Exercise that body

As promised I have actually taken photos of my body, clothed, to hopefully document the HUGE changes which are about to occur. The photos don't actually look that bad. I think the tight clothing hides a great deal. You know that post baby belly with it's wrinkled, stretched marked skins and the fatty saggy bits. Who said motherhood wasn't glamorous? Glamorous.  I wear my marks with pride because I know without them I wouldn’t have what I have and I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I am so grateful for what I have and even if that means I’m not able to reach my goal of 10kms by my birthday, mid January, then I’m ok with that too. I think it is better to have a goal than to plod along and hope everything will be ok and work itself out.

Here are the photos. I know it will take at least 3 months to notice a significant difference in photos. Possibly in real life you may be able to notice a difference. I can usually tell when I start to decrease the size of my double chin. I’m hoping I notice my arms beginning to strengthen too. I’m aiming to be able to do a 200m medley by January. At the moment I’m doing only 100m with flippers because I’m too much of a chicken to try one without. I also know that my backstroke doesn’t hold up. I'd just like to thank Hollie for taking the photos this morning. 

Two goals and just under three months. Let’s see what I can do.

On a family note, my sister in law gave my mother in law a large canvas photo of their first born at approx 6 weeks old. Kevin and I decided it would be nice if she could hang all the kids together so we made up canvases of the kids at approx 6 weeks old too. We have been trying since Kevin Joshua was 5 weeks old to get a photo of him smiling. We have managed to capture a few blurred ones on our phones but nothing we could print. Every time we bring out the camera he stops smiling even with tickles. Over the last 3 weeks we have taken 100s of photos trying to get a good print. He always turns away from the camera. Is this a sign of things to come? I’m going to post some of those attempts at smiling shots.

Measurements and weight loss

The diet plan hasn't really worked. I'm not sticking to my rules. I have eaten outside of the set times. I have broken my treat days. See my rules here to get an idea of what I mean.  In fact I've developed a love of white bread which is really bad. I have never really eaten white bread and during this pregnancy I just loved it and craved it. Now it is a habit that is hard to kick. Instead of just having one sandwich for lunch I've been having two. Naughty however I have managed to continue exercising every day, except this morning. I will have to make sure I go for a run tonight. Buddy's going to get lucky tonight. He'll get to go twice. Once with me and then with Kevin. I am very grateful to Sarah who has kept me motivated and on track. Tomorrow is walking day and I'm planning lunges and squats on the walk too. 

I am entering the 3rd week of my exercise routine. Swimming or walking every day for those 2 weeks except the day I was very sick. I'm pretty happy with that. It feels good. Kevin always says I need to get up early and get going. It's very difficult when it's cold in winter or when you're pregnant and have very little energy but I agree with him, hear that Honey you are right!, I do operate mush better when I get up and have some time alone or time to wake up before I deal with 4 or 5 nagging children. I've always been a morning person, as in I like being up in the morning. I don't necessarily like communicating early in the morning. I don't like questions being constantly asked and my attention required constantly. I like the mornings. I'm glad I'm doing the early morning exercise. 

I've finally got around to measuring myself. See my measurements below. Last week at the doctors I had lost weight since Kevin's 10 day check up. In 4 weeks I'd lost 1.6kgs. I'm pretty happy with that. I've read a lot that says a breastfeeding mother shouldn't shed more than half a kg a week so I'm happy with the loss I've had.

Measurements 15th October

All measurements are in cms.

right arm               13.2

left arm                 14

bust                      43

belly button          41.5

hips                      42.5

bottom                 46

left thigh               26.7

right thigh             27.1

Before we moved I had all of my measurements written on the mirror in our bedroom. I tracked them for 8 months. It was great to see the measurements decrease over time and then increase with muscle gain. Unfortunately I cleaned the mirror without taking a photo. I remember my dear friend, Leesa, did but I don't know whether she deleted the photo or not. I'll have to check with her.

I still haven't been organised enough to take a photo. I'm a little scared to be honest. I was very keen to start with. Now I'm not so sure. 

Until Friday my dear friends and family.

Amity

MCN- Modern Cloth Nappies

I have bought two brands of MCNs and have been happy with both brands. I have bought Hippybottomus last year and used them with Hannah and now with Lisa. I recently purchased Spunky Bums. These have been fantastic so far. 

So just a little bit about my nappy habits before I begin.

I wash my nappies at night and hang them out to dry so they have all night drying time in case I need to use them early-ish in the morning. I usually wait until I have only a few nappies left before I wash that way if they don't dry overnight I still have a few to use until they dry. I have 12 pocket nappies. These dry really quickly. I have a huge supply of boosters that if I need a nappy that has been on the line over night and the boosters aren't dry (They take a while because they are 4 layers of cloth stitched together.) I have enough boosters to be able to get me through. I have all-in-ones and pocket nappies. The all-in-ones are pocket nappies too, they just have a booster sewn into them. I often add a booster too that why I don't get leaks. In the pocket nappies I generally put two boosters in. My girls have been big wee-ers during the day. I've only even had leaks when I have left it too long to change a nappy  and that can happen with disposables anyway. 

When I take them off the line I put the insert/s in because then when I'm trying to find a nappy I don't have to stress about the nappy being in pieces when what you really want is a quick change. When I get upstairs (if I have time and I'm not making dinner or dealing with a fight) I put the liners in otherwise the nappy would go on with no liner and result in more work for me. I then stack the folded nappy, complete with liner in the cupboard next to the change table.

I have recently started dry pailing my nappies. That is when you clean off the nappy of any soiled parts and give it a quick wash with pure soap if necessary, then dump the nappy into a bucket. I was a little unsure of this method when I first read about it. I thought it would result in really stinky nappies but it hasn't so far. I keep adding nappies to the bucket, with the booster taken out, until the bucket is full or I'm in desperate need of nappies. Then the whole process starts again. 

The following nappies are all-in-ones. These are from Spunky Bums. See link earlier in post. 

I have a selection of all-in-ones. I have velcro ones, 2 rows of clips and 1 row of clips. Probably my favourite is the nappies with the two rows of clips because they seem to be the most versatile. These would fit a baby from birth to toilet training. The  velcro ones go on just like a disposable. Just fasten the two flaps. These are fantastic for Dads because they just go on. No stress or worry about getting the clips right and they are time savers. Sorry Kevin. I know you hate it when women bag men. And the ladies know I have a wonderful husband. This is for the "other" Dads. 

This is one of the one row clip all-in-one nappies I have. I haven't had a leak from them yet but they seem to gap a little on the side which I can foresee problems in the future with a more active child.

This is an all-in-one nappy showing the pocket opening for the extra booster. You can't really see the sewn in booster and the booster.

You can kind of see the stitching in this nappy. This is the all-in-one.

The two clip all-in-one nappies. I think to start with people are a little unsure of the clips and where to clip the different parts for different sized babies.

The following nappies are pocket nappies from Hippybottomus. These have one row of clips all the way along the top and and second row on each side to about the half way point. The placement of these clips are excellent. I have been very happy with the clips and the elastic around the legs. I would suggest two boosters though.

Everyone should give MCN a go because they will save you heaps of money and save the environment too.

So much news

Since November (the last time I updated) so much has happened.


1. School finished so Kevin has spent time looking after me, letting me sleep in, chasing kids around, rousing on kids (and giving me a break from it), cooking dinners ( I have cooked a total of 3 meals since the beginning of December) and generally being the best husband and Daddy in the world.

2. Christmas was celebrated and is a distant memory now. I was 10 days overdue on Christmas day and kept hoping I wouldn't go into labour. We had a very quiet day with just our small family, the 5 of us. We didn't go over board on food but ate a lot of desserts.

3. Baby Lisa Lily was born at 1342 on the 31st of December weighing 7lb 9oz in the world's (my world) shortest labour. 2 1/2hours from the time the put the drip in. Oh how much energy did I have after that! Wow. Very quick.

Lisa's baptism with Fr Jordan and proxy Godparents Gran and Grandpuff.

Hollie is such a big help with Lisa.

4. On the 7th of January we flew to Brisbane so Lisa could meet the families and be baptised. Kevin also attended a PD while we were there which was the other main reason for us going.

5. I celebrated my 29th birthday.

6. During our time in Brisbane the floods hit. We went and had a look at the fast flowing Brisbane River. Amazing! We saw pontoons floating down the river. It was so fast. Our prayers are with the people who lost family and friends in the disaster and to those people whose property was damaged or destroyed. Mum's place took a battering and her roads are in very poor condition. We spent a few hours helping her shift rocks and repair the road before returning to Brisbane to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Lisa's Godparents Matthew and Zoe.

Now it's back to reality and the adventure of 2011 begins. Tonight we got back on the bikes and rode for 30mins. Next week we start school and a hectic life.
Until next time. Thanks for looking.

Having friends

I feel so blessed to have the friends I do. I don't have many but the ones I have are gems. Last night I had t go to Jillian's to order some photos. I have no idea why my computer wouldn't let me process the order. We had a bit of a chat about my darling baby and how I'm coping. Gosh it is so difficult to put into words. I don't even know why I try to do it. There are too many mixed emotions when dealing with something like this. I'd just like to point out that I'm ok. I'm doing much better than I thought I would and I'm content with life at the moment. I actually guess there isn't much to say at all. I guess friends know what's going on.

Today I left the kids at Jillian's (again, and left them crying, again) while I went to IGA. There I ran into Leesa. Thanks Leesa for your questions and your support.

Hollie and Jessica got home from Jilly's and were asking me about Kathryn. They wanted to know they didn't get to see her in the memorial garden, when we were going to have another baby and could I please ask God for a boy baby this time. At times I don't think Jessica is coping very well. She still gets angry when people talk about babies and yells that our baby is dead. They can both remember too well when I was pregnant with Hannah. The poor dears.

Here's some photos of the lovely girls.