Body after baby: 6+ months

Well friends, it’s been over 6 months since I gave birth. By bean’s birth date, I had gained about 27-29 lbs and never really felt ‘big.’ I quite liked my preggers belly and didn’t notice the expansion of my thighs (or didn’t care).

I heard of the miracles of breastfeeding and was convinced I’d be one of the lucky ones to melt off the pounds with ease. I imagined being close to my pre-preg weight (of about 118/119lbs) by 3 months or s,o and by 6 months be a lean-mean-fighting machine..not really, but you know what I’m getting at.

And where am I at after 6 months, 11 personal training sessions, and a renewed gym membership?

Still about 6 lbs over my desired weight (116-118lbs). 1” over my “normal” thigh circumference. 3” over my “normal” waist circumference. And about 5-7% above my “normal” body fat percentage. (And yes I quoted “normal” because I realize that the body I have now, may be my new normal). Hurumph.

The trainer was able to drop me 4lbs (note: if you’ve been keeping track or following, the pounds gained/lost may seem inconsistent mostly because I’ve been using multiple scales as reference starting/ending points; the gym’s scale said I lost 4 lbs). She also skimmed 3+ % of body fat and reduced my waist and leg size by 1” each. And she definitely improved my strength, muscle tone, and my overall body image.

That all being said, I’m still ticked that I’m not losing more. Sure to some, it’s wah, wah, poor girl weighs 120-something, but for me, this weight is NOT my normal. I feel sluggish. I have pockets of fat that didn’t exist before. I can’t fit in majority of my clothes. And I don’t feel like sugarcoating my disappointment. I’m upset. Period.

So what gives?

I go to Spin 2x per week. I do yoga 1-2 times per week (mini sessions, like 15-20 min). I have been seeing the personal trainer 1-2x per week. And I do cardio 3-4x per week on top of all that for about 40 min followed by ab work, burpees, mountain climbers, dips, or the like.

As for calorie intake, on the days I work out, it’s about 1600. Days I only do yoga, I (try to) keep it closer to 1300. The weekends are about 2000 cals each day (err, including Friday since I don’t work on Fridays). I’ve upped my protein to about 50+ grams (not a lot for most, but quite a bit for me).

And still little to no weight loss. Is it hormones?

I asked my doctor and you know what she did? She gave me numbers to obesity (/weight management) hotlines. Huh? Gee thanks!

I spoke with my trainer last Monday and she suggests that I reduce my sugar intake. Hmm, she may be on to something. I posted this on twitter and these were just a few of the responses:

Yeah 10g is ridiculous and not do-able for the lifestyle I want, but I *can* cut it back. I took a look at my normal sugar intake and I’m above 50g a day…heck my weekend large non-fat vanilla latte has 54g of sugar (<—yes you read that right). I seriously had no idea. Ugh. This cannot be a 3-4x per week indulgence. This is 1x per week tops and maybe with half the pumps of vanilla syrup.

I refuse to jump on the artificial sweetener bandwagon (because let’s face it, many people think Splenda is a perfectly good substitute) because I don’t like the taste or the chemical make up. Instead I’d rather reduce the amount of real sugars (lower fruit intake, increase veggie intake, reduce processed foods, increase protein, etc).

I’m going to see if I can reduce to <10g *added* sugar per day and see if that makes any difference. Or I was thinking of doing 30g of total sugars per day (that includes lactose, fructose, etc).

Last week I managed several days with less than 30 total grams of sugar (including all my fruits and dairy) and felt great! Okay that’s a lie, in the morning I was cranky and had a headache, but by the end of the day I was feeling much better.

Will this work? Let’s hope so. I feel like I’m making a change that I can keep up with, which is important to me. Anything drastic and I know I will jump ship. So this sugar-total may increase a bit as I find what’s right for me, but the goal is to be far more aware of the unnecessary sugars I’m consuming.

Bean needs a healthy, happy mamma so I’m going to do what it takes!

Tally up your sugar count for the day and share – you may be surprised!!!

8 weeks postpartum–better news?

Well two weeks ago, I wrote about the bad news I received at my 6 weeks postpartum visit – you know, scar tissue requiring surgery, muscle/nerve damage, low estrogen, and other issues.

Since then I’ve gone to see a specialist for the muscle/nerve issue and also had a follow up with my OB on Wednesday. 

Regarding the former, there is definitely nerve damage and loss of muscle, but no tearing, so therefore no surgery is required.  Only time will heal. 

My OB checked me again to assess the granulated scar tissue, and good news!  The large section that she thought would require surgery has disappeared!  One silver-nitrate treatment did the trick.  Phew!  Unfortunately there were some others that she either missed before or didn’t heal completely because I had to have another round.  Let’s hope that this is the last of it.

She also is having me start estrogen tablets – one of the benefits may help my breast milk supply.

While all of that is fabulous news, I’m a bit disheartened at my weight loss.  I still have 10 lbs to go.  Blah.  I’m not the only one that holds onto weight and doesn’t have this perfect celebrity weight loss 3 weeks after giving birth.  My friend Laury just wrote about it on her blog and I’m so grateful she did.  I had expectations of myself that weren’t realistic.  Some people hold onto additional fat in order to breastfeed.  The fact of that matter is, it may not be until I stop or greatly reduce breastfeeding before anything really starts to happen.  I get that.  I’m trying to wrap my brain around it.  But that doesn’t mean I am happy about it

Soooo, what’s a girl to do?   She shops.  And she sucks it up and buys a pair of non-maternity jeans that are one size larger than her pre-preg jeans so that she can dress this new body.  So there. 

The thing is, I’m active, I’m moving, I’m getting out, I’m seeing a ton of friends, I’m enjoying every minute of being a mom to my soybean.  And that has nothing to do with my weight. 

And the bean?  How’s he?  He’s absolutely fabulous – dare I say faboosh?  I just weighed him again on Wednesday at the birthing center and he weighs ~ 10 lbs 13 oz (with a onesie and diaper on).  That’s over a 2 lb gain since birth!  Way to go bean   He is a happy little baby and is smiling more and more and making fun little cooing sounds.  Thanks to bringing back swaddling last week (I use the Swaddle Me brand), he is sleeping 6-7 hours a night.  Love this!  We’re working on tummy time and introducing some toys and books, but most often, I just gossip to him about whatever train wreck is on tv (i.e. Bachelor, Real Housewives, Live with Kelly…haha). 

Oh and now that we’ve sent out our baby announcements, I can share with all of you, what they look like:

And now that it’s nearly the weekend, we all can smile a little bigger   I have a special dinner date with a certain lovely lady Friday evening.  The rest of the weekend is up in the air, though I’m thinking froyo needs to be scheduled in

What are your weekend plans?  Inspire me!

6 weeks postpartum–bad news

Listen carefully: I should have had a c-section. 

There is oh so much to share in this post and very little of it is good news.  So bear with me.

Why don’t we actually tackle the good news first:

Daddy and soybean (after his milk coma)

The soybean is doing so well.  He seems to be gaining weight (thanks to supplementing with about 3 ounces of formula daily) and is happy as can be.  In the last week or so, he’s started to intentionally smile (they say this happens at 5 weeks) and I melt every time I see his toothless grin.  We are having fun making faces and noises to get his little lips to curl.  It’s absolutely amazing.  We are operating well on the schedule I mentioned a few posts ago.  He sleeps in nice predictable chunks and is fairly easily soothed in times of distress.  He also is starting to come alive on his activity mat – it took awhile for him to notice all the toys/animals, but now they totally intrigue him.  Yay

Sawyer is the light of my life and makes bad news palatable.

How’s that for a segue?

I had my 6 week postpartum appointment yesterday.  You know, the one where you get the all clear to resume normal activity?  Yeah, I didn’t get that.  In fact I got a dose of bad news:

• My estrogen levels are quite low.  There is a name for it, but it has escaped me.  Basically it means I’ll struggle more with my milk supply.  This apparently can happen fairly easily in thin women.  Estrogen supplements are an option, but something I’m waiting on due to wanting to deal with the following issues first.
• I have granulated scar tissue as a result of my stitches – my body reacted poorly to the material apparently.  Granulated scar tissue is extremely painful and will not go away on its own.  As a result, I had to have the areas treated with silver nitrate yesterday at my appointment.  Luckily the numbing cream made it relatively painless.  BUT, there is one area that is requiring more extensive treatment which could require surgery and IV sedation.  Good lord, that just sucks.
• And if that’s not enough, I either have muscle or nerve damage in my pelvic floor muscles.  I’ve been scheduled to see a specialist next week to pinpoint the issue(s) and ascertain the best way to fix it, which could be something like physical therapy or surgery.  This is the bad news that scares me the most because it would be pretty invasive and most impacts my life.  Sigh.

So yeah, I definitely did NOT get the all clear for resuming all activity.  I can still take long walks and do some light work outs (like yoga), but nothing strenuous.  This sucks given my resistance to weight loss (which my doctor said happens a lot more than people think while breastfeeding).

Had I had my c-section like I originally wanted, I would have avoided the hemorrhaging post birth, the huge blood clot (most likely), the scar tissue, and the reduced muscle control.  Argh.  I guess I should listen to my instincts eh?  Even my doctor said “next baby, c-section.”   Though birth was a breeze, aftermath has not been kind to me.

I still plan to track my progress so here ya go…stats as of February 8, 2012, 6 weeks postpartum:

• Weight: +10.9 lbs (down 2.1 lbs (16.1 lbs since birth))
• Ribcage: 29” (down 1”)
• Waist (smallest part above belly button): 30” (down 2” (~8” since birth))
• Hips: 35.5” (no change)
• Right Bicep: 10.75” (down .25”)
• Left Bicep: 9.75” (down .25”)
• Right Thigh: 21” (no change)
• Left Thigh: 21.75” (down .25”)
  (all measurements at widest part)

Standing up my tummy is completely flat, but it’s definitely wider and looser than pre-pregnancy.  At about 4 weeks postpartum, I tried on a pair of pre-preg jeans and they fit comfortably.  Subsequent to that, I’ve tried on some other pre-preg jeans and not all fit, that’s for sure.   I can tell my upper thighs and hip area are larger than before and that will take some time to lose. 

On that note, I am debating going back to the same facility for personal training that I trained at for my wedding.  I was able to drop 5% body fat and about 10 pounds via the workouts and have similar hopes this time around.  I’ll keep you posted. *This is only after I am healed and get officially cleared

Hopefully I’ve shed some light on what isn’t always talked about post pregnancy.  And maybe some new moms can relate.  If any one has had similar experiences and have words of wisdom, please do share!