Still fit and fabulous after baby--December 2011 (Cont from

Yay! The after baby board starts!

Name: Holly
Age: 38
Partner: Husband Nathan
Career: Registered Dental Hygienist
Where you are from: Washington
All about baby: Ellie Olivia born September 7th, 2011
Prepreg weight: 148lbs
Height: 5' 7"
Goal Weight: 142-148lbs
lbs to lose as of now: I'm at 151, so between 3-9
Game plan to reach goal: I have been back to running since being cleared from my non-planned c-section. Adding a fourth run this week for 14-15 miles. Need to start Tracy Anderson Method for toning!!, but realistically that probably won't happen until after the holidays. I would like to bump my running mileage in two more weeks. Doing abs, arms and strength training 4 days a week, plus daily walks with my first babies (two dogs!)
Fun Fact about yourself: I love the mornings! I miss not hitting the road to run at 5a now (Ellie is calling the shots these days!), but absolutely love to wake up early when the world is so quiet and peaceful.

Oh and forgot to mention in my plan to reach my goals - healthy, clean eating (80-85% of the time - you have to live a little!) I am a firm believer that what you put in your body has a huge affect on how you feel. When I fuel my body with nutritious, whole foods I have tons of energy and feel great. When I eat too much junk I feel like a slug.

Hey ladies. Keep up the good work and enjoy those babies!

-Ashley
32 weeks

Cindy, Ash, Ashley and Nichole - looking forward to you all joining us!

Today will be a four mile run for Ellie and I and a walk with the dogs. Then we head to our annual Girls Shopping Weekend, which my mom and her girlfriends started over 20 years ago. It's just time for catching up, Christmas shopping and enjoying the city at the holidays.

Hope everyone has a great, healthy weekend!

Looks like you are going to have quite a few lurkers on here! (me included! lol) So happy for all of you ladies and your new babies! 12 more weeks for me - can't wait to join in, I'll definitely be keeping up with this thread to learn as much as I can from you new mommies!

One question (just curious) - I'm just wondering how breastfeeding is going for those of you who are doing it? Any tips you'd like to share would be great! I really want to breastfeed and I just ordered a book online to learn as much as I can to make sure I'm successful - anyway just wondering how it's going for you ladies

Happy Friday all! :flowerforyou:

Hey Heather and Holly!! I'm glad I found you guys.

Name: Kalee
Age: 28
Partner: Husband Joshua
Career: Stay at Home Mom to 5
Where I'm From: Opelika, AL
About baby: Kallon Jericho born November 6th, 9 lbs 2 oz, 21 in
Prepregnancy weight: 130
Height: 5'6"
Goal Weight: 127
pounds to lose: 25
Game plan to lose weight: Eating right, counting calories, pilates & walking.
Fun fact: I coach Highschool volleyball!!

Totally lurking!
I love hearing about how all the mommas and their babies are doing!
Expect me to lurk A LOT.

blessedmomof3: I plan to cloth diaper as well and my understanding was that babies that were cloth diapered had less occurrence of diaper rash. Can I ask what detergent you are using? And what type of rash cream? My understanding is that anything with zinc oxide causes cloth diapers to become less absorbent. And with regards to detergents, not everything that states 'free and clear' is really. Maybe I can help trouble shoot based on the class I took...?

Rosanna
34weeks, 3days

Ladies with babies and Lurkers! Love it! Glad I found the thread I knew Heather would start up for us. Thank you!

Sure love to read your posts (usually in my down time of nursing Annie before bed). I've still been lurking on the pregnancy boards here and there, too. Just no time to post! (My fun fact as of now: Both babes are actually taking a late afternoon nap at the same time!)

On to the survey:

Name: Amy
Age: 37
Husband: Tyler
Career: 911 Dispatcher, currently on one year Mat. Leave
Where you are from: Vancouver, BC, Canada
All about baby: Annie Lucille. Born September 13th, 2011, 8lbs 8oz, 21 inches
Other kiddos: Colby Thomas. Born April 29th, 2010, 8 lbs 1 oz, 20 1/4 inches
Pre-Preg Weight (#2): 158
Pre-Preg Weight (#1): 155
Height: 5' 7"
Goal Weight: 147-150
lbs to lose as of now: 7-11
Game plan to reach goal: I get out and double-stroller power incline walk any day there's no rain. In addition to that I do 5-6 days a week of toning, abs and cardio. I'm finishing up my 6th week of Lindsay Brin's 60 Day Slim Down. Less than 3 weeks to go! I've lost 11 pounds and quite a few inches off waist, hips and thighs. My abs are finally looking defined as are my arms. I'm finally in most of my size 6 jeans. Just have one pair of True Religions, Size 28 I want to get into (wore them the night before I got married in Jan. 2009). When the Slim Down wraps up I intend on continuing with Lindsay's DVD's and adding some Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (they have similar styles, will just keep it varied. Besides, 25 minute workouts are about all I have time for most days if I plan on showering before nap ends, too!).

Fun Fact about yourself: By then end of 2011 I fully indend on saying I've gained and LOST 90 pounds in the last two years (with two babies to show for it). Four more pounds and I can say that! Nice to know it's happening a lot quicker this time around (thanks to MFP). It took me 5 months to lose the weight the first time around. This time it shouldn't be any longer than 3 months.

Melissa, excited to see you again! Congratulations on Amelia Joy, she's beautiful! I don't have any great advice on the diaper rash, but wonder if it could be yeast? I thought Ellie had a rash in the first few weeks and my sister looked at it and said "looks yeasty to me". Now my brain is having a hard time remembering what cream the doctor had me use (it was OTC) but it cleared it up in two days and we haven't had any rash issues since.

Kalee, happy to see you too. Poor Kallon, I hope he starts feeling better. It's so stressful when we don't know what would make them feel the best. Hopefully you can both get some rest.

Amy, I can't believe it's been almost a year now since we met here. Our little ladies we just little poppyseeds back then. I'm happily back in all my size 6 jeans too. Actually had to put a belt on today to keep this pair from falling down :-) Now if I can just get my totally defined tummy back I'll be super happy.

Rayna, I agree with Heather in regards to breastfeeding. As natural of a thing that it is, it is incredibly challenging in the early days and I totally understand why some people give up. For me breastfeeding was a non-negotiable thing so I knew I was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. The hospital where I delivered is well known for being strong supporters of breastfeeding so lactation consultations are a normal part of your hospital stay (they also do post-partum check ups and have a 24 hour help line if you need it). I also had AWESOME nurses throughout my hospital visit - I found that they all have a little different type of technique so it's helpful to get assistance from all that you meet. My sister is also a NICU RN so she was a GIGANTIC help to me. I have to admit that after the first 48 hours both Ellie and I figured out what was going on and breastfeeding was pretty smooth sailing after that - my milk came in before I ever left the hospital and unlike Heather I did not have any discomfort to deal with. If you are planning to use a Boppy or some sort of breastfeeding pillow, I would suggest taking it to the hospital/birthing center with you so that you can get comfortable with it for positioning. I have also heard that Le Leche Leauge is a little radical, but an excellent resource. The best advice I can probably give is to be patient with yourself and Mason, it may take a little bit, but you can do it!

Heather, sorry to hear Charlee is a little under the weather. I too have such a fear of the first big cold or fever. Have you seen the nose Frida?? Ellie and I are doing great. We have a fantastic bedtime routine and she is sleeping wonderfully, I believe I am really spoiled! Don't worry too much about the short workouts at this point. Remember that I had to wait six weeks before I could get back to it and that probably made it a little easier since we had a little more time to just bond and figure each other out before I started exercising again. A word of advice too - Ellie almost always needs to nurse shortly after we return from a run. She seems a bit sensitive to my sweaty body - I try to shower first, but have since started making the feeding after a run a bottle feeding. I am not back to work yet. January is when I have to return :-( I am already starting to dread it......I don't know if you remember, but I've been not so happy with the new doctor that purchased the practice where I work and it's a 20 mile commute. I started shopping my resume around this week and already have an interview with an office 1.5 miles from my house! Pray for me that it works out as being much closer to home and being in a better environment will make it easier to leave my precious bambina.

Here's a great blog if any of you are interested - www.seattlemamadoc.org. Dr. Swanson has some great information and is entertaining too.

Happy weekend to everyone. Big hugs and kisses to all the beautiful babes!

Holly

Thank you Heather & Holly that really helps - I ordered "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" by the Le Leche League from Chapters online on Friday - I'm very eager to read it.

I'm also going to see if there are any breastfeeding classes by lactation consultants in my area
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and we able to get some sleep!

I plan to cloth diaper as well and my understanding was that babies that were cloth diapered had less occurrence of diaper rash. Can I ask what detergent you are using? And what type of rash cream? My understanding is that anything with zinc oxide causes cloth diapers to become less absorbent. And with regards to detergents, not everything that states 'free and clear' is really. Maybe I can help trouble shoot based on the class I took...?

Rosanna
34weeks, 3days

Hi Rosanna,
I am using my own detergent made of washing soda, borax and oxi clean. I also used a sample of Rockin' Green and a sample of Country Save. I haven't been using rash ointment w/ the cloth but I did by California Baby which is suppose to be a cloth safe ointment. In disposables I have been using Burts Bee's. If she is in cloth I am using pure Lanolin on the rash but nothing seems to help until I take her out of the cloth again. I just cleared the rash up again and will try cloth again tomorrow. I'm 99% sure it isn't yeast. My son had a yeast rash but this is much different, more like an ammonia burn/rash. I would LOVE any advice you could offer from your class
[/quote]

I'm kind of at a loss. The questions I asked were based on what I learned in class. The only thing I didn't ask is what type of fleece are you using to wick the moisture away from baby? My gut is telling me it is one of the ingredients in the detergent. I went online and read a little about the ingredients...Borax is said to possibly cause skin irritation. Have you tried eliminating the ingredients one at a time to see if perhaps that could be the source of irritation? You indicated that you used samples of Rockin' Green and Country Save....how long did these last you? Were you able to diaper for a few weeks using just these detergents? Or did they only last you a few washes? If they only lasted you a week or two, it may not have been enough to clear up the baby's rash. That's really all I've got. I really hope this helps. Let me know what type of fleece, and give me whatever feedback you have on the detergent. I will contact the class instructor with that information and see if she has any suggestions.

Rosanna

Hello Ladies!

Rosanna- Thanks for looking things up for me. It turns out that the rash is now occurring in disposables as well :frown: I'm sure at this point that it is food related. I've been dairy free for 5 days now but it seems to have gotten worse instead of better and now we are dealing w/ upset tummy/ reflux issues a bit too. I've been keeping a food journal since she was born b/c my boys were super sensitive and I had to play the elimination game w/ them too. I'm thinking now that it might be fruit and fruit juice. I've had a lot of apple cider lately and it may be causing some of our problems. Hoping to figure it out sooner than later and going to get some infant probiotics to try to help balance her out a little. I'm pretty sure the fleece was cotton, but it was just some leftovers I had from an old project so it may have been synthetic...I'll have to look into that. The fact that the rash is so isolated to one part of her behind and not on all the parts that the diaper touches leads me to think that its not the detergents.

Heather- I'm dealing with the same thing with the food. Options are seriously limited right now lol. I've been down this road before with my 2nd. He had an very immature digestive tract and was lacking healthy bacteria and he would get blood in his stool if I ate any dairy, fruit or tomatoes. It was tough and it lasted until he was about 4 months old. Amelia isn't nearly as severe as he was but this is still a tough game to play. It is the worst to see your baby in pain. You are a great mommy for being willing to make the sacrifices for her and paying close attention to her needs while her little tummy is still maturing.

Other than our diapering and food issues, things are going great! She is generally on a great night schedule, going to bed around 9:30 and waking up between 2 and 3 for a feeding and then again around 5 or 6 and then sleeps until 7 or 8. I feel very well rested. I did pull a muscle in my stomach last week b/c I was overdoing it w/ carrying to many heavy things at one time but I can tell it is healing. It is so hard to believe that 3 1/2 weeks have gone by already but also hard to believe that its only been 3 1/2 weeks! Loving every minute!

Quinoa is the power food. Love it! Great suggestion Holly.

Heather, I'm sorry about the rough night, too. Resting/napping sounds line the best thing to do for yourself. I want to tell you that BOTH Colby and Annie were 'grunting babies'. It sounds awful as they are trying to ahem, grunt one out! They never cried at night, but the grunting sure kept me up at night! Google 'grunting baby syndrome'! Sometimes doing 'bicycles' with baby's little legs can help It eventually stops and they learn to poop without the commotion. It was nothing I was eating. Come to think of it, I do believe Annie can do her business in peace at nearly three months old.

Well, trying to coordinate another morning nap so I can get a 40 minute workout in...and a shower!

Hi Melissa,

Sorry about your little napa's diaper rash. No fun on their poor little bottoms. Hope it clears up soon!

Here's my favorite quinoa recipe. Super quick and easy to make. Tastes delish, even the next day. It's my party food when I'm to bring a salad and always a hit!

Greek Quinoa and Avocados

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup water
2 Roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded fresh spinach
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Spinach leaves
2 avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
1. Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together quinoa, tomatoes, spinach, and onion.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt. Mix with quinoa.
4. Place spinach on plates with avocado slices and quinoa. Sprinkle with feta.

Nutrition facts per serving: 332 calories, 7g protein, 27g carbohydrate, 24g fat (5g saturated), 8g fiber

(Originally published in FITNESS magazine, May 2009)

I too hope everyone (including myself!) has a restful night.

~Amy