Black Daiquiri and her new Baby'sassin <3

[imjustarogue]

Hi, I’m Black Daiquiri! Back from a hiatus as I was spending the last several months growing a baby‘sassin. He is now on the outside and I'm ready to start getting back into the swing of things. My quests are simple, but forgiving. Walks are dependent on weather because baby needs fresh air, too, and right now, Mother Nature is acting quite drunk. And lucky me, I'm also starting off this challenge with bronchitis. Naturally.

 

Quest 1: Baby Steps

Go for a walk - This will be a gradual build up starting with 2x/wk, then 3x, 4x, and 5x. Gradual build is due to having had a c-section. I am three weeks healed, but since I wasn't able to do much in the way of exercise during the pregnancy, I need to build back up into it. Again, this is weather dependent and I’m hoping to either increase the distance or the speed of each walk.

 

Quest 2: Hydrate!

8 glasses water/day - need to keep up with my hydration to keep up with feeding the baby!

 

Quest 3: Physical Therapy

Whatever PT person says (currently arm/wrist stretches and “suck-it-in” tummy exercises)

 

 

[tourennatrix]

BABBY!

 

Looking forward to this

[fultonator]

Congratulations! I am also coming back from a long baby-induced hiatus  My four-month old is now letting me leave the house occasionally so I'm getting back on track.

 

Good luck with the c-section recovery! 

 

And just a bit of reassurance since nobody tells you how shitty the postpartum stage really is: the newborn stage eventually ends, things get easier, and you even sleep again!   

[Bob the Bardbarian]

I just gotta say this.  I know it's cliche, but...

You go girl!

[imjustarogue]

Congratulations! I am also coming back from a long baby-induced hiatus [emoji6] My four-month old is now letting me leave the house occasionally so I'm getting back on track.

 

Good luck with the c-section recovery! 

 

And just a bit of reassurance since nobody tells you how shitty the postpartum stage really is: the newborn stage eventually ends, things get easier, and you even sleep again! [emoji4]  

Thanks this is my second child, though my first was 16 years ago, so it's been quite a while.

I'm only just at 4 weeks post, but thankfully, my healing has been so much faster than the first c-section!

Now, I just need to get over the bronchitis and get the weather to cooperate... Beautiful 70s on Sunday, now 40s and 50s and rainy through the rest of the week... [emoji19]

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[imjustarogue]

I just gotta say this.  I know it's cliche, but...

You go girl!

Thanks!

[tourennatrix]

Hey sister, it *might* be a decent temperature this afternoon. You should go take Babby for a walk!

 

How's the rest of your challenge going?

 

<3

[imjustarogue]

Thanks to my sis, the three of us went out for a walk today. It was only 45 out, but so much less wind than the rest of the week. The baby was bundled and I wore a hoodie. When we got back home, I was sweating like ew. Managed 2 walks this week, despite the weather - huzzah!

My walks progressed, though, I pushed it a little too hard today and the side of my incision where the surgeon knotted the stitches is in a bit of pain now. /sigh

I've done okish on my water this week. Not fabulous, but better than dehydrated. [emoji14]

For PT, I'm doing my wrist/forearm stretches daily. Something that's pretty much required when one has to pick up, carry, and hold a growing baby. My physical therapist thinks that part of my hands/thumbs issue is related to the relaxin hormone in addition to my joints being super mobile which is then causing additional strain when doing things I normally don't have a problem with. Yay. [emoji19]

[imjustarogue]

Went for a walk today.

 

It's cool, and was a bit breezy, but baby was bundled up to stay cozy. I kept my walk a little shorter than Sunday's and feel much better as a result, but I'm still struggling mentally with the feeling of "ok, let's jog now!" after about 20 seconds of walking. Even after a year, that habit's there. That makes me feel better about when I can start jogging.

 

I'm probably going to get one or two walks in on Wednesday. Have to drop the car off for an oil change and we usually just walk home then back to get it when it's done. Plus, I have a PT appointment that I may have to walk to that day as well. We'll see. My husband may end up doing the car stuff instead depending on how I'm feeling.

[tourennatrix]

Yay! The itch for jogging hasn't seemed to hit me yet this season, I think possibly because I've been so tired lately and because capoeira can be so hard on my knees, doing both has a tendency to hurt a bit. But! I hope to get that back into gear (only 1-2 times a week instead of 3, probably) so we can at least pretend to run the Insane Inflatable 5k

 

[Fenyx]

Fantastic goals! I'm so bad at remembering to hydrate sometimes and I'm only 2 months out of my c-section. Good on you for going for the baby steps and being forgiving. I tend to be hard on myself, probably to a fault I'm sure, so being forgiving to myself would be its own challenge hah. You've got this! Hopefully you feel better soon too! And oooooooh what a beautiful baby you've got there!

[imjustarogue]

INSANE INFLATABLE 5K!! July again this year, sis? Doesn't matter to me as long as it's not at 11:30 when it's 90 degrees outside...

 

 

Fantastic goals! I'm so bad at remembering to hydrate sometimes and I'm only 2 months out of my c-section. Good on you for going for the baby steps and being forgiving. I tend to be hard on myself, probably to a fault I'm sure, so being forgiving to myself would be its own challenge hah. You've got this! Hopefully you feel better soon too! And oooooooh what a beautiful baby you've got there!

Thank you!! It's so hard to be forgiving because I want to start moving (though things like bodyweight exercising is hard to get motivated to do), but it's also hard to not use the baby as an excuse to not do anything. "He's fussy. He needs fed. Diaper change." etc. So, trying to time the walk around baby things gets just as awkward as it sounds.

 

Today, we went for a walk to the daycare center so I could pick up paperwork to get him registered for the occasional drop off. The same ladies run the daycare that watched my daughter 16 years ago. o.o

 

I've added a bit to my tracker spreadsheet - comments that detail the approximate temperature/weather, distance, and time of the walk.  I've managed to hit my target 3 walks for the week, actually I hit 4 walks because of the car servicing - walk home after dropping off the car, walk back when it was done. I'm averaging around 1/2 hr walks so far. Haven't been able to increase my pace much because the sidewalks in town suck so I have to (keep reminding myself to stop staring at my babe and) keep an eye for cracks on the sidewalk so I don't tip the stroller over. Distance has been staying about the same because it still feels like if I walk further, then I'm going to be super achy later. So, hopefully, getting in a few extra walks, or breaking them up into smaller walks multiple times a day, will help me increase distance. Maybe next week.

 

PT has been interesting. I currently have a strip of tape along the base of each of my thumbs for a little added stability. Looks a bit odd, but seems to help when picking baby up off of my chest when all of his weight rests on my thumbs. Also, I may end up going to the doctor for a light muscle relaxant because when she was attempting to relieve the tension in my traps, and as a result, relieve my now-4 day headache, she said that she'd have to go find a jackhammer. They are sooo tight. Yay for various muscle and joint issues that come from having a newborn.

 

As for right now, though, I'm just going to sit here and cuddle my little potato while he sleeps. <3

[imjustarogue]

Quick update for last week

 

The weather last week was awesome. Absolutely perfect for going for walks. Instead of the three or four I had for my goal, I managed 6, all around 25-30 minutes. Water intake is still not as high as I'd like, but staying steady at least. I am drinking other liquids, so I'm not dehydrating myself, just not water goodness. It feels like, if I haven't just finished a walk/exerted myself enough to get really hot and sweaty, or it's bed time, I just grab the other drinks (soda and apple juice mostly). But I am working at keeping a large cup (covered with a straw so the cats don't knock it over) next to the bed so when I'm up for midnight feedings, I can also drink more water. This is a good thing.

 

I am debating setting up a PT appointment. If I go this week, I have to wait until the end of the week because husband is traveling until tomorrow. Things are feeling better in my hands and fingers, though not super great.  Ugh. I don't know.

[Fenyx]

Hooray for exceeding the walking goal! I didn't even add walking to my list because I get exactly that kind of distraction and I knew I would beat myself up for failing to walk as often as I want. Low and behold I've managed to walk every day for the last few days even now I think on it O_O 

 

One way I found to keep enough water in was every time I fed this sweet pea I would drink a cup of water. Breastfeeding meant I would end up with 8-12 cups in a 24 hour period and once I started sticking to it I could feel the difference  . And now I'm stacking more liquids in like milk and juice and the random soda (I never drink it but post pregnancy I suddenly crave it now and again). 

 

Go for that pt appointment! Some relief is well deserved, and would probably be a health benefit even. 

[tourennatrix]

If you think you'll benefit from another pt appointment,  then go silly sister! Better late than never 

[imjustarogue]

The thing with the PT stuff is that my PT person thinks that what's going on is related to the relaxin hormone so all of my finger/hand/wrist joints are even more loose than before and there's only so much she can do to help - which is mostly related to massage work. It helps some, and it helps that I've met my deductible so finances are not as much of a concern for the appointments (our new insurance is so super dumb with regards to PT), but at the moment, nothing she or I can do will fix the issues, only treat symptoms. She also said that relaxin can hangout in my system for up to a year... /ughded But with all of that said, given how my hands felt last night, I'm still probably going to call. Thinking about taking a walk this afternoon sans baby since it's colder and I'll stop by PT on the way to the ATM and talk to them about it and schedule an appointment then.

 

I mentioned this to my sis late last night, but I'm at that stage after birth where I do not like what I look like physically. I logically get that it's only been six weeks and I'm not "supposed" to do much, but that doesn't change the emotional feeling of "ugh" when I see my reflection.

 

Well, since babe's sleeping, I'm going to dig for some energy to continue moving my stepson's stuff from my exercise room into his and baby's room. While I was pregnant, we did some room rearranging by swapping my daughter's room with stepson's so the boys could share a room. In the process, stepson's stuff was moved into my exercise room as a "staging area" and it's just kind of stayed there for the past couple months. I've started moving stuff up finally, but there's still more to go and the only time I have is while baby's sleeping. But it's exercise because stairs!!

[imjustarogue]

And as soon as I hit post, he woke up.

[Fenyx]

Oh wow see now you just explained to me why my wrists feel like I broke them! Completely figured the relaxin would be gone y now but it makes sense since everything else is in full swing as it pleases lol. Good go on your week regardless of the dreary, and fantastic to have someone to cook you the healthy stuff! So iOS to have family around for sure, had a few of mine around after the hubs deployed with baby only two weeks and it was a lifesaver. And sleep while baby sleeps is wise advice but so hard in the beginning. My sweet pea has finally gotten a decent sleep schedule and my body is in the habit now of basically passing out at will lol. Hopefully you get some good rest for yourself! You're doing great! And soon our bodies will be much closer to normal

[imjustarogue]

Last week was rough. Soooo tired. I only got one walk in, in part due to the rainy weather, but also due to the complete lack of energy. And the only reason I got that walk on Saturday was because my sis sent me a message to bring potato up to the farmer's market to sit with her for a bit. I had just fed him and he was cozy on my chest and I was totally ready to just pass out (which also would have been good). Being honest with myself, I know that if I didn't go for a walk then and there, I wouldn't have. And I'm pretty sure that if I had tried to move potato to his bouncer or bassinet to sleep, he would have woken up after 5 minutes. So, the walk was likely the better of the two choices. It was a slow walk and felt like I was moving my legs through molasses, but it was still a walk.

 

I managed to start bringing my water intake up a bit more. I have two lidded cups with straws that hold 16-18oz, so my trick is to fill one with water and the other with whatever other beverage I'm wanting to drink (soda, juice) and then drink both. In addition to that, I also refill (or have my husband refill) my water cup right before I go to bed so I have it ready when nighttime feedings come around. 

 

After potato's morning feeding, I was so tired that I had to tell husband that I needed to lay down. Potato was asleep (in my arms) at the time I said that, but within 5 minutes, he woke back up. Thankfully, husband stepped in and took him to feed him more and otherwise take care of him. He eventually fell asleep and husband laid him in his crib instead of the bassinet in our room and I was able to get a couple of hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep. That was nice. But when we went out for a walk today, I still felt (and still feel) that I'm asleep on my feet.

 

This is rough.

[imjustarogue]

Yay physical therapy! Worked with one of the other physical therapists today. He was super surprised at the hypermobility I have in my fingers/hands and asked if I could bend down to touch the ground with flat palms (to see if I was generally hypermobile). I lol'd because my legs and hips are the complete opposite of hypermobile. He was also surprised that my hands and fingers have been like this since at least high school. I find that weird. Is it more normal for some sort of hypermobility to show up later in life or is it just more normal for it to show up with an injury? 

 

Well, I get to sport some awesome tape on my thumbs for the next couple of days to give them some extra support. Here's hopin' my hands start feeling better. Those bouncer and car seat buckles are difficult enough to unlock normally... not being able to pinch with any sort of strength makes them near impossible at times.

 

[Fenyx]

Yay physical therapy! And cool tape lol. Hopefully it does help you out quite a bit because I know all too well the difficulty of buttons and clips hah. But the good news is it all gets much better! Heck I'm sick right now and still managing to not be miserable cause it's gotten that much better already , and I was sick coming home from the hospital so I have a fun comparison lol. 

 

Kudos us to the awesome husband too! He deserves all the rupees for stepping in to help, mom-ing can be quite draining. Especially if you're breastfeeding. Before my husband went out to sea he did everything he could to try and help out but I hadn't gotten used to using a pump so he could pretty much only give super cuddles and diaper changes. Well and a foot rub here and there lol. 

 

Youre doing sing absolutely amazing right now too, in this time when we are at our most physically drained and when life is throwing everything it can at you. You've got this! Each success is one more strength point and one step further from the starting line  

[imjustarogue]

Thanks Fenyx! I hear ya with the miserable-ness of being sick with a baby. I had bronchitis pop up just a couple weeks after being home, but thankfully, I could take medicine for it unlike when I had a cold while pregnant (that sucked!). 

 

Baby has been starting to sleep for about 6 hour stretches at night - I'd say it's fabulous, except I'm pretty sure I've been so tired that it feels like I fall asleep and immediately wake up (6 hours later...) but still, 6 hours is a nice chunk.

[Fenyx]

Oh my gosh yes the cold while pregnant is just about the worst, I got one and the only benefit was that the 24/7 nausea disappeared while I had it lol. 

 

Yay ay for longer sleep! We are sitting between 5-8 hours a night here too, so it's gonna get better lol. I worried for a while if something was wrong with me cause I would be so dizzy and feel faint and man once you get "caught up" on sleep things start feeling so much better lol but there is that transition period of chest discomfort if you're breastfeeding as everything just backs up. But man once these babies start sleeping solidly it's such a blessing. First time for me but man so rewarding!

[imjustarogue]

Quick little update. I forgot to mention that I had my 6-week follow up on Monday and all is well so I can get back to my regular activities - as I am able. Which, of course, also means that the weather decided to poop all over the place with cooler temps and rain, so aside from the walk Sunday and Monday, I haven't done much. /grumps

 

This week's been a little more stressful than typical - family stuff plus some sleep deprivation stuff plus husband traveling, so I haven't been taking care of myself as much as I should be. I *am* about to go start up a yoga routine in my exercise room now that it's cleaned up and baby's sleeping. We'll see how that goes, especially since I'll be fighting the part of me that just wants to pass out since baby's sleeping.

 

Wee!  

[imjustarogue]

Final wrap up (only a few days late...)

 

I'd say, overall, I finished with a C-ish. :/

 

PT was by far the easiest. Probably because I'm generally lazy (a thing I'm working on), but when my hands start aching, it's easy to do the stretches.

 

I said I'd be forgiving of myself with the walks, so I'm not too upset about them. I had 2 good weeks and 2 bad ones - and the bad ones were bad mostly because of poor weather conditions rather than me not getting up to do the things.

 

And water. I need to find the discipline to grab water from the refrigerator rather than grabbing soda. If my husband asks if I need a drink, I'm pretty good at asking for water, but if I'm getting it myself... I'd say it's hard to make myself grab the water jug, but honestly, I don't think about it much and just grab my pop. :/  Also, having super stressful family stuff just makes me want to deliberately choose the wrong things because "f it all"... Things to work on in this next challenge.

 

Now, off to finish setting up my next challenge and then helping my mom set hers up. Yay!