38 1/2 Weeks - A Postpartum Update

Now that I've been not-pregnant for as long as I was pregnant, I thought it might be fun to give you a little update on how I'm doing post-baby.
(Just a warning, some of this may be a little TMI for my male readers out there.)

I have been doing great since Sam came into our world. She has been such a joy, and she's been well worth all the effort. I'm happy to say I haven't dealt with any postpartum depression. Sure, the first few weeks I was quite weepy and emotional, but that's to be expected. And it was never tears of sadness, just joy and utter exhaustion. (And those tears that seemed to appear for no apparent reason at all!)

I feel very fortunate that I have physically bounced back from pregnancy very quickly. At 10 weeks I started exercising with Stroller Strides, and by 4 months I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Then the strange thing happened: Sam's naps started conflicting with Stroller Strides, so I had to quit. And I quit exercising altogether. (Hanging my head in shame.) I thought sure I'd start gaining weight again, but strangely enough the pounds kept melting off. Granted, I have no muscle to speak of, but I'm skinny!!! I have actually not been this thin and weighed so little since I was in highschool. I've always had a big butt, and for the first time, it is gone. All my jeans fall off now since there's nothing to hold them up! I definitely need to get busy doing some glute exercises so Mama can get her booty back! (Or at least some of it!) Breast-feeding has turned out to be the most amazing weight loss plan ever.

So is my body completely back to normal? Close, but not quite. I do have one leftover condition caused by childbirth that I won't even go into here. But it is s l o w l y getting better. And the fact that I haven't yet had my monthly visitor means that my body's not quite ready to make another baby just yet. (And neither are we, so that's just fine with me for now!) I expect she'll probably come back once I stop breastfeeding, which will be within the next few months. I'm a little scared that I'll gain the weight again once I stop nursing. I guess I'll just need to get serious about working out again so I can maintain this hot-mama body. And buy some new jeans.

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She's Mobile!

Sammy the Inchworm

She's getting faster and faster at it every day!

She can also walk along the fireplace and the mirrors now.

It won't be long now until I'm chasing her at top speed. Go, Sammy, go!!!

Thirty-Eight Weeks

My little bean has been on the outside as long as she was in! And what a wonderful 38 weeks it has been. :)

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I love my backyard swing!

Retro Sammy

Fun with the super sweet Retro Camera app that Sam heard about from her friend Abby!

Thirty-Seven Weeks

Thirty-Six Weeks

IOU...

...LOTS of blog posts.

Sorry I'm so behind; life has been crazy busy! I have several "Week" pictures for you, and an 8 MONTH update for today that I will try to post ASAP!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful 2011 so far!

Eight Months

Dear Samantha,

Today you are 8 months old. You are growing so very quickly. Every day you can do a little bit more! You are really getting the pincer grasp down now so we put little bits of food on your tray so you can practice feeding yourself. It gets messy sometimes, but you do a little better each time.

You are still not crawling, but you roll all the time and occasionally you will get up on all fours and rock a bit. You will throw yourself forward from the sitting position in the direction you want to go, but then you get frustrated when you can't make yourself move any further. You are much happier if we pull you up to your feet and hold your hands so you can walk. You are taking really big steps now, and you've balanced on your feet for a few seconds. You haven't figured out how to pull up on furniture just yet, but I'm sure it's coming soon! Your Daddy never did crawl, and he didn't start walking til pretty late, so we are wondering if you are going to be the same way and go straight to walking.

We are still waiting for your teeth to break through. I can't believe it's already been 4 1/2 months since I first thought a tooth was going to come through. You hardly have any signs of teething right now, so I'm not expecting them to come through anytime soon. I'm sure they'll be here eventually. For now I love seeing your gummy baby smile!

You make all sorts of sounds now. Almost every day you are making new consonant sounds. You have a different sort of cry for pretty much everything that's bothering you. And of course, you laugh A LOT. I have never met a baby that smiles and laughs as much as you do! You try to make friends with people everywhere we go. You will try to catch someone's eye by smiling at them, and if you succeed in getting a smile in return, you are incredibly happy!

This month was a very exciting one for you. We celebrated Christmas at home before we went on vacation, and you were thrilled to play with all the wrapping paper. You got all sorts of fun presents! A couple days before Christmas you got to go on your first plane ride. Mommy was a bit nervous that you wouldn't do well, but you were great! The take-off and landing didn't seem to bother your ears at all, and you were really well-behaved during the flight. You only got fussy a couple of times and it was very easy to distract you with something else to play with. On the flight home you were actually laughing so much that people were turning to look and see the cute baby. What a nice change from the other screaming babies on the flight! While we were in Ohio you had so much fun seeing your grandparents again and meeting lots of new relatives. You did really well for having a disrupted schedule almost every night. You are such a social baby. You weren't shy around new people at all! It was funny to see which people you instantly gravitated towards, and others that took a while for you to warm up to. You enjoyed spending time with everyone eventually though!

We are still working on sign language with you. Sometimes I think you're trying to sign "milk" or "all done" but they seem to be out of context most times when you do them. Hopefully we'll be able start communicating that way with each other very soon!

Each month with you has been better than the last. You get more and more fun every day! You have such a fun personality, and a great sense of humor. You make Mommy and Daddy laugh so hard every day! I couldn't ask for a more fun baby. I love you with all my heart!

Love,
Mommy

Thirty-Five Weeks