2015 New Year's Resolutions

OMG 2014 has gone by so fast. I think part of the reason that it has gone by so fast is because I was in such a rush to meet my little man that I was waiting for October to come all year...

Anyway, I actually love New Year's Day more than New Year's Eve. While all the glitz and glamour of New Year's Eve can be fun, our New Year's Eves have been low key the last couple of years. I can't even remember what we did last year...actually we went out to a very nice steakhouse with Mitch's sister last year but the year before I can't remember if we even stayed up for the countdown. I think there was a year recently where I went to bed before midnight...This year is probably going to be low key too since we have Cooper but I don't mind as it is New Year's Day that I look forward to. 

I like to have a nice brunch on New Year's Day and reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the upcoming year. I feel like you get a fresh start and I find it exciting! I know some people are against making resolutions because they can be hard to keep, but I have been pretty good at keeping them over the past few years. I definitely find it helps if you write down your resolutions and keep them somewhere where you can look at them and remind yourself of them. I usually breakdown my resolutions into several different categories and keep them where I can easily access them. In recent years I have made a Pinterest Board for my resolutions and then re-pinned them onto a different board once I completed or accomplished each resolution. I find that this system works well and I will probably do the same thing again this year. 

Here are my 2015 New Year's Resolutions:

Family:

Spend time being "present" with my son - I want to spend as much quality time with my son each day. I want to spend time playing and teaching him new things and watching his face as he sees the world for the first time. I am so glad that I have this year off work to be with him, so I want to use this time wisely. 

Have one date night a week with my husband - This can mean getting a babysitter (when Cooper is a bit older) but I also want to try "home date nights". I saw some ideas on Pinterest that I want to try.

Home Improvements:

Finish staining deck and fence - also set up the patio furniture, maybe a nice shed and do some landscaping in the backyard.

Stonewall - Put up a stonewall around fireplace.

Bathrooms - Paint upstairs bathroom and powder room. I really like this striped wall for my upstairs bathroom.

Kitchen - Put in quartz counter-tops in kitchen, paint cabinets white, put in subway tile back-splash. I want something like this picture below except I would have grey tile on the floors instead of a wood floor.

Professional:

Expand this Blog - as I mentioned above, I have 1 year of maternity leave so I am off until October 2015. Therefore, I would like to expand this blog for a couple reasons. First, I use it as a journal to look back upon. I am so glad that I was able to capture my pregnancy and I will be able to look back on it in the future. Also, this blog has allowed me to be apart of a community and connect with other bloggers and YouTube vloggers. Thirdly, I am hoping that this blog can expand enough so I can make a career out of it and spend more time at home with my son.

Health/Fitness:

Yoga - I would like to attend at least one yoga class per week and practice at least some yoga poses at home every day. I would also like to try Arial yoga and paddle board yoga (not sure what the actual term is) if I get the chance. Maybe even some Hot Yoga on the beach if I visit my sister in Bermuda!

Running - I would like to complete at least 3 races in 2015. So far I have signed up for the 10k at Ottawa Race Weekend. I am really hoping to complete a 1/2 marathon this year.

Oil Pulling - I would like to oil pull almost everyday but at least 3x per week. This was one of my resolutions that I didn't keep in 2014 but I would like to try and keep it in 2015.

Travel:

Go to at least 1 new place in 2015 - Right now I am planning to go to Aruba in September 2015 which I have never been to yet. 

Visit my sister and her family in Bermuda - if she moves back there in February. I really want Cooper to be close to his cousin. 

Those are my resolutions for this year and I would love to hear all of your resolutions too! Thank you so much for all of your support and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. I will have exciting blog news coming in the near future, including some giveaways, so stay tuned!

Cooper's First Hanukkah & Christmas

As I have gotten older, I have lost a bit of interest in Christmas. It just seems that it has become so commercialized, and some of my family has moved away so we often don't get to celebrate together but this year was special because it was Cooper's first Hanukkah & Christmas. 

We celebrated Hanukkah in Montreal with Mitch's family the weekend of December 20, 2014. This was also Cooper's first trip. We only went for Saturday/Sunday so we only needed to pack for 1 night but it felt like we needed stuff for a week! There is so much to bring with a newborn. I figured that we wouldn't be walking too far so I left the stroller at home and at the last second we decided to leave his bouncy chair at home too and just have him sit in his carseat if needed. There was so much family there looking forward to holding him so he really was only in his carseat while we are eating. I found that it was a bit loud having 13 people in one house which made him a bit anxious at times but overall I think he handled it pretty well. I might do a separate post on travelling tips for travelling with a newborn. Cooper was definitely spoiled on his first Hanukkah. He got a lot of cute outfits and we had a delicious meal. Mitch's aunt is one of the best cooks I know, so I always look forward to her holiday meals!

We had planned to celebrate Christmas with my mom on Christmas Eve this year because she was heading out of town on Christmas Day to go to my step-dad's family's house in Toronto. However, my niece, mom, and step-dad all came down with a stomach bug the day before so that dinner was cancelled at the last minute and is supposed to be re-scheduled for sometime in the new year. Therefore, Cooper's first Christmas was pretty low key but it was still fun. We opened Christmas presents on Christmas morning, Mitch made a delicious French toast breakfast, and then we watched a Christmas movie and relaxed the rest of the day. 

We didn't go crazy on gifts for Cooper this year because he is so small and really doesn't understand yet. Plus he is so small that he doesn't really play with too many toys yet. However, we did get him a couple small toys, a cool winter hat, and some cute onsies . 

Here are a couple pictures from our Christmas celebration:

I hosted a Christmas dinner for my dad, step-mom, sister, niece, my sister's husband, and his family from Bermuda that were visiting on December 28, 2014. In total there were 10 people. I made a Prime-Rib roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, cream of spinach, and pie for dessert. It was my first time making a roast so I was a bit nervous but I tried out a recipe from Pinterest and I think it turned out pretty good. It was a bit rare for a couple of guests but my husband, dad, and step-mom like it pretty rare so it was good for them. I ended up grilling some pieces on our grill for those who liked it a bit more well-done. I really liked the rub I made for the roast and the mashed potatoes so I definitely think I will try those recipes again. However, it was a lot of work with a newborn and a big mess to clean so I am glad that part is over. 

All in all we had a great holiday season this year but my husband and I are thinking of going somewhere warm for the holidays next year. I will most likely be back at work but I do get the statutory holidays off so it is a perfect time to get away and just relax. We will see what kind of deals we can find because it can be an expensive time to travel...do any of you have a favourite place to travel for the holidays or do most of you just stay close to home? 

I hope all of you had a great holiday and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Fun Guilty or Innocent Tag : Holiday Edition

For this update I wanted to do a fun TAG that was created by Jenn from YouTube. Her YouTube channel is: https://www.youtube.com/user/momwithsparklyheels. She has lots of fun videos on her channel so please check it out.

So for those of you that are not familiar with YouTube TAGS...it is just a bunch of questions that you answer on a given subject and then you TAG other people to answer the same questions. The theme of this TAG is "Guilty or Innocent: Holiday Edition"...the questions along with my answers are below:

• Do you re-gift?

Guilty - I think I have once or twice but I think the only thing I have re-gifted would be wine that I may have won in a gift basket raffle or at a general gift exchange. We really don't drink wine and if I know someone who does like it, I may re-gift it or bring it as a hostess gift. 

• Do you save wrapping paper, ribbon, or gift bags and reuse them?

GUILTY - totally guilty of this one. I usually save the nice bags or ribbon I get from gifts and re-use them for other people's gifts. Wrapping paper seems hard to save. I am usually not that careful about ripping paper so not wrapping paper but definitely gift bags, tissue paper and ribbon. That stuff is pretty expensive just to be thrown out...don't most people save this stuff???

• Do you go Pinterest crazy with crafts or gifts during the holidays?

Kinda Guilty - I am not sure if you would say crazy but I usually do a couple of things from Pinterest. I either do a gift or centrepiece or recipe. Last year I think I tried a couple of recipes and did a centerpiece I found on Pinterest. This year I plan to do some games and maybe some decorations if I end up hosting a dinner at my house...

• Do you use Santa or your Elf on the Shelf as a ploy for good behavior?

Innocent - My son is too young for this right now but I might try this in a couple of years...

• Do you forget to move the Elf on the Shelf?

Innocent - As I said above, my son is too young so I haven't tried Elf on the Shelf...

• Do you shop last minute?

Guilty - I usually get most of my shopping done a couple of weeks before but I just bought Mitch's last gift today and it's only 3 days until Christmas. I usually end up picking up at least a couple things last minute...

• Do you shop clearance?

Guilty - I definitely don't mind getting stuff on clearence. I don't restrict shopping to clearence items by any means but it seems like most stores have so many sales at this time so its hard not to buy stuff on sale unless you are doing shopping very early which I never do...nothing wrong with saving a bit of money!

• Do you do DIY gifts?

Guilty - I try and do at least some of my gifts DIY. I think they are more personal and thoughtful. I don't do all gifts DIY by any means but some are fun. Last year I made my sister a sugar scrub and this year I got everyone the same DIY gift (which I need to keep secret) but I hope they like it!

• Do you buy gift cards as gifts?

Guilty - I totally buy giftcards for certain people that I don't know what to get. I personally love certain giftcards and would totally love getting giftcards for Starbucks and the Spa. I seriously wouldn't care if everyone got me giftcards for those places. They would definitely get used. I also like restaurant giftcards. However, I do see how they seem unpersonal so I usually try and give the person another small gift along with it. 

• Do you redecorate after the kids so that it looks 'perfect'?

Innocent - My son is only two months old so he didn't really get to help this year so this hasn't really been an issue for us yet. I don't think I would though. I am not too concerned with my tree looking perfect but we will see what happens next year.

• Do you secretly think Christmas baking is a pain the butt?

Guilty - I try and do a little bit of baking but I am not a good baker and I don't think I will ever go through the trouble of doing a lot of Christmas baking.

• Do you stay up late on Christmas Eve wrapping gifts? 

Guilty - yes usually I do but this year I plan to start a couple nights before...plus we are having our big Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so it will probably be either December 23 or right before I go to my moms for dinner on Christmas Eve...

I TAG everyone who wants to do this TAG and please let me know if you do the TAG because I would love to read your answers!

2 month Post-Partum Mommy Edition

So I am now 2 months post-partum and feeling pretty good. I would say I am just about fully recovered from the C-section. I feel like I have a full range of movement and my lower back pain is almost gone. In the last few weeks I have been working on core exercises and stretching my back via Hot Yoga which I think has helped a lot with my back pain and overall core strength. However, I still have a ways to go before I am back to my pre-pregnancy strength and shape in the core area. My core is definitely the area I am working on the most post-pregnancy. Currently, I am only working out 1-2 times per week. I am still going to Hot Yoga once per week and then another day I just go to the gym to do cardio and a kettlebell workout. I still intend to start running a couple times per week but with it being the Holiday season, I haven't found the time. Hopefully in the new year I will find the time to commit to 3-4 workouts per week.

Right now I weigh 126 lbs (which is 1 lb lower then my pre-pregnancy weight) and my waist is 30 inches so I have lost 1 inch on my waist in the last month. I am happy with my weight but I would still like to lose 2-3 inches off my waist to get back to my pre-pregnancy size of 27-28 inches. My goal was to reach that size by the end of 2014 but that is only 2 weeks away and it's the Holiday season so that will be a tough feat...I will keep you posted on whether or not I reach that goal. Here are a couple pics of me at 2 months post-partum...definitely not the most flattering pictures:

I am still exclusively breastfeeding and I am really enjoying breastfeeding. So far it seems like my milk supply is sufficient but I am worried about it getting low. I take Fenugreek randomly when I remember and I try and eat oatmeal to keep up my supply but I really need to start drinking a lot more water on a consistent basis. I am not sure why it is so hard but I always forget. I think if I up my water intake and nurse exclusively, I will keep a good milk supply.

Emotionally I am doing quite well. I still have some days that I get bit overwhelmed trying to get chores and other tasks done but I am trying to stay positive and keep with my mantra "progress not perfection". It seems that there is always something to get done and I usually have an ambitious "to-do" list each day so I feel like I usually don't have time to do something on that list. However, I am trying to take a bit of "me" time each day. That means I take time to do something for me each day. Whether it is working on my blog, checking instagram/facebook, taking an extra few minutes getting ready, or going to yoga, I try to prioritize something. Some nights I just leave the last of the chores and take a few minutes to watch TV or nap with Cooper. Doing this really helps me from getting too overwhelmed. However, my goal for the new year is to try and get outside more with Cooper. I know it is the winter but I think it is important to get fresh air and sunlight each day so I will try and get out for a walk each day unless it is -30C or something! I think this will be good for both of us.

As far as my time with Mitch goes, I am finding it hard to balance it all and I still find that we don't get too much alone time together but I am sure that will change as Cooper gets older. I really want to look at some of my at-home date night ideas from Pintrest and make an extra effort to do some of those. Right now we are still trying to have an at-home hot tub date night...I think I mentioned that in my 1 month post-partum update. Well we still haven't found the time but hopefully we will soon. 

Well that is it for my 2 month post-partum update but I think during the upcoming month, I might try and go to the chiropractor. I was watching Kelsy's 2 month post-partum update at: https://www.youtube.com/user/plus1please and she mentioned that the chiropractor really helped her with her back pain. She even mentioned that the chiropractor helped her baby's sleep issues. I am curious if it will help me at all. Mitch has been going to the chiropractor for over a year and it is covered by my insurance so I might try it out. I will definitely let you guys know how it goes. In the meantime, check out Kelsy's YouTube channel. She is definitely one of my favourite YouTube moms!!!

2 month Post-Partum: Baby Edition

So Cooper turns 2 months today (December 17, 2014). As most parents say, the time really flies! I can't believe he is already two months! He is doing great and getting big. He had his final midwife appointment last week on December 10, 2014, and they took all of his measurements again. As of then, he was 9 lbs 1 ounce, he is 22 inches long, and his head circumference is 38.5 cm. Both the midwife and I are really happy with his consistent weight gain. He has been gaining about an ounce/day in the last month which is really good. I think he is still pretty light for his age (only around the 10th percentile for weight) but he is catching up and still feeding well. I was really confused by his length because I thought he was 21.5 inches long at birth and it seemed like he is a lot longer now based on the fit of his sleepers but that is the measurement she got. I thought he was about 24 inches when I measured him myself a week earlier when he was stretched out in his bassinet but even at 22 inches he is still around the 50th percentile for height. 

Some of the big milestones he has reached this month is that he smiles and sticks out his tongue a lot. We actually play a little game when I am changing him where we both stick out our tongues. He seems to like it and think its funny because he smiles a lot when we play it. He seems to be a morning person like his mama because he smiles a lot more in the morning and doesn't really fuss.

He still loves to sleep on my chest. We are still in the routine of taking an evening nap together with him sleeping on my chest on most nights and now sometimes in the morning I will have him sleep on my chest if I am still tired when he gets up at 5:30 am and he will fall back asleep until around 7 am or so.

Overall, he is still feeding pretty good and gaining weight but I have noticed his latch doesn't seem as good a lot of the time. I am not sure if it is because he gets distracted (he is always looking around now) or because he uses a pacifier a lot which I think uses a different sucking pattern. If I re-latch him he usually feeds ok but he didn't really have this problem in the first month. Right now he feeds about every 3 hours but tends to go longer stretches between feedings at night. 

He is sleeping pretty good. Three nights ago he slept for over 6 hours (10 pm - 4:15 am) and then two nights ago he slept about 5 hours (10:30 pm - 3:30 am) but on average he sleeps for about 4 hour stretches which I still think is pretty good. However, I am looking forward to getting 6 hours of sleep on a consistent basis. Also, two days ago we started putting him in his crib for naps. We don't put him in there for every nap though. On his first day he had a morning nap in his crib. Mitch rocked him to sleep before laying him in his crib and then put on his fish music player and he slept for 45 minutes. Yesterday, I tried putting him in his crib to sleep but he only lasted like 5 minutes so I just let him nap in his swing because he falls asleep pretty easily in his swing. Then today he fell asleep on his change table after his bath and I tried to transfer him to his crib but he woke after a few minutes. I took him out and swaddled him and put him back in his crib. So far he has been sleeping for about 40 minutes which is good. Hopefully he sleeps for another hour or so. On average he sleeps for 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. However, his morning naps are often broken up into 2 1 hour naps. 

In the last month he started to really enjoy his baths which is nice. There is no more screaming aside from when I take him out which I think is just due to him being a bit cold. 

He is starting to have a few less bowel movements which is normal. His paediatrician said that around his age babies may only have 2 bowel movements a week but right now Cooper still has several bowel movements per day.

We used the Ergo for the first time out in public. Often if we are going shopping at a store where there are shopping carts like the grocery store or Target, I will just put his bucket carseat in the cart but they don't have carts at most shopping malls. So I brought the Ergo with me when we went Christmas shopping at a mall. I re-adjusted the waist strap so it fit lower on my hips which made him at the right height in the carrier and Mitch was with me to help with the shoulder clip but after he was strapped in properly, I really liked the Ergo. We shopped for about two hours and it was so comfortable. Cooper napped in the Ergo most of the time and it was much easier than having to maneuver a stroller through a busy mall. I am really starting to like my Ergo a lot more.

Another huge milestone that Cooper has reached is that he has started to really notice and pay attention to toys hanging down from his swing and his bassinet. He can't reach them but I often swing them and talk in funny voices with them and he seems to think its funny as he usually cracks a smile. He has a set of keys that I jingle in his face but he still can't grasp them yet. Hopefully he can start grasping and playing with them soon. 

I think that is it for Cooper's 2 month update but check back for my mommy 2 month update which will be posted soon and don't forget to subscribe for updates to my blog!!!

A Baseball Nursery for our "Little Slugger"...

I am so excited to share Cooper's nursery with you all. I really love how our nursery turned out. So far Cooper doesn't sleep in the nursery since he is still sleeping in our room but I do intend to have him start napping in his nursery soon...Right now the nursery is used to store all of his stuff. I also use the rocking chair to nurse him and we use the change table to change him.

The nursery has a baseball theme. We picked this theme because Mitch really likes baseball and I also think it is such a great family sport. I really like going to baseball games and I hope to take Cooper to a couple of baseball games each summer.We plan to take family trips to see the Blue Jays play in different cities and we intend to put Cooper in Little League. It is also quite fitting because the baseball Hall of Fame is in "Cooperstown" NY which is only a 4 hour drive so we also plan to take Cooper there when he is bigger.

Since the nursery has a baseball theme, we thought that this sign for the front of his door was adorable...it was ordered off of Etsy.

My favorite part of the room is the giant baseball painted wall. We painted the wall white and got a baseball stitching decal from Etsy. I think it turned out amazing! Here is a picture: 

The next project we did was the rocking chair. I originally wanted a nice rocking chair from Pottery Barn Kids but the chair was $2500 and it would need to be delivered from another city since there is no store near me. This didn't seem feasible, so I decided to make my own version. I actually got the idea from a co-worker who made the same one for her nursery last year. She forwarded me the blog post she found with instructions. We got the armchair from Ikea. It proved to be a bit harder than I anticipated because I couldn't find the same rocking mechanism so we had to build a wooden base. However, I think it turned out great and I use it all the time to nurse my son. I absolutely love it! Here is a pic below:

The picture above also shows my changing table which contains all of my cloth diapers, receiving blankets, regular blankets and my wipes. I find my changing table to be a great size and it has a decent amount of storage. The large white pail in the picture above is our diaper pail which is just a regular garbage pail we got at Walmart and we have a Kangaroo brand cloth diaper liner inside.

We got our crib as a gift. Cooper hasn't used it yet but we did just set up the video monitor and the fish music player, which plays lullabies, so we plan to have him start napping in his crib in the next couple of days. I didn't want anything heavy over his crib because I was worried that it would fall on him while he was sleeping so we just put a Blue Jays pennant above his crib. We may put his name above his crib at a later date but I am not quite sure yet.

Below is a picture of the shelves and his dresser. We have some baseball memorabilia and books on the shelves. Below the top shelf are a bunch of finger puppets that have all the letters of the alphabet. They were a gift from my sister which she had for my niece so it has sentimental value and it turns out that the colors work perfectly with Cooper's nursery. 

Below is a snapshot of his closet. He has a very large closet and we built extra shelves so there is more storage space. 

Overall, I love how the nursery turned out. When he gets a bit bigger, we plan to add more toys to his room. Right now, we do have a mat that I put in the centre of the room for tummy time and he has a couple of toys on his dresser.

I hope you enjoyed this nursery tour and please remember to suscribe to my blog so you get all the updates! 

I plan to update at least every Wednesday with updates on Cooper and I as well as on various baby related topics. If there is a topic that you would like me to post on, please feel free to let me know!!!

1 month Post-partum: Mommy Edition

So I am now 1 month post-partum. I totally meant to update before now but it has been busy trying to get into somewhat of a routine and finding the time to complete blog posts!

C-Section Recovery:

So if you already read my labour and delivery story, you would know that I ended up having a c-section even though I really wanted a natural birth. As I mentioned in that post, I do not regret my decision at all but the c-section recovery was awful in my opinion. I had a couple people tell me it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be but I thought it was absolutely awful. As I mentioned in my labour and delivery post, I was in so much pain the first couple of days I really couldn't just enjoy being a new mom. I got absolutely no sleep the first week because I couldn't lie down and apparently I can't sleep sitting upright...I know everyone says you get no sleep, but the last couple of weeks I have been sleeping a lot better because I can lie down now.

I also had some complications from the C-section. The first complication that arose was that my milk came in late so Cooper lost a lot of weight. My milk didn't come in until day 6 when usually it comes in around day 3. I kept nursing and started taking Fenugreek which is a herbal supplement to increase milk supply. It worked pretty fast. Once my milk came in, I stopped taking it because it seemed like my supply was sufficient but I plan to start it up again just so I can start pumping more and storing it in case I want to go out.

Another complication that arose was on day 3 or day 4 after delivery. I got up and my legs felt very stiff. I looked down and both my calves and ankles were super swollen. I never had this problem before, not even during pregnancy. I didn't think much of it at first but then when I read my discharge book, it said that this could be a sign of a blood clot. I got really worried and called my midwife. It was suggested that I go to emergency to have it assessed. I was worried about going because it was midnight and I didn't want to leave Cooper plus I couldn't drive since I just had a C-section but I also didn't want to have a newborn in the emergency room with a bunch of sick people. I ended up calling the Civic Hospital and it was explained that my symptoms seemed more like fluid retention due to hormones and not much activity and that it was uncommon to have a blood clot in both legs. It was suggested that if my legs got painful, then I should go to emergency. Luckily it never got painful and the swelling went down when I started walking around a lot more.

Also, the following Sunday (day 9 post-partum) I had what my doctor thinks was an ocular migraine. All of the sudden I started seeing flashing lights. It lasted about two minutes and went away on its own. I never had a migraine before and I rarely get headaches so it was a scary experience. She thought it was most likely due to extreme fatigue and it appears that it is actually quite common in new moms. I went on a discussion forum on babycentre.com and other moms experienced this as well. Nonetheless, it was still scary and luckily it has not happened since.

It took about a month to recover from my C-section but I noticed a huge improvement after the first week. By day 10 I could sleep lying down and get in and out of bed pretty easily. My scar is starting to heal as well. It feels like there is a lot of scar tissue where my incision is but I am trying to massage coconut oil on it to help the scar tissue go down. The incision is really low on my abdomen so I can still wear a bikini and it won't show which is nice.

Physical Recovery:

Physically I am feeling great. I actually weigh less now than I did before I was pregnant. Before I got pregnant I was 127 lbs, right before delivery I weighed 139 lbs, and I am currently 125 lbs. Therefore, I have lost all the baby weight (I lost it all by 2 weeks post-partum). I am breastfeeding so that definitely helped with the weight loss but I only gained 12 lbs and my baby weighed almost 7 lbs so I didn't really have much to loose. I have noticed that I lost a lot of muscle tone though which I want to gain back. I read that it is hard to gain muscle while you are breastfeeding because breastfeeding increases estrogen in your body which inhibits muscle growth. However, I think if I slowly start doing more weights and resistance training, I will gain at least some muscle tone back. 

I got the "OK" from my midwife to drive and to start exercising at 3 weeks post-partum. A lot of people take 6 weeks to recover but she said that my uterus had shrunk back down to its regular spot so it was safe for me to resume my regular activities. With the OK from my midwife, I started going back to the gym about twice per week. I am doing 1 hot yoga class with my sister on Tuesdays and then the other day I just do light cardio on the elliptical machine and some kettlebell exercises to get back my muscle tone. In the next couple of weeks I want to try and start going 3x per week but that is somewhat hard to schedule because I need to make sure my husband is home to babysit and that I have enough pumped breast milk for my son. Instead I might just try to squeeze in a run or two since it cuts down on the travel time and it will be easier to schedule with my husband. Plus I LOVE running in the winter believe it or not. It is so refreshing!

Before I got pregnant my waist was about 28 inches, right before I gave birth it was about 39 inches and now it is 31 inches so I have about 3 inches to loose. I really want to loose those 3 inches by the end of 2014 so I have exactly 1 month to do that!

The main physical symptom I have noticed is that I definitely have an increase in lower back pain. I am not sure if it is due to the spinal that I got for the C-section or just bad posture. I think it might be a combination of the two. I used to notice it when I was lying in bed but it has gotten a bit better since I have been doing yoga the last couple of weeks. I really notice it after I have been carrying my son in the moby wrap but it subsides a bit when I focus on engaging my core so I think that I just lost a lot of core strength due to not working out my core for so many months. Overall, I am really happy with my phyiscal recovery especially since I needed a C-section. Hopefully by 2 months post-partum, I will have lost those last 3 inches from my waist.

Mental/Emotional Recovery:

Mentally and emotionally I am doing quite well. The first week post-partum was definitely the hardest mentally and emotionally. I think the lack of sleep that first week really inhibited my mental recovery. As I mentioned earlier, the pain from the C-section really made it hard to enjoy my baby the first couple of days and I definitely felt guilty for that. I thought that I would be in a state of complete euphoria but on day 2 and day 3 post-partum, I really wasn't. I think I suffered a bit from the baby blues the first week or so. I didn't get much sleep or eat the healthiest which I think contributed to those feelings but I think just the natural surge in hormones during this time contributed to these feelings as well. 

After the 1st week, I have been feeling much better. I was worried about feeling cooped up in the house, especially since it is getting pretty cold outside but I have made an effort to get dressed, do my hair/makeup & get out of the house each day. I think there has only been 1 or 2 days so far where it was a PJ day. A lot of the time I just get out for a short walk or go do some errands but it is enough to keep me mentally sane. I am a busy body and I can't stand just staying home all day in front of a TV so it helps a lot mentally to get out for a bit. Hopefully I can keep this up once winter comes. 

Another thing that I think has helped is that I also take vitamin D supplements. I think it helps me so much especially this time of year when there is little to no sunlight. If anyone is looking for an overall health boost, try looking into vitamin D supplements. 

As I mentioned above, I have started going to the gym a couple times per week which has not only helped my physical recovery but also my mental recovery as well. Going to the gym is my biggest stress reliever. Even just knowing that I have a yoga class in a couple of days helps relieve stress since it gives me something to look forward to. I also try and take some "me" time each day while my son is napping. During this time I work on this blog, catch up on my YouTube mamas, or read some parenting books. I think taking some me time each day is such an important part of my mental recovery.

Marriage:

I definitely think my marriage has changed since we had our son. I think it is impossible for it not to change in some ways. First, I think you gain a new level of respect for one another. I love seeing my husband bond with our son. I am surprised at how well he can comfort him and how quick he runs to him at every whimper. It is so sweet and heart warming. That isn't to say we both haven't been frustrated this past month. Sometimes I do get frustrated because I feel that I don't get as much free time or sleep as my husband and I have so much more responsibility when it comes to my son. A lot of this stems from the fact that I am breastfeeding so I can't really be away from my son too long since I am his only source of food. 

I found it especially hard and frustrating the first couple of weeks when I was having trouble with breast feeding and in so much pain due to the C-section. I know it wasn't my husband's fault but it was hard to see him sleeping and then saying he was tired...seriously he may have been a bit tired but he didn't even know the pure exhaustion I felt. This frustration can be hard on a marriage but it is important to try and help each other instead of turning on each other.

Another toll on a marriage is the lack of time you both have for each other. I definitely feel that almost all of my time is spent with my son or resting when I can. We used to have our evenings with each other but now my evenings are spent napping when my son naps since I am up with him during the night. So far my husband is enjoying getting to watch as much hockey and basketball as he wants HAHA! We haven't been out on a date without Cooper yet because I am not ready to have someone else look after him. I have just gotten used to having my husband look after him alone but hopefully in the next few months we can get a babysitter and spend some time alone together. Right now I am looking forward to enjoying our hot tub that we got this summer but I wasn't able to use while I was pregnant!

Overall, my first month being a mom has been amazing. I truly love being a mom. Even the lack of sleep and getting peed on is totally worth it when I look at his smiling face. What they say is true. The love you will have for your kids is indescribable. It is something you can't understand until you have kids of your own. I hope this love is something everyone can experience!

1 Month Post-Partum: Baby Edition

I tried to post an update a lot sooner and I have changed the title of this post a few times but I actually think I am going to finish the update this time...

So Cooper is now 1 month old. He turned 1 month old on November 17, 2014. It seems like the time is passing by so fast. Overall, he is doing great. He is sleeping and eating pretty good and becoming more alert and aware of his surroundings each day.

Weight:

The main concern with Cooper over the first month has been his weight. Cooper was 6 lbs 13 ounces when he was born and dropped to 6 lbs 4 ounces by the time we left the hospital two days later. This was within the 10% weight decrease so it wasn't a concern at that time. However, he continued to lose a bit of weight after we left the hospital. When the midwife came to visit us at home 4 days after he was born, he dropped a bit more and only weighed 6 lbs.

At this point, he had lost about 12% of his body weight which is past the acceptable amount of 10%. It seems that he was losing weight because I was trying to breastfeed and my milk had not come in yet or it was extremely low. Therefore, the midwifery student suggested that I start taking Fenugreek which is a herbal supplement to increase milk supply. Mitch went out that day and bought some and I started taking it right away. The midwifery student recommended that I take 16 pills a day which seemed like way too much since the bottle says only to take 6 capsules a day. I started taking the 6 capsules a day and I think it was working but I found it dehydrated me so much so I cut down especially after my milk came in 6 days postpartum.

Cooper continued to gain weight slowly throughout the 1st month. He made it back to his birth weight at 3 weeks. The midwife gives 3 weeks for a baby to reach its birth weight but most doctors like to see babies at their birth weight within 10 days which is very tricky if you are breastfeeding and there is a delay with your milk coming in. This is why a lot of doctors are quick to suggest supplementing with formula which is something I didn't want to do. Instead I started to pump and supplement with the pumped milk after feedings and I also think pumping really increased my milk supply and he eventually started getting more at each feeding.

At our last doctors visit which was on November 14, 2014, Cooper weighed 7 lbs 4 ounces but I suspect he has gained a few ounces since then.

Circumcision:

In the Jewish religion, the bloodline follows the mother so since I am not Jewish, Cooper is not considered to be Jewish and therefore we couldn't have a Briss but he was circumcised at around 3 weeks. I know that this is a controversial decision these days but for our family it was the right thing to do so please don't judge. I already heard an earful from the midwifery student in this regard, which I was really annoyed about. 

The procedure was preformed in the office of a very well known and recommended paediatrician. In fact, I really like this doctor and wish that he was Cooper's regular paediatrician but he is located across the city. I am still trying to convince Mitch to switch doctors. 

Anyway, during the procedure, Mitch and I were both in the room. They gave Cooper a local anaesthetic and we also gave him brown sugar water during the procedure. He was fussy when they were first preparing him for the procedure but he was really calm during the actual procedure and he really seemed to like the sugar water. Overall, the procedure went smoothly. We went back to see the doctor who preformed the circumcision a couple times for follow-up visits just to ensure it healed ok, which it did. We did have to apply polysporin to the area for about 2 weeks afterwards at each diaper change to keep it from getting infected.

Breastfeeding:

Even before Cooper was born, I intended to breastfeed Cooper for at least the first year. I researched it a lot and there are so many benefits for both the baby and mother so it was really important that I breastfed. However, breastfeeding was SO much harder than I thought it would be. As I mentioned previously, my milk didn't come in until 6 days postpartum which made it hard. I also had to deal with a bad latch which meant cracked bleeding nipples and I think I also had thrush at about 2 weeks postpartum which made breastfeeding even more painful than it was already. I have to admit that there were a couple times that I asked Mitch to go to the store to buy formula out of complete frustration but luckily he knew how important it was for me to stick to exclusively breastfeeding and he didn't buy it. 

As I mentioned above, I had a great support team which is essential if you are serious about breastfeeding. This support team consisted of my husband, my sister, and my midwives. Mitch was there to encourage me on a daily basis, my midwives also encouraged me and helped improve Cooper's latch, and my sister breastfed my niece for a couple of years so she had experience. One of the main things that got me through the difficult first couple of weeks was that my sister told me the first 3 weeks were the hardest and if you can get through those 3 weeks, you can breastfeed as long as you desired. Through every difficult feeding I kept this in my mind and tried to just get through that feeding and it really did get a ton easier at the 3 week mark. His latch improved a lot by 3 weeks and my milk supply was also up. Something really just clicked for us at the 3 week mark. So for anyone that is struggling, just stick it out for at least 3 weeks and it will get a ton easier! 

Right now Cooper is feeding like a champ. When he was first born his feedings were about 20-25 minutes per side so about 45-50 minutes long in total. The paediatrician thought this was too long and said they should be about 12-15 minutes long per side. In the last week or so his feedings became a lot shorter and now they are about 12-15 minutes per side and he feeds every 3 hours or so during the day and he can go 4 hours between feedings at night. I think he has become a much more efficient eater in the last few weeks so he is able to get enough milk in a shorter amount of time. 

Overall, breastfeeding is becoming second nature and I am so glad that I stuck to it. I hope to breastfeed for at least the first year and to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months. At 6 months I plan to start "baby led weaning" which I will discuss in more detail in a future post.

Sleep:

Cooper has been a pretty good sleeper since he was born. He always slept 3-4 hours and sometimes there would even be a 5 hour stretch. There have been about 3-4 days in the last month where he was fussy and wouldn't nap throughout the whole day. Yesterday being one of them. He was up from 7 am until 3:15pm where he barely slept. During this time he would dose off for about 5-10 minutes and then wake up. He seemed a bit gassy so I am not sure if it was something I ate but he slept pretty well at night. 

So far he has been sleeping in his bassinet beside our bed and sometimes taking naps in his swing or bouncy chair but I try not to leave him in those things for too long. The last couple of days he has napped pretty well laying on my chest which is fine with me. I will cherish newborn snuggles for as long as I can. 

We don't really have a schedule yet but he usually sleeps for 3-4 hours, feeds, gets his diaper changed, is up for another hour (we bath, sing songs, tummy time etc.) and then goes back to sleep. I would say on average he is up for 2-3 hours in between his naps. During the night, I have been able to get him back to sleep within an hour which is nice.

Our new trick to get him to sleep is playing ocean waves on YouTube. For some reason he seems to love it. 

I plan to keep him sleeping in his bassinet for 4-6 months (depending on when he grows out of it) and then putting him in his crib. However, I may start him napping in his crib soon and see how that goes. Overall, I can't complain about his sleep schedule. I think he is a pretty good sleeper.

Baby wearing:

So in theory I am a big fan of baby wearing and I intended to baby wear a lot more than I have. Before Cooper was born, I bought two different carriers. I got the moby wrap and the Ergo with the infant insert. However, in the first few weeks, we both didn't like these carriers so I didn't wear him as much as I thought I would. 

We both weren't big fans of the moby wrap at first but it is starting to grow on us. I found it very complicated to wrap and he didn't find it comfortable but now I am getting used to wrapping it and since he is getting better at holding his head up, he is finding it more comfortable.  

As for the Ergo, I find it hard to clip the shoulder straps together at the back but he does fall asleep pretty fast in it. However, he wakes up so easily if I try and transfer him. I personally don't find the Ergo that comfortable to wear. 

I bought a ring sling a couple days ago and tried it once so far. He didn't like it but I am not sure if I had him in correctly. I really want to try the Mei Tei carrier and see how I like that one. I really want to baby wear more often so hopefully I find a carrier that we both like. 

Cloth Diapers:

Early on in my pregnancy I learned about cloth diapers and decided then that I wanted to try it out. I wanted to try it out both for the environmental reasons and also because I thought it was healthier for my baby not to be exposed to the harmful chemicals in disposable diapers. Plus it saves a lot of money depending on what type you use. 

We currently use prefolds. I have about 30 bummis prefolds and I have about 5 covers.  I will do a separate blog post and discuss our stash in more detail but so far we both like cloth diapering. Mitch was unsure about it when I first mentioned it, but he finds it easier than he thought it would be. At first I wanted to cloth diaper from birth but we didn't start using our cloth diapers until he was 3 weeks old. I have enough diapers to last 2-3 days without washing. I do find that it is hard to get the stains out of the prefolds. I have heard that leaving them in the sun to dry gets out the stains but that is hard to do in the winter. I will try and leave them near a window in the sun if we get a sunny day soon and see if that works. If any of you have any other tricks to get the stains out of prefolds, please let me know. 

Now that Cooper is getting bigger, I plan to try our AIO applecheeks diapers. As I said above, I will try and do a blog post on our stash and I will also include a review of the various brands we tried. 

Babysitting:

So far I have left Mitch alone with Cooper a couple times while I went to yoga/the gym but I haven't left him alone with anyone else. I think I will feel more comfortable leaving him with other family members once he is a few months old. I am still not sure what we will do for daycare once I go back to work, but we have a while to think about that. 

Coopers likes/dislikes:

Likes:

• breastfeeding
• bouncing
• being sung to
• sleeping on mama's chest
• pacifier

Dislikes:

• getting his diaper changed
• bath time

Here are some pictures of Cooper during his first month: