Alien Spouse

Hello Again! Also - Pilates : Why It Rules!

A blog?  I have a blog?  Huh!  Well, who knew?

Anyway, we have come to an understanding with Eva (I hope), so she starts off the night in the crib and usually manages a couple of hours in there at least.  She still waking up around 2am, and I am sure it's because she's getting cold, so I've been bringing her into bed with us, and then she sleeps until around 6:30, which is acceptable.  Not great, but acceptable.

With slightly more sleep in hand I felt human enough to sign myself up for a pilates mat class this evening, this is a drop-in class and costs the amazingly low price of $9 - However when I got there I was the only student, so I basically got a private mat class.  It was terrific!  My back has been really tight and my legs have been aching just from being so tired, but after the class everything felt stretched and renewed.  It was like I was two inches taller and floating.  Bliss.  And it was NINE DOLLARS.  Amazing.

 

Eva's Transportation Options.

Today Eva and I tried out both of her carriers (she has a Moby, which is essentially a long strip of fabric, and one of those backwards backpack types too) and walked around the apartment with them on.  Actually we did try leaving the house for a walk, I'm trying to get a walk in every day, but it started to rain almost the moment we got outside.

Still, it was good to try out the carriers, and I think it's going to be really useful to have different transportation options for Evalyn Alice.  Particularly on a day like today when I realised that we'd left the wheels to her pram in the boot of the car, which is only a problem because it's one of Doc's teaching days so the car, and therefore the wheels, are with him!

Never mind though, there isn't anywhere either myself or Eva need to be right now; except snuggled up at home reading Agatha Christie (Me) and being super cute (Eva).

My Two Week Check-Up.

I went for my two week check-up today, which was super quick because it was essentially just checking that my C-section incision is healing well, which it is, and that took about 30 seconds.  I joked to Doc C on the way home that I should have just texted my doctor a mobile phone photo and saved the trip to the office.

Still, Eva enjoyed getting out of the house, she seems to like trips in the car, and it's nice to have people tell me how pretty she is (I know that everyone is morally obligated to say that; who tells a new mother that their kid is funny-looking? As it happens I do think my baby is quite cute - when she isn't screaming that is...)

The best part for me was being weighed - I'm currently 192 pounds, so I've already lost 20 pounds from my pregnancy weight and I'm back under 200 pounds again.  I'm not fanatical about my weight, and I'll never be super skinny, but it is nice to be within sight of my normal body again.  I don't need to be wearing a size zero to be happy, I'd be delighted just to be able to do up my size 12 jeans again without the use of a hair elastic.  Ok, maybe it'd be nice to be a size 10, but I'm not going to go nuts trying to achieve that.

My doctor did approve me for walking and light exercise, but I'm still not to pick up anything heavier than Eva and her carrier and I'm banned from doing crunches.  And I think we can all agree that autumnal walks in the park are rather lovely whilst crunches are hellish at the best of times, so I'm totally fine with that ruling.

Weights and Measures.

Yesterday we took Eva to see the pediatrician for her two week check-up, and he said that she's doing really well.  When she was born Evalyn weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces, that dropped (which is totally normal for new-borns) to 6 pounds 2 ounces and all of the literature said that she should regain her birth weight by the time she was ten days old; however we don't have scales at home, so we couldn't check on this ourselves.  It was extremely reassuring to find out when she was weighed yesterday that she is now 7 pounds 10 ounces!  Yes!  I am successfully feeding our child!

This was the first time I had met Eva's doctor, but Doc C had already told me he was really nice; I appreciated that he took time to answer all of our questions and also asked how I was doing which I thought was both sensible and kind.  Both qualities you want in your child's health-care provider.

It was pretty exciting for me to be out of the house for the first time in 11 days, so after the doctor's appointment we went to get a coffee and then went totally nuts and bought a breast pump at Target.  I tell you being a new parent is all about the wild times...

Anyway, the most exciting thing that happened today was that I tried on a pair of my old khakis - And they fitted!  I wouldn't say they look good, but I could get them done up comfortably so I've been wearing them all day.  I am particularly pleased about this because I haven't yet been trying to lose any of my pregnancy weight, so this is just things settling back into place and probably a bit of weight-loss from the breastfeeding and eating sensibly.  On Monday I have my two week check-up with my OB/GYN, and I'm hoping that I get the ok to do a bit more walking and some light exercising.  Don't worry, I'm not going to try and drop a dress size in a week or anything daft like that, I'm quite happy to take this slowly and let my body adjust to the massive changes it's under gone recently - Poor old thing!

 

Missions Accomplished.

Today I -

1. Read a couple of chapters of a YA novel and flipped through one of my Pilates books
2. Tidied the living room
3. Swept all of the wooden floors
4. Did a pre-natel Pilates routine
5. Watched an old season of "The Biggest Loser" (and was very disappointed when my two least favourite contestants won all of the money.  Damn it!)
6. Stopped Edith playing with a large bee
7. Started making Eva some sock/bootie things
8. Realised the yarn and crochet needle I have are entirely the wrong size for the sock/bootie project
9. Took all the plastic tags and stickers off some new baby clothes so that they can be washed
10. Had two cups of tea

Today I did not - 

1. Give birth

That's about it really, Doc C is home for the weekend now so we are at Evalyn's disposal should she decide to hit her due date.  Tomorrow morning I have a doctor's appointment, so we might get some idea of how likely that is.

Pie Day.

My legs were a little bit achey after Pilates yesterday, so naturally we decided to go for a short up-hill hike! This might not have been my best idea! My legs feel like they want to fall off now!

On the other hand, we did stop for lunch on the way home and got a slice of really delicious Coconut Pie.

Spring Break Tuesday.

I feel like we've got a lot of stuff done today; the cats are brushed, the living room is vacuumed, the kitchen is clean, the bathroom is well-scrubbed (the wooden floor has even been hand-waxed), Edith has been outside, pre-natel Pilates has been done, and a slightly crappy murder mystery has been finished.

Now I'm sleepy.

Half Awake.

This is, I think, the first summer when I haven't taken a week or two off, and that, combined with it being blatantly too warm, is really hitting me hard - in other words I am sodding knackered!

Yesterday I felt very tired and headachey, and I tried to just push through it, but even after a shower and breakfast I felt no better; so I called in sick (well, e-mailed) put in ear plugs, and promptly went back to sleep for 5 hours. Today I went in, and somehow dragged my carcass through the day but I am very tired now.

I am still dressed for some sort of exercise though, some pilates and at least 20 minutes of Zumba will get my blood circulating and maybe then I'll feel less sluggish. It's worth a go, right? Besides, I am determined to lose ten more pounds, and sitting around just isn't going to accomplish that goal.

More's the pity.

Action Day!

With the internet being down all weekend, you have missed out on my blogging about some truly epic napping, but after a very restful couple of days I did actually do something on Monday. It being the 4th of July I had the day off, and I woke up with the urge to do something new and exciting, like go to the climbing tower in town, and climb to the top of it.

So I did.

I did quite well on the sloped wall, and scrambled up the green route (on the left) and the blue route (that I'm at the top of on the right!), but the straight wall was a lot more challenging.

I got quite close to the top of the straight wall when a grasshopper-type insect jumped out of the hand-hold I was reaching for and landed on my face. I had no idea that a jumping insect without wings could get so high, so frankly it freaked me out a bit and I decided to come down. Well, it was a combination of the insect, not being able to work where next to put my hands or feet, and this being my third climb of the day which meant my arms were getting tired; all of which which left me feeling suddenly not very confident up there. So I came down before I got too over-whelmed, but I fully intend to go back and get to the top next time!

After that I suggested to Doc C that we go for a nice gentle hike around our favourite local lake, and that was very pleasant too.

All in all it was an action packed day, and that was well before the major thunderstorm or any of the various fireworks displays.

Playstation Sunday.

I earned three Zumba'd trophies during my 45 minute PS3 dance class today, which I am very proud of. I'm on the expert level now, which involves a lot more fancy footwork that I cannot get my head around. The best part of playing this on my own in the livin room is not being embarrassed that salsa will never be a strong component of my dance repertoire.

We've been using the Playstation on and off all day, I used it to watch the first couple of episodes of the BBC's "Being Human: Season 2", then it choreographed my cardio for the day and Doc has also played "L.A. Noire" a couple of times.

It might sound odd, but I'm really enjoying watching "L.A. Noire". We'd read a lot about how good the facial animation was, but also read mixed reviews of the game play itself; which was why we rented it first. Well, the avatars faces really are incredible and I am loving that I can clearly recognise many of the actors; particularly because several of them are from the cast of "Mad Men"! It's so nice to see another side to Ken Cosgrove! Doc C also is very much enjoying actually playing the game, which is after all the point,so we may end up owning this one.

Friday : And Relax...

Today I got stuff done at work, as one does.

When I came home I took off my make-up, put on my exercise clothes and watched last night's "So You Think You Can Dance" with a cup of tea. Then I Zumba'd, but I'm glad none of the judges were there to watch, I'd never have made it through the initial auditions.

I also played a demo of a PS3 game called "Flower", which just involved swooping around as petal on the wind and bringing other flowers into bloom. Not exactly good botanical science, but bloody gorgeous and very relaxing. I got Doc C to give it a go after dinner and he thought it was lovely too. Not something you say often of video games; actually Doc is playing the "Watchmen" demo now, and that involves slot more violence and mayhem.

Speaking of dinner, this evening Doc grilled burgers (veggie for me, naturally) and half a lobster tail each, with a large salad. Please excuse me now whilst I curl up like a cat and luxuriously digest the tasty.

Food and Exercise.

Pilates classes started again this evening, we're signed up for ten classes in the equipment room and we'll be starting our mat classes on Tuesday. I'll still be Zumba dancing three times a week and I am being extra vigilant about my calorie counting.

As well as counting the calories I'm also trying to keep my starchy foods under control, I don't mean I'm not eating carbs at all, but if one meal is bread based then the next can't be pasta based. There are a lot of salads going on, and I'm becoming increasingly fond of chick peas. This evening I made a warm chick pea, cherry tomato and spinach salad, with garlic and balsamic vinegar.

So by the end of summer I should have toned up my core, and dropped some of my excess body fat. That is the plan, let's just hope it works.