2 Months Post Partum

Greetings and salutations (sometimes certain things stay with you from your childhood, this is one of them...name that book)! I hope that everyone has been having a great last 2 weeks. I see that baby season is in full effect, lots of my Friends have been popping them out and I'm loving it! I think that this post will hopefully hit a note with most moms after the baby comes and you start to get into the routine of things.

This week I wanted to get into the topic of post partum and talk about where I'm at mentally. Like I said in my last post, I had a planned c section this time around. When you get home from the hospital is when the, ok....now what, sets in. You are tired so you don't really feel like doing to much, you may have visitors, you are checking on your baby every 5 minutes to make sure they are still breathing, and if you're breastfeeding then you're a human bottle there for that babies hungry little appetite. If you plan on going back to work then you are probably milking yourself (pumping) in between each feeding. All in all, you are basically a cow or any other form of livestock. You eat, sleep, and feed your baby. It's obviously much better than that cause you get to look at this amazing little blessing that came from your body and you know that this is all worth it. Then night time hits, and since (again if you breastfeed) you are the on call food, you are primarily the one waking up. You may have the most supportive husband in the world too, Ryan was AWESOME at getting up and changing her diaper or staying up with me, however, sometimes it doesn't always go that way. You may hear yourself arguing who got up last, or who is more tired, or....well pretty much anything can turn into an argument at 2 am when you're in zombie mode. Let's be honest, women have this attachment to their babies and can keep going when the going gets tough, because we would rather be an overly tired zombie than let our baby be in any sort of peril. 

On to how you feel. You are tired (I'm saying you, but I mean me), you feel gross, you are sore, you feel unattractive, you are waiting for your uterus to shrink, you more than anything would love to enjoy a big ol glass of pinot noir, but keep feeling racked with guilt at the thought of tainting your milk supply, you aren't really super hungry, but again feel guilty that you aren't eating enough for that darn milk supply........so many feels. One of the biggest feels for me, was my lack of friends/support. Sure I had family members that would come by, but I honestly didn't have many friends around that would just call to chat with me or stop by. Yeah, I would have been a little psycho about germs and probably tried to bail if they setup plans (those hormones do some crazy things), but I guess I just really felt lonely.

Now that I am at 2 months post partum, I'm mostly over a lot of those feelings. The one thing that I'm really having a hard time with now is my body. Before I got pregnant I was in the best shape of my life. I was the skinniest and fittest I've ever been. Now that my belly is gone, I'm noticing all the places that thought they were carrying a child as well. My thighs, hips, and butt for example. 2 weeks ago I got the ok to start working out....what did I do? WAY over did it. I did insanity and felt great until the next day when my incision started to hurt. Lesson learned. I am now ready to start taking it easy and do more weight lifting and jogging, which will then turn into hiit workouts and insanity/cardio. I would like to share my progress with yall, and also do this to keep me motivated and to hold myself accountable.

On to more cheery things: Vivian is 2 months!!! She is so cute too. Little Viv has started to smile alllll the time and she has started telling us about all the drama in her life. I love this stage, I had forgotten how amazing those little baby smiles and giggles can make you feel. The things that come out of my older kids mouths are generally them fighting, so it's rather refreshing hearing cooos.

Lastly an update on me in other parts of my life. I have gone through many life changes in the last 2 months, and I'm not a person who does too well with change. Let's start with the most obvious, I grew my family of 4 to a family of 5, next I got a new job (haven't told a whole lot of people this so you are all the first to know) and quit my amazing job of 5 years. I have been wanting to stay at home with the kiddos for the last year, and now that Vivian is here I was able to get a job with Apple working from home doing iOS support. The last change is we have moved in with my parents. Sigh. It's all for the good of our family though. We have some big plans for summer of 2016, which include moving to Florida. This whole move was brought on by the fact that our land lord was planning on putting the house on the market, but we also wanted to pay off all our credit card debt in order to give us the best quality of life when the big move happens. Not only are we paying off debt, but also buying land and planning the building of our house. See!!! So many changes.  

Welp that's all I got for this week. Next time maybe we can talk food, wine/booze, fitness, and other fun stuff.

6 week hiatus

To anyone that reads/follows my blog, I am sincerely sorry for not having put any sort of update after having my baby girl. That was like a big old drum roll of being 39 weeks and then....nothing. SO without further ado:

On February 27th, 2015 at 7:37 am, Vivian Lucille was born via C-Section. She weighed 7 lbs 7 ozs, was 20 in long and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Now I know most people take this part to generally tell their birth story. Since this was a planned C section, there isn't a whole lot of drama or excitement involved HOWEVER I will describe the day from my point of view.

The morning of the day my daughter was scheduled to be born (such a strange but very welcoming concept), I remember just staring at the ceiling (as I had done most of the night...who actually sleeps when something exciting is happening the next day? Not 90% of humans....) and thinking this is actually happening. All the heartache and tears I'd spent wishing for this tiny human were all leading up to this day and it's here.

Ryan and I took our showers and then I attempted to make myself presentable for surgery (Women who have been pregnant know that at this point of largeness it's not an easy task wink wink haha).  We triple checked that we had everything, the 2 kids were at Grandpa and Grandma's house probably not sleeping in excitement as well, and then got in the car and off we went to the delivery center.

Now, the week before, my daughter so graciously gifted me with a head cold that had turned into a sinus infection. My head felt rather miserable, but I was determined to tough it out and not say a word to make sure that this C-section was going to happen and not get rescheduled.

When we arrived at the hospital we checked in and were brought into a triage room so they could get me all ready to go under the knife. The nurses were awesome and entertained us while we waited.

Ryan was calm as ever (I'm such an outwardly emotional person I kept asking are you nervous, are you excited, SHOW ME SOME EMOTION YOU ROBOT!!!!) in the oversized bluish scrubs they provide all C-section dads with. I was a little emotional, but masking it with sarcasm and smiles. This was my 3rd C-section, but I was still a little nervous and the thoughts of all the different things that could go wrong. The nurses and doctors asked me about a million times: Are you both sure you want to get the Tubal Ligation (get your tubes tied)? To which we both responded yes, we rather enjoy having a little bit of sanity haha.

Once it was time I grabbed my lovely little rolling IV, ensured my butt was not exposed in my lovely hospital gown, and started the walk to the surgery room. At this point they don't generally allow dads to go in quite yet, so Ryan gave me a big ol kiss and an I love you, and off I went into the cold surgical room.

This is the fun point at which I get my spinal block (which honestly was completely painless...I don't remember not really feeling anything at all before, so kudos to my anesthesiologist), lay down, and start to lose feeling while everyone else around me pokes me, puts fluids in my IV, and sets up blue sheets so I can't see anything. Seeing as I have the best OB in all of Spokane (Barrong truly is a great great man, and I will miss him when he moves) he makes sure I'm numb and then starts the eviction process. This is the part where they bring Ryan in and he gets to sit next to me. He's still calm as ever (JUST SHOW ME SOMETHING....ANYTHING...) and has his phone ready to take as many pictures as he can. Now, let me just say my doctor had that baby out within about 5 minutes of the first cut, so when he told Ryan get your camera ready, I was rather surprised. Ryan got every bloody little detail of my baby girls birth, if I get enough people that are curious to see them, I will post.

It was at this time I heard that beautiful sound that all parents wait for: the crying.  Then like Simba from the Lion King, I see this tiny little human lifted above me with a soft little cry. It's surreal. Literally I felt as though this was not real life, how could this gorgeous little girl be mine??? I may have had a tear or two, but I kept it together pretty good. I watched as Ryan excitedly starts calling out all these details about our daughter and takes picture after picture and starts recording. My heart was pretty full.

Details about Vivian:

She looks NOTHING like me haha. I mean it. These last 9 months I've been telling Ryan not to get his hopes up for a blue eyed blonde child. That my Puerto Rican genes were pretty dominate and we get a lot of brown eyes brown hair. WELP I was wrong. Out comes this blue eyed, RED haired baby with her daddies hands and feet. Her face is all him minus her nose and lips. No one will believe I'm her mom, more than likely they'll think I'm the help after they take a look at her haha. She was perfect. My breathtakingly beautiful gift from God.

Fast forward to now, 6 weeks later.  It has been sort of a blur of sleeplessness and busyness. The first couple weeks Viv got jaundice decently bad so we battled getting her to gain weight and poop out all that bad stuff. She's doing much better now, doesn't look like a member of the Jersey Shore anymore. Now I just have this very cute almost 2 month old that smiles and tries to talk all the time. She is a very chill baby who mostly only cries when she needs something. I will say that I may have the gassiest baby of all time. She gives daddies farts a run for their money. This may have to do with my diet of veggies and fruits most of the time.

I've officially been cleared to workout (as of yesterday) and I am MORE than ready to start. You don't realize all the parts of your body that gain weight/lose muscle when you're pregnant, but once the belly goes you notice everything else. From this point out I'm going to be updating the weight loss (to help me hold myself accountable) and also be updating on the family.

Thank you everyone that has supported me throughout this journey to get pregnant/pregnancy and now during the early months of my baby. Lots of change is coming our way, but that's a topic for another day (look at me rhyming and stuff). I hope you all have had a great 6 weeks, until next week ....

Here are some more pictures from the birth/of Viv:

Our beautiful little family

SO in love

Grandpa Mike and Grandpa Ed holding their little girl

Big sister Bella 

Big brother Ezra

Daddy changing his first diaper

Week old Vivian with her cute Aunt Jemima headband

My Big 1 month old!! I can't believe she's almost two months!

37 Weeks

How far along: 37 Weeks

How big is baby: 6-7 lbs ish maybe bigger WHO knows. I have a half Rican half Viking baby in me

Total weight gain: About the same, 35ish lbs

Sleep: Is about the same as it was last week. I’m getting it. Not the absolute best sleep in the world, but I’ll take it.

Best moment of the week: Today! My last day of work. I finally get to have a week of rest and catch up before V gets here. I feel like I have so much to do before next Friday. Other than that I’ve been getting an awful lot of snuggling from my son, and I will never complain about that. I’m finally mostly over my cold I got last week. I’m just full of snot/mucus…sadly I’m going to have to use my Neti pot tonight (I hate doing that, it freaks me out haha).

Ezra snuggling up to his baby sister

Food Cravings: Cookies :/ I’m not proud of it.

Food Aversions: N/A

Symptoms: More Braxton hicks, more regular contractions, not dilated at all (BOOOOOOO), she feels like she’s ready to fall out at any moment with all this pressure, waddling like a 90’s kid rocking saggy Jncos, annnnnd so much exhaustion.

Mood: More tired/grumpiness and lack of patience. I am noticing more anxiety as well though, I just want her here!!!

Movement: She is officially so big that she can barely move. I noticed a drop in movement, but when she does move I can see elbows and heels and knees and butt….. It doesn't feel very pleasant either.  

What I’m looking forward to: We are at 7 days. 7 DAYS! One more blog and she is here. AAAGGGGHHHH I’m ready! Wait..no I have so much to do, I’m not ready…. Haha that is what goes through my mind every day. We are all so excited to see this little girls face and hear her little (or big) cry. I’m looking forward to not having this big ol stomach to lug around too. I can’t wait to get this next chapter in my life going. Ryan just can’t wait to hold his baby girl, this will be the first time he’s been a daddy to a newborn (I can’t wait to watch him melt at her sight). Ezra desperately wants to meet her and love on her, she already knows who he is. Anytime he is around and talking (when is he not talking again???) she will start squirming and rolling around. Bella has a countdown going and has her entire 2^nd grade class in on it. They all know every detail about my life/pregnancy hahaha. I love that girl.

There are so many cute baby girl things out there it is taking all my will power not to go broke buying things. This being my 3rd time around I know how fast these little ones grow and how silly it is to spend a ton of money on clothes and accessories.....but....I am still a woman who loves to see cute little babies in cute little things. SO this is something I've been coveting and will hopefully either someday own or with the help of my DIY blessed friends/family (Ryan, Aubrey, Sadie, Allyson....)will be able to make. These particular, are offered by Freshly Picked. I love every single one that they make, in every single color. If I was a woman of wealth, you can bet V would own most of these haha. Link below the picture.

Freshly Picked

7 more days until Baby “V” Lundberg is here!!!!!  (or sooner ;) )

Here is a little video of a day in the life of my stomach and what it goes through. I'll miss it :(.

36 Weeks

How far along: 36 Weeks

How big is baby: 6 lbs ish

Total weight gain: About the same, 30ish lbs

Sleep: It’s actually not the worst. I don’t know what happened…. I still wake up to turn every single time, but now I only get up maybe once to pee. Occasionally I wake up with no desire to go back to sleep (and it’s usually at like 3 am), but Instagram/Facebook/Pinterest usually lull me right back.

Best moment of the week: The kids have benefited from this week J They had Valentines parties and father/daughter dances. I suppose the best moment for me has been today, I’m officially 37 weeks and according to some Dr’s/websites/books full term! I’m a walking fool right now lol. Bought myself an exercise ball (that I will most definitely be utilizing for core workouts post pregnancy) that I’m happily using, and I plan on “shopping” this weekend to get my walking in.

Food Cravings:  Blood Oranges!!!! They are amazing.

Food Aversions: N/A

Symptoms: Everything you would expect a 36 week pregnant woman to have. Contractions, Braxton Hicks, random side cramps, lower back pain, super moody….the usual.

Mood: I can’t wait to find my patience again. I have been constantly reminding myself of the verse 1^st Corinthians 13 (that famous wedding one), with emphasis on “Love is patient”. My mantra for when my children do anything other than quietly breathe…..

Movement: Worse than ever lol. She is probably so cramped up in there, and I truly do feel sorry for her. I give her motivational talks every day that it’s ok if she wants more room I will welcome her with wide open arms.

What I’m looking forward to: 14 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to have a freaking baby in 2 weeks. It sort of doesn’t feel real, but at the same time I’m so impatient to meet this little beauty. I mean it could happen sooner and I’d be so incredibly ok with it, but I’m still freaking out haha. It’s funny that no matter how much you want it/plan for it/dream about it……you are never ready for that baby when the time comes. 5 years is a long time, but I’m pretty sure it will all come back to me.

Just a little update from this week: We had a little accident on Wednesday. Ezra was playing with some small weights and happened to leave them in the middle of the floor. Big ol beer belly Mgee over here cant’ see anything that is under my belly, and happened to trip on them. I was on my way straight for a belly fall on the ground, but THANKFULLY kept staggering my steps until I slammed into the wall. I was a little worried and very sore from that, so my Dr. advised me to go get monitored at Labor and Delivery. Everything was just fine, thank God, and Ms. V just squirmed and moved and rolled the entire time we were there. The other not so great thing that has happened this week is my poor little Bella has gotten a pretty nasty bug. We don’t know if it’s flu or just a cold at this point, but she has the shivers, fever, sore throat, achey all overness…. I’m praying that she kicks this fast and that it’s just a simple cold, and also that I don’t get it. I don’t know how great it will be for me to get a C-section while feverish or coughing/sniffling. Bring on ALL the Vitamin C.

14 more days until Baby “V” Lundberg is here!!!!!  (or sooner ;) )

OH forgot to mention, our Goats are in baby delivering mode!!! I would like you all to meet Thelma our newest baby girl goat.

35 Weeks

How far along: 35 Weeks

How big is baby: Almost 6 lbs

Total weight gain: About the same, 30ish lbs

Sleep: Surprisingly better…..I wake up every time I have to roll over, but otherwise I haven’t had to pee a ton (which is sooo nice).

Best moment of the week: My baby shower was last Saturday, and it was lovely!! My beautiful friend, Aubrey, did an amazing job hosting it at her house. Everyone that came enjoyed themselves with the mimosa bar and brunch food. It went so smoothly and I loved getting to see faces that I haven’t seen in a very long time (some of them have even been years). I was definitely spoiled by everyone. We are now fully prepared to welcome this little girl into the world. A big thank you to Aubrey for throwing me the cutest most chill baby shower ever!!!! I love you! Also, big thank yous to all my family and friends (those who were able to make it and those who are far away) for all the wonderful gifts. We are thankful that V has so many positive loving people in her life.

The beautiful Aubrey

Next best moment would be yesterday, when my Dr. gave us the green light for V to make her appearance. This means that if I go into “labor” at all from here on out, they will get me in right away and get her out via c section J. Let the real countdown begin!!! I would be completely ok with a Valentines baby.

Food Cravings:  Nada. I’ve been trying to reign the ol diet in more and more. I will say I can tell my appetite has increased. As much as I try to restrain from eating a lot, I just have to give in at a certain point and try to have a healthy snack.

Food Aversions: N/A

Symptoms: More real contractions randomly, more Braxton hicks, random spiking pains down to my lady region, exhaustion, fat face haha…..

Mood: Thankfully, I’ve chilled out a little bit. I still get the urge to just go straight to grumpy cat mode, however I’ve been trying to invest more time in Bella and Ezra (this is the last time they will be my only babies). I’m starting to get anxious about the surgery (every time I remember all that goes into it I get nervous and have to pray about it to help calm down), and about having a newborn baby. It’s been 5 ½ years since the last time I did this!!! I know that it will all come back to me, but WOW…. I’m not feeling prepared haha (do you ever feel prepared???). I’m also feeling very anxious to clean/disinfect my house and car. Working full time makes this impossible. I will try and get as much done as possible this weekend.

Movement: My poor baby (and stomach) has no more room!!! Literally, she pokes her legs and butt out so much, so often, it’s starting to bruise my stomach. She gets into organs and ribs and things she shouldn’t and it will make me yell OW randomly. My little girl is quite naughty already haha.    

What I’m looking forward to: Her arrival is my main focus now. If we last till the 27^th we are at 21 days….so at max 21 days at min any day now. I am going to be a walking, squatting, anyothermethodofgettingbabyout machine! I will take any massages offered to me as well, just putting that out there. I’m also reallllly looking forward to starting my health journey again after she arrives. Ryan, my sister, Aubrey, my mom, and a couple other people are joining me on this and I couldn’t be more excited. I will say that this pregnancy has been 100% different than my other two and I can say without a doubt in my mind, it’s due to good nutrition during and pre pregnancy. For those of you who didn’t know me when I was pregnant with Bella and Ezra and just think I’m a small person and that’s why I didn’t balloon out super huge I promise you that is not the case. I was HUGE for them. I’m not proud of any of those pictures. In fact I don’t even let Ryan see my pre him pictures haha. Just so you can see the proof, I’m posting a picture of me at the same amount pregnant with Ezra so you can see just how different this pregnancy looks on me. Looks aren’t the only thing that has been different either. I have had minimal aches and pains, no swelling, back pain has been minimal, I can physically do more, I didn’t start the waddle till just recently, and I’ve been much more positive.  I’m thankful that my baby girl is benefiting from my healthy choices and will continue to benefit once she’s out.

Around 38 weeks pregnant with Ezra

21 more days until Baby “V” Lundberg is here!!!!!  (or sooner ;) )

34 Weeks

How far along: 34 Weeks

How big is baby: Cantaloupe

Total weight gain: About the same, 30ish lbs

Sleep: Baby girl is getting me prepared for her arrival. That means I can now run on minimal sleep. Acquiring Zombie status.

Best moment of the week: It’s been a pretty chill week. I got to go see a reggae band called Tribal Seeds with my husband, we all dealt with the end half of head colds, and the weather warmed up way warmer than it should have been (I will NEVER complain about that)

Food Cravings:  Nothing, I’ve been eating healthy boring foods haha. Back to normal. A shake in the morning and sometimes later in the day, and boring healthy meals/snacks in between.

Food Aversions: N/A

Symptoms: The waddle is getting worse. I hurt after sitting for a while once I stand up. HOWEVER I’m 35 weeks pregnant now (a week off from what I write about) and my hands and feet still haven’t gotten swollen. I was so incredibly swollen for my last two pregnancies. That’s pretty awesome.

Mood: Still riding the grumpy train. I am having a very hard time with being patient right now. My 5 year old son is the best at making my patience go hide in a cave somewhere. Of course the minute I get stressed out I get contractions….eh

Movement: Torturous. Her goal in life currently is to see how far I stretch and then how low she can go until mommy screams OW. Daddy enjoys aiding her in this adventure, by tapping on her until she responds.   

What I’m looking forward to: Tomorrow which just so happens to be my baby shower!!!!  I’m excited to see everyone and enjoy ourselves. I will post tons of pictures from it next week. As of Feb 13^th I will be 37 weeks (FULL TERM)…. and I have my Dr’s blessing to walk as much as I'd like and bounce on big workout balls till my little hearts content. Let’s see if little girl is ready to come around then. If not, oh well, I have a for sure c section date, but I am getting so excited/anxious to meet her.

I decided to do a pregnancy timeline sort of thing up till now; it’s pretty interesting to see how much I’ve grown over the last couple months. I feel so big now haha.

28 more days until Baby “V” Lundberg is here!!!!!  (or sooner ;) )

32 and 33 Weeks

How far along: 32 and 33 Weeks.

How big is baby: Somewhere in the 4 lbsish region

Total weight gain: …………….about 30 lbs

Sleep: Per usual, awful. Baby “V” wakes up and moves around, I have to pee about every hour, have to re-position myself every 20 minutes, legs/hips hurt all night, wake up feeling like crap.  

Best moment of the week: I had a four day weekend last week and it was really really nice to just spend it with my family. Ezra and I made homemade dog treats for our 3 dachshunds, the dogs seem to love them, so I suppose we didn't do too bad. On Monday I apparently got the nesting bug and decided to reorganize my whole house (the areas that you haven’t touched since maybe you moved in orrrrr last spring….). I way over did it and by about mid-day I noticed that I had dropped a LOT since that morning. Woops. Oh well, let’s get this gravy train moving!

I dropped....just a little haha.

Food Cravings:  I’m back to normal mostly!!!!! Thank you JESUS!!! I’ve been doing 1-2 Isa shakes a day, some Want More Energy to get me those electrolytes and help keep me hydrated. I’m returning to no coffee, and eat a lot of dark leafy greens. I DID, however, give in and have the strongest craving for a blueberry muffin the other day….. No Ragrets, not even one….  

Food Aversions: N/A

Symptoms: Back pain, penguin walking, no energy, grumpasaurus rex, getting annoyed in 2.5 seconds, getting a little anxious, tonnnnnnns of Braxton Hicks contractions……

Mood: I’m a grump. I’m a happy grump, but I’m a grump. I know that’s an oxymoron.

Movement: WELL, I am officially her personal toy. She moves all the time and oh man does it hurt. If you are standing near me you’ll hear random OW, owwwwwww, move move move move move please!!!! Watching it is even creepier. Ryan has started taking pity on me now every time I say ow and he looks at my stomach. Only 35 more days….I can do this.    

What I’m looking forward to: Well today is my 1^st born child’s 8^th birthday! I have no clue where the time has flown. I recently watched her birth video and it just let the waterworks out. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be her mother. I can truly say, I have never loved anything the way that I love my children and she was the first taste I got of how big your heart can really get. Isabella has the biggest loving heart to all humans and animals alike. She can’t stand seeing anyone in pain (movies or real life), and has a very black and white view on life. She loves to read, has the Rosario sarcasm down pat, and comprehends things the average 8 year old doesn't usually. I can’t wait to see how much her little sister will be like her and to watch her be the most tender, loving big sister to “V”.

My baby shower is next weekend, and I can’t wait for it. I love any excuse to get people together and have a good time.

My last day of work is Feb. 20^th!!!! I am excited to get as much rest/sleep as possible before I am a zombie.

35 more days until Baby “V” Lundberg is here!!!!!  (or sooner ;) )