Beauty Beyond the Bump

After 6 months postpartum, you realize the amount of energy that is exerted with being a mom. Yoga pants and t-shirts become your ultimate best friend. You start to hate seeing mirrors and scales because you still feel unsexy about all the extra weight you've put on. Although it's been a few months after the baby's arrival, you still notice the unsolved issue of your pre-pregnancy clothes still not able to fit perfectly like before. You may not feel completely energized to want to glam yourself up on a day to day basis anymore, that's even if your little one even gives you the chance to :-)

I know all to well everything described. I put on about 15 pounds in my pregnancy. It's not a lot compared to most women but it's enough to change the difference in your overall appearance. And it's so hard trying to manage and juggle your time between time for baby, your spouse, work, if you work outside the home, maintaining a tidy home, getting much needed sleep, and now on top of that, trying to exercise off the baby weight. I'm not going to lie, my exercise life has been nearly non existent. I'm just too exhausted! 

(Goal # 1:

I won't feel 100% until I can get the extra weight off. So my goal this week is to start exercising and make it a goal to stick to it no matter how exhausted I become. I'll need YOU to be my personal cheerleaders!)

Sometimes, you just want to do a little something to doll yourself up and make yourself feel alive and beautiful again. I find it interesting that without even noticing, I've been wearing more makeup than I ever had, at least since high school. Before the baby, I'd occasionally wear eyeliner on my lower lids and NOW I've found myself adding eyeliner to the top and bottom lids and also adding some mascara. And when I really want to go all out, I'd add some eye shadow and maybe a lipstick. Talk about completely night and day. My mom commented on the change she's noticed in me. 

I recently also felt the urge to chop off some of my long locks. I wanted just a trim, but to see how uneven my hair really was and to get all the dead ends off, it required a lot more hair to be snipped then planned. But it definitely came out well. 

I've noticed new moms seem to do makeovers after the baby bump. My conclusion is that these small changes seem to be the trend in new moms probably because we want to feel beautiful again. I'm tired of people seeing me as another exhausted new mom who can't seem to lose the fat because YES! - I had people comment on my belly fat. ->How rude! I guess my main goal is to help myself feel beautiful again.  I know that I am beautiful and I definitely don't agree that makeup defines beauty, but it can help in enhancing the beauty that's already there. (I think it's doing the trick!) And for such a hectic and exhausting lifestyle, you definitely need a little enhancing pick me up. 

What do you think? Have you made any changes to your look post bump? 

The Sleep Dilemma

"Does your baby sleep through the night yet?"

You've been asked it by many since your baby hit that 3 month mark. And if you are anything like my baby and I, the answer is hit or miss. Juliana, like most babies, are on their own schedule. Some nights I can answer YES with pride. A couple weeks ago, she slept the WHOLE night. About 8 hours in her OWN crib. Other nights she'd wake up every 2 hours to feed. Mostly due to her achy itching gums. Those nights happen not so often. On the regular, she sleeps in stretches of 5-6hours. 

According to La Leche League (LLL), sleeping through the night "is defined simply by the ability to sleep for a five-hour stretch, even if that stretch begins at 7 pm and ends at midnight."  Sometimes my Juliana wouldn't fall asleep until about 8pm, wake up around 11, then fall back asleep by 1-2 and be knocked until sunrise around 6:30-7. So by the definition of LLL, I can actually say yes! So I shouldn't be to bummed that she's not "sleeping through the night" like I define it, which is sleeping from 8pm, when I first put her down, until sunrise. That's what I apparently thought when asked that question. And I think that's what people mean when they do ask. It seems as though that La Leche League's rare definition has been the mommies world best kept secret but someone should plaster this news on billboards! I feel a lot better to know now that there isn't something wrong with my bedtime routines or my child's sleep habits. She is actually on target and is a good little sleeper. 

I've been shuffling back and forth with all the countless advice of people's responses when I use to tell them, "no she's not sleeping through the night." They'd give me the same solution to nip her bad habit in the bud and let her cry it out! I don't know about you but I can't bring myself to do that. For those who keep up with my blog, you will know that Juliana was born smaller than most at 4 lbs 10 oz due to placenta/ umbilical attachment issues. She was so tiny and I could barely bring her to my breast to breast feed because her tiny little mouth was overpowered by my large hooters! 

She was also born with  2 holes in her heart. After 2 weeks of being born, she started developing these shortness of breath and gasping episodes. One of which she actually turned slightly blue. So with this, I defied all aspects of things I said I'd never do before Mommy-hood.  I said I'd never co sleep, which I do for obvious reasons, and that I'd listen to the advice of letting her cry it out. Supposedly people say that it helps them "develop their lungs". I don't understand how that is the only way considering their lungs are developing with each breath they take. I didn't want to put my baby at risk for allowing her to cry it out for countless minutes or hours in her crib. Now that she's older and she pretty much is more stable with everything, I still can't bring myself to do it. I definitely don't knock the mommies out there that can do it. All power to you! 

I think co sleeping has wonderful benefits and crying it out, to me, just seems unrealistic when you do co sleep. In my mind, I think it's harsh to allow something that totally depends on you, to sleep alone crying hysterically until they give up hope and fall asleep. If you're my Juliana, she won't stop crying in 10-15 min like most babies. She'd cry and cry only getting louder to the point that her cries start to screech, her voice sounds start sounding hoarse, and she starts to choke on all the built up saliva sitting in her mouth. I'd rush in to see her looking like a rabid animal with foam at the mouth, heart racing like speedy Gonzalez, and drenched in tears! It would take, what seemed like FOREVER, to calm her back down. That's sad to me and I rather not subject my child to that. Every child is definitely different, what works for one, will not always work for the next one. Some might say, "You're going to spoil your child." If they only knew that spoiling a child is actually defined by Wikipedia as a child that exhibits behavioral problems from overindulgence. When you see a spoiled child out on the street, its usually a child throwing temper tantrums because mommy said no, and the mom in turn, gives the child what they wanted to begin with. So in my definition being an observer, a spoiled child is one that has no discipline and acts out by manipulating their parents. These children always get their way. A spoiled child is NOT one who receives nurturing from their parent when in need of it. Isn't that a parents job to begin with? But that's for another article in itself!


Knowing now that I don't have a huge problem of sleep deprivation regarding my little one, I feel more at ease. I did however hear about the no cry method to getting a baby to sleep those longer stretches of 8-10 hours a night. I found and bought "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley, who seems to have the same logic as I do.  And she developed a solution that has worked for her 4 children and women across the nation. So I am starting to read it and hopefully it will work well for Juliana and I. I'll keep you all updated.

 

Mommy Blues

This past week has been an amazing one. Coming up is a time that my husband and I wanted to make even more special each year now that we have started a family. Our anniversary will no longer just be a day that we remember the vows we made but also a day where we remember that we have started our own little family. And now for the first time, we can start having our annual family anniversary day with our new arrival! 

  Words can't express how truly happy I am with my life and with my little family.  I can't believe how time flies and how fast this girl is growing!

  Already at 6 months of age, I'm starting to get the mommy blues and wish I could make this girls growth slow down a little! But I am glad she's growing up and will be able to show us her own personality soon. 

This past week I decided to write a book on my experiences in pregnancy and life as a new mommy. I'm constructing it in such a way that I don't think has ever been done! It won't be done anytime soon but it's a project set in my heart to finish. Keep an eye out for that! I will keep you all updated. 

Also this week, we kick started our anniversary/ family week by taking some photos. They came out really nice. Thanks to a beginning photographer, which is our dear friend, Heather Terry for allowing us to be her guinea pigs as she practices with us. She also did our maternity photos! She's getting pretty good at it. 

I am so grateful to have so many awesome people in my life. 

Confessions of a New Mom

Whoa! It's been so long since I've gotten a chance to finally write. I can say with pleasure that it's great to be back! Writing is a part of my life and I love being able to share my experiences with everyone. Especially being able to talk about my baby. 

My last update on life as a new mom was at 8 weeks postpartum. And now it has been 23 weeks! Being a new mom is certainly all about juggling your time. It's been a busy few months to say the least. All in all, at 23 weeks postpartum, I'm fully recovered and as much as I remember the agonizing pain of childbirth, I can definitely think about baby #2. <But that wont be anytime soon>

My baby is now 5 months and she has hit some milestones that are completely amazing to me. Once you're a mom, everything your new baby does is the MOST EXCITING thing ever. With simple task as grabbing a toy, or reaching for your cup of juice, sitting up, or taking off a sock; all task that an adult can do and isn't very exciting until you see your baby do them. It's something I live for each day. To see my baby girl develop new skills and grow her own personality is just simply amazing.

 Motherhood is truly the best thing you could ever dream of. By now, I feel more like a pro and not so clueless like I did when I had first brought her home from the hospital. My husband and I looked at each other and were just scratching our heads and relying on my mother to help us with EVERYTHING. But now I can say, I have the confidence I need now. My baby knows me and cries for me and its so bittersweet to know that something so small could love me so much! 

At 5 months, my baby is now suffering from the terrors of teething. The poor child can be fine one moment and then turn into Chuckie the next. All understandable but at the same time, overwhelming. It's also heartbreaking to know that nothing you do could stop the teeth from breaking in. My husband did find a great product that seems to really help her. Its a new product from the product line Earths Best. Its a non medicated teething gel that has different ingredients such as peppermint, chamomille, etc. When I put this on her gums when she's in one of her Godzilla moods, she seems to calm down almost instantly. And if one of her episodes are at night when shes completely restless, she'd fall asleep within 5 minutes after it's use. I definitely don't leave home without it now. 


Teething is a difficult time to get through but the most daunting task is trying to manage your time with your new life. Making time for friends, setting aside time for bible study, or even making time for you and your spouse to have some alone time. It's all difficult to schedule with a baby who is still totally dependent on you. I can't count how many times I'd have a whole day planned and nothing gets done because my baby needed me. It's difficult. But well worth it. Being a parent has truly taught me some valuable lessons: a different aspect of love, being less selfish, and it helps me understand a lot of the hard decisions my parents made regarding me and my siblings. What's interesting is that I feel like having a baby definitely strengthened my relationship with my parents. They are God sent. <3

It has now been 2 months since I've been back at work, and every day I am away from her, just kills me! But like I said in my "The guiltless working mom" article, we live in a world where the economy calls for a 2 person income household. I look at it as, I'm giving my baby the best by working. My husband and I will be able to provide so much more for her than with just one income. So that keeps me going! It's still pretty hard to leave her but what makes it that much easier is the fact that I know she's with caregivers that love her almost as much as I do. That gives me the comfort I need to keep going. 

For all you new moms out there, keep strong! Yes it seems overwhelming for the first couple of months, but it does get better. :)