8 Weeks

At 8 weeks our little lady still loves to sleep. At 7 weeks & 1 day, she slept through the night for the 1st time ever & has been doing it ever since. Last night she slept for 10 & 1/2 hours straight. No, I didn't wake up in a panic like a lot of people assume. I thanked God :)

I'm one of those people who can't function without sleep. I get downright mean. I think God blessed me with a sleeping baby on purpose.

She's a big girl for 8 weeks (I think). I don't know her height or weight, but will know next week when we take her for her 2 month appointment. She's busting out of her 3 month pajamas & some of her 3 month outfits that snap. Only dresses for this long-legged lady!

The girl sleeps hard

She's supposed to be able to use this bassinet up to 3 months old. At 8 weeks, I'm pretty sure she's outgrown it.

Fully tummy = happy girl

 

 

And then after spitting it all up...

 

 

 

 

My dad's birthday was Sunday, so we headed to the Upstate on Friday afternoon to spend some time with family.

 

1st stop - surprising Mom at her school

 

 

My dad with his grand babies. Jake wanted to hold Miller :)

 

My sister & me with our babies. Doesn't even seem real!

 

 

Katie & I were singing Lady Gaga to Miller. She loved"Stupid Romance" the most.

 

I will always cherish this picture.

 

 

 

 

At 8 weeks postpartum: 30 pounds lost, 5 to go!

 

I'm feeling great & working as much as I can. Although Miller is sleeping more at night, her daytime naps have gotten shorter, which is making it harder to get things done around the house. I'm having to try to find ways to keep her entertained. Guess I'll start searching pinterest for ideas!

 

 

More pictures to come from our amazing weekend!

7 Weeks

Little Miss Miller is 7 weeks old today! She's constantly changing & I'm loving every minute more and more.

Why are they so cute all smooshed in their car seats?

 

She LOVES her swing!

 

Bright-eyed in the morning time!

 

 

This past weekend we attended a wedding for Ryan's cousin, Cullen. The Lake Murray setting was beautiful and we had a great time.

 

 

Dancing with her great-grandmother, BJ

Just like every other good American, the Electric Slide put her to sleep

 

 

 

At 7 weeks postpartum: 28lbs lost, 7 left to lose

 

Progress, people! I've worked out a couple of times, but I think the most effective thing has been counting calories, and watching Days of Our Lives. Just kidding, but I wish that were true. If I spent the same amount of time working out that I spend watching that show I'd be one fit mama.

 

Is there anything better than holding your baby while she sleeps? ... with her mouth wide open

 

Weigh-in Wednesday

Yeah, it's Thursday. Sue me. I know the only way to stick to this weight loss thing is to have someone or something to hold me accountable. Since my husband fears my wrath if he dares mention my weight, I'll have to settle for the "something" that is this blog.

I had my 6 week postpartum checkup on Tuesday, one day shy of Miller's 6 week milestone. I don't know why I dreaded this appointment more than labor itself, but it wasn't too bad. And the good news is... I lost 2 pounds!

At 6 weeks postpartum: 27lbs lost, 8 left to lose

I haven't started exercising yet because I just can't find the time. Because Miller isn't napping as much during the day, I still have some work to do when Ryan gets home around 5:30. I've really got to make time because I know it's really vital to my physical & mental health.

I use a calorie counter ap called MyFitnessPal. With this ap you can enter your current weight, your goal weight and how fast you want to lose it. It will give you the number of calories to shoot for each day. This ap has been great for accountability!

Ok, onto more fun things. Here's Miller at 6 weeks! She's smiling so much more & is staying awake a lot longer during the day.

I love my sweet, happy girl!

The Baby {Weight} Drop

The taboo topic. A woman's weight. You just don't go there. Well... I am. I've always, to a fault, been brutally honest, even about myself. No topic is off limits with me and that's not going to change now that I have a baby. It may actually get worse, so brace yourself. I've already revealed that I gained 33 pounds when I was pregnant with Miller and that I still have 9 to lose. Make that 10. I somehow managed to gain a pound in the last 3 days. Sweet.

My college roommate told me that she thought I was brave for revealing my number. At least I think that's what she said. Maybe it's just what I wanted to hear. Even though women gain weight for a VERY good cause when they're pregnant, it doesn't make it any easier to see the numbers climb on the scale. I tried to explain it to my husband, but I've conceded that he'll never understand. Angst about weight gain during pregnancy, among other things, just can't be understood by the opposite sex.

When I'm not wiping spit-up off my clothes or combing it out of my hair, I spend time picking up the house, working from home, and now planning how I'm going to drop the last 10 pounds. I've started focusing on eating better and trying to remember what exercises worked best for me in the past. I know my body will take a while to get back to normal, but there's nothing wrong with nudging it along, right? During Miller's middle of the night feeding last night, well, actually this morning, I got tickled while looking through Pinterest. Staring me right in the face was a picture of a mom of two who looked like a real-life Barbie. The caption under the picture read "1 year postpartum with baby number 2! Blog is full of work outs, clean recipes and tips on how to get back in shape after baby!." You know I jumped on that Pin like white on rice and I quickly realized that this lady worked out twice a day. You read that right. Twice. Ugh uh. No way. Not going to happen.

The closer I looked, the more I realized that she reminded me of those fitness pageant contestants. Why you ask? BECAUSE SHE WAS ONE! Geez louise. I couldn't help but laugh.

My sister & I loved to watch the Fitness America pageants back in the 90's. well, maybe it was just me watching, but either way, I always managed to find them on TV. I loved their fitness routines. they were always a mix of dance, gymnastics & aerobics - right up my alley. I would try to mimic their routines, usually fairly successfully, and I even mastered the one-leg push up that they all seemed to be so impressed by. If you catch me on a good day I may bust it out for you. Of course I was a gymnast at the time, and all of eight years old, so I should've been able to do that stuff.

I was never impressed with anything else, especially not their bodies. I thought they looked like men in high heels with boobs.

Needless to say, that look isn't what I'm striving for. I just want to be a healthy individual who's confident in a bathing suit. Too much to ask after having a child? I think not.

Before I had Miller I told myself I had until our beach trip to lose the baby weight - 13 weeks. I now have 8 & 1/2 weeks to go, which means I have to crack down.

I'm going to be counting calories, and hopefully after my 6-week appointment next Tuesday, I'll be working out again. Here's how I'm hoping to look when I stroll by the sea this year...


















 

 

Just kidding :)

I've decided to track my progress on this blog. This is 100% for myself, so I won't blame anyone for not reading these particular entries. I want to be able to see what works for me. Wish me luck! This might not be much fun, but it will be real.

Miller is One Month!

Miller turned one month old this past Friday and we couldn't believe how fast the time flew! She's such a big girl!

At her two week checkup, she had already grown an inch, and a week later had gained almost a pound since birth. Her official stats when she was last checked were weight: 9lbs 7oz and height: 22.5 inches.



Miller has become a lot more alert! When we brought her home she was only awake for a total of an hour a day and could've slept through a freight train in her room. She stays awake for longer periods of time now & is really starting to respond with smiles & some cooing. She loves when Ryan sings to her, but usually cries when I do.

She loves sitting up, being carried around and riding in the car. Overall, she's a really great baby. She usually only cries when she's hungry or if she's fighting sleep... or if I'm singing... and that only lasts for a couple of minutes. She gets up once a night to eat, then I put her right back down. Yes, we know we're lucky. Yes, we've been told by multiple people that our next child will likely be a terror. Thanks, everyone.

People ask me all the time how I'm feeling and I think they're surprised by the answer. I feel really, really great. I know I wouldn't feel this good if she didn't sleep as well as she does. The first 3 weeks were rough getting used to nursing & recovering from the delivery, but I've gotten the hang of things and we've all three adjusted really well.

Everyone wants to know, but no one ever asks, so I'll just put it out there. I gained 33 pounds with this pregnancy. My goal was less than 40, so mission accomplished. I was already a couple of pounds over where I wanted to be when I started, so I had a total of 35 to lose. To date, I've lost 26, and I have 9 to go. I've really adjusted my diet because I'm committed to loosing it all before our first beach trip mid July. I'm ready to start working out again & hopefully I'll be able to do that after my 6 week check up in a couple of weeks. I'll likely blog about my progress to keep myself accountable.

I can't wait to watch my little girl develop & to track her progress on here!

Miller's Birth Story

Miller Elizabeth Grubbs

Born April 3, 2013 at 4:58 pm

8 pounds 8 ounces

21.5 inches long

We welcomed Miller into the world one month ago yesterday. It's amazing to me how fast time has flown since her birth. I had every intention to do this post last week (and the week before), but then I started holding her & loving on her & before I knew it four weeks had passed.

We are so in love with our daughter and we think she's just perfect. I want to remember all of the details of her arrival, so I've decided to document all of the parts that weren't erased by the narcotics.

If you've been following my blog, you know that Miller measured ahead for most of the pregnancy, so I was expecting a big baby. The tech told me that if I delivered at 40 weeks, she'd likely be between 8-9 pounds. Dead on, sister.

Anticipating that she would be a sizable nugget, I asked to be induced on my due date. We had to be at the hospital at 5:00 on Tuesday night, April 2nd. Of course we were just sitting around staring at each other all afternoon, so what else was there to do? ...we went to Chick-fil-A for a cookie & lemonade.

We went into the hospital the night before so that I could get medicine to "thin me out" the rest of the way. Sorry for the TMI, but it's the details that count. The doctor on call checked me & determined that I was progressing well on my own, so I didn't get any meds to speed things up, but I got a sweet Ambien and slept like a baby. Ryan, on the other hand, didn't get an ounce of sleep on his cot on the floor.

At 4:00 the next morning, the nurse came & woke me up so that I could get a shower. At 5:00, they started my Pitocin and I was officially in labor. Around 8:00 family started showing up & popping in the room. It gave me a lot of comfort to see them & we really appreciate them all coming & hanging out all day!

 

When they weren't in the room with me, everyone was camping out in the hallway. I'm really surprised the hospital staff didn't make them move back to the waiting room!

At 10:00 my doctor broke my water (I'll spare you the details), and at 3:00 I was ready to push. I pushed for about 30 minutes, and not much happened. My doctor told me to take a break, so of course, I fell asleep! I slept until about 4:30 when she came back in & we got back to business. Almost 30 minutes later, Miller finally made her way into the world.

I make it sound easy, but believe me, giving birth to an 8lb 8oz baby wasn't a piece of cake. I would've enjoyed a piece of cake right then, but that's another story.

As soon as the doctor put Miller on my chest for the first time, Ryan and I fell in love with this new little person. How does that happen so quickly?

We were able to spend some time with her, just the three of us, before our families came in. That was the most special time and I'll never forget it.

All of our immediate family stayed at the hospital all day and it was such a blessing to have them all there!

Although some of the less-favorable details of this day are now somewhat fuzzy, I'll never forget the feeling of holding my child for the first time, and the moment when Ryan and I fell in love with our little girl.