On. the. clock.
If I could sum up my life right now, it would be with those three words. Now that we have settled into somewhat of a routine and the recovery/getting to know your baby period is over, that is totally how I feel. Everything is a rush. Everything. I am either rushing to get to work because I waited to feed the baby, rushing to get home to feed the baby, or rushing after a meeting or training session to do every mom's favorite: pumping! {{note the sarcasm, please}}. Pumping in the car, pumping at work, pump, pump, pump! Its funny how easily you forget these days once you are finished having a newborn and breastfeeding! But I do know how fast it goes so I'm trying to embrace the chaos.
Mentally I feel like I am in SO much of a better state than one month ago. I was so on the struggle bus wondering what the hell I had done to my life! You know its going to get better, but in the moment, those days seem so far away. Sleep helps. Healed incisions helps. Regaining human adult contact helps. BEING ACTIVE HELPS a gazillion times. Spaced out feedings helps. Baby's maturing helps. God is so good.
Seb has settled into a GREAT sleeping pattern {{hopefully this doesn't jinx it}}...the last week or two he has given me a 5-7 hour stretch of sleep. Most of the time after the big stretch he is up every 90 mins or hour, which is tough, but I'm trying to be grateful for the long stretch. Two out of the last three nights he gave me 5-6 and then another 3! Amazing!
I can attribute this to pure luck after my first {{devil child}} was up every 2-3 hours until he was 9 months and I have changed nothing about my approach. I swear. The last two nights I have even been able to put him down after nursing him when he is awake and he actually put. himself. to. sleep. YOU GUYS. I swear that someone is going to jump out of the closet, and yell PUNKED! and Seb will start screaming ha. I am praying that all this continues.
Sebby is a super smiley and happy baby. After that first 6 weeks he has settled in and is pretty content most of the time unless he needs to eat. Yeah, lets talk about that. Little man can down 7-9 oz of breastmilk when fed the bottle! Outrageous! He clocked in wednesday at his 2 month check up at 15 lb 14 oz and 25.5 inches. I know Max was a big boy and in the 90th > percentile when he was a baby and it all seemed to even out when he got older so I would assume this guy will be the same!
Sebby's favorite things to do right now are nurse {{obviously}}, sit in his bouncy seat (which Max hated and I wondered why we bought it back then!), and play on his mat.
Max is a great big brother, but I am sure as you mommas know, you just cannot leave them in a room together. I'd be back to a family of three. ha. This time of year brings so much more meaning now that Max is starting to understand everything: Jesus, God, the manger, snow, santa, stockings, etc. Our trip to see Santa was absolutely traumatic. The second time we went we brought Sebby and he was a lot more calm which was great. I'm totally excited to see his face Christmas morning.
The best part of the last two weeks would have to be my recovery. My incision healed up so much faster this time around after it opened up. It only took 2 weeks of steri strips and laying low. At 8 weeks and 4 days I was able to start some cardio on the elliptical and a few days later I hit up some accessory work in the gym. It felt so dang good! On top of that, I started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge on Dec 1st so I'm excited to have a plan and feel accountable to something bigger than myself. Two friends are also doing it with me so its an awesome support system. Because I'm nursing there are only certain supplements I can take so I am on a modified version (approved by my dr, of course). One of the best parts of the challenge is there isn't strict portion control. If you're eating the right things and moving--you will see results which is especially great for nursing mothers. My personal approach is different this time around --I want to lose weight of course, but not at the cost of providing nutrition to my baby. I'm definitely eating a little more carbs than a year ago due to the demands of nursing and the importance of providing that for my baby. Happily I can report that I haven't seen a drop at all in my milk supply. I know my results may not be as dramatic as if I wasn't nursing but at the end of the day I have the rest of my life to get super lean, and I am lucky enough to have a. enough milk b. a good support system c. flexible work conditions to enable me to pump. SO...this is a gift I can give to my boy that will pay dividends for years to come.
Regardless, I am such a type A and goal oriented person that I can't wait to weigh in and do some measurements on Day 10! I'll be posting some meals and my progress throughout the next 2 weeks. Until then my goal is to get strength training 4 times a week (4 hours) and 3-4 days of cardio (20 mins each day for a max of 90 minutes). 5 hours a week. There's 168 hours in a week. Gotta Find a way to fit it in!
Have a great weekend everyone!
xo Alex
PS..I am obviously a big advocate of breastfeeding after nursing Max, but have tons of family/friends that formula fed for many reasons and I totally respect all of those reasons. I know how hard breastfeeding can be and as long as mommy and baby are happy..its all good :)