Taking care of yourself

Pregnancy is an interesting time in a woman's life. At no other time do so many people, strangers included, seem to feel they have a right to dictate what you do with your body.

Take care of yourself. That is the mantra. But we seem to have the wrong idea - when else in your life is "taking care" defined as putting your feet up, limiting physical activity, and eating whatever you please? Sounds like a recipe for disaster (or extreme weight gain) for healthy women in their 20's and 30's to me. Women "take care of themselves" and gain 50, 60, even 80 pounds and think it is just pregnancy and baby weight. Then kill themselves to lose it when the baby is born (many try to lose it in 3-4 months modeling after celebrities). Some find it too difficult to lose so they decide to try after baby #2, or baby #3...meanwhile the 30 extra pounds they need to shed is multiplied by 2 or 3. Why do we insist on this cycle? The celebrities that lose baby weight so quickly have one thing in common...they do not gain extra weight. This extra weight gained in pregnancy is not going to be any easier to shed post baby than any weight....and as women, we know how stubborn pounds can be! What we don't know - is how your body, if treated right, will gain just the amount needed for a baby in 9 months and then will shed those pounds (and possibly more) with ease in 9 months if you do what nature and your body intended for you to do when pregnant and for the first year of your baby's life. Why don't we do it? We've lost the information somehow. Why don't women from other cultures get fatter and fatter with each baby? Why didn't women of our grandparent's generation get fatter? This is a new phenomenon - and you have the power to change it in your life.

So much for my good mood...

Well – yesterday I felt oddly at peace and waxed poetic about how my nearly clean kitchen was akin to a day at the spa....well...today was a freefall back to reality. My DD coughed all night so I barely slept, then she had the nerve to get up raring to go before 7am. Totally bleary eyed and exhausted this morning I managed to drop a bag of brown sugar (of course the zip lock top was open) from the counter. Sugar everywhere! Where it is not already a gritty mess it is soon to be sticky one. So much for refreshed and rejuvenated, today I just feel like an old tired Mom again. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Afternoon Delight

PJ had a play date this afternoon and I had two hours to myself. How did I spend two whole blissful hours alone? Visions of a long bath or a good book or some shopping did float through my mind – but in the real world I ended up having a conference call with my boss, vacuuming my house, and doing about a weeks worth of baby dishes that were piled next to my kitchen sink. How did I feel afterwards? Strangely refreshed and rejuvenated! I am a busy Mom and time to myself is at a premium. I never would have thought I'd spend any stolen moments cleaning – but these days some simple cleaning in a dead quiet house seems like a treat. Even though I only got through baby dishes and have more in the queue, I got a real sense of accomplishment for making a dent in my to do list.

It is a busy world and we Moms juggle a lot. Sure, a spa day now and again is nice, but I think it pretty great that we can find a bit of peace in the ordinary to refresh us and give us the energy to get back to the messy life of raising kids.

Getting back on Track

Today I did something just for me, something I have not done in over a year. I wore my watch. Seems trivial enough, but this little step is my start toward reclaiming what I have lost of my own life over the last 15+ months. You see, I am a new mother, and I have become everything I swore I would not. I am a baby wearing, toddler nursing, mother who has not had a date with her husband since her baby was born....over a year ago!!! I was an independent career woman who became a stay at home mom - and lost herself in the process. This is the story of my first year with my baby...and my journey back to myself.