Friday, April 17, 2015

Fitness Update


I know this isn't a fitness blog, but I've really been trying hard to stay on track this week and I've been pretty successful! And since I started a fitness Instagram account (follow me @katinas.fitness.journey) I decided it might be fun to incorporate my journey into the blog a little bit more. Plus there are no rules saying that I can't blog about fitness! I have had success a few times with losing substantial amounts of weight and staying fit for a good period of time afterwards, so I thought I would share some of my ideas. Maybe I'll share more about those experiences later. One of them I blogged about here.


So this week I've counted calories every day and at least gone on a short walk every day and some days did a lot of walking. I have not been successful with fitting Sean T in every day, however I am not giving up. I will figure out a way to fit it in or find another way of doing strength training. 

I feel like I could have made better food choices, but as I said before, counting calories is a science and it usually works for me. This week I lost three pounds despite the fact that I ate quite a few fattening foods. I was focused on making sure to just limit the amount of food that I ate and that partnered with light exercise already seems to be working! That doesn't mean I'll continue to make bad choices, I'm just getting started, and often as I start to see results I become motivated to do better. 


Maybe some of it was water weight, but hopefully at least one pound of it was fat that I needed to lose and that is what one pound looks like. Yuck! I need to lose more of those! 

So here I go into another week! Wish me luck over the weekend! I'll leave you with this thought.







Monday, April 13, 2015

Getting in shape postpartum

So I know that I said I was satisfied with my postpartum body way back when, but I'm starting to feel differently about it ;) Maybe it has to do with summer, maybe it's just time for me to get up and move. Whatever it is, I have made a decision that I want to get in shape.

It's good to make fitness goals public for two main reasons.
* It keeps you accountable
* It inspires others 



So I guess that is what I have decided to do. Right now my fitness goal is to lose 10 pounds by the time Ruth is 40 weeks old. That means I have 9 weeks to do it. That is a lot of time if you decide to go hard with fitness, but I am not sure how much this new mama body can handle. From what I have seen other mommies doing, I think the answer is a lot, but I'm gonna start slow and that should be plenty of time to lose 10 lbs.

Before Ruth started teething I did a week of Sean T's 15 minute workout with Dr. Oz, I found it on youtube. It kicked my booty and I was so sore! It worked well because Ruth just watched me workout and then I sat her by the door of the bathroom while I showered off. By the way, I am giving you the play by play just in case there are any other moms looking for ideas out there. 

This all ended abruptly when she started teething and became a lot fussier. Everything seemed right with the world. I was eating and snacking healthier. I had my baby figured out. Until those mean little suckers started poking through. My world was turned upside down once again. 

7 Months Post Partum
So what's the plan now? My goal is to do Sean T's 15 minute workout 5 days a week again, since Ruthie has a little play station that usually keeps her pretty happy, I will put her in that while I work out and shower. The goal is 5 days a week, but it may turn into only 3 days a week. The next goal is to take a walk with her once a day, I would like it to be an hour long walk, but it may be shorter depending on what the day holds. She usually loves walking, so I am hoping to at least get this goal met even if Sean T doesn't happen ;)


Lastly, but usually the most difficult part for me, food! The dreaded calorie count! It has to happen! I have never lost weight any other way. It's a science and it always works. Myfitnesspal calorie counter and diet tracker makes it a lot easier these days! I should add that it gets tricky when you are breast feeding, so I am adding about 500 calories on top of what I would usually do to lose weight. I guess I can adjust that if it seems like it's not enough or if it seems like too much. More than losing weight I want to have a good milk supply, so if I feel that the amount of calories that I am challenging myself with seems too small for my breastfeeding body, I will most definitely eat more!

I'm happy to say that I already started today and things are off to a good start! Ruth loves sitting like a big girl in her stroller facing out and she falls asleep like a champ in it. When did she get so big?


Thursday, April 9, 2015

My parenting style


As is sat there nursing my baby girl to sleep the other day and rubbing her forehead to help her fall asleep easier, I realized how completely satisfied I am with the way I have chosen to parent her at this time. Now as I sit holding her for her nap as I do during most naps nowadays, I am happy. I am happy that my baby lets me hold her while she sleeps and is comforted by her mama's loving arms day and night. They are open to her whenever she needs me. And all the sleep deprivation in the world couldn't keep me from responding to her cries.

It's funny how you think you know things about babies before you have them. I think back to myself even days into her life, set on schedules and sleep training. Wondering when life would be normal again. But then I found a new normal, one that I fell in love with.


I used to have a lot of misconceptions about attachment parenting. I don't love labeling it that either. I understand why it's called attachment parenting now, but to me the title seemed to indicate raising a child who was attached to me and never wanted to leave my side. I realize now that it is actually allowing the child to develop a healthy attachment during the 'attachment phase' of life, thus allowing for a more secure and confident child in the future.  

I feel like a better name for it would be 'instinctual parenting.' I feel that everything about 'attachment parenting' is very instictual. Which is why for so long I wasn't really admitting to myself that I was connected with this group of people who practice this style of parenting. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, I just wanted to do things the way that felt natural to me. And then I realized that all of the things that have felt natural fell into this category, this style of parenting.


So, finally I admitted to myself and eventually everyone else that I in fact am practicing attachment parenting. Because if you put it on paper that's exactly what it is. I can see how a lot of moms stumble into this style of parenting naturally and there also moms who practice it and don't even realize that there is a label for it. 

It's not a bad thing to not have a label for it, but for me it was a relief when I finally admitted/realized that I in fact was practicing attachment parenting. Mostly because I could find others who were doing things the same way much easier once I put a label on it. I am finding this sense of community comforting and encouraging. I could also find helpful hints and tips on how to do things according to this style. Some of my favorite websites so far have been kellymom and Ask Dr. Sears

Once again, I'm not saying that this is THE way to do it. And in a way that is what attachment parenting is all about, doing things instinctually, in a way that feels right for you and your baby. It's about  freedom in the choices that you make for your family. It's about ignoring all the noise out there and just doing what's best for you and your little one.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Keep her close


Some people might not agree with this. But I couldn't agree with anything more right now. Tomorrow my baby girl will be 7 months old. I still wake up at night to feed her. I still let her nap on me most of the time. Many people would say that these are bad habits. But I call it enjoying my baby while she is still a baby. This is the way that I have chosen to parent her and I don't regret it one bit. 

When she sleeps on my lap during the day, mostly on the 'boppy' (breastfeeding pillow for those unfamiliar with it) I breathe her in and feel her closeness because I know that one day she will not want to be so close with me while she is sleeping. When she wakes up she smiles at me and sometimes she falls back asleep. These are precious moments that I wouldn't trade for the world. The housework can wait, my hobbies can wait, so many things can wait till my baby is grown and more independent. 

I am confident that she will grow out of this and become independent which is why I have so much peace with the way that I am doing things now. She is already a very confident and happy and playful baby. She plays well on her own and goes easily to new people. 


But when she is tired and she just wants to be comforted, it's me she seeks. She looks for her mama to comfort her and I want her to know that she can rely on me to do that. I take so much joy in doing it. 

I can't believe that she will be 7 months old tomorrow. This time while she is little is flying by and when she grows out of taking naps with me I want to remember all these times that I allowed myself and my baby to enjoy this opportunity to be close. I could be doing other things, but I have chosen to invest this time in her while she is so very little. I am so very satisfied in what I am doing right now, my only fear is how much I will miss it when it has passed. 

I'm not saying these things to condemn anyone or say that this is the only way. I want moms out there who do the same thing to know that it's okay. Soak it up and enjoy your baby, this time will be gone before you know it. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Only you know what's best for your baby...

Today was just, crazy! I made an amazing discovery after a very frustrating, cross-cultural doctor visit. All I wanted her to do was check my baby's ears and she wouldn't because she didn't have a fever. I was pretty convinced that my little girl had an ear infection. Last night was better, but before that she was waking every hour four nights in a row! She had a runny nose but this didn't seem to be bothering her much when she slept. It was obvious that some sort of pain was waking her and she always wanted to go straight back to sleep. Rarely needing to be nursed back to sleep, just soothed and rocked a little.


Yesterday when she started pulling a bit at her ears I started to feel sure that it was an ear infection. We have an American pediatrician here, but she is in Europe right now so I needed to see a local doctor. I had no idea what an ordeal it would be. I thought since American doctors always check ears that they would too, but I guess you need to go to a specialist for that here and I wasn't allowed to because she didn't have a fever.

I was very upset. I felt stuck. I contacted my amazing lactation consultant/friend/confidant. I love her! I cannot tell you all enough how this woman has changed my life. She has helped to shape my views, but not in a demanding way, she is so gentle and peaceful and loving and supportive. I can't rave enough about her! She told me a simple way to tell if she might have an ear infection and a natural remedy.

When she woke up I was going to check until I noticed something in her mouth. I knew she had been getting her two bottom teeth and thought that if this all was still from teething it seemed crazy. UNTIL I noticed that her two top teeth were poking through!!! OH MY! I couldn't believe that my six month old had this many teeth already coming through! After checking her ears and realizing that there was no sign of infection according to what my LC told me. This really seemed to explain everything! My world seemed happy again! And all the sudden my baby did too! We did the happy dance to this song :)

General timeline of baby teeth eruption and falling out


I don't think she's completely in the clear, but I could tell from her general countenance that she was doing a whole lot better today. She may still be tired from waking up so much the past five nights. But she's been playing on her own practically all day! This hasn't happened since before all this extreme teething stuff.

I remember reading this blog entry from Sweet Madeleine about lies people will tell you about Infant Sleep. She's writing from her experience of breastfeeding her baby to sleep for the first year of life. I have always held onto one thing that she said in that article, she said that there is always, always a reason for babies waking in the night. I am beginning to notice this pattern with Ruth, when she has a bad night, there is ALWAYS a reason! 


Teething face
I do find myself thinking at times, maybe I am doing it all wrong, but don't we all mamas? These thoughts and feelings usually pass and I eventually figure out what was wrong with Ruth or she just naturally starts going back to sleeping good. She is not a perfect sleeper and I feel at peace with the fact that infants are erratic sleepers. A very interesting article in Psychology Today talks about this.

SO, once again, many people will tell you what to do Mama, and it won't always be what is right for your little one. The doctor I went to told me that I needed to start my baby on solids to help her immune system. Sometimes you need to just smile and nod even when you know better. To see what I'm talking about, read this article on introducing solids from Kelly Mom.

Everyone has ideas, some are good, some are bad. But what it really comes down to is you Mama! You know what is best for your little one and you need to decide on that confidently and stick to it. For now I have decided what is best for my little one, there are so many decisions that I will continue to need to make in raising her, but I am super satisfied with the decisions I have made so far with her as a baby which is why I am passionate about sharing the ideas behind many of them.


So do your research mamas and don't be satisfied till you find the way that is best for you and your little one!