Medical School: Year Three

After the 4th of July holiday, Ben begins rotations. His first 6 week rotation this semester is in Family Medicine with Dr. Chen, who is less than 3 miles from our house in Saginaw. This means we will see Ben as much we would see him if he had a regular 9-5 job, maybe more. However, after that, he has Internal Medicine for 6 weeks, OB/GYN for 8 weeks, and Surgery to finish out the year (not sure how many weeks). That means that from about the beginning of September until Christmas break, we will barely see Ben at all because he will be at a hospital all the time or on call.

I am excited for him because he is finally out of the classroom and getting to apply all that he has learned, but worried about how I will handle the preschool, a 2-year-old and a newborn by myself. I think of myself as a strong, independent person, but we are about to see just how strong I am. Prayer, prayer, lots of prayer, relying on the Lord, the scriptures and friends from church. That'll get me through, I know this.

Post-Baby Weight Loss Journal: 5 weeks, 2 days

Weight Loss Update:

-Went to the gym twice last week, but didn't stay long cuz Jackson gets cranky. We're working on the separation anxiety tho. I also ran the neighborhood a few times, but man, I'm sore the next day!
-Quit my Dr. Pepper, went to Diet, Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper, which just takes all the fun out of it (sigh), but it is 0 cal, 0 fat grams so I'm saving 150 cal a day of empty calories.
-Lost a lb (that's it?! Gotta move this up to high gear if I'm to meet my goal by Aug 21), Still a size 12. I can fit into 10's but not without shame. It is the butt that is holding me up. Will start lunges tomorrow, maybe?
-1 mile, running, time: 9:13
(pathetic that I can't break 9 min and that I can only run 1 mile, but hey, it's a start.)
-Worried that any progress I have made will be lost over 7-4 holiday. Gotta watch what I eat which will be hard with my mother-in-law's incredible cooking and my family's tendency to cook for a Thanksgiving crowd for every meal.

P.S. Ben and I have started a weight loss competition: Butts vs. Guts
He made 3 goals and I made 3 goals and whoever meets all or most of their goals by August 21st gets to plan our Christmas vacation.

P.P.S. Can I just say I love nursing boobs!? I may nurse until I die. These babies are awesome!!

Note to self: Sweaty me - when in nursing phase - always smells strongly of sour milk, gross!! Hope the other girls at the gym don't notice...

Ben Sleeps

Why he put his belt on his head, I don't know, but it made for a funny picture! hahaha

Jackson Loves his "Baby"

Since the addition of Samson to our family, Jackson has become interested in all things baby. He frequently changes his baby's diaper ont eh diaper mat, puts his baby in the carseat and straps him in, shares his juice with his baby, etc.

Samson Smiles

I know these pictures are horrible, but I was so excited that I got a smile out of him that I just snapped away!




Yesterday Samson was 5 weeks old. I weighed him this morning after noticing that some of his 0-3 months onesies were getting a little snug. 12 lbs!!! He has gained over 4 lbs in 5 weeks! Can you believe that!? My babies grow so fast!!

Brothers

I am so blessed to have had 2 good babies. Samson is 4 weeks old now and he rarely cries unless he is hungry. Even then, it isn't too bad. He mostly fusses a bit, then gives a few demanding cries and then he just stops. We were on the way home from errands yesterday and he got hungry before we made it home, and he screamed for about 3 minutes, then he just stopped. It freaked me out. I was reaching back to his carseat while I was driving to make sure he was okay, lol. He was fine, just sitting there hanging out. He just had to let me know it was time to eat and that was it.

Jackson has become very expressive in the last few weeks. He has added several new sentences to his ever-growing vocabulary that just crack me up. A couple of days ago he was eating lunch and I heard some flatulence vibrating up from his plastic seat. He looked over at me (sitting at the computer - imagine that!), grinned and said, "I tooted!" I don't even know where he got that from!? I laughed so hard!!

He also announces now when he is poopy (if he is or isn't poopy) and has become fascinated with going potty. I don't think he is really ready to potty train, but if we go in the bathroom to go potty, he wants to come in and watch and then he says, "My turn!" I tried to sit him up there, but he was afraid to sit on the potty on his own and clung to me, so I think it is just the idea of going potty that he likes right now, but isn't really ready to try it on his own. He is also very interested in handwashing. I guess that is a good sign!

"I hun-ree" or "I ter-tee" (hungry/thristy) are new words for him, too. Before that, he'd say, "I wan bites, pweese" or "joose, pweese." Funny story - this morning I got up and made Ben some Father's Day pancakes with strawberries. After Jackson finished his, I got him down and cleaned him up and he ran around a little and played. Then I sat down to eat my pancakes (I had been cleaning the kitchen while the boys ate their pancakes.), and Jackson ran up to me and said, demandingly, "I wan bites! I wan BITES!" Then he changed his strategy a little, and looking up at me with Oliver Twist eyes and a slightly tilted head, he said, "I hun-ree, mama." Little stinker! He is such a beggar! It doesn't matter hat we are eating, he wants some, too!

Jackson is starting to accept that Sam is part of our family now. At first he was either indifferent or jealous of Daddy holding the baby. Now he tries to talk to the baby or he asks to hold the baby. He doesn't know what to do when the baby cries. HE used to laugh, thinking it was funny sound, then he realized Sam wasn't happy, and he would come get me and tell me "The baby is sad." Now he tries to comfort him. He'll lean in to Sam really close and say, "What's wrong baby? You okay?" "It's okay, baby Sam." I thin it is very sweet how much he is starting to love his brother. He even invited him to come play with his toys yesterday! ;)

Day 1: Weight Loss

This blog is mostly for me, so I can keep track of my weight loss. It helps me to get it down because then I can review my goals and see my progress. Last Friday, Samson was 3 weeks old, and although I can't hit the gym hard yet, I did get the ok from my dr to walk. I believe in listening mostly to your body and my body always has been a fast healer. Because I feel so good, I do not think it is pushing it to walk or even possibly jog next week. (We'll see how it goes.)

I know me and I know what I will and won't do. Basically, I have until August 25 to get as much weight off as I can. After that, I will be back working 10.5 hour days with 2 kids and a husband who will be doing rotations, and thus, not able to get to the gym as much (read: ever). So at the risk of seeming obsessive-compulsive about my weight, I will be eating as healthy and in as small portions as I can (keeping mind that I am still nursing and require a certain amount of calories). I will also try to go the gym at least once a day for 5-6 days a week, sometimes I will have to go more than once. I have to do this, if only for the fact that I currently don't fit into the majority of my wardrobe and I can't afford to go out and buy all new clothes (as much as I would love to). Plus, I don't like carrying around this extra weight - I don't feel good.

I know it seems crazy, but I did it once and I can do it again. The only difference is last time I did it in about 7 months, but this time I have less weight to lose.

Here are the facts:

On May 22 pre-Samson, I weighed in at 185.
Today I weighed in at 158.
I have lost about 25 lbs just by nursing, eating healthy and just because you naturally drop weight post-baby anyway.

My goal weight is 145 (realistically) by the end of August. After that, I'll continue to try to lose, but I know I won't lose it as fast. Eventually, I'd like to be back to 135, which is a very healthy weight for 5'6".

Here is what I ate today:

Two pancakes dripping with butter and syrup (not a great start, but hubby got up and made them and I didn't want to hurt his feelings because that was SO sweet.)

3 slices of deli turkey and 3 slices of Colby-Jack cheese and Jackson and I split an apple.

3 Sour Patch Kids

5 Chocolate Rice Cakes

half a pan-fried pork chop, half a corn on the cob with butter, garlic toast

1 Blue Bell ice cream sandwich (I literally forgot I was watching my weight when I got it out of the freezer, oops! lol)

2 glasses of V-8 juice, 1 glass of apple juice, 3 bottles of Vitamin water, and one Caffeine-Free Dr. Pepper


Here is what I did today:

Pushed the boys around the neighborhood in the stroller at 11 am

(and I plan to go the gym and get on the treadmill when child care opens up later. I need to get a benchmark today to see what I can do. Whenever I get tired, that will be my starting point. Then I can add more miles/speed from there every day.)

Day 1 end. Not too impressive, but it's a start. ;)

Warning: Bragging Mom Alert

At the risk of being one of those disgusting bragging moms, I have to tell you what Jackson can do now!! Keep in mind that not only am I a new mom, but also an educator, so I get doubly excited to see my own child learn something new.

Jackson can:
-clearly and consistently count to 13 (after that everything sounds like uh-teen)
-recognize & recall numbers up to 9 (with a little confusion between 7 and 1)
-sing the abc's (but you can't understand all the letters)
-recognize & recall the letters S and O
-recognize & recall basic colors (red, blue, orange, yellow, green)
-recognize & recall basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, star, oval)

He also loves to sing, especially songs with actions he can do. His favorite songs include: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, If You're Happy and You Know It, the Elmo's World Song, The Sesame Street Song, and many more...

I am so proud of my little (almost) 22-month-old!

Guess which Blake boy is which?

Give up? Answers: 1. Jackson 2. Samson 3. Samson 4. Jackson (Sidenote: Can you tell I was a first time mother with that first pic? Jackson was born August 31 in TEXAS, but look how much he was bundled up leaving the hospital, lol. It's a wonder he didn't die of heat stroke!)

Summer!

So far this summer we... were shocked by our first bath experience,

played on the playground and learned new sports in the backyard,
went to the zoo and watched an elephant take a bath,
and wore ourselves out,
started getting excited for summer holidays,
went swimming in a new pool,
and took some walks around the neighborhood to watch the big machines move around some dirt to build a house.

Nursing...

Today I am wondering 2 things:

1. Is is possible for an infant to bite off a nipple, and if so, is there a reconstructive surgery for such a tragedy?

2. Can a breast explode?

Good Advice

This was sent to me via forwarded email. The forwarded intent was to laugh at how absurd the message was and how outdated it is. Is it strange that I don't agree? I mean, obviously it is a little extreme, but I think if more women would adopt this attitude toward their husbands, maybe we'd have less divorces. I'm not saying it is completely up to the women to cater to their husbands to make it work, but when did our attitudes as a world of women change from loving and caring for our husbands to resenting them for making us do things for them? From the perspective of someone who has lost a husband (and NOT necessarily because I didn't cater to him enough), I think this is good advice. When Ben was a first year med student and I hadn't started the preschool yet, I ALWAYS made sure that by the time he came home I was dressed and had makeup on. Why should he get to date this constantly fixed up woman and then come home to a hag now that he married me?! That is just my opinion...take it or leave it. I've lost one husband already, I'll do what I have to do NOT to lose another. If it means I have to work a little harder, then so be it. I am happy, he is happy. Where is the problem?