Mom Bod

{you guys rule, seriously. I have my mo-jo back for now at least!!}

It seems totally foreign to write about myself and not my son. In fact, it seems quite vain and narcissistic in a way. But I know some of you out there want to read about my body 11 months post-partum and I want to 'book-end' those belly shot/post-partum body posts in a way that pulls it all together.

Let's start with the bottom line: the numbers on the scale. If you do recall I gained a whopping 43 pounds with pregnancy--- partially due to pre-Eclampsia and water retention, partially due to me being a little underweight pre-pregnancy, getting the green-light from my OB to shoot for a 40 pound addition, and partially because I was on 'bedrest' for about 4 weeks at the end of my pregnancy without access to exercise. Then I had a 7lb 10 oz baby and was down 12 pounds upon discharge home. At one week I was down 21 pounds, at two weeks I was down 26 pounds and so I had 17 more pounds to lose at my last update. Then I sort of stopped posting about my Mom Bod (yes, in caps) but basically I lost another 7 pounds by my 6 week follow up with my OB, which is when she cleared me to exercise again. I was 10 pounds above my pre-preg weight for what seemed like a freaking eternity. Even with regular exercise (more in a bit) I couldn't get that darn scale to budge and was getting pretty down with the numbers. Then I decided to cut myself a break and 'not care' anymore because my pre-preg clothes were fitting just fine and I figured that my new big tats could be 10 pounds (possibly?) and that my body needed to be heavier to feed my ever-hungry son. I praised God for being 5'10" because I felt like my height hid my extra weight really well, spreading it out vertically to the point that I didn't even SEE the extra ten pounds. I didn't weigh myself from June until December and honestly didn't think much about my weight, either.

Then in December I had to get a physical for my insurance and I was SHOCKED to see that I was one pound less than my pre-pregnancy weight. I was ecstatic, of course, but also shocked because I really felt that I hadn't done anything to lose those stubborn ten pounds and I had no idea when they came off. Maybe they were gone for many months before I got weighed because I did notice my clothes getting a little looser with time but didn't think much about it since I had vowed to 'let go' of the scale control stuff. But dude, I was apparently thin again and didn't even know it! It's funny that I discovered this at nine months postpartum-----nine months to gain 43 pounds, and nine months to lose 44. :) I do like symmetry.

Also, in case you were wondering, my blood pressure was back to normal by my six week follow up appointment and was a fab 120/70 at that nine month check. In case it didn't hear me before, Pre-Eclampsia can kiss it next time! Seriously. Don't come around here looking for trouble again, thankyouverymuch.

When it comes to actual fitness as a mom my whole outlook has changed drastically. Before the days of Truman I was training for a full marathon and even ran 11 miles the day before I got my positive pg test. Nate and I had the luxury of running for hours at a time, we were members of a fantastic gym, and could literally exercise anytime we pleased. Holy moly, things are different now my friends! The very first time I worked out was the night of my six week OB appointment. I was literally itching to go for a run and had Nate watch Truman for me, while I trekked out for a light jog in my mommy running shoes. Um, can we just say that it was ugly and horrid and I couldn't make it more than a quarter of a mile before I had to walk? I felt my thighs burning and my lungs sputtering and realized that I had a ways to go before I could qualify as a runner again. Then during the rest of my maternity leave I made it a point to run with Truman in the BOB stroller at least 3 days per week. That stroller is basically gold on wheels, if you ask me, because it let me exercise while allowing my babe to nap which is a total score in mommy-ville.

Throughout the summer and fall I'd run with Truman in the BOB a few days per week and sometimes Nate would come along too, to form family of jogging fools. I never found the secret to running on a work day, though, so it is still strictly something I do on my Wednesdays off and the weekends only. Just not enough time in the day, nor enough energy for that nonsense. We ran that 5K as a couple in June and then sucked it up for a half marathon in October. But after that it started to get Wisconsin-cold and I just couldn't take T out in the BOB with me anymore. So Nate and I would take turns watching Truman on the weekends while the other ran and sometimes we still to the tag team thing. But mostly, I'm all about workout DVDs now.

You see, a good workout DVD means that I never have to leave home and so Truman can be napping in the other room while I sweat it out by the TV. Also, although I am addicted to pure cardio like running it feels amazing to do some resistance training, too, since I felt like I lost all of my muscle mass with pregnancy. I did some DVDs during my maternity leave, too, and now I have to say this is the ONLY regular exercise I get during the winter months unless I feel super brave about running in the frigid temps. The DVDs I love to hate are:

-P90X's Plymetric routine: I refuse to do the other discs just to spite Nate because he wants me to do them (and I like to anger my hubby sometimes:) ) but I do love the Plyo one! It's a full hour, though, so I must plan carefully around naps. I feel like this is the best workout of the bunch.

-Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred: love that it's only 20 minutes long and hard core! Jillian kicks my rear like none other and I love that there are three different workouts;

-Jackie Warner's Xtreme Timesaver Training: OMG---this kicks my mommy butt big time and is only 30 minutes long. Definitely less cardio and more repetitions with the weights but I feel like it's a well-rounded workout for sure;

-The Biggest Loser Cardiomax Weight-Loss : my least favorite, but still acceptable if I skip to the harder levels. Bob is pretty insane, much like Jillian, Jackie and Tony.

So that is basically my recipe for exercise now as a mom. I have always been an active person who needs to work out or I go a bit stir crazy, but now instead of going for an hour long run I pop in a video instead. Works for me! I realize that I'm incredibly blessed to have a good metabolism and good genes because I never counted calories, restricted my diet, or went crazy exercising. In fact, my appetite has remained ginormous ever since pregnancy probably because of breastfeeding. We eat healthily but I definitely indulge myself in sweets and snacks and anything that I'm craving, but I just make sure to do that in moderation. My diet has not changed in the slightest comparing pre-pregnancy to post-pregnancy and I'm thankful that I have always enjoyed exercising.

And finally, I must comment on the overall appearance of my Mom Bod. Although I have lost all the baby weight I can tell that my body is much different than before. I'm still breastfeeding and so my boobs are still big but nothing like they were 6 months ago. I know I was at least a big C cup in my breastfeeding prime but now those nursing bras are too big and I've taken to wearing my old 'college' B-cup bras for funsies. I have one that is a front closure so even though it's not a true nursing bra it still gives me access to the girls as needed and I can feel like a normal person again without the nursing clasps up top. I'm quite certain that when I stop pumping and nursing my funbags are going to deflate and be a sad sight. If I was an A-cup before I wonder if it's possible to be a negative A cup, inverted to the point of pathetic? We'll see. I just have a bad feeling. Another fun fact? My right boob is still significantly larger than my left and it still produces a butt-ton more milk, too. I'm still praying that it will return to it's partner's size some day so I can have my matching set again. A girl can dream, right?

My linea nigra is shockingly still hanging around even 11 months after birthing T-man. It's super faint now but still there and I definitely assumed it would be gone by about month 3 or something. I hope it does vanish one day but at the same time, it's like my little visual reminder of being pregnant or something and it's so light I might be the only one to notice it anyway.

My stomach is pretty much back to it's pre-preg state of being but probably a little softer overall. It's not like I have a muffin top like I did those first few weeks but I can tell there's just a little more to inch around the edges now. I'm surprisingly okay with that, too. I think my belly button is still a little more stretched out compared to before but it's mostly recovered and I still thank my lucky stars that I didn't inherit any stretch marks from my basketball belly days.

So I suppose I must share actual pictures, huh? I made Nate take a belly pic 'for old times sake' tonight and let me tell you, we were quite rusty. He was goofing off the whole time and then said, point blank, 'Why are we doing a belly pic right now? Are you pregnant and this is how you are going to tell me right now?' Ha! No, dear. I love that he was totally not alarmed by this idea and thought I was up to something, though. Good to know. :)

So here is the before and after, extremes---the day I found out I was pregnant and right now, close to 11 months postpartum. Not too different, really.

(ALSO, IF YOU ARE JUST SKIMMING DOWN TO THE PICTURES ON THIS POST AND NOT READING THE TEXT I AM NOT ANNOUNCING A PREGNANCY HERE WITH THESE PICTURES. I KNOW HOW YOUR MINDS WORK OUT THERE!)


And for fun, let's throw in a couple of shots in the middle of those extremes. OMG. My triple chin look at 38 weeks pg is reason enough to wait on number two a little while longer. Nate walked by and said 'Ooooh, I just want to pinch those cheeks!' to the computer screen when he saw my whale-like self. Not cool, Nate. He's on a roll tonight, folks!


So really, postpartum body of a mommy isn't too bad. A little different but no big deal. I think I won't freak out as much about weight gain next time around either, knowing it really does come off without working too hard at it. At least that is my story this time around and who knows what will happen next time. :)