I'm baaaaccckkkk *almost*

It's been a minute, hasn't it?!

40wks, 4days pregnant

While I haven't posted in quite awhile, I kept working out throughout my pregnancy. I think I went to my cardio class for the last time around 38 weeks. I felt amazing. I gained around 30lbs total (far cry from the 45-50 I gained with the other two!)

On July 20 (5 days late!!), Miss M was born. Perfection in a tiny bundle <3 Even though my OB had me convinced she was going to be a GIANT at 10+ lbs (based on A's weight and being my third baby, then the fact that she was so overdue!), she turned out to be a tiny peanut at only 7lb, 9oz.


Now here we are, six weeks later! I'm about to get my go ahead to start working out again (WOOHOO) and I'm in the midst of researching how to work out safely without jeopardizing my milk supply, which is obviously my first priority.

I am going to start easy - a few "runs" (not sure how this will go!) and some at home workouts. I want to start using the awesome resistance band set we have to build my strength. I am hoping to do these while M sleeps and A goes to school.

I plan to renew my gym membership this week, but will have to find some alternate times to go since I am hesitant to put Miss M in childcare at such a young age - especially with big kids just going back to school and alllllll the germs floating around in childcare environments right now!

I'm going to take my measurements tomorrow (sometime after I can find my tape measure!! Moving messed me ALL up!) but my starting weight is 186lbs.  Goal? No idea. To feel comfortable in my own skin. To fit into the majority of my clothing. To be a happy woman and the best mom I can be.

And for goodness sake, to PR my next half marathon ;-)   That race, however, is still TBD. :-) 

Big Life Changes

Well, I said in an earlier post that there were some big changes coming down the road for my family and boy did I mean it! 

My husband's job is taking us on an adventure! We will be moving to the Washington DC area in approximately the next six months!  We have been scouting areas and are trying to find the perfect school district and town for our family. 

The only pickle? 

Which isn't exactly a "pickle," just a minor blip in the moving timeline :-) 

But want to hear the awesome amazing part???  

We tried for 16 months to have our first child. I was diagnosed with PCOS and required extensive fertility testing and Clomid to finally get pregnant.  We started trying sooner rather than later for my son and it took 6 months, a miscarriage and Clomid to get pregnant with him.  In the beginning of 2014, we were unsure if our family was meant to have another person or not. So we decided that if God wants another kiddo in our family, He would do it without our help. 

I'll be honest - I was pretty convinced it wouldn't happen and we would be moving on with our lives as a family of four.  I wasn't even really paying attention to my cycles anymore. 

HOWEVER - because of the PCOS, prior to my first Whole30 in March, my cycles were 45-60 days long. My ob has assured me that when your cycle is THAT long, you are not ovulating.   Once I finished that Whole30 in March, my cycles changed to 28 days on the dot. But that was back in March/April and months went by and nothing happened. I figured that, while Whole30 was amazing to me in a lot of ways, fertility was not to be one of them.  I was ok with that. Like I said, I wasn't sure if our family was meant to be bigger or not. 

I did approximately 3 weeks of Whole30 in September, just before my races. Apparently, that second round really kicked something into gear in my body because I got pregnant naturally, with no fertility interventions, in October.  For the first time in my life, I was SURPRISED by a pregnancy, something I never thought I would experience. 

Of course, I found out about the baby midweek that we were deciding about this move.  Sure, why not move halfway across the country either while pregnant or with a newborn? Makes life exciting, right?? :-) 

So here I am, 11.5 weeks pregnant and finally feeling good. I was sick for the first month I knew but I have been feeling good for the last few weeks.  I am looking forward to getting back to the gym ASAP (with the rest of the world, I know!). Goal for this pregnancy is to NOT gain 40 pounds like I did with both of my other kids.  

Of course, I am already registered for a half marathon in April, which my doctor has already advised I not participate. I have already sold my registration and it will be ok, because I plan to be back in running condition in time to do this race at Christmas Time next year!

In light of not being able to drink alcohol (my BIGGEST temptation during Whole30) and the fact that we've been out of town for so long (eating at restaurants and lots of Christmas goodies!), I am going to start a Whole30 on January 1. I would start sooner but I need a little time to get organized.  I'm doing it with a group this time and my husband is feeling just as bad as I am, so he's going to do it again too.  I'm thankful for the teamwork and ready to take on this challenge.

My goals for this Whole30: 

1) Cure pregnancy-induced insomnia - I haven't been able to sleep without the help of citrus and lavender essential oils since I got pregnant.  Looking forward to unaided sleep. 

2) Curb my pregnancy cravings. ALL I WANT IS PEANUT BUTTER! Not the healthy "ground peanuts" stuff, but the JIF that I have been buying in bulk. 

3) Clear up my skin - pregnancy breakouts have me looking like a teenager!

4) Attempt to keep my pregnancy weight gain under control.  Obviously if I am putting only whole foods in my body, it's the healthiest thing for me and the baby. I am going to talk to my doctor about several nutrients that I am concerned about getting enough of during Whole30, primarily calcium. 

So here comes another Whole30, a big big move and a lot of growing!   2015 promises to be an amazing year for my family. <3 

Off Topic - Hardest Day

This one isn't fitness related or health related, but it's love and family related. 

My husband got Porter about a year before we started dating. For 2 years before we were married and 4 years after, he was our only "baby."  

When Ellie came along, we were nervous how he would react - going from an 'only child' to sharing us. Of course he did famously. He tolerated a lot through her toddler years - from being fed one piece of dog kibble at a time to being chased around by a tiny person with a bowl on her head. And he handled it all with ease and grace. 

Another little person came along. This time, he was different. He wanted to sleep in AJ's room, outside of his door.  They were instant buddies! 

In the last year, his health has declined. Our formerly 90-100 lb dog was tipping the scale at 85, 75lbs. By Christmas of 2013 we knew it was our last Christmas, but Porter fought!  We were told in March that the vet was SURE he had cancer, he just couldn't find it.  We chose not to put the pup through tests and prodding, and to just watch him closely. His weight continued to go down, despite our efforts to give him more food.

When I saw the injury to his foot on Friday night, I knew we had to take him in.  And I had a strong feeling that I knew what the vet was going to tell me. 

And she did. Unrelated to his foot, she said his gums are white, he's only eating enough calories to continue breathing and he had lost so much muscle tone she was surprised he could stand up. 

But he did stand up. Every morning.  Every single morning he greets us, he still wags his tail, brings us toys. I think we have been in denial because he was still caring, kind and loving. His demeanor hadn't changed, which I had always heard was a good sign it was "time." 

Saturday, I was able to bring him home to say goodbye to the babies. Or for the babies to say goodbye to him. For us to say goodbye. 

Thankfully, Jen was available to love on my kids while my hubby and I took Porter back for the last time.  It was peaceful and I'm so thankful we got to say our goodbyes. We miss him desperately and not a day goes by that we will not think about him.


He never barked. Ever.
He always put up with the kids crawling all over him, poking his eyes and pulling his ears.
He loved to eat watermelon and corn just like a people :-)
He always had a stuffed animal in his mouth, most of the time a giant dog we called Ralph.

There are so many other things to remember about him. We will be taking time in the next few weeks to make a memory book about him to keep. Hopefully that will help our hearts begin to heal! 

 

Jen's Hitched! (Oh yea, & some fitness stuff...)

Our very own Jen has had a lot going on in her life :-)  

Most recently (as in, last night) she got MARRIED!!!  It was the most beautiful day and one of the most perfect weddings I've been a part of in my life! <3 

Friday morning, before the festivities, I went to what is NORMALLY the Friday cardio plus class. But the gym is having the room we have class in cleaned and polished (as they do every year) and we were "homeless." Never fear, our awesome trainer Terrie took us - bah bah buuuuuum - OUTSIDE.  It was 86 degrees, felt like 96 and 58% humidity!  Here's what my FitBit told me at the end of class: What it MEANT was "you idiot, why are you outside in this weather?!?!"  teehee. 

That night was the rehearsal dinner (delicious) and the girls and I stayed at a hotel with Jen so we could get up BRIGHT and early on Saturday for girly prep time before her big day.   I warned the girls before the evening started - it's the last day of the month tomorrow morning, which means i have a weigh in. Which means I brought my SCALE to the hotel. Yes ma'am, that's me. Walking through Ameristar casino with my duffle bag full of - scale. 

My final weigh in for August was 158.  I weighed in the first of the month at 156.5. Of course.

The wedding was gorgeous. There was so much love throughout the whole event, it was amazing. Jen has the most awesome parents who went above and beyond to make it an amazing event, a great party and definitely something to remember! 

I ate dinner, I had drinks, I ate TWO pieces of cake! 

And then I weighed in this morning. 

Lower than last month's initial weigh in. 

*face palm*

So.... this month's plan:

*Eat clean - goal - 75-80% clean

*Follow the FitNuts challenges - I spent some time today putting all the  challenges in my calendar. Boom. There is it. 

*Run 35 miles (minimum) this month.

*Be kinder to myself. 

So here we go - September as  FitNut. I have a most awesome team-within-the-team in Jenn, Stacy and Lindsey. (Team 8!)

Peace.

Thanks for your prayers for my friend and her little girl.  Ainsley passed away on Saturday.  Lots of love has been pouring out to Jen, Mark, and the rest of their family since then.  My heart is broken for them, but Jen is the strongest momma I know.

Some ah-ma-zing women I know got together and planned a "Bubbles for Ainsley & Evelyn" event on FB. HUNDREDS of pictures were posted of kiddos, animals and grown ups blowing bubbles to Heaven for the girls. I invite you to also participate, if you are so inclined.

Read their entire story at Maybe If You Just Relax. 

Off Topic

... but still super important.

I don't normally talk about things other than the diet/training/weight loss stuff here, but this is important enough that I need to address it.

My friend Jen has a beautiful baby girl, 16 months old, named Ainsley. She has never left the NICU/PICU and is in some pretty severe health right now. If you're the praying type, if you "send vibes," if you chant or whatever it is you do - please please do it.  

You can read all of Ainsley's story at Jen's blog, Maybe If You Just Relax. But just know, Jen is an amazing friend and amazing person who's had one heck of a year.  And Ainsley has a smile that lights up a big, big room.  And right now, there's nothing I can do for them except ask as many people as I can to pray for her - for Ainsley, for Jen & her husband, for their other daughter.