Mommy Babbles & Catching Up!

I really want to update more and better document my wonderful new life...

But who has the time?!

LOL

Actually I do have the time, but I guess I just don't usually feel like spending that time typing away.

To start I wanted to talk about my parenting fears! I think a couple months ago I mentioned on here that I was nervous about being a parent, being a good mom, knowing what to do. 

Well.. now that he's here, and even from the very first time I held him...

Fears squashed.

Even in the hospital, I surprised myself by knowing what to do. Knowing how to sway and pat his butt to calm him down. How did I know that? Because he's my baby, I guess. He's caused me very little stress. Maybe he is just a good baby, but maybe I'm also a good mom. And maybe those motherly instincts really are just awesome. I'm just happy that I handle him well, and I don't freak out about things, and I know that I'm doing well with him. 

There are things that freak me out a little, don't get me wrong. Like the noises he makes... sometimes it sounds like he's having trouble breathing. Hate that! 

Anyway, he is amazing, and I really do love being a mommy. 

Before Zane, especially toward the end of the pregnancy, I was used to getting 8-12 hours of sleep a night. Seriously. The last month I often slept 11-12 hours. So having a newborn and having to wake up throughout the night to care for him... I was nervous! But, again, from the very beginning with him, it hasn't been a problem. The first two nights with him, in the hospital, I didn't get much sleep between him and the nurses, but I was fine. I was able to be awake and capable of taking care of him and doing whatever I needed to do.  Then bringing him home and not getting good solid sleep and still I'm able to do what I need to do. I do nap with him at least once a day when we don't have to go to town. Usually after nursing. That always makes me sleepy. Its just amazing how the body adjusts! 

And nursing. At first it was kinda stressful. I couldn't figure out how to hold him or get him to latch on and it hurt and it was just frustrating! But I got past that after a few days and by now I've got it down! My left nipple has stimulation issues though and sometimes I can't get him to nurse on that side. It seems like it has to be really full for it to work, or he has to get a REALLY strong latch, which usually hurts! But we get it to work, and if we can't get it on that side, the right side is always ready! :) So overall nursing is going well! When I go to town, I generally nurse in the backseat of the truck with a blanket over the window. Yesterday I had to nurse in public for the first time at Ellie's birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza. It felt so weird and was awkward! That will take some getting used to.. hopefully I don't have to do it often!

Diapers and spit up don't gross me out at all. When its someone else's kid, it grosses me out, but with mine it doesn't bother me at all. And this boy loooooves to pee on me. Someday I'll learn! Its amazing how much pee can come out of such a little guy too. It just gets all over the place... me, him, the couch, etc. Earlier today he managed to get some on his face. D'oh! 

I'm pretty much in jammies all the time. I mean I get dressed to go places, but if I'm home its generally gym pants and a tank top. When I do get dressed, its usually still maternity bottoms or my new size 18 shorts that I had to buy. :/  I don't have many shirts that I really like on me right now. BUT I'm only 27lbs up from when I got pregnant which is 35lbs up from my lowest weight. If I lose 30 I'll be under 200 again. I've done it before and I'll do it again! Dr. O believes it'll come off with little effort. He says to keep nursing, go for walks and "kinda" watch what I eat. (lol, seriously!) and I should keep losing. If I don't I guess we'll reevaluate. Hopefully he's right and it comes right off. Fingers crossed!!

The 4th of July was Zane's first holiday and we had the best day! It started with the parade where we sat with Clint's brother in law and his kids. The Bagdad parade is nothing to write home about, but it was fun! Lots of candy being thrown out at the kids and it was just really nice to be out in the sun after being on bed rest and kinda cooped up for so long! And it was great to have Zane out and about, showing him off! We went home for an hour or so then it was time to go down and check out the big trucks! Every year they pull out a haul truck and a front end loader on the 4th for the community to get pictures with. I think it'll be fun to watch Zane grow in comparison to these trucks every year! Then we went to the firehouse for the BBQ, then home for a few hours... yay nap! At around 6 we went back out. There was a street fair with music, food and games. We ran into lots of people each of us knew. I got to meet some of his friends/coworkers and he got to meet some of the people I know from around town, and everyone was just ooo-ing and ahh-ing over our little guy. Love it!! He's just such a good cute baby and I just love showing him off! Its weird because I've never been a big show off, never been a big bragger. I don't flaunt the good things that I have or try to make people jealous. But when it comes to Zane..... be jealous!!! LOL He's the best thing I've ever done, ever had. I'm damn proud of him and I'll always want to show him off and brag about him. So deal with it! :-p After the street fair we got to watch the fireworks. It was the first time Bagdad's done fireworks in years, the first time I've got to see them here, and they were really nice. Again I'm gonna brag about my boy because he was awake the whole time and just watched them. The sound didn't phase him at all. All in all a great day!! It was nice being out as a family. Clint usually isn't into town festivites but maybe having Zane changed that because even he enjoyed it and kept saying that they should do stuff like that more often. So hopefully we'll start going to all the town things together! :)

Well I that's all I can think of for now. I should mention I typed this up over the course of 2 days. LOL.

I'll try to update more, and next time with pictures maybe!

Goodbye 2011

(I typed this up yesterday, forgot to post it...)

Well tomorrow is New Year's Eve and for once I have some resolutions!

1. Add an extra half hour a day at the gym, making a total of 2 hours. I plan to do elliptical for 30 minutes, half weights, treadmill for 22 minutes, half weights, then stationary bike for 10-25 minutes. I'll probably work my way up with time on the bike like I did with the other cardio.

2. Drop soda again. At least for a few months!

3. Cut back on sugar. I've little by little allowed more sugar back into my diet and I need to cut it back out. I plan to do it gradually because it seems so much harder this time! I think last time, in April, it was easier because I had this fear of diabetes and knew that I needed to make serious changes. This time I feel and look great so it doesn't seem so scary. However, my latest blood work showed my blood sugar (A1c) went up to 6.0 from 5.9 in August. Which sucks!! So that should be good motivation! I need to get that back down and the only way to do that is to eat less sugar!

If I can stick to all that for a while, I think I'll start seeing the weight come off faster again! And I'll be in prime baby-making shape in no time! I am thinking 2012 will be a great year for us! Here's hoping anyway!

I really have learned SO MUCH this year. Like with my blood sugar going up. I wasn't too worried about it because I assumed since I was still losing weight, that must mean that my blood sugar was good. Even though I was eating so much more sugar. But I guess I just thought I was getting everything in check and regulated and my body was processing sugar right for a change and so it would be okay. I'm glad I got a blood draw when I did so that I can take steps to make it better again! This wasn't Dr ordered blood work, this was me wanting to know how I was doing before my appt next month. Which was supposed to be in November. LOL But it's just a little check up, weight and such. So I am wondering if Dr. O thinks that I've stopped losing since my blood sugar went up. Maybe he will be happily surprised!

Also talking about sugar, I have realized that I can't eat it like I used to anyway. On Christmas, all day long I was snacking on sugary treats. Fudge, cookies, sweet nuts, chocolate covered pretzels. Then a HUGE dinner and then some pie. That night I had a slice of sugar cream pie. Something new I tried, pretty good! Anyway, I woke up at midnight sick. :( Sugar NEVER used to effect me like that. I could eat all the sugar I wanted with no side effects. Even the next day, a hefty slice of apple pie was too much sugar and made me feel weird and jittery. It's kinda sad to me that I can't eat like that any more, even on special occasions. But I know that it's a good thing. My body is simply not used to it any more and it is rejecting it. That's a good thing. It's just kinda sad! Because I love me some apple pie! So next year I'm gonna make less pies. Possibly just the pecan pies that Clint and his dad love. And they are yummy enough so I can just have some of that. Or maybe I'll try a lower sugar apple pie or something. But we always waste so much pie so I want to make less anyway. We'll see. But somethings gotta change.

So onto the weight.. The Thursday before Christmas I weighed 206.75 I believe. I didn't go to the gym Friday-Sunday and on Monday I weighed 212.5!!! HOLY COW! That's a LOT of gain for 4 days! I have never had a spike like that! More proof that I just can't eat like I used to. But it's Friday now and I am back down to 208. I love that whenever I have a rapid gain, I also have a rapid loss. I'll be back to my 206 in no time. Which is good because I want to be as close to 200 as I can by my appt! I just know my Dr. will be so proud of my weight loss!

Everyone knows this by now, but I bought a pair of size 16 jeans!! Haven't worn 16s since high school. It feels amazing! And actually I think I am pretty close to a 14. My body is so annoying though. If something fits in the waist, it's always loose around the thighs. So I think a 14 wouldn't be buttonable at this time, but it would look great everywhere else. I will try some on sometime. If I get them I can wear them with a looser, long enough shirt and no one will know they're unbuttoned. I used to do this all the time when I was growing out of clothes. It's the rubber band trick! ;)

Oh so here are my most recent measurements:
December 21
207.25 lbs
Waist: 48"
Thigh: 24.5"
Torso: 39.75"
Chest: 37.75"
Bust: 44.75"
Arm: 13.25"
Lost an inch on my waist! Woot! And quite a bit off my bust. :( Bad measuring maybe? LOL

So we had a nice Christmas! Clint's parents stayed with us, which was nice! We had a family party over here on Christmas Eve. Clint made steak and shrimp and it was soooo yummy! And he had gotten the garage all fixed up so we partied out there, dancing to country music. :) It was a great night. Christmas was spent at Kallie's and everyone, especially the kids, had a great time opening presents! Then that big dinner I mentioned earlier. The next day was pretty relaxed, and the in-laws went home on Tuesday.

New Years Eve will be pretty uneventful. Clint's on nights (3rd year in a row! :/ ) and I don't think I'm babysitting (haha!) so I will either hang out at home alone, go to the bar alone (So not likely!) or go over to Robin's if her and Logan didn't decide to go out. I'm liking option number 3 the best. We can play Wii and have a few drinks and just hang out.

Okay well it looks like I have babbled quite enough! I think I will end this now!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!! I hope 2012 brings happiness, miracles and joy to all!