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Post-Baby Workouts

Walking with Katie

Now that five weeks have passed since giving birth, I’ve started to crave a daily workout. While I am still sticking with my plan of waiting six weeks before working out, that doesn’t mean that I can’t start doing some research in advance. While my daily walks with Katie have provided me with fresh air and endorphins, I’d like to focus on regaining strength over the next few months.

One of the things you will not see on this blog is a body after baby series where I detail my weight and measurements. I’ve thought a lot about how I want to share my journey with you all and one of the most important things is that I’m a healthy role model. It takes nine months to gain the weight and therefore I fully expect and recognize that it will take at least that long to lose the weight. Moreover, I am not focused on the number on a scale. Instead, I want to focus on building strength and, eventually, my running speed and endurance. Workouts will be different this time around as I no longer have the luxury to workout as often as I’d like, nor as long as I’d like. Yesterday, while pushing our daughters in their strollers, my friend Elizabeth and I discussed workouts after baby. Since she is a month ahead of me, she has already started working out again and shared her perspective during our walk. Throughout life, our priorities change. Right now, my priority is to spend as much time with Bo and Katie as possible. His work schedule means that the precious early morning, evening and weekend hours are the only time we have as a family of three. The last thing I want to do at this point is head out of the house for a workout.

Therefore, I am currently researching two types of post-baby workout options to enjoy during the 13 weeks remaining in my maternity leave.

    • Workouts that I can do at home while Katie is napping.
    • Workouts in our neighborhood that I can do during the day with Katie.

Yesterday I asked for advice on Instastories and after receiving so many replies as well as requests to share the information with you all, I wanted to make the same request in today’s post while also sharing the feedback I’ve received thus far. Please keep in mind that these are reader recommendations. I have not tried any of these workouts yet and therefore can’t vouch for them. In addition, if you are pregnant or postpartum, please remember to check with your OB-GYN before beginning any workouts.  The below are listed in no particular order and any comments or details provided are the ones that people left when they responded to my request for postpartum workout suggestions.

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Your turn – What are your favorite post-baby workouts?

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Newborn Favorites

It is hard to believe that tomorrow we will celebrate Katie’s one month birthday. How the heck did that happen? By celebrate, I mean that I’ll enjoy a glass of my favorite chardonnay and we’ll give her extra cuddles and hopefully capture a few pictures of her.  When I scroll through pictures on my phone, it feels like just yesterday we were in the hospital, cuddling her while the photographer snapped these pictures. So much has transpired in the past month including plenty of health scares, dirty diapers, feeding challenges but, more than anything, our house has become filled with SO much love.

bw-10-Diamond_062117-10Whether it’s the instant bond that both sets of grandparents felt with Katie when they held her or the excitement we have each time we share moments with her whether reading, cuddling, feeding, playing or even changing diapers.

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Since I benefitted so much from the recommendations moms and readers provided to me when Bo and I were building our registry, I wanted to share the items that have made the first month with a newborn far easier. Some of these were already stocked in our home when we came home from the hospital, while others were purchased during a few of our more frantic Amazon orders or BuyBuyBaby trips.

Newborn Baby Favorite Items

Kissy Kissy Kimono – Unfortunately, we quickly learned that dressing a newborn can be a tedious, painful task. Katie can’t stand when we try to squeeze her head through a small neck hole so she has spent many of her days in either a Kissy Kissy Kimono, Gerber Basics kimono or a few wonderful newborn outfits that have snaps along the neckline for easy access. This particular kimono is our favorite due to its soft feel and perfect fit.

Keekaroo Peanut Changing Pad – Luckily, multiple friends recommended this changing pad to us when we registered. It has been such a lifesaver as the surface wipes clean and Katie seems to like the soft surface. I can’t imagine having to wash a cover everytime she goes to the bathroom mid-diaper change or drools. 

Portable Diaper Changing Pad – Our keekaroo changing pad stays upstairs near her bassinet for convenient nap time changes but the rest of the time, we use this soft changing pad. We’ve thrown it in the diaper bag, used it on the back porch and typically keep it downstairs as part of our secondary changing station for daytime changes.

Aden+Anais Swaddle Cloths – We use these large, square muslin blankets multiple times a day! While we primarily use them to swaddle her when she sleeps, we also use them as burp cloths and keeping her warm. I would recommend sticking with this brand and making sure that you check the measurements as certain retailers sell different Aden+Anais lines which are smaller or not as soft.

Carter Baby Burp Cloths – I remember looking at the pile of six burp cloths we received during the baby shower and rolling my eyes. I asked my mom if I should exchange some and she laughed and said no I should hope to receive plenty more. Now, a month in, I’ve already gone out and bought more. I swear that if I had my way we’d have a burp cloth in every corner of the house as I always find myself without one in arm’s reach. These are inexpensive, soft and large enough to capture all her spit-up and drool when we burp.

What to Expect: The First Year – This book has been loved a lot already, even in the first 30 days. We read the weekly section as she enters the new week in hopes of better understanding what we can generally expect as well as using the index to search hot topics like gas, fussiness, and jaundice. While we both realize that Katie and babies, in general, do not come with an instruction manual and can’t be predicted, this book has helped us become better educated and prepared parents.

Boppy and Boppy Lounger – I have used the Boppy daily to help support my arm during nursing since I often use the cradle position to hold Katie. In addition, it helps elevate my arms so that she is closer to my breasts, making nursing easier and more comfortable. The Boppy Lounger is one of her favorite spots when we are relaxing together. I recently discovered that the slight incline makes her more comfortable and a bit happier during our daily outfit changes, which she previously wasn’t enjoying.

UPPAbaby Bassinet + Cruz Stroller – Strollers are an item that we researched for weeks before making a decision since it’s an investment as well as an item that the entire family uses daily. For us, considering our Brooklyn location, it was important to find a lightweight, durable, spacious, easy to use yet small enough to navigate stores and subways. The basket on the stroller has plenty of room for groceries or anything else we need and the standing fold allows us to easily store it when we’re at home.  It easily fits through doorways, can manage our neighborhood grocery store’s narrow aisles, has a very large sunshade that keeps Katie protected on our walks, and at 30 pounds I haven’t had an issue taking it in and out of our brownstone on my own.  While the Cruz doesn’t come with the bassinet, we were able to find a family in the neighborhood who didn’t need the bassinet which came with their UPPABaby Vista. The bassinet has been wonderful as it easily attaches, with just one handle, to the stroller base and provides a comfortable space for Katie to sleep safely at home as well as explore when it’s attached to the stroller. We’ve taken her for long walks on a daily basis since she was just three days old and have found that she still prefers this over being in a car seat when we’re out in the stroller.

Dr. Brown’s Infant Baby Bottles – Since we didn’t think we’d need to use bottles during the first few months of Katie’s life, we never registered for bottles. Therefore, when we urgently needed to start supplementing with formula, we headed to BuyBuyBaby to buy bottles. Many people recommended buying a few different types so we could figure out what type Katie preferred. While we were initially intimidated by Dr. Brown’s bottles due to their multiple parts and pieces, after just a few feeding sessions we could tell that Katie loved them. She latched easier, suffered from less gas and they were easier for us to hold. When we burp her, typically 1-2 times during feeding, the burps come up far faster than before.  While they have multiple parts, I have found that they aren’t that difficult to clean and I tend to do my best to clean them immediately after each feed while she’s sleeping. I’ve found that the Dr. Brown’s specific cleaning brush helps greatly though!

Your Turn: As we move into the second month, I’d love your recommendations for things you or your baby loved as they hit months 2, 3 and 4?

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A Day In The Life–Newborn Edition

 

As of Wednesday, Bo and I were on our own with Katie, ready to embark on our life as a family of three. While we loved having so many friends and family members come visit the past two weeks, it has been nice to start finding our groove together. While everyday brings new adventures and a child means that nothing in life is predictable, we are loving every moment even on the most sleep deprived of days.

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While I have a few longer posts drafted in my head, this afternoon I wanted to check in quickly for a Day in the Life post. Things are a lot different around here these days, so I thought it would be fun to share what a “typical” day looks like. I laughed as I typed the word “typical” as there is no such thing as typical with a newborn. Instead, let’s call this a glimpse at what my life looked like today.

Keep in mind, Bo and I have chosen to follow the Moms On Call schedule and method as of week 2 and therefore we have a schedule that we do our best to stick to each day, realizing that sometimes the baby or day’s activities will require some flexibility.

1:45 AM – My alarm goes off and I quickly head downstairs to warm a bottle of formula. The goal at this point is for each feeding session, especially the nighttime feeds, to take no more than 30 minutes. Based on my milk production, right now I am giving Katie 10 minutes on each breast before giving her 2.5-3 ounces of formula via bottle.

2:34 AM – She is milk drunk in no time and after changing diapers twice during the feeding session, she is sound asleep when I set her back in ther bassinet.

5:45 AM – My alarm goes off and this time Bo wakes up to head downstairs to get the bottle warmed and ready while I immediately start feeding Katie. Bo has been a champ these past two weeks, since going back to work, and wakes up so he can squeeze in time with Katie before going to work. After I feed her, Bo takes her and gives her the bottle and changes her diapers before doing 10-15 minutes of skin to skin time on his chest while I go back to sleep for a bit.

7:00 AM – When Bo heads to the shower he wakes me up so I can watch Katie and start my day. I swear that extra hour of sleep is sometimes the most quality sleep I have all day. While Bo is in the shower I take the monitor downstairs and make coffee, prepare his breakfast and snacks and make my own breakfast. I’ve been having oatmeal most mornings since oats are a lactation power food. This morning’s oats were paired with fresh berries, flax seed and a drizzle of almond butter.

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7:15- 9 AM – Since Katie tends to nap like a champ in the morning, I front load my to-do list. This morning that included running a few loads of wash, emptying the dishwasher, making the bed, and writing thank you notes.

9 AM – I wake Katie for her mid-morning feed which also includes 15 minutes of playtime. Since she’s in a good mood, I decide to read to her while she relaxes in her Boppy lounger.  During each of the daytime feeding sessions, we spend 15-20 minutes playing together, enjoying skin to skin or rocking depending on what she seems to enjoy most at that point in the day.

9:45 – 10 AM – I hook myself up to the pump, which I have a love-hate relationship with thus far. I love it because it’s helping me with my milk production and can be used hands-free but for my sanity, I am only pumping 3-4 times per day.

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10 AM – 12 PM – I spend time downstairs baking Gina’s Lactation Cookies before heading back upstairs to shower, change clothes and put on some makeup. So far, I have stuck with my goal of showering every single day and changing clothes each day. It’s amazing what these two simple acts, even when squeezed into a five minute period, can do for me mentally. I have a few spare minutes before my alarm goes off and indluge by curling up in my favorite chair to read for a few minutes.

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12-1:15pm – This feeding doesn’t go quite as smoothly as Katie puts up a fight when I change her diaper and then proceeds to explode her way through three diapers during the change. She finally calms down enough to enjoy a quick Facetime session with my mom before a bit of tummy time.

1:30pm – Hear my stomach growl and quickly dash downstairs to grab lunch from the fridge. Today’s lunch is leftover Sweetgreen salad which my friend Colleen brought over when she came to visit last night. So thankful for an easy lunch as this tends to be the witching hour most days, so I have no idea how long Katie will nap.

1:45 – 2:55 My friend Elizabeth, who has an eight-week old, texts to see if I want to join her for a walk. I quickly move Katie downstairs, attaching her basinet to the stroller, and head out the door. We spend the next hour chatting and running a few errands around the neighborhood, including a stop at the library as well as mailing a pile of thank you notes. Katie sleeps peacefully during our entire walk, enjoying the bumps in the sidewalk and the fresh air.

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3pm – 4pm Time for the late afternoon feeding. I go into this feeding each day mentally prepared for lots of fussiness as babies tend to get fussier in the afternoon. Katie feeds quickly and is clearly hungry but is still wide awake when we finish the entire routine. I try putting her down in the bassinet, hoping that she’ll go to sleep even though her eyes are open.  Since she starts crying when I put her down, I spend the next five minutes soothing her while she’s in the bassinet.  A little bit of rocking, rubbing the stomach and shhhing goes a long way and by the four minute mark she’s asleep. IMG_4281

4pm – I head downstairs to make a quick smoothie snack since my stomach is roaring. Our kitchen is quite bare since I haven’t been to the grocery store and therefore have to rely on what is in our cabinet and freezer. I put frozen raspberries, protein powder, flax seed, water, milk and one tablespoon of almond butter together and blend for a delicious and filling smoothie.

4:15 pm – I sit down to check email and write a post. I hope to have time this weekend, while Bo is home, to write the birth story post as well as my two week reflection post. For today, I decide that sharing a day in the life post is interesting and a lot quicker than either of those two options.

4:55 pm – Push publish on this post and then head downstairs to pour myself a glass of wine and read for a few minutes before heading back upstairs for the 6pm feeding.

It’s been a really good day overall, though I’m looking forward to having Bo around this weekend. At this point in maternity leave I definitely feel a bit isolated. It’s helpful to have friends nearby who are also on maternity leave and I’ve made it a goal to enjoy at least a few dates each week with them whether it’s breakfast, lunch, play date or a walk around the neighborhood. Thank you again to everyone who has sent text messages, Insta messages, comments and emails with tips and tricks for making it through this first month.

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