the fact that she came by to make sure I was ok not physically but emotionally. She talked for just a few minutes before giving me a hug and reassuring me that I was doing everything right for my baby girl. Another group that was a huge help were the women on a local breastfeeding message board run by the owner of A Nurturing Moment. She herself is a lactation consultant and answered my questions and just made herself available if needed. The other members were also wonderful in offering their support.

Having both in the NICU within 2.5 years of each other brought out the best and worst in W and I. Many times we were just mad and generally angry at the turn of events. But even through it all I think it made us stronger.

To this day I still feel guilty. I know I did everything I could but the guilt is still there. All I wanted was to bring one of them home when I was discharged. I wanted to room in, but of course that didn’t happen. I remember crying in the middle of the night while W was asleep. I kept hearing babies down the hall and it just tore me up inside.

I have no clue what spurred me to write this post. I’ve had these thoughts in my head for some time but struggled to ever write them down.

I guess in some way I hope that someone will read this at some point who is either going/ been through something similar. I hope that it shows them that they are not alone even though that’s exactly the way it feels.