Postpartum Update: 6 Weeks

Hey mamas!
Whoooaaa!! It has been awhile since I sat down and really reflected on all that has happened since my pregnancy and bringing little (V) Denton into the world. To say that the last six weeks have been a whirlwind is an understatement. It's not that life is *hard*, which is completely what I thought it would be with two kids based on what people told me, but it is just that we are so busy that life is flying by like crazy.
I will start by saying that I am sooooooo in love with my newest little man. I still can't believe we have another BOY. Secretly, I had kind of hoped for this, but I would have never said it aloud. I mean it would have been AWESOME to have a little girl, but coming from a family of girls (my sister and I), I always wanted a brother. As I got older and envisioned getting married and having babies, I was always fixated on the idea of having boys for some reason. Maybe it's because I wanted to change it up - from having a sister - or maybe being a mama to boys somehow melted my heart. Whatever the reason, God simply agreed and decided to bless us with another little boy. Now that I am the only girl amongst three guys, I must say, it feels pretty cool! At the same time, I am bracing myself for all of the action-packed and messy days that we have ahead of us. As an OCD person, having boys really tests my patience. I think this was all a part of the master plan when we were blessed with two boys - the fact that I now have to test myself and find peace with all of the muddy floors, spills, glass shatters, constant activity and such. Despite this, having another boy is simply a dream brought to real life and a prayer gone answered!

I would also like to touch upon the notion of having not one but now TWO kids. When I got pregnant with baby number two, I was so excited but also was a little nervous given how much I was enjoying having one kiddo. Along with that, I started getting a lot of advice from passersby about the life change that two kids would be. People gave me the usual comments, yet surprisingly negative - "enjoy your life with one kid" or "go out as much as you can before your second child comes" or "life is about to get crazy" etc. etc. .. pretty much the same comments I got when I was pregnant with my first about how my life would soon become drastically different (cough over cough) when bringing a baby into the world. What I am hear to tell you is that bringing our second angel into the world has been nothing but amazing. Serious.
I will admit that going from 0 to 1 baby was a dramatic life change for me, but once I got acclimated, it was everything I could have ever hoped for and more. I hadn't felt that a career had fulfilled me and after having my first baby, I realized that this is what I was made to do - to be a mama - and a stay-at-home mama, at that! What I'm trying to say is that once I got my groove with baby number one, I felt like I was in my element -- although the first couple of weeks, even months, was a dramatic change now having to care for a child. Now that we have gone from 1 to 2 babies and that I have the wisdom and experience from baby number one and have already gone through the HUGE life adjustment, having TWO kids isn't all that much crazier. In fact, I love it. Sure, there are a few more logistics you need to work in, like getting two kids dressed, having two nap schedules, getting two kids out the door, feeding two kids, giving two kids equal attention... but honestly, these things are minor and haven't come close to negatively impacting our lives the way people made it seem. Sure, it may get harder as they both become older, but we will deal with it! 

v (Denton)

So a lot of you have commented about his name -- we refer to him on our site as "V" or by his middle name "Denton." Sorry if I seem to be switching between the two! A little bit about my sweet baby... he is totally a second child -- super laid back, sweet, patient, calm, content, not needy, chill, go-with-the-flow... you name it! Not that my first was needy or hyper or intense, but Lincoln (our first) was and is first-born material. V, on the other hand, is along for the ride and happy to be where he is at. 
At birth, he was a big boy, 9 lbs and 3 oz and 20.5 inches long, but not far from what Lincoln was. Lincoln was 8lbs 11oz and 20.25 inches long. Like V, Lincoln was at the top of the charts initially, then slowly became average height and weight, and now maintains that. Similarly, V is at the top of the charts for both height and weight (95th and 98th percentile, respectively), but different from Lincoln, I think he may stay at the top of the charts (mother's instinct). Not only that, but his fingers and toes are super long! Further, he is a champion eater and is gaining weight at a rapid pace; so much so that the pediatrician was alarmed at how much weight he had packed on since birth (in a good way).
Aside from eating, he is a great sleeper. I hope that we are getting close to him sleeping through the night, although I'm not sure. I read something that other day that encouraged mothers not to rush or worry about getting their babies to sleep through the night, and suggested that every baby hits this milestone at their own pace, when they are ready. To put pressure on them to sleep through the night faster than they might naturally do so, would be wrong! That gave me some peace of mind to be happy with where he is at and comforted that he may not be sleeping through the night yet. Different from my first, I do let V fall asleep earlier in the night - around 7pm or so because this is when his body naturally goes down. Alternatively, with Lincoln I had him up at night later and he thus slept through the night soon - around 8 weeks or so. With V, I am allowing him to go to bed earlier at night because I realize (now that I witnessed my first baby do this) that their bedtime will move up to 7pm or so anyways around 3 months... so I figure, why push his bedtime up now if I'm not struggling through a nighttime feeding session - which I'm not. Plus it gives Ryan and I some downtime together at night with both babies asleep at the same time. Not only that, but with Lincoln, I learned that sleep begets sleeps, and sometimes the more a baby naturally sleeps during the day, the more they will sleep at night. ​

We are still dealing with his kidney dilation, but after seeing the pediatric urologist it seems that surgery is unlikely.. hooray! One kidney is only mildly dilated and the other kidney is moderately dilated. The urologist said that he was doubtful that surgery would be necessary and thought this was a case in which it would correct itself. However, V still needs to be on a very low dose of antibiotics, which I am not crazy about, but after exposing my discern, the doctor assured me that the risk of him getting in infection was by far worse than the impact of him being on antibiotics. He will have to be on antibiotics until 4 to 6 months of age, but this will rid him of any risk of infection - phew.
Other than that, we are so in love with this little guy. At 5 weeks he cracked his first smile (already!), which really made having a second child very real for me. Not that it wasn't real when I had him and brought him home from the hospital, but it became more real when he started interacting! Looking into his eyes, I can see his kind and soft soul, whereas looking in Lincoln's eyes, I can see his sweetness but also his audacity and zeal towards life and willingness to learn and be the best... again, whereas with V, he has a softness and quiet confidence about him. I love him (them) so much and can't wait to see how he grows.

Postpartum Recovery

So now that I am nearly six weeks postpartum, I have my mind set on getting back into shape. And not just any old shape, but the best shape of my life, even better than pre-pregnancy shape! As most of you know, who have followed our blog for some time, maintaining my weight during my second pregnancy was something I took very seriously. I ate very healthy and worked out throughout my pregnancy and managed to still gain 30 pounds, but a very healthy 30 pounds. I had hoped to stay around 25 pounds, but man, in that last trimester, the scale sky rocketed. My body did what it had to do and I birthed a healthy 9lbs 3oz baby boy (BIG boy!). Now that I am where I am at, happy with my two boys, and getting back into my groove, I feel I am ready to start shedding that baby weight and would love for you all to follow on this journey with me! So let's get back to my stats...

Postpartum Weight Loss

Current Weight: 146 lbs ahhhh. I mean seriously? I gained 30 lbs during my pregnancy getting up to 160lbs (I was 130 lbs when I got pregnant). I birthed a 9lbs 3oz baby and have been breastfeeding around the clock, yet the scale says that I have only lost 14 pounds since giving birth.. BOO. Oh well. I WILL lose it and I need to have faith in that :)

Exercise: Since having a baby, I haven't exercised at all due to the 6 week mark that my OBGYN put on exercising. I will say that this postpartum recovery was A LOT easier than with my first. My body completely knew what to do and I recovered much quicker. Still, it is not easy to do my normal workout routines like running. I actually tried to go on a run the other day (around 4 weeks postpartum) and it just didn't feel quite right. First off, my boobs are huge from breastfeeding so I feel a little top heavy. Not only that, but I also feel a little bottom heavy from the extra weight I'm carrying;  as a result, my balance is all out of wack. With running, I like to enjoy it, not be in pain or uncomfortable the entire time I am doing so. Thus, I have given up my runs for the time being. What I hope to shoot for next week (and after my OB's approval) is getting back to the YMCA and rejoining my step class and other classes like spinning. I will shoot for getting a workout in at least 4 times a week and will keep you all updated!

Diet: Right after bringing Denton home and once I really started feeding him around the clock, I noticed that my appetite increased like crazy. I felt like I could eat so so so much food and not get full. After a few days of chowing down, I started to worry that I had the curse of breastfeeding -- you know the curse where you are in the minority of women who actually DON'T lose weight breastfeeding. Although I was worried and eating a lot in the beginning, my diet has since regulated and now I am back to eating my usual way. I am hoping that keeping my diet consistent (not restrictive or eating extra extra calories) will still help me shed the pounds. 


That is all for now ladies! I will have a weight, diet and nutrition update for you next week! 

xx,
​ILA