Post Partum Bodies and Loving Yourself

I know a whole lot of women struggle with their post partum bodies and I'm here simply to share my story.

When I got pregnant, I gained a whole lot of baby weight. 55 pounds to be exact which looks crazy on a five foot frame.  Anyway I thought that I would be really scared of what I'd look like after Ezykiel came out.

Low and behold I do have a ton of stretch marks and due to the lack of sit ups and such my tummy is indeed a bit "soft."  All of which though I'm fine with.  I thought i'd miss my body before and hate my "after" body.  I looked into a whole lot of support from other women and came across projects such as the 4th trimester bodies project and birth without fear.  All of which center around the idea of loving yourself and acknowledging the fact that your body created life. How incredible is that?

I know media portrays celebrities and such in a way that makes them appear to be a size zero two weeks after having their babies but in reality your body takes a bit longer than that to snap back into shape.

First off, your uterus has to shrink back to size.  That tiny little organ stretched to fit a fully formed baby and needs time to go back down to its average size (smaller than your fist.)  Second, it took your body nine to ten months to change in order to have the baby, so give your body at least that long to readjust back to normal.  I still looked pregnant for the first two months after Ezykiel was born.

I honestly to this day, I still don't work out (I know its terrible of me) but I actually live a pretty active lifestyle.  Breastfeeding helps the weight melt off easily.  Matter of fact I have to monitor how much I eat to keep the weight on (who would've thought right?)  Work outs should be introduced slowly and not until after the eight week period after birth.  Diets are a no-no especially for breastfeeding mamas.  Healthy habits on the other hand are great to adopt. Here are some things that I do that just so happen helped lose the baby weight.

1.  Walk anywhere within distance.  I live in Kaneohe so everywhere and anywhere in Kaneohe I walk as long as the weather permits and I do it everyday with Ezykiel.  For those of you not from Hawaii that's anywhere within a six mile area.  Most often we do two walks, one long one during the day and one shorter one with Alex when he gets home.

2.  I meet up for coffee regularly with my aunty and cousin.  Also note here that I only drink decaf.  I had given up coffee during my pregnancy which was terribly difficult for me.  I figured since I had already broken the bad habit, I minus not get back into it.  We walk laps around the mall regularly just to chit chat and so that the babies can people watch and play.

3.  Baby wearing, oh man I used to wear Ezykiel 100% of the time.  Now that he can sit up on his own I use an umbrella stroller because they're small and easy to lug around.  Although I do stroll him, I still wear him 85% of the time.  Oh and he's 20 pounds so he's not terribly light any more.

4.  Water.  I never really cared for soda or juice anyway but I drink a crack ton of water.  Sometimes I do drink Gatorade rain berry or lemon lime.

5.  Diet.  I don't believe in diets first off.  In other words I don't think diets work.  What really needs to be done are some healthy lifestyle changes.  I was never big on breakfast but I do make sure that I eat all of my meals everyday.  I do usually snack in between because breastfeeding pretty much means you're starving all the time.

Typical days food would go like this:
In fact, this is today's food list.

Breakfast:

Cup of black tea with honey and milk

Two packets of Oatmeal

Yogurt

Snack:

Golden Apple

A Power Bar of some sort (I make my own here, if anyones really interested I can post recipes for energy bars)

Lunch:

Huli Huli Chicken Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing

Bowl of Soup
Water

Snack:

Apple Sauce or Pear Sauce (I also make this in bulk because its Ezykiels favorite)

Tuna Wrap

Water

Dinner:

Steak with broccoli

Salad with strawberry pomegranate dressing and croutons

Water

Snack:

Ice cream (I eat a ton of ice cream, ridiculous amounts)

6. Get some sleep.  Ezykiel has slept through the night since he was three months so I've been fortunate enough to get at least eight hours from the beginning but a lot of that has to do with cosleeping.  To this day we cosleep and he usually sleeps from seven to seven.  Some days I do take naps with him as well.

7.  Love yourself. I don't know what to say about this one other than its self explanatory.

8.  Go outside.  My husband and I have always been quite active and we share a love for the outdoors.  We take Ezykiel literally everywhere.  We don't hike or go to the beach as much as we used to but we still go.  Its not unusual for us to take Ezykiel on a six mile hike and carry him the entire way.  We get out of the house and into nature at least once a week.  Sundays are typically "our" day that the three of us spend together outside somewhere.

38 weeks pregnant/9 months post partum

There is always room for improvement when it comes to yourself, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Physically though I'd like to work on my arms.  I think I have arm fat and I've always wanted to have a "toned" back and arms.  I'd also like to get into yoga.

Oh and as a last note, the one thing I wish someone would've told me is that your body is forever changed. I know it sounds self explanatory but I had thought that when I got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, I'd fit the same clothes and such.  However my body shape is different. My hips are wider, butt smaller and the same styles don't look quite flattering anymore.

Sling-a-ling Sakura Bloom

Oh what? Another post already?! Whoa whats going on?!

Well since I haven't had a phone, I haven't really been on instagram and I have found myself doing more blog posts than usual.

This one isn't really about baby wearing in general; its more so for the people that I've already convinced to try it out and some simple suggestions and how to's for the sakura bloom ring slings...


1.  In general, the higher the carry the better.  The lowest point of your baby's butt should always be at or above your belly button.  You should be able to kiss the top of your baby's head easily at all times.Notice Ezykiel is easy to kiss.

2.  Baby's butt should always be the lowest point of the carry with the knees in a deep squat.  Notice how the bottom of his butt is always lower than his knees.

3.  If you don't have the sling on correctly, it'll eventually hurt your shoulder and your back.  Its best to switch shoulders from time to time so you can get used to wearing on both sides.  I'm guilty of going to my right shoulder all the time because its more comfortable but I do try to make a conscious effort to wear him on my left from time to time.

4.  Make sure the fabric is spread out in the back and not bunched up.  Also be sure to make sure that the fabric on your shoulder is spread out and fans the entire cuff of your shoulder so that the weight is evenly distributed.  Notice how the fabric is spread across the entire back/shoulder and has no bunching.

5. This is the kangaroo carry also known as the buddha carry.  Anyway this one garnered a whole lot of attention when I would wear him like this.  I only have a couple of picture of me carrying him this way because I only did it for a short amount of time.  After some extra research I found out that front facing carries, such as this one are not good for baby's spine and since they are facing outwards, they are likely to get overstimulated.  In a front facing carry, they are unable to hide their faces or turn away which can lead to an upset baby. All in all carrying baby towards you is best so that they can check things out and turn away at their own comfort.  If you do choose to try out this carry, same rules apply.  Notice that Ezykiel is above my naval, close enough to kiss and the fabric is spread out evenly.

6.  Side carry, I would personally recommend waiting till baby is big enough to sit up with some assistance.  I started this carry between four and five months with Ezykiel.  This is actually probably my favorite carry for day to day wear because he can see everything easily but he's still able to cuddle his face into me if he's feeling overwhelmed.  Its a comfortable carry in which baby should be sitting on your natural waist.  However he should still be high/above the naval/easy to kiss.  This position does also allow the boob pillow, see bottom right picture.

 

7.  I always put Ezykiel in towards me with his legs in a deep squat on either side of my waist and adjust him to other carries if necessary but all in all I have him facing me often.  He usually naps in this carry.

8.  Back carry, I do this carry when my baby doesn't want to be put down or isn't feeling well and I need to get things done.  This one needs to wait until baby can sit completely unsupported.  Very handy for when cooking and dishes need to be done.

9. Breastfeeding in the sling.  Loosen the upper rail a little so baby can eat comfortably than readjust when he/she is finished.  While feeding babies butt will be below the naval which is fine.

The sling is a godsend for me when it comes to nursing in public.  I'm really not one of those cover up type mamas.  I really don't care about whipping out my boob for my hungry babe, if other people don't like it, well that's their problem.  However as Ezykiel got older he became more and more interested in the world and less and less interested in sitting still in order to nurse.  The only way I can get him to nurse in public is to feed in the sling and wrap him up.  It cuts off a whole lot of the stimulation and puts him against my heart which usually if not always calms him down.

Also, its pretty darn discreet, half the time people don't even know that i'm bf him at all.  Oh and I can also feed him in a side carry but I usually only do that at home because it really isn't discreet.  Especially when you have a baby that constantly pops on and off of the boob.

10.  Its always good to bring the fabric all the way up babies back.  I personally do so half the time.  If Ezykiel is sleeping I have the fabric all the way up so he can cozy up and sleep.  I also have it all the way up if he's nursing so he's not so distracted.  If he's awake and alert I allow the sling to be pulled up half way so he has more range of motion.  Also, make sure that the fabric is never ever covering babies mouth, face.

Oh and remember, you can always tuck in the tail of the sling so its not in the way. :)

Some extra sling pictures to end the blog post.

A couple of side notes though, I'm completely comfortable with posting breastfeeding photos.  Its a beautiful relationship and posting helps to normalize breastfeeding.  Second, I do post some pictures in which you can see my body/shape or whatever.  Similar point to the normalizing breastfeeding.  I'm comfortable with me and I post to embrace the postpartum body that I do have.  I can't stand when media pushes tabloids that convince women that they need to focus on dieting as soon as they have a baby.  In reality its very dangerous to start up an exercise routine and to restrict calories early on when there is a real risk of bleeding out.  Anyway, cutting calories isn't good for breastfeeding either, but rather you should be taking care of what you do choose to put in your body, meaning healthier choices.

A whole lot of postpartum women have a hard time embracing their body.   The point I'm trying to get across is to love the body you have and to acknowledge the fact that it grew another human being and how freaking amazing that is.  There is always room for improvement but you have to appreciate what you already have.

Alright enough of that rant, on to the pictures.