Weigh In Wednesday: One week until D-Day!

I almost wasn't able to get on today to update everyone on my progress... This computer that I hate so much is running VERY slowly these days which makes logging in an absolute PAIN!  But here I am and I'm happy to report that I am .8 lbs lighter! Okay, it isn't even a whole pound, but I'll take it. Knowing that it was week one of my last two weeks before the big weight loss kick off made me indulge a little more than I should have (Damn Swedish Fish) and I knew that the weight loss would slow down. I'm just happy to not have had a gain!

So today was Farm day.  I've mentioned our CSA before. Last year was our first year and we decided to join again, determined to find ways to prepare these local veggies that we aren't used to eating (Kale? Kohlrabi??)  I'm liking the CSA very much this year. Partly because we dropped to a half share. I'm ashamed to say a lot of food went to waste last year and this year seems to be just enough that I can manage it a little better. So this week, here's what we got:  Broccoli, 3 heads of leaf lettuce, a nice fat cabbage, a bag of mesclin, garlic scapes, 2 kohlrabi, basil, kale hmm...I think that's it.  So my new loves in this list are the garlic scapes and the kale, two items that I habitually ended up tossing last year.  No longer scared of the garlic scapes (which if you aren't familiar, is the top of the garlic plant, these are harvested first and then the bulb of the plant--the garlic cloves--are harvested later) I have found a way to incorporate them in to more dishes.  Last year I tried them raw in a salad and was turned off by their bite (much like eating raw garlic)...but saute these babies and the flavor becomes mildly garlicky...it added so much yummy flavor to the broccoli dish I made last week! I also threw some in the cabbage dish I made...I'm tempted to just serve them up as a side, but it might be too much garlic flavor for the family.  I have learned how to turn the kale into a light crunchy chip, the perfect base for a myriad of flavors: garlic salt, Parmesan cheese, smoked paprika etc.  This will be my new favorite "diet" snack. I L-O-V-E potato chips and these could easily become a viable substitution for those...seriously you can't eat just one!

In other news, I've got a crybaby on my hands. My littlest darling catnaps during the day and likes to cry if she isn't being attended too. I'm very nervous about how I will incorporate a workout into my day. My other babes took long naps in both the morning and afternoon. Olivia would sit awake, alert and content for a good while, but Chloe isn't like that. At least not yet, so we will see how things go...one more week to get a feel for some sort of routine!

Weigh-In Wednesday (a day late!): Accountability Counts

Well...4 weeks post baby today. I'm beginning to look forward to that 6 week appointment; the one that clears me for all activity and signifies the start of my serious consideration of my weight loss journey.  Dare I say I'm kind of excited.  My goal is to create a buzz that produces comments like this one "She looks great! I can't believe she has 4 kids!?!" All vanity aside though, I do want be healthy and fit for my kids, and my husband and myself.

My first serious weight loss journey began after I had Ava.  At one point I remember weighing less than I had in a long time but my body had changed so much and everything was just sagging.  It was gross and depressing to me to look in the mirror. At that point, I buckled down and began my love-hate affair with the tread mill, started lifting weights and threw in a little Yoga because it made me feel good. I joined weight watchers on-line and with the support of my mom and sister I was able to drop about 20 pounds. I felt great.

So I'm excited to get back to that place.  I thought I could use my blog as a motivator for myself.  I'm a little leery about sharing it with the world but I've been thinking that it could help because accountability counts. Am I going to want to post that I had a gain one week? Probably not...so to avoid that maybe I will try a little harder.

Right now I'm not doing anything but getting Chloe on a routine of some sort, and pumping.  I am happy to say that the first few pounds have melted away fairly easily. I don't expect this phenomenal weight loss to continue much longer, but I am going to wait until the 6 week mark to really concentrate on diet and exercise.

So part of this whole accountability thing will be to mark my progress and talk about what I am doing that works and what isn't working and measure my success...but we've got to have a jumping off point...so today, my first edition of Weigh-in Wednesday will come complete with stats...and (eek!) before pictures!

So at the height of pregnancy I weighed 172 lbs.  My pre-pregnancy weight was 130 lbs. My feel good weight goal is 120 lbs.  My ultimate goal is between 115-117.  I'm only 5'1" so this is a healthy weight for me.  I currently weigh 141.4 pounds, which means that I am already down 30.6 lbs!  YAY!  I still have 21.4 to 26.4 lbs to go.

Here are the lovely pictures!

Front View: Not too bad for 4 weeks post delivery--note love handles.

Side View: I look like I'm about 4-5 months pregnant here--but that's to be expected, I suppose.

Back View: Looking a little frumpy dumpy from behind--I'll be trying to change that!

So, I've got my work cut out for me.  The only thing I have left to do is take all my measurements. I will probably do that on the official start of the big fitness endeavor in two weeks!

By the way, if anyone would care to join me, let me know. It would be fun to have a diet/exercise buddy...We could all use a little push from a friend sometimes, so let me know!

Ahhh...Blog, Sweet Blog.

Wow…I’ve been itching to get back to you blog. There have been so many times during the past three weeks when I have said, boy, I wish I just had a few minutes to get on and write about what has been going on here. Where have I been for three weeks, you ask?

Well, exactly three weeks ago I was gearing up for our newest arrival. Let me introduce her formally: Little Miss Chloe Susan, born May 27, 2010 at 8:12 pm. Weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. even and measuring 20.5 inches. Here she is fresh out of the womb, chubby as can be:

Now that labor and delivery is behind us, I am trying to hold on to the memories of what will most likely be my last pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I love to be pregnant and I love being a mother, more so than I ever thought I would as I was growing up. I really enjoyed this last pregnancy with no complications except for the nagging foot in the rib that plagued me continually throughout the last month or so. I gained 42 lbs. this time. Better than the 55 lbs that I gained with Olivia—who was my smallest baby at 7 lbs. 15 oz coincidentally. I was induced and my water was broken and pitocin started at 3:30 pm. I did opt for an epidural which worked like a charm and by 8:05 I was ready to push. I pushed through 2 contractions and she was here! Easy peasy! Don’t be jealous, that’s just how I do it! :)

The biggest question when she arrived—besides, is it really another girl?—was whether or not she had a cleft palate. Upon an initial inspection the pediatrician was not quite sure, but we have since confirmed that Chloe does indeed have one. It is a different type than the ones her sisters Ava and Olivia have. They call it a sub mucous cleft palate. Basically she has skin on the roof of her mouth covering the hole that is her cleft. The bone and muscle is not properly formed, but she has a good suck—which neither Ava nor Olivia had.

I thought I would be able to nurse successfully and was overjoyed. They don’t surgically repair these types of clefts unless there is a significant speech issue…which of course we won’t know about until this little one starts to talk. If her speech is very nasal then they will do a correction much like the one that her sisters had. I’m praying that she won’t need the surgery. It is quite a bear and frankly, I don’t want to go through it again, let alone put another little one through it. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So on to the nursing thing…why is this such a big deal you may wonder? Well, besides the fact that it’s free food for the baby, it’s convenient, and it’s the healthiest option…I just really missed out on the experience with Ava and Olivia. If I hadn’t had a successful experience with Jordan, I suppose it wouldn’t be such a big deal but I did and it is. It IS a big deal when providing the most basic thing that a newborn needs becomes so difficult. Ava had a complete oral aversion. She didn’t like anything coming at her mouth, food or otherwise. Feeding her took so long and was so difficult. I wasn’t able to nurse, however I did manage to pump for the first 6 months. I had a large quantity of milk to give, but she just wouldn’t take it. She came home with a Nasal Gastronomy Tube and later we put in a more stable Gastronomy Tube called a Mickey. With Olivia it wasn’t as bad: she wasn’t able to nurse but she at least wanted to eat. I pumped for 6 months with her too. Feedings did take a little longer and it took her a long time to plump up but she is my chubby little cutie now.

So this time…I nursed for the first week. I thought everything was going fine, but I had a little suspicion after my milk came in that something might not be right. After I talked to the clinical coordinator at our Children’s Hospital my suspicions were confirmed. Even though it seems like Chloe might have a strong suck, she still might not be able to get all the milk she needs from nursing because the muscles just aren’t properly formed…Well, after hearing that I jumped into survival mode. I made Jim run out and buy a pump that very day. I had a little bit of a breakdown after my first session produced one measly ounce of milk. My supply was dwindling because she wasn’t able to build it. We ran out and bought a can of formula. I also must express my dissatisfaction with Magee’s Lactation department. I put a call into them on a Friday and didn’t hear back until the following Tuesday—yeah, thank God it wasn’t an emergency right?? By day three my supply came back, I’m happy to report. And now I’m able to exclusively feed her breast milk. I’m very happy about that. She can suck down a bottle like a champ, so no worries that she isn’t getting enough this time and even though pumping IS a little more time consuming, it isn’t nearly taking as much time as it did with the other two. I’m happy and grateful for the first week of nursing, even if it was only a case of ignorant bliss. We’ll see how long I can keep up with the pumping. I hope I can make it to a year….only 49 more weeks to go! :)

This is it…my first blog back…there’s so much more to say, but I’ll stick to topic here and just give you a sneak peak of some other subjects I may touch on later…if I can ever find the time again!

Future blog topics:

Jordan and Ava’s first dance recital
The CSA Share
More mommy stuff
Briefings on the house sale and house hunt
Anything else that strikes my fancy!