Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Getting ready to get back on the horse

While being pregnant and breastfeeding my main concern was that I was taking in all the right things, avoiding all the wrong and making sure Knox was getting 100% of what he needed. Well now that I've weaned Knox it is weird not having to worry about caffeine, sugar, calcium etc... Now i'm a free lady lol and am enjoying regular coffee, the occasional alcoholic beverage and not having to worry about when Knox's next feeding will be.

Although I have been thoroughly enjoying having free rang over what i ingest I am very much aware of the warm weather and my "I just had a baby" body. Now i'm not a self conscious person, as a rule, but I would like to look a little less stretched out by the time my bikini comes out of hiding. So what to do?

In the past I have tried many diets and exercise regimes and the one that worked best for me was when i was taking the Body By Vi shakes. I was determined to loose weight before starting my round of IVF and a friend told me about the meal replacement shakes and gave me a sample. I loved it. I had tried other shakes before and always felt hungry or chugged them down because I didn't enjoy the taste. Once I got used to having the shakes for breakfast and lunch (instead of a over sized meal) I liked them and was content. Plus I was dropping the pounds. Running and those shakes seem to be my key to weight loss victory.

The plan? Well I've been putting off replacing the batteries in the scale, but that will be step 1! Step 2 will be getting myself organized and then step 3 to get back on the horse. I'm giving myself this week to enjoy being free to eat what id like and then come Monday YEEHA, back on the horse with me.

Id love to share my experience as I go and hopefully I will have as great of success as I did the first time I tried the Body By Vi shakes.

Gonna get my runners, shaker and can do attitude prepped and ready to go! You with me? Ok lets do this!

Lotsa Love,
Natasha

PS. If you have any questions about the shakes please feel free to let me know and I can answer any questions or put you in contact with who I get mine from.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Parent knows best!

One thing that I noticed as a first time parent is that everyone wants to offer up advice, solicited or otherwise.  I am sure that all this advice is well intended, sometimes it can be overwhelming and contradictory to what your planning for your little one. On top of information given from other parents there is tons of information you can access through books, apps and online articles. So how do you filter through everything and get down to whats right for you and baby?

I love to read, so I have read countless articles etc... on everything labor, parenting and baby related that I can get my hands on. There is a lot of information and a lot of it is contradictory and opinion based. It took me a bit to figure it out but once I did its been way easier. My super secret is... Do whats right for you and baby! It sounds simple, but can get complicated.

Sleeping like a baby
Just like anything else I want to make a decision on I research, ask for opinions and collect as much data as I can. As a first time parent it can be overwhelming, no one wants to make a mistake. Once I realized that its hopeless...lol That everyone makes mistakes then I relaxed a bit and got down to figuring out what works best for us. Just like grownups, babies have there own personalities, likes, dislikes and schedules. I struggled with sleep for months until after lots of reading decided to try Knox on his belly, as he would only sleep an hour or two on his back. Once flipped he slept 3, then 4, then 7 and now 8-10 hours a night. Miracle??? Or just the simple fact that mommy is a belly sleeper and so is baby? Now I know that the current sleeping position for babies is back, but I know that changes regularly and made a choice based on Knox. He could lift his head from birth and by the time I decided to put him on his belly could lift and turn his head, roll over and scoot, this and the fact that I have a angel care baby monitor made me feel safe and secure with my choice to put Knox on his belly. My now functioning brain thanks me lol.

There are tons of decisions to be made and even more opinions ready to be shared. Do you circumcise, make your own food, breast feed, cloth diaper, how often to do tummy time, how much stimulation, when to introduce bed time routines etc etc etc... The list is endless!  Best advice I got was to have a plan and be absolutely prepared to toss it and start fresh. I am glad I got and took this advice as I needed it during labor and with some of my decisions so far as a parent.

My Happy Boy Loving his food
I had every intention to breast feed Knox until at least six months and then introduce foods and wean. However my super baby has a super appetite and I was breast feeding him every 1.5-2 hours and he never really seemed satisfied. This can become exhausting when all you seem to do is breast feed. So at just a week over 4 months we introduced Knox to solids. Again we made this choice after much reading and knowing that Knox was absolutely ready to eat (being able to hold himself up and showing all signs he was ready). Once he was introduced to food the way he breast fed became different, almost aggressive. So after months of non stop feeding and an aggressive eater I decided to start weaning him earlier then intended. At first I felt guilty and selfish that I was weaning him before 6 months, but then I saw how great Knox was doing on the bottle and how much more time Ryan was getting with him. I feel much better about my decision and Knox loves his food and is already trying to hold his own bottle and drinking out of a sippy cup.

As new parents it can be easy to get pressured into doing what your told is best for baby, but shouldn't you be who knows your baby best? If every baby was exactly the same then it would make sense to treat them exactly the same, but they are not so shouldn't we care for them as individuals and make choices as we go? This is how i've approached parenting and I have a happy, healthy baby, so i must be doing something right.


Follow your instincts and do whats right for you and baby, if that choice doesn't seem to work make another. Learn and grow with your baby and you both will be much more relaxed and happy at the end of the day.

Lotsa Love,
Natasha