The Chair

There's a story to this chair....

In 1981 when my mother was due to give birth to me, my father went out and bought her a rocking chair. Not just any chair but a chair he deemed "perfect" for her to rock their newborn baby girl to sleep in every night.

Fast forward 27 years and the end of the my pregnancy....

My parents decided to gift me "the chair" to carry on the tradition. I rocked my first son to sleep, soothed him when he got hurt and watched cartoons with him in this very chair. This chair was a mainstay in both of my apartments after Baby Boy was born. After 2 years of using this chair, it moved back to my parents attic for storage.

Fast forward 4 years later and my second pregnancy...

My dad, almost the sentimental type, decided the chair needed a facelift for the birth of his second grandson. He spent an entire weekend sanding it down, painting and it searching for the perfect cushions to replace it with. And here we are today with this chair of 33 years, sitting in my 2nd son's room.

There are some memories and items that never be replaced and this chair is one of them. I plan to hold on to it for many many years to come and more children.

Housekeeping

IMAGE

I thought I would do a non-mom/parenting post while I pump. Hey, can't get away from that stuff entirely, folks.

Anyway, it's 7 days before Christmas and I thought I would do a little web housekeeping before New Years gets here. My process consists of clearing out my internet history, deleting some unused favorites and cleaning up my blog reading list. It seems my blog list is the most time consuming because I have so many that I read. Sure some I've been subscribed to for 4 years (Lawd!) and others just caught my eye and are on my "I'll read  later" list. Nonetheless, I do this about 3 times a year.

Cleaning up the list also gives me a chance to go back and read some oldies but goodies. Man, some of you have evolved LOL For example, I have watched one my blogger buddies go from a Sex and the City type lifestyle to now being married with kids. I've watched some bloggers marriages dissolve only to never believe in love again and ultimately find their soulmate. I've watched some people struggle with addictions, setbacks and hardships - some are victorious, others aren't.

Some bloggers are people I've actually had the pleasure of meeting in person and feel like family to me. I always credit Dave with being the reason I started blogging. His blog was the first one I ever discovered and I remained a loyal reader until he stopped about two years ago.

All this house keeping takes me back down my own memory lane with my blog. This blog has been deleted and restarted so many times I'm not sure where which version I'm on. What I am sure about is that I will be sticking around the Blogsphere for awhile. :)

Product Review: Graco Modes Click Connect Travel System Stroller

IMAGE

The stroller for my first son was gifted to us by a girlfriend of mine. As a matter of fact, we didn't have to buy much of anything with our first son since everyone bought everything for us. This time I wanted to make sure I got the stroller I wanted so when I found this beauty at Babies R Us, I couldn't hesitate on it.

Allow me to introduce you to the Graco Modes Click Connect Travel System. This stroller has up to 10 different seating variations that is designed to grow with your child. Because I know we want more kids, I wanted a stroller I would be able to get some distance out of and use for the next kid.

This stroller is the stuff dreams are made of. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know my mom and I put it together and spent two hours trying to figure out how reconfigure it. I am confidently say I am an expert with this sucker now. I can modify it to fit my needs based on where I'm going.

To read more about the specs on the stroller, click HERE.

I highly recommend it as I do most of Graco's products.

*Disclaimer: These opinions are my own. I was not paid by Graco or anything other advertisers*

Repeat C-Section

With my first son, I labored a long time. Try 32 hours of laboring, 12 hours without an epidural. Yes, I'll wait while you pick up your jaw....

**checks my watch**

He was a term baby (translation: born at 39 weeks and 4 days), but the labor was anything but what I planned. I had this long detailed birth plan that I laminated (I'm an organizing junkie) with detailed instructions for everyone attending. Oh yes, I was serious about that delivery. Needless to say, my labor went nothing like it was planned and I had to quickly accept that I can't control everything.

With Baby #2, I threw the whole birth plan thing out of the window and decided to just roll with it. No plan, no expectations; just letting my body do what it does.

My gestational diabetes diagnosed confirmed that I was unlikely to make it to my due date and I was ok with that, as long as I was over 37 weeks. Welp, you guessed it: he came at 33 weeks. I'll provide my details about my labor and delivery but I had to admit I felt a little disappointed when the doctor explained that a vaginal delivery was unlikely due to my complications at that time.

My c-section went well and according to my OB/GYN, they may let me try a vaginal with #3. My recovery this time seemed shorter but my pain level was definitely up. With a week in the hospital before and after my delivery, the pain was awful but manageable with minimal meds. When I got home, I felt like myself  after about a week. I still had to walk slow and not laugh or cough but I made it through. I can sum it up to say that by week 3, I was moving like a normal person again.

With any delivery, there are risks for all sorts of complications and the recovery periods varied. What's most important is that you listen to your body and take the time to heal.

Body After Baby

IMAGE

I am 6 weeks post delivery and I am ready to get back in the workout saddle. Just before I found out I was pregnant, I signed up for Weight Watchers. I was fully committed to losing 30 pounds and making fitness my focus before pregnancy. Well, I found Baby #2 was on the way and that pretty much put dieting on hold.

I gained about 17 total pounds with my pregnancy and lost most of it after delivery. Y'all, I was literally all baby. The weight fell off with the exception of 5 pounds. So couple my prior *ahem* few pounds that I never lost from my first pregnancy and tack on 5 pounds...yeah. See how the numbers add up?

Well, not anymore. I am ready to lose 30 pounds and keep it moving. Seriously. I really want to get back into running but with a repeat c-section, getting back into the workout routine is going to take some time. Last night I completed my first workout and it left me a little breathless and achy but I felt encouraged. I realize that I carried a baby for a 8 months and that I need to give myself that long to lose the weight.

I'm not going to put myself on some crazy strict diet where all I can eat is lettuce and drink water. Instead, I am going to focus on portion control, being active as much as possible (hard to do with breastfeeding and a newborn) and cutting myself some slack. Since we are planning for baby #3 in a year, I want to make sure I am physically fit.

Wish me luck and stay tuned for my progress.

Balancing it All: Mom of 2

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a mother, let alone a mother of two boys. My husband and I were hoping for a girl (or twins:)) with this pregnancy but a healthy baby is what we wanted most. Since males are dominant in both our families, we weren't quite that surprised to learn that our little one was another boy.

*Cue male fist pump from the Husband*

After telling family and taking a little time to process the fact that there was going to be another boy in the house, I realized quickly that this was for real. This was life, folks, and I wasn't ready.

My fear wasn't having another boy (although with the stuff happening in the world, I feel some kind of way now); my fear was trying to figure out how to balance time and attention with both. Obviously the baby would need different and slightly more attention than my 6 year old, but how was I supposed to that without feel guilty?

I asked around to my friends who have more than one child and everyone came back with the same response: you will figure it out. And you know what? I think we slowly but surely are figuring it out. While the baby sleeps, I spend time with the 6 year old coloring, watching cartoons, etc. When grandma and grandpa come over, the 3 of us sneak out and go hang out for while. My husband is great about hanging out in the 6 year old's room with him each evening.

When you are a parent of multiples, don't beat yourself up if you don't get a chance to do every single thing with each child the way you want. Kids are forgiving and you should be too. After all, all we can do is our best. My advice to new parents of multiples is to take one day at a time. Find ways to incorporate everyone in an activity and designate child tag teaming so that they each get their quality time with each parent. Trust me, you will thank yourself and they will thank you.

So, I had a baby...

Hey there! Yes, it's me. Yes, I'm really blogging. Yes, I had a baby...7 weeks early.

One thing about pregnancy is that it isn't an exact science. You never know when and how things will shift at any given moment. I plan to do an entirely different post about my birth experience because my story is worth sharing. For now, I tell you that I am basking in the new mommy glow of having not one but two sons.