Remember The Tooth?

I thought that my pregnancy woes would end after I gave birth but no, some things linger on (besides my muffin top.)

Faithful readers will recall that I had more than a wee bit of trouble with my teeth during pregnancy. Well, my post pregnancy teeth weren't fully recovered. The one tooth I had treated was still sensitive until last week when all of a sudden the pain went away. Odd. Then I developed a bump on my gum just above that tooth. Odder. Actually, a bump on your gum is kind of scary. To make a long story short, it turned out to be an abscess-- a bubble of infection above my now necrotic tooth and I had to get a root canal in it. Turns out I'd had an infection there probably the whole time which eventually reached the bone. The tooth then died. Most unpleasant and, worse, expensive. I've become an avid flosser.

Having More Soon?

So it's just over six months since wee one was born, and life is just starting to come into order again. Which is probably why people want to know if I'm having another anytime soon. Maybe they ask because of how close my first two are. Which isn't all that close, really.

My answer is usually a very frank "not today." This usually gets people off my case.

Rest assured, dear readers (the multitude of my most faithful) you will be the first to know.

Just don't hold your breath.

Did I already write a post about memory loss and pregnancy?

Just kidding!!!

Grey Hair

Kids. What they do to you. DH has told me several times in the past that I have a grey hair sprouting. I have never believed him. But today I saw one sprouting right up in the middle of my forehead. This even has made me feel 'old' in the way that no other event has. I have friends who've been sprouting grey hairs since they were in middle school-- mostly people with dark hair-- but it was never something I had. So on me grey = aging. Them's the breaks, I guess.

Mommy Brain

When I was pregnant this time I had what they called 'pregnancy brain.' I don't think that's the official medical term but it sure does paint the picture. I called it 'train leaving the station brain' because that's what it felt like. An idea would pop in but it would pull out of my brain before I had time to access it.

Pregnancy brain didn't end so much with the end of my pregnancy. It's only this week that I'm finding myself feeling somewhat organized and getting things done. Some of this might have to do with the fact that DD is now sitting and can entertain herself in this position for longer periods of time so I actually can get things done.

Whatever the reason is, it's a good feeling. DH also likes it. It's the first time our entire apartment has been clean at the same time since we moved in 4 months ago.

Hair Loss Woes Continued

At 5.5 months post partum, I think my hair loss is finally slowing a bit. I think. I brushed it the other day and ended up with significantly less than an enormous clump of hair on my brush.

If the Skirt Fits

It fits! The skirt that I've been thinking should fit me but hadn't until now... fits! Which means that other clothes that depend on my hip breath should fit too!! Celebrate! My wardrobe and I are reunited. Now if I can only get toned up a bit and rid of this flab....
After my last pregnancy it took me 4 months to fit back into all my clothes. It's now about five and a half months since I gave birth now. Assuming that all my clothes really do fit and it's not just this skirt, I'm still not doing TOO badly.

Having Another?

Is it rude to comment on how close --or far, for that matter-- people's children are spaced? I have definitely done it, but I think it has to be in the right context like, for instance, amongst friends. For example, I know people who have had or are having a hard time getting pregnant. But I guess the question there would be why they are waiting so long to have kids and not why they are spread out. I know that when people comment on how close my kids are (twenty-one months is not THAT close), they often do it with sympathy. Like, 'wow, that must be tough.' I guess it's tough. Certainly, I have almost no personal time, which accounts for how often I get to blog lately.
There have been times when I asked someone about the spacing of their children and wished I could have taken it back. Sometimes it's better not to know.

Pregnant or Not So Pregnant

This doesn't strictly belong in this blog, but I thought it would be interesting to readers who are looking for posts on body image and pregnancy.

I ran into a girl I haven't seen around for a few years. She's always been a heavyish girl. She got really big after she got married and had baby one and two. We talked a little bit about what we've each been up to. She was lookng pretty much the same as last time I saw her. Then she let the bomb drop. Something about "with this baby..." while indicating her stomach. I know she noticed the look of shock that crossed my face. Even though I now knew she was pregnant, she didn't look pregnant to me. Especially the advanced stages that she'd just confessed to. She simply looked like her regular heavy self. She was wearing a winter coat but it was open. Maybe that's what was hiding her maternal shape. I tried to cover it up without starting at her belly. "You look great!" I said (I meant it too). And I tried to change the subject. I think it worked. But it's not the first time that I made a pregnant or just recently birthed mom faux pas. By my count it's the fourth. I've had some real doozies.
But this incident made me wonder-- did she get pregnant five years after her last child because she lost weight? Is her heaviness now all baby or is it just not popping that much? I don't dare ask.

Back To the Weighting Game

I just weighed myself for the first time in several months. I've been evaluating by back-to-pre-baby shape by the way my clothes fit, which is probably the best yardstick. However, it's always interesting to see how things are going in the weight department as well.

Well, the big news is that I'm at my pre-baby weight! About 138 or 139 lbs, assuming that my sister's scale is correct and that it corroborates with the scales I've been using since I gave birth. It took me four months to get here, or maybe less considering that I may have been sitting at this weight for a while and not known it. This is also how long it took me in my last pregnancy.

But before you pull out the balloons and streamers, note that my favorite skirt, which I managed to get on over my hips, is still barely closing and I actually busted the hook and eye thingy that holds it shut. I still have this belly. I'm back at my regular weight but I seem to have traded muscle for fat. Muscle is heavier. I'll have to start doing crunches or something. I can't stand the way things look across my middle. Also, my hips still look wide to me, though there's no real way of telling if they're back or not, or if they ever will be. At this stage after my last pregnancy I was back in my regular clothes. Well, it's okay. I am a bit older now and this is my second kid and it's okay for our bodies to change a bit as we get older. I just don't have the cash to restock my entire wardrobe right now.

postpartum hair loss

My hair was gorgeous during my pregnancy. I really enjoyed it. Now it is once again all over the house, the baby, my hands, everything. I am shedding like a cat. A sheddy cat. You'd think that at this rate I wouldn't have any hair left at all but it looks pretty much the same as usual, I guess. They say you lose about 100 hairs per day anyway. I'm probably losing about three times that amount, minimum. At leat this time 'round my hair is reasonably trimmed so that it's easy to brush. Last time I had to cut off 10 inches when my baby was 6 months old because it was taking me three-quarters of a hour each time to brush it and the resulting hairballs were as big as my fist. Guess I'll just have to wait for my hormones to rebalance themselves.

After Birth Belly

I remember worrying so much about my after birth belly last time 'round. I did eventually go back to my original flat tummy, but it was never quite as firm as it had been, though I think it was only noticeable to me. Bellys are soft immediately after birth but they slowly do shrink back. I think that now that it's been 3 months since my second child was born, I'm softer at this stage than I was at this time after the last baby. I might actually have to do some exercises to tighten it up a bit. But who's got the time with two kids to look after? I suppose I could do it if I really wanted to. Instead, I've taken to wearing -- what are those tights called again?? The kind that sucks your tummy in. Not support hose... I have to go look in my drawer and see if there are any... though really any pantyhose or tights or leggings will do it. It's not comfortable but you have to wear them way high up to your rib cage and voila! No belly.

Aha. Control top. That's what they're called.

P.S. Let it be known that my husband loves my belly. Which makes it all that much easier for me to put off the sit-ups....

Weight! Size! It's three months later.

Well, it's been three moons since I had the baby. Although she doesn't latch well, that doesn't seem to impede her eating. After my last pregnancy I was able to fit into my clothes again at four months. This time I'm still wearing bigger-size things but people are commenting on how skinny I am. I think that maybe my hips haven't gone back to where they were, because my weight has pretty much dropped down but I still don't fit into my favorite jean skirt (which was the same yardstick I used the last time 'round.) Also I have a bit of a tummy which is really annoying. DH doesn't mind it, but I do. It makes my shirt ride up and I think it sticks out too much compared to how big my boobs are-- which they aren't. I shouldn't complain. Some women don't go back. My sister says that she doesn't drop back entirely until after she finishes breastfeeding. That would really suck.

Sixty-Seven

I'm down 10 kg (22 lbs) from my maximum pregnancy weight. What a lot of energy I have. Well, not right now since it's after 9pm and I'm falling asleep.
I still have another seven kg or so to lose. I suspect that these will be the hardest, but you never know. I guess I should lay off the deep fried eggplant for a while.

Power Mommy

I feel so much stronger now than I did during pregnancy. I can't believe the difference. I took DS the pool the other day. I had taken him a bunch of times in late pregnancy. It was so hard to move around with him then and to get in and out of the water or in any position other than plain old sitting. Also, my swollen feet hurt when I walked through the water. Not sure why. But now I was able to really have fun with him. I was able to put him on top of me and swim with him, and I could run through the wading pool with him and play games. It's so much better-- it's astounding.

Sleep Baby

I've been really tired lately. It's not the baby keeping me up-- ironically, she's been sleeping through the night with just a little wake-up call here and there to eat. It's DS who's been calling us and crying. Well, last night he slept pretty well and didn't wake up until after 7am! The morning before, he woke up at 5:30 and was up and running. I was able to take a nap but DH had an exam that morning which he thinks he did poorly in. We started changing our reaction to his calls when my sister was over to help with the baby. She was sleeping in his room.

Cleaning Out My Closet

We're moving soon and the time has come to start packing up my stuff. Normally, this would be a great opportunity to clean out my closet and get rid of stuff I don't wear-- something I'm normally really really terrible at. I always think I'm going to end up using something again. And I almost always do. On top of all that, I am at this in-between stage where I have no idea what fits me and what doesn't and what will fit me in two or three months from now. I still managed to fill up about half a garbage bag with stuff to give away. And I can add a few pairs of well-used boots to that pile. But most of that stuff is stuff that was given to me over the last year or so that I've never really taken a shining to. So it's just skimming the fat off my wardrobe by a little. It doesn't constitute a major wardrobe turnover. AND I am itching to buy new clothes now to fit my current body.

With Regards To Labor and Delivery

I just wanted to add something or, rather, emphasize something with regards to my labor and delivery story from a few days ago. Laboring at home for as long as possible was the best thing I ever did.
Right up until the moment I got in the car to go to the hospital, I was folding laundry, packing a hospital bag for my DH, playing with my son, checking my e-mail, blogging, and watching videos online that my sister was trying to entertain me with. It was not a panicked, clinical experience with people standing over me and monitoring me. It was almost enjoyable-- except for the pain. I was able to get into whatever positions I wanted to get through contractions. I could move around at will from room to room. I could eat and drink, and I did, knowing that I wouldn't be able to until after I had the baby and then only at the next hospital mealtime.
Maybe I was only able to do this because my contractions did not get really bad until the very end, but I have no point of comparison since I didn't go into labor naturally last time so I don't know what it's like otherwise.
Maybe I said all this already. But it makes me so happy to think about it.

Hair Hair

That great hair feeling I was enjoying throughout my pregnancy? No more. I've already begun finding long, wavy stray hairs on my clothes and on baby, and I don't think it's my new conditioner at fault here. It's those postpartum hormones making my nails crack and my hair fall out. Last time 'round, I had to cut my very very long hair after six months because it was taking me at least forty minutes to brush it every time I washed it and I just couldn't afford the time. The hair would fall out and get tangled in there. I would have to stop several times during the brushing and pull handfulls of hair out of my brush. My hair is very tangled on a regular basis and so I'm used to spending time getting knots out, but this was ridiculous. Cutting it helped because there was simply less to get tangled.
I got my hair styled about six months ago and haven't cut it since. I don't cut my hair very often. It's still in a stage where it's quite easy to get a brush through. Hopefully I won't have to do another drastic cut to get through this period.
Also, my beautiful nails from during pregnancy are starting to lose their strength. Sigh. There are some things about pregnancy that you can't wait to get rid of, and there are some things you wish you could keep.

Fit To All Appearances

Looking good at two and a half weeks postpartum. At least, that's what people are telling me. I went to drop off DS at nursery yesterday morning after going through my closet to figure out what I could now fit into. I think it's good to start phasing out my maternity clothes so that I have a real sense of where I am in terms of getting back to myself. Last time, I allowed myself six weeks to wear maternity clothes and then I put them all away and made myself face my closet.

Anyway, the skirt I wore yesterday was one I was able to wear through my pregnancy although it is just a regular stretchy denim skirt. The shirt is a very simple cotton t-shirt that I don't normally wear at all because it's so shapeless that I usually get lost in it. But now thanks to breastfeeding and my recent pregnancy, I'm a little more curvaceous and so I fit into it nicely.

The teachers and parents who haven't seen me since I gave birth were making all kinds of comments about how good I looked and how they look more pregnant than me.... I kept denying that I'd 'returned to my old body' because I know what lies beneath the facade of clothing.

The truth is, I'm fine with how I am right now. I'm not crazy: I just gave birth under three weeks ago. I don't expect to look like a runway model quite yet. I was somewhat surprised and pleased to find out how little I care about what others think about how I look. What really matters, as they say, is what's inside. In this case, I'll say what matters is what's inside my own head. You have to know in life to take things that other people say with a grain of salt. When it comes to the shape of my body, I guess the other opinion that matters besides my own is my husband's. So I'l keep it in the family.