#21DayFix – 15 Days In and 6 Pounds Down!

First, thank you for all my friends on Facebook who I’ve been following and wondering – what the heck is the 21 Day Fix!?

Because of you, I tried it.

To back it up, Pat and I have been busy having babies and getting our asses handed to us (who knew having kids would be so challenging!?). After having two babies so close together - my time has become… “not my own” and my body became something I didn’t even recognize.

When I got pregnant, I wanted to be one of those girls who ran throughout my pregnancy and one who didn’t gain much weight. Ah, well that didn’t work. Two back to back pregnancies and 50 pounds later I was shocked to see what my body had become.

This past summer, I told myself “this is my year!” I was no longer pregnant or nursing and we were past the infant baby stage. I started running 2 miles and gradually increased that to 3.5 miles. By the end of the summer I clocked a couple 7 mile runs. I was pumped but not really losing the weight. The problem was, I was still eating as if I were training for an Ironman.

For a while I just assumed that I’d have a mom bod forever. But then again, I have a couple of warm weather vacations coming up. Namely, I’m heading to Hawaii in December to visit with my brother, his wife and new baby (and by the way, she's training for the Honolulu marathon and will be looking fab). Then, I am going to Anguilla in March with two of my fittest friends. To keep going, my town is opening a new pool this summer! There is so much coming up and I don’t want to assume the role of “mom bod” anymore. I am so much more than that!

Back to my friends who I’ve been watching on Facebook – yep, you’ve all inspired me. I wish all of you could be my coach, but I had to pick just one! Maybe it was because I was working out harder and not losing weight, maybe it was because I have vacations coming up and want to look great, maybe it was because I was just sick of being “mom bod”…I don’t know why it all clicked at once but I finally decided to try it.  

21 Day Whaat?

At first, I committed to the concept of eating healthy and exercising for 3 days (it was about all I could mentally handle). During those days I kicked my bad habit of eating mints at work, which are so darn addictive. However, I ate about 7 candy bars on Halloween and THEN I decided that I needed to get it together!

I got with one of my friends who I knew was a Beachbody coach, a working mom (like me) and bought a challenge pack through her which included Shakeology (a nutrient rich shake), the full 21 Day Fix workout and the containers (which helped me understand what to eat and correct portions). The Monday following Halloween I buckled down and started doing it right. By the way, you all know P90X, Insanity, and Shaun T (who doesn’t love Shaun T!?)… the 21 Day Fix is a weight loss program made by the same company.

I’ve been doing the workouts each day, eating right and drinking Shakeology. I cannot believe how much I love it. I am the nerd who watches workout videos on the train to learn moves that I can do at the gym during lunch! I love the 10 minute ab fix and the fact that the programs are done in 25 minutes. I overheard myself tell my neighbor that I can get a better workout in by doing these than by running (seriously, me? did I say that?). I feel in control, I’m losing weight (6 pounds in 15 days!) and feeling confident that I am going to attain my goals (which is a liberating feeling).

My Next Challenge:

On Monday I’m going to post my #21DayFix first round results. With Hawaii coming up, I’m going straight into 21 Day Fix Extreme. My goal is to get into a bikini by Dec 10^th. I know it’s a stretch, but I’m going for it! 

I’ll be blogging about my progress and what I’m up to. I’m hoping to have a little fun with this and inspire a few people along the way. Plus, I needed an excuse to write about something on my blog other than my kids! If you want to learn more, or even better if you want to join my team’s next challenge group, shoot me a note and I’ll send you information. 

#WhyNotYou?

Tips for Getting an Infant to Sleep Through the Night

Lack of sleep is enough to drive any new parent crazy. By the time our first baby was 4 weeks old, I decided that the lack of sleep thing wasn't for me. That's when I called every parent I knew and asked them how they got their baby to sleep through the night. Some people said it was way too early to sleep train but I knew there had to be a way. After a few enlightening conversations combined with tips I picked up from books, our first baby slept through the night by 11 weeks. Our second is making progress - he's now 7 weeks old and sleeping 5.5 hours in a row and waking only once. My goal is to get our babe to sleep through the night by 12 weeks of age.

Here are a few tips for getting an infant to sleep through the night:

Sleep training begins on day 1 - In the first few weeks of a baby's life it's hard to see any progress with their sleeping - and that's ok. There are, however, a few things that can be done to help set the baby up for sleeping success. In the beginning babies typically sleep 2-4 hours at a time... and sometimes less. According to one of the sleep books I really like called On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving your baby the gift of nighttime sleep, after about 5 weeks of age the baby is capable of sleeping the same number of hours as their age. For example, a 5 week old is capable of sleeping 5 hours; a 6 week old is capable of sleeping 6 hours - and so on until they max out around 10-12 hours of sleep in a row. I experienced this to be true in that the baby can jump about an hour of additional sleep each week as he gets older.

Eat, wake, sleep cycle - In the first two weeks babies seem to sleep more during the day than at night. People say that their schedule needs to be flipped. In other words, they need to learn that the daytime is for being awake and the nighttime is for sleeping. While this will happen naturally, the process can be aided by implementing an eat, wake, sleep schedule (detailed in Baby Wise). The full cycle from the time the baby wakes up, eats, plays, and sleeps is about 2.5 to 3 hours. Including quality wake time is key to helping the baby sleep. Because babies often get groggy after eating, it's helps to feed the baby first and then do a diaper change to wake him. Try to keep the baby awake for 45 minutes or so before putting him back down for a nap. Continue this cycle throughout the day until the last feeding of the day.

Fill 'em up - The last feeding of the day should be the biggest. Babies wake up because they are hungry (usually). Feeding the baby as much as possible before bedtime will naturally extend how long they can sleep. For example, if a typical daytime feeding is 4 ounces, try feeding the baby 6 ounces before bedtime. If breastfeeding - keep feeding until the baby until you feel you have no more to give and then supplement with expressed milk or formula. If bottle feeding, make the babe a couple extra ounces before bed. Babies naturally stop eating when they are full so do not worry about overfeeding. He will refuse when he's done.

Crying it out (aka tucking baby in for the night) - It's ok to let your baby cry - within reason. Crying is their exercise. It's the way they develop their lungs and how they get out their frustrations. When putting the baby to bed at night we go by the 10 minute rule. Meaning, after tucking baby into bed and if he's crying - we let him cry for 10 minutes before going back in to soothe him. A friend of mine gave me this tip. He said that almost every time by 9 minutes the baby soothed himself to sleep on his own. Assuming the baby is dry, burped, swaddled, binky in the mouth, and is completely full (and of course not sick or having some ailment) - then he's probably ok to cry for a little bit. Eventually the baby will learn the schedule and he won't cry at all when put down for the night.

le Pause - Perhaps the most effective tip for teaching a baby to sleep through the night is something called le pause, a tip I picked up from a book called Bringing Up Bebe. My interpretation of what this says is that when the baby wakes up in the middle of the night - don't jump up to grab him right away. pause. Often when it sounds like the baby is waking up, he may not actually be waking up at all. Next time when the baby is waking up, grunting, making noises - just wait. Wait until the baby works himself up to a real cry. When he's really crying you will know he's awake - and that is when you should go get him out of bed. As an example - last night I thought our baby was waking up. I went to check on him and saw that his eyes were closed. Despite me already being awake and thus tempted to simply feed him then - I told myself to wait. I went back to bed and to my delight he slept another hour and a half! By pausing, he naturally made the jump from sleeping 4 hours in a row to 5.5. He wouldn't have made that progress if I had woken him from his sleep.

Going beyond le Pause - A friend just sent me a great article on how to effectively Ferberize your babe. What I like about this is the chart that shows how many minutes to wait before getting the babe after he starts crying. Let's face it - it's hard to pause when your baby is crying. So this is good consolation that it's ok to let the baby cry... while you're laying there is bed praying he falls back asleep. One thing to note is that this method is different from le Pause because (after waiting to get the baby out of bed) what you're doing is comforting your baby rather than feeding him.

Move the baby into another room - Unlike the fairy tales, babies are not always sound sleepers. They grunt, squeak and make all kinds of noises - all while sleeping! These little noises can wake up parents throughout the night, unnecessarily. Do yourself a favor - move the baby into another room. We did this at 5 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. The result is very important - it allows the parents to sleep through the grunts and wake only when the baby is actually awake. You'll know he's awake when he's really crying, not just grunting. This also helps le Pause to happen naturally.

Do it in the dark - For nighttime feedings, do everything in the dark. Do not make eye contact, do not speak, and do not engage with the baby. Simply pick him up, do a diaper change, feed him, burb him and put him back to sleep. If you're breastfeeding and if he falls asleep after the first side - then feed him, burp him, change him, feed him again, burp him, and then put him down to sleep.

Two steps forward and one step back - It's natural that the baby will make progress and then regress. Rest assured that the baby has not regressed permanently. He will continue to make jumps forward despite what seems like a setback.

Stick to the Schedule - Ideally, wake up at the same time each day and put the baby down for bed at the same time every day.

Accommodations - For the baby's sleeping accommodations, we love the rock n play. Having the rock n play is not necessary to get the baby to sleep through the night - I'm just noting what we use. It's super light weight and can be moved easily from room to room (even while the baby is sleeping). Also it is slanted which naturally props up the baby, which we like in case the baby spits up. 

The size of their tummy - I don't know if this is true, so I'm going out on a limb here - I'm guessing that a bigger baby can hold down more chow than a smaller baby. Our first babe slept through the night when he was 14 pounds (he was a big boy!). I would guess that a smaller baby may take longer to sleep through the night simply because their tummy is smaller and can hold less food - causing him to wake up more often. Just a theory.

I hope these tips are helpful or simply validate what you're already doing. Good luck!

Year in Review

This time last year a wildness came over me. My body knew what was coming, but I didn't. The next day began what would be 68 hours labor. Painful, exhausting, contractions. The following Sunday evening baby Jack was born.

Sitting here tonight, remembering Jack's first year and also being 29 weeks pregnant, I can't believe he's days away from turning 1; and I can't believe that I'm about to do it all over again. Recounting the year, it was amazing, wonderful, challenging, and wonderful again. It was all about Jack.

The first few weeks postpartum are measured in seconds. Pat and I spent hours staring at Jack. I wanted to relish every thing about him, and yet on the other hand I asked myself, "is this what I'm supposed to do? Just look at him all day?" Time was arbitrary and morning bled into night. Our schedule was the baby's schedule. My entire focus collapsed so that all I thought about was right there in front of me. Nothing beyond our walls mattered, nor did I have the time or brain power to give it any consideration.

The next moment I remember is when Jack turned 11 weeks. This was the magical time when he slept through the night. After that, we would spend the next 3 months catching up on lost sleep.

Then we got married! ...and the next week we got pregnant again.

9 months... that is when something changed for us. Jack's personality came to life. He could crawl, feed himself, giggle. He even played little games like peek-a-boo and showed signs of being a shy guy in new company. Since then he has turned into this little guy who is so much fun. He walks, he babbles, he plays with toys. He's absolutely awesome.

At the same time, we've gotten a lot better at being parents. In the beginning, everything from changing his diaper to putting him in the car seat, and exiting the house was so hard. Pathetic as this may sound, we're simply better now at functioning with a baby. Things like going to the grocery store, hanging out with him and appeasing his desires are all easier.

In general, I think that Pat and I would say that the transition into parenthood was hard. And that's not because the baby isn't absolutely wonderful - it's because it's hard work to be a parent! Beyond that, as a couple and as individuals, we've had to carve a new role for ourselves as parents. It has been an amazing, incredible experience so far and we're both so grateful and so happy.

We celebrate Jack's first birthday this week. I cannot believe it has already been a year. Time has never gone by so quickly, and on top of that, every week that goes by I'm closer to having another little chicken in the house. Ready to do this all over again? :-)

Baby Mush: Banana Blueberry Pudding

Banana Blueberry Pudding 
(baby mush that tastes good to parents too)

Ingredients:
1 banana
handful of blueberries

Recipe:
Place banana (still in its peel) on a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven (the peel should be blackened).
Blend banana (without peel), a handful of blueberries and a splash of soy milk.
The consistency will be like a smoothie, however it will tighten up after its sits in the fridge. Put the mixture in a tupperware and store in the fridge. When you remove it, it will have the consistency of pudding. Yum!

I'd give you a picture, but I've already eaten half of it. Here's a better one:

Must-Have Baby Items

Must-have baby items

·        rock n play - baby sleeps in this and it's super light weight so you can carry it and the baby into whatever room you're in.

·         swing or bouncy chair - when you want to be hands-free, this is essential.

·         jumper – yes, another place to put the baby. When you want to accomplish other things like cooking, going to the bathroom, cleaning etc, then you’re going to want to be able to put the baby down.

·         pacifiers – buy 5 +. they get spread out all over the house like chapstick.

·         changing table setup - table, mattress pad, sheet.

·         boppy pad liners – these go over changing pad sheet. When it gets dirty you can just wash this instead of sheet.

·         diapers - only 1 package of newborns, otherwise size 1.

·         vaseline - essential if you have a boy and he gets circumcised.

·         wipes or square gauze - they'll give you gauze at hospital which is useful for dipping in water to clean off the baby.

·         no newborn outfits, start with 3 months – companies make these items to be obsolete, they shrink when you wash them. After the baby is 8 pounds they won't fit anymore.

·         boppy pillow - for nursing and for sitting baby in.

·         breast friend pillow – it straps on which is nice. Having both boppy and breast friend is handy when nursing (mostly in the beginning when the baby is really small… after a while mom will find different ways to hold the baby and won’t need these anymore).

·         nursing bras and zip up outer shirts - versus shirts that pull over the head. These are so much easier to use when nursing and you don’t have to pull your shirt up. In regard to sizing, keep in mind mom’s boobs will get even bigger after her milk comes in.

·         medela pump bra – the plastic pieces fit into this bra so that mom can pump hands free.

·         receiving blankets – take a few from the hospital!

·         baby outfits - zip up outfits or button ups are so much easier to put on then onesies that pull over the head. Short sleeve onesies are best because you can put these on and a long sleeve zip up over it.

·         socks – these double as gloves. You won’t need shoes for a while.

·         car seat with one extra base (for second car) - if the car seat doesn't come with extra padding around the head, get an add on baby head cushion so head stays steady in moving car.

·         snap and go - much lighter weight and smaller than stroller. Great for grocery shopping, quick trips into a store when baby is little.

·         bundle-me - sleeping bag to go in car seat during winter months.

·         stroller – we like the city mini but there are a ton of choices.

·         bottles with slow drip nipple – buy at least 6 and get the 8 oz bottles rather than the smaller ones because the baby will be eating 6+ ounces as early as a couple of months.

·         baby k'tan - great sling for mom to hold baby close to body. It doesn’t last long because the baby will outgrow it but it’s really nice to have in the beginning.

·         baby bjorn/ergo or other carrier - great for dad to hold baby in and lasts longer because you can face baby outwards.

·         baby tub

·         baby wash cloths and baby towels – having a bunch of wash cloths is nice because you’ll use two for every bath (one warm one to put over their belly and one for washing).

·         thermometer for measuring bathwater temperature or a tub that has one built in. We have the aquatub which has a thermometer built in, which was great in the beginning but it broke pretty much immediately when it got water into the UI. The right temp is ~95 degrees.

·         sophie the giraffe - we haven't used this yet but everyone says it's a must have when they start teething.

·         baby books

·         crib, mattress, sheets – if you have the rock n play then the baby won't need a crib for a few months.

·         night lights and lamp dimmers for night-time feedings – this is essential!! You do not want to wake up the baby any more than to feed at night so it’s easier to put him/her back down.

·         baby clothes hamper – when the baby’s clothes are wet with pee or other then you don’t want them mixing with your clothes!

·         play gym – this is a mat with some toys hanging over it. You can lay the baby down and he/she can reach up towards the toys and stay entertained for a bit.

Good books for mom and dad

·         Dude, you're gonna be a dad

·         Babywise (don't read until after delivery. talks about how to get baby on a schedule and to sleep through night – and it works!)

Don't buy:

·         nipple cream (they'll give you prescription grade at hospital)

·         breast milk pump (don't buy one - you can get this free through insurance. they'll give you the info at the hospital and the company will ship it to your door within days after delivery)

·         bottle sanitizer – you can wash them in the dishwasher

·         monitor – this really depends on your house. We don’t need one because we live on a single floor and we can hear the baby anywhere. If I had a larger house I would get one with a visual monitor, mainly to make sure blankets don’t go over the baby’s head.

Lastly - a bottle of wine and a big hug :-)

Birthing Baby Coyle

Now that I've crossed the finish line of birthing baby Coyle it seems silly to recant the difficulty of labor. But boy - was it hard.

People have been asking me up until this point, "I wonder what you think will be harder - doing an Ironman or birthing your baby." Never having doubted the answer - definitely birthing the baby.

The feelings of pain between an endurance event and labor are so different. Painful contractions feel like enduring a fresh injury that repeats every 5-10 minutes. It's like spraining your ankle and having those 30 seconds to a minute of pain - pain - pain where you need to catch your breath, gather your thoughts and wait for the sensation to recede before you can do anything else. Except, in this case that feeling is right below your gut. On bad contractions I also felt a sensation of burning fire radiating across my lower back.

In contrast to an endurance event, I would argue that at no point should you feel "pain." You can feel sore, tired, the burning sensation of lactic acid, exhaustion and the difficulty of moving forward. However, none of those sensations compare to what you can't train for - contractions.

After doing everything I could to induce the little bugger - prenatal yoga, swimming, prenatal massage, dinner at Chianti in Beverly for their legendary pumpkin ravioli inducing dish, and going for an hour and a half walk in the woods - he started making his move on a Thursday evening.

In the beginning the contractions were akin to menstrual cramping, occurring every 7-12 minutes. Over the next 24 hours they grew worse.

Generally, the hospital won't open their door to you until you're either having contractions every 5 minutes, for a minute and consistently for an hour OR until your cervix is 3-4 centimeters dilated. At 4 cm dilation they will admit you and give you an epidural, if you want one.

That second night of laying next to me in bed with contractions, Pat told me later, was horrifying for him. Every 7 to 9 minutes he'd be awoken by a moaning woman in pain. On my side of the bed, I could sleep for only a couple of minutes in between contractions before the next erupted. By early morning I had one that nearly made me puke.

33 hours.

It was 5:30 am on Saturday morning. Despite not having reached the 5-1-1 mark, we decided to head to the hospital to see what was going on.

Once we arrived, triage hooked my belly up to a monitor which showed how often the contractions were occurring. Mine were roughly 6 minutes apart. They also performed an internal exam to figure out how much my cervix was dilated.

1 cm. I would be sent home.

Frustratingly, I would watch the next 20 hours pass one contraction at a time.

...12:04 (9 min)
12:13 (9 min)
12:23 (10 min)
12:32 (9 min)
12:40 (8 min)
12:47 (7 min)
1 pm (13 min)
1:08 (8 min)
1:16 (8 min)
1:25 (14 min)
1:35 (10 min)
1:40 (5 min)
1:46 (6 min)
1:56 (10 min)...

55 hours.

My mind was shot.

It was 2 am Sunday morning and one fired off that unravelled me. I didn't care if I was not at 5-1-1. I couldn't do this anymore.

The car ride in.

Bumps on the road.

Stinging contractions.

Laying on the triage table.

The internal exam.

"You're 4 centimeters, Abigail! You did it! You've got your golden ticket to be admitted into the hospital."

A rupture of tears.

Joy.

Relief was coming.

I got the epidural almost immediately and fell into the excellent care of the MGH staff. After a few hours of being admitted and with no further dilation, I opted for the pitocin to speed up the contractions. This worked for two and a half hours until one particularly strong contraction caused the baby's heart rate to fall from the 150s to below 80.

8 staff members were in the room within seconds. A stab in the leg with some kind of concoction and a flurry of activity quickly addressed the emergency.

It was frightening to see danger to the baby. He was okay though. The good news was that those couple of hours resulted in 7 cm of dilation. However, as I would find out 7 hours later, without the pitocin I would only progress another 1 cm on my own.

67 hours.

The team, Pat and I were looking at our options -

It had taken 67 hours to reach 8 cm, 3 of which progressed to that point with pitocin, the baby didn't like pitocin, the pace between my contractions was not fast enough to dilate quicker, and probably some unknown factors too like the baby's position in my body and his size - all led us to believe that this delivery was not progressing as quickly as we wanted.

I could sit there all night. The next day and the day after. No one put pressure on us to make our decision one way or another.

Looking at where we were in the process and what was happening - we were ready to have this baby. We opted for the caesarean section.

67.5 hours.

I was prepped and in the operating room. Numbed up. Nervous. Teeth chattering. Heart tight.

Pat was escorted in and sat very close to me. His face to my forehead, I asked him to press his hands down over my shoulders. He spoke to me gently. At first about how he let my parents know what was going on and that they were on their way in to the hospital, about conversations that he had with his brothers and anything else light in topic that he could share.

He kept close as the surgery went on - telling me I was doing a great job, to breathe slowly, giving me relief by touch.

We heard his little cry.

My body was responding to the surgery and at the same time the knowledge that my baby was alive in this world.

My teeth clanked together, my chest bounced from the hard table, my breath quickened. I tried to breath slowly. In, and out. In, and out.

Hyperventilation.

He cried a little more. Looking backwards I could see Pat crying too. Now close to hysteria, I asked Pat to stay with me. My hands shook violently. My heart hurt. He held my crossed arms down on my chest to keep them from leaping straight up from the table.

In the background the surgery was going perfectly but I was a wreck. Seeing that I was loosing it, I was offered something to calm me down. Two shots later and I deflated to a more controlled state.

My head rolled to the side - and there he was. Our baby was laying in a bassinet looking straight at us.

I was looking at a whole new beautiful world.

a racing mind in late pregnancy

My mind and body are very much awake.

I feel wild with the energy to do something and at the same time sit still.

My appetite has subsided.

I'm very much aware of the feelings inside of me.

I twist my eyebrows.

I feel the push on my cervix grow stronger.

I sit straight up in bed.

I'm anxiously awaiting for the contractions to come.

I Google, "what do contractions feel like."

I walked for an hour and a half in the woods today. Toward the end of the walk I started seeing spots and became light headed. But at the same time, I felt so able, awake and alive.

The crisp tapping on the keyboard feels good on my fingers.

I wonder how I can calm down.

I wonder when he will come.