Merry Christmas!

A Taboo Topic

There are certain things you just don't discuss publicly and weight gain is one of those taboo topics you don't mention to a hormonal, sleep deprived new mom. But my six week postpartum check up was last week, I've been cleared for all physical activity, and it is time to face the music. I gained about 50 pounds with my pregnancy. (Sigh) I had such good intentions to keep the weight gain to a minimum. I had after all just lost nearly 80 pounds over the previous 18 months and I didn't want to undo all that hard work. Blame it on the emotional stress of the pregnancy, blame it on the PIO injections, blame it on the ridiculous swelling I endured from early in the pregnancy, blame it on my sheer laziness...the fact remains I need to work on losing those pounds all over again and quickly! Over the past six weeks I have come to the unfortunate realization that I am not one of those women where the weight melts away due to breastfeeding,etc. I have this one comfort: deep inside, beneath the dark circles under my eyes, below the belly bulges (yes there is more than one), under the (gulp) layers of FAT, is my inner athlete. I know she is still there ready to lay claim to my body once again. (Dr. B and Dr. C when they were doing my c-section had a discussion about my great set of ab muscles and I told them how I used to be in triathlon shape.) So to begin my renewed effort to bring out my inner "Athena" I have summoned a little help from some old friends:

Body Media Fit Armband - Knowledge is power and this armband helps me track my daily calorie burn, steps, and other such important information.  As Bob Harper says: "It's calories in, calories out!".  

Spin Class - It is not the activity that burns the most calories for me (running is) but I attend on Tuesdays and Saturdays and that serves as "anchor" days for my exercise week.  Attending spin motivates me to do my other workouts and even if I don't do them I never go more than three days without a good calorie burning session.

The Bosu Ball - This funny looking bubble thingy punishes my abs more than any other activity.  It is fun to workout on and helps me tone muscle without having to go anywhere.  Key for a new stay at home mom!  I will also get a little SAHM workout help from my Biggest Loser DVDs.  I love Bob's weight loss yoga video the best.

The BOB Stroller - Jogging is the activity where I burn the most calories.  Right now I put Lena's car seat in the the attachment and we take the BOB out for 5k walks every week.  Eventually when Lena gets older we will jog together!

The Keurig Hot Beverage Machine - I LOVE sweets.  One of my tricks is to replace high caloric desserts/snacks with hot beverages like hot chocolate and various teas.  The Keurig makes this all too convenient. 

Farm Fresh to You - In general Dan and I have been working to get more vegetables in our daily diet.  Now that I am a SAHM I have lots more time to cook.  We are getting a fruit and veggie mix box delivered once a month to encourage me to try new recipes and foods.  This month's challenge was fennel, bok choy, and white turnips. 

Vitamix 5200 - One of our most favorite purchases this year was our Vitamix blender.  It is the same blender that Starbucks and Jamba Juice use.  We use it mainly to make healthy smoothies with fruit, protein powder, flax seed, and veggies!  My personal favorite is: blueberries, bananas, vanilla protein powder, milk, and tons of green veggies like spinach and kale.

I am also planning on entering a few races this year. I think my first race back might be the Knott's Berry Farm 5k/10k in March! I definitely want to do the Long Beach triathlon again next September and a half marathon as well. Getting physically healthy is something that I have always had to work at but it has been extra on my mind now that we are "older parents" in our later 30s and we need to take care of ourselves so that we are around long enough to care for Lena Joyce and see her grow up. Here is to unleashing my inner athlete, meeting goals, and never giving up!

Me after finishing my first sprint distance triathlon in Sept 2010

One Month Old

(Actually Lena is almost six weeks old but here is her one month picture that I took two weeks ago...)

These last few weeks Lena has been transitioning out of preemie clothes and diapers and into newborn stuff which gives us many more dressing options. Her hair bows are fitting now and we have had tons of fun wearing her Babylegs newborn leg warmers. She is a great baby and only gets gassy occasionally. She is changing constantly and quickly putting on her baby fat, which I LOVE! She is over seven pounds now which is up nearly three pounds from birth. She has been gaining around 1 to 1.5 oz per day! She guzzles her food and I think it is hilarious how she sounds like a cross between a gremlin and a piggy when she takes her bottle. She seems to be keeping her head of lovely brown hair and her eyes seem to be staying a nice grey blue. Purple is this little girl's best color!

I have been LOVING my new job as a stay at home mom. My days as a high school teacher already seem like a distant past. We are so blessed to have our Lena and are just drinking her in and cherishing each precious day.

What's in a name? - The tale of two Grandmas

At our baby shower in October one of my lovely hostesses asked me what my hopes were for our baby girl.  Up till that point I hadn't been intentional in thinking about that topic.  My thoughts were more pragmatic like:  I hope that our baby girl is healthy.. I hope she doesn't die.. I hope our baby girl is really a girl since I bought all girl clothes... etc.  Once I began to reflect on this question more deeply I realized that we had considered our hopes for baby girl in the selection of her name.  So this is the story of the people and the meaning behind Lena Joyce's name and what we hope for our new little baby girl.

Lena

This is Lena Chessie Dykstra Shackleton (1891-1955).  She is Dan's paternal grandmother who was born in Iowa in 1891 to Dutch immigrants.   She was mother to four boys who all grew up to serve the Lord and live lives committed to Christ. 

Joyce

 This is Joyce Crabtree Hurst (1918-1996).  She is my maternal grandmother who lived most of her adult life in San Francisco where I visited her a couple times every year.

Precious Moments: Part Two

Lena in the NICU and Coming Home 

Lena's First Visitors

Precious Moments: Part One

Lena's Labor

The C-Section:  Lena's Arrival

Lena's First Week Home!

"My name is Lena and I am this big!"

Early last Tuesday morning we got a call from the NICU.  The neonatalogist wanted to let us know that he was happy with the progress that Lena had made in the last few days and was writing her discharge papers!  My emotions were all over the place.  I was excited that Lena was coming home but I was so nervous that we would mess her up.  Dan was great.  In my insecurity he reminded me that we knew how to change her and feed her and God would help us take care of the rest.  As each day has passed this week Dan and I have gotten more and more comfortable caring for little miss Lena.  On Thursday we went to our mother well baby appointment at St. Jude and Lena had already gained three ounces since she came home with us on Tuesday morning.  It was a nice affirmation that we were doing all the right things so far.  My blood pressure was still incredibly high and the swelling quite bad so I had to rush over to the OB office to see Dr. B.  He doubled my medication and ordered me on bed rest for a week.  I am to do nothing but rest, attend my Dr. appointments, and care for Lena.  On Friday we met Lena's new pediatrician for the first time and again we were blessed with a great report on little Lena.  The doctors are all in agreement that while Lena is small she is incredibly healthy and for that we are sooooo thankful.  Lena has beat great odds to be born into this world.  Her little life is a miracle and her story will never cease to amaze me. 

Me and miss Lena in the special rocking chair.

Pop does a great job feeding his little "peanut".