Breastfeeding Blackberry Bookworm

My new life is consumed with breastfeeding, changing diapers and trying to console a crying baby. I never imagined what it would be like to spend 10 - 16 hours a day every day breastfeeding. That's a whole lot of time and before you know it 7am turns into 7pm and the whole cycle begins again.

Breastfeeding experts tell new moms to look into their baby's eyes and focus on them to enhance milk production and make the most of the skin to skin contact that is so important for baby development. Sounds great right! Well, after doing this day after day...I found myself in serious need of some sort of distraction to make the time pass a little quicker. Call me a bad mother but don't care, I needed some other kind of stimulation to keep me awake. Yes, I think my baby is adorable but at 3am, I really need something that stops me from falling asleep on top of my child while feeding her. Alas I discovered the games on my Blackberry. After growing bored of Brickbreaker, I downloaded Bookworm last week and have been hooked ever since. Accordingly, you think my vocabulary would be expanding but I think it's dwindling in direct proportion to the cumulative sleep debt that I am experiencing. And to think what would happen if I wasn't playing word games.....

To give more than my thumbs a little exercise, today I tried to get back on the yoga mat and do a mini practise. I put Ellie on her play mat right beside me and she seemed rather entertained by watching me breathe my way through a series of Sun Salutations A and B. When I got to triangle pose though, she seemed rather bored and started screaming again. Pause trichonasana.....on to change diaperasana and boobasana......

Blessed With a Baby Girl!

No blogging as of late as I've been consumed with the adaptations required of parenthood. Yes, our little Ellie arrived into the world on November 5th. She arrived after nearly 2 days of labour! Women with more than one child say that they forget the pain of child birth. I'm not certain that I will ever forget the experience myself. Having completed several Ironman triathlons and marathons, I know what it feels like to stretch your body physically - however, these kinds of effort do not compare in anyway to the 38 hours of active back labour that I underwent to bring our beautiful little Ellie into the world. How does that song go again......... "joy and pain"....well, you get the idea....

Let's just say that it may be a while before I'm running again! This blog started out as an account of what would be my training adventure for Knee Knacker 2008. Upon finding out that I was pregnant, I obviously had to put this goal aside. Running was also out of the question after four months as a result of some pelvic issues. I'm now one month post-partum and still finding that I'm not even able to walk quite like I used to. So now, this blog will be an account of my RETURN to RUNNING as I experience the joys, challenges and adventures of parenthood!

The good news is that Ellie likes the stroller - she seems to love movement whether it's in the car or in the stroller. Otis on the other hand is not so sure about the stroller. I think he thinks that he's going to get run over by it. Oh well, I'm sure we'll adapt! Over the last week or so, we have been getting out almost every day for a short walk and every time I go, I feel a little bit more like my old self. While she's too young to run in the stroller, I'm still not quite recovered from all the tearing (there was lots of it!!). I made a quick attempt at jogging/shuffling the other day and it still felt like my insides were going to fall out. A bit gross I know but hey...that is what child birth can do to one's body!

I can't wait until I we can all run together again! Can't wait to feel the wind at my face and the freedom that comes from exploring the world in my running shoes. For now though, I will walk, focus on recovering and enjoy Ellie as she grows every day!

Bat Dog and Babies

Look at this! If my dog is this tolerant of wearing a 'bat dog' costume, he has to have enough resilience to adapt to a newborn baby that is about to enter our household any day (or minute). I felt so guilty putting this costume on him and despite his obvious humiliation (particularly with the ear piece), Otis did not resist putting his front paws into the arm sleeves at all! Perhaps he was waiting for that extra special treat but he still does not understand that chocolate is not for dogs! He did not even mind that I took him around the neighborhood to show his human trick-or-treaters his cute little costume.

Yes, today is officially D-Day - baby due November 1st, 2008. There are still several hours of November 1^st remaining but at this moment, I think the babe is quite happy to exist within the peaceful fluid filled environment in my belly. At the same time, I think Otis is quite happy to hold on to his place within the family and be the spoiled doggy that he is. He knows something is up and is wondering why the heck we have moved various pieces of new furniture into what used to be the computer room. He is curious of the stuffed animals and mobile features in the room but somehow he knows to keep his distance – despite the similarity to his stuffed dog toys, he somehow senses that these animals are not for him. Of course, he has been wondering about my belly for some time now and I can see his hesitancy when I ask him if he wants to dance with me. The food motivated creature that he is, he will still jump up and place his paws into my hands while cautiously avoiding my humongous belly. However, I can sense that he is not quite sure how to gauge his jumps anymore! Poor little guy.

I’ve been reading a bit about how to introduce your little one to your pet. I’m kind of hoping that once Otis gets a whiff of the poopy diaper, they will be the best of friends but there are all these cautions about even the gentlest dog behaving unpredictably. Of course, I want to ensure the safety of the baby but I also want to be sure that our Otis doesn’t feel neglected. If it wasn’t for Otis, I think I’d truly be a much more unstable person or I’d probably drink a lot more alcohol than I do! There has never been a time, where Otis has not run to the door to great me enthusiastically when I’ve come home from work. The tail thumping that I hear upon first waking in the morning says so much more than any expression of “good morning” that any human could say to me. His absolute love of running and playing in the outdoors has made me appreciate my own abilities (temporarily limited at the moment!) to run, jump and enjoy nature. Dogs do not worry about the day previous or the impending future either. They are truly the most amazing creatures that teach us every day about living in this moment – being fully present. How fantastic would this life be if we could spend more time fully living the moment that we were actually in! I hope that Otis thinks his humans are amazing creatures and he welcomes the little babe as he has his other owners.

Halloween Belly

I am not one to flash my belly around but this is a bit of sight I must admit. I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant when I had my belly painted with a big happy spider on it. I think my belly provided the largest canvas for the halloween colouring extravaganza that took place before my prenatal fitness class. I don't think I'll be painting my belly any time again soon so thought this might be worth posting! A few days to go before my due date..... I hope it happens within the next 8 days as I know my doc's are on call during that time. Until then, I'm down to about two t-shirts and one pair of stretchy pants that fit me............

The 38th Week

I have been a delinquent blogger and can't believe I haven't posted in over 2 months. In efforts to get ready for babe, we moved our computer downstairs and with the computer out of sight, it's out of mind as well. After 8-9 hours of staring at the computer all day at work, there hasn't been much of an incentive for me to do more of the same at home. Anyway, I finally finished work last week and so have a bit more time on my hands! I just hope that I get a little break between work and the arrival of the new babe.

My belly has grown large since my last post and with nearly 30lbs of extra weight on this bod, I feel like I'm doing a new kind of resistance training! The only thing is that I don't feel like I'm getting any stronger! I read about these women that continue to run into their third trimester but with my pubic symphysis pain even walking longer distances is out of the question. However, my thrice weekly preggo fitness classes and my prenatal yoga classes have been great. Physically, I still feel like I'm doing something and psychologically, it's great to be around other women with large bellies whom are going through the same things you are. Going to the community gym becomes exhausting after a million people ask you when you are due - I think they're afraid that I'm going to go into labour or something as I'm pedalling away on the stationary bike or something..........

Bladder Shrinkage and Crazy Dreams

With pregnancy comes a decline in bladder capacity. All of my pregnant female friends have prepared me for that. For the most part, I’m within close proximity to a toilet so aside from the inconvenience of having to go three times an hour, there’s really no problem. That is until I have to teach a one hour spinning class or until I hit the bush. I think a one hour spin class might be pushing it for my bladder these days but I did make it through with some minor discomfort a couple of weeks ago. When I’m in the trails with the dog, it takes me all of 15 minutes before I start scoping out the perfect pee spot off the trail. I think my dog things I'm charting my territory just like him. So far, I think I’ve been pretty good at plotting out my spots – I haven’t been caught yet. To be honest, I’m not sure that I’d really care if I was caught. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

The crazy dreams I didn’t really know about and I have no idea if it’s related to pregnancy or not. For those of you that have been pregnant….do tell. I have been dreaming crazy things recently and things that I never even knew I was capable of thinking. Imagine Alice in Wonderland but 20 times crazier. Last night I dreamt that I was luging but the luge track was through a lake. As I was scotting long this massive grey snake came out of the water and bit me. In my panic to get the fanged beast off my skin, it bit me again. Now, what in the heck could that mean? I’m not sure that I want to dig in to the depths of my psyche by analyzing my dreams but I have do have to wonder!?

Other than that I'm ticking along at 26 weeks and getting larger by the minute. This week I hate to admit that it's actually been difficult to bend down and tie my shoes!

Searching for Swimwear

Well, summer has finally arrived! With heat like this, most people want to be near water – a great way to stay cool. Jump in and you remove that sticky sweaty feeling that makes one feel lethargic. I’ve been thinking about swimming a lot lately especially given that running is out of the question and riding my bike to work is also off limits.

I’ve also gained a whopping 19lbs so far in this pregnancy so let’s just say it’s a little more effort to move this body around. Yes, pregnancy is this beautiful thing and every woman’s body responds to pregnancy differently. But 19lbs!! Holy crap – some people gain that much throughout their entire pregnancy. I may still have 18 weeks to go!!! I was not a big person to start with but man, my expanding largeness is seriously challenging my self confidence. It also doesn’t help when I walk in to teach spin class and the first thing someone says to me is “wow – have you every put on a lot of weight”. Like duh! It’s as though it’s supposed to be a surprise to me or something.

So let’s just say the thought of putting on a bathing suit is not all that appealing. However, I’m determined to get in the pool to be weightless again. So, I figure – hey – my speedo is pretty stretchy…that should fit! Well, what a sight that was. Imagine yourself trying to fit into your bathing suit that you wore when you were 10 years old. Well, that was what it was like. Not a pretty sight! So, off I go to the maternity shops to find that perfect suit. After trying on several suits with no success, I am no longer in search of the ‘perfect suit’ – I just want a suit that fits! My ass has definitely expanded but in most cases I’m a small or medium maternity bottom. The top half of my body is a completely different story. I know some of you really don’t want to hear me talk about my breasts but it’s kind of an impossibility when they are growing at an unbelievably ill-proportioned rate. Let’s just say that when I finally find a bathing suit that fits, I have my own life saving devices attached to my body. It’s really not that funny....for those of you that haven’t been pregnant before, imagine your chest growing 3 sizes bigger in a matter of 5-6 months!

So, I’m still on a quest for a suit that fits but at this rate, I’m thinking that I may have to resort to a regular sports bra and some boy shorts and expose my white preggo belly to the world.