Post Baby

After I had Clara I lost my baby weight quite quickly. I lost all but the last 10 lbs in the first 2 weeks. I lost 5 more lbs in the following 2 weeks. And then after that it was coming off at about 1 lb a week. I am pretty sure I can thank nursing for all the weight coming off so quickly. I started nursing Clara not really thinking that I would get very far with it. I only did it for 2 weeks with Jackson. 1 - I didn't like it, at all. 2 - I got the flu and was left with hardly any milk. I am sure I could have gotten my milk to come back in, but because the first 2 weeks were so painful, I didn't really care to keep doing it... so I quit.

While I was regnant with Clara it was a constant debat in my mind... to nurse OR not? A few weeks before she was born I had to talked to quite a few people that had talked me into giving it a try... a good try. So when she was born, I went for it. It was hard in the beginning, a little painful, although not as bad as with Jack. I remember talking to one of my Aunts about it. She told me if it was hurting, it meant she was latched on wrong and to readjust. She was right. So together, Clara and I worked at it - and we got through it.

I got to the point where I was loving it. It was my special time with her. I loved just sitting and holding her. I loved how she would look at me, like she was memorizing every part of me as her mother. It was a real bonding experience. I finally understood why women nursed and loved it.

Recently I decided to start working again. But I knew that Clara would not take a bottle, and therefore I could not leave her with anyone. So I stopped nursing. It was bittersweet. Its so nice to beable to have other people feed her, to feed her while I am doing my shopping and not feel like I have to pause for 20 minutes and find a dressing room, a bathroom stall, or go back out to the car. But I miss my time with her, the bottle just doesn't give that same bonding time with her. I miss the "FREE" part of it, the price of formula really adds up. And I really miss the way my body was responding to the breasfeeding!

I was eating just about everything insight. I had ZERO control. But it didn't matter - because no matter what, I felt great and I was still dropping weight. Now that I have stopped and my body is back to normal, I am realizing I have to get back to my diet to feel good again. I really need to get to the gym, but where I will find time besides going at 6 am in the morning, I don't know if it will happen.

So back to vegetables, protein, lean meats, and light on the fruits I go. Breakfast. Snack. Lunch. Snack. Dinner. Here I come. Hopefully that treadmill will be my friend again... mabye if my dear Clara starts sleeping through the night, I will get an extra boost to get out of bed at 6 o'clock in the morning?!? But for now we will focus on the delicous foods that are now cut from my diet and the "healthy" foods that will replace it.