pregnancy – Page 3 – Naturally Lindsay

BODY AFTER BABY | THE REAL PLAN

September 21, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

I call this “the real plan” because back in June when I wrote my postpartum weight loss plan those were all just ideas of what I would like to do. Now here we are 7+ weeks postpartum, have dealt with my postpartum realities and I’m ready to take on the task of refocusing on my health.

Photo from this weekend. 7weeks1day postpartum with Alder (baby #2).

I am currently 20 pounds away from my pre-baby #2 starting weight and I am 40 pounds away from my pre-baby #1 starting weight. Add in another 15 pounds that I had hanging on me before my pregnancy with Edith bringing the grand total to 65 pounds away from my happy weight (I’d say I’m about 80 pounds from my idea weight but that’s a whole other plan).

Right now I have three goals based on the above considerations. Goal 1: Lose 20 pounds. Goal 2: Lose 40 pounds. Goal 3: Lose 65 pounds. Now I’m not setting a timeline but I will say that I’d like to accomplish goal #3 by December 2016.

August before my pregnancy with Alder.

So let me start off by saying my first priority is nourishing my baby boy and taking care of myself. I am nursing and it’s going great and here are no plans to stop anytime soon so I needed to take that into consideration when I created this plan. So here it goes (based on my original postpartum weight loss plan) …

I plan to get back to running at around 9-12 weeks postpartum. Based on my original plan I said 9-12 weeks postpartum and I’m actually feeling pretty great. I have days that are better than others when it comes to healing ie. I still have some light spotting and soreness when I am overly active but have been cleared to start run/walk at 8 weeks postpartum That being said I am planning to start couch to 5k (or something similar) next weekend. I am terrified but also excited to get back at it. My plan is to slow (not like that will be hard) and just ease myself back into running.

I plan to incorporate 2 days of strength training into my workout routine and light cardio once I am cleared to get back to normal activity. I haven’t started strength training but my plan is to start this week. What I have been doing is lots of walking and just this weekend a little bit of hiking. Oh and running up and down three flights of stairs many times per day is getting my ass in shape. So that all being said I’m keeping up with the walking and will be incorporating in strength.

I also plan to get back in a yoga routine. This starts this week! I signed up for my first postpartum class for this Monday night and I can’t wait to get back in the studio. I am starting back slowly with some restorative yoga and let me tell you I just can’t wait. I am going to be doing one class weekly or bi-weekly until my punch pass runs out. I am also planning to do at least one at home sesh per week.

Keep my eating in check! Bah. This has seriously been the hardest. Nursing is no joke and my appetite is often off the charts. Combine that with a busy toddler, trying to keep house and limited time I haven’t been doing my best at eating well. I have been eating far too many sweets and not enough fruits and vegetables. The plan is to BUY more fruits and vegetables because if we have them in the house we will eat them. The second plan is to buy/make less desserts. The third and probably most important thing is to menu plan so that #1 and #2 can be successful.

Drink lots of water! When I was pregnant with Alder I had no problem downing (reusable) bottle after (reusable) bottle of water. For some reason postpartum I have been struggling with this despite always being thirsty. My goal is to drink, drink, drink and drinks some more water. Cut back on the coffee and up the water intake.

Buy myself postpartum clothes in whatever size I have to buy. This is easier said than done but I did it. I bought myself (with some gifted from my parents): three bottoms (one of which is already too big), six tops and two pairs of shoes because my feet also grew. I was also sent a few nursing tops for review. My follow-up to this plan is to continue to buy clothes in whatever size I am at the time aka as I lose weight. I have the next size down in a lot of clothes and as soon as I lose a little weight and my hips (hopefully) shrink a bit they will fit me and then after that I will have to buy all new clothes because I have nada.

Have Fun and Enjoy Life. Stop focusing solely on the number and focus on how I feel. I have two beautiful, healthy children and an amazing, supportive partner and they need met to happy and healthy and to enjoy life with them.

Postpartum Body | Realities

September 6, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 9 Comments

Life after baby is pretty wonderful. We are settling in as a family of four and I couldn’t ask for a better partner in life and father than Neil. Edith is loving being a big sister and she is pretty amazing at it. While all that is wonderful adjusting to my new body isn’t going quite as well as I had originally hoped. Here is the reality….

None of pre-pregnancy clothes fit. I’m 5+ weeks postpartum and none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. It’s honestly a little defeating. I know it’s still early and I know from my pregnancy with Edith that they weight doesn’t just fall off for me.
Buying new clothes sucks. I have attempted to buy new clothes that fit my current postpartum body and honestly I am just feeling super defeated. I am trying not get get upset about the size on the tag but it’s really a challenge. I am also feeling frustrated because I honestly don’t know how to dress this postpartum body. Nothing seems to fit right or fall in a flattering way and well it’s no fun, none at all. I ended up buying a pair of cropped pants from Loft and I bought them because I didn’t hate them and they fit. Now wearing them I feel like an old lady. Blah.
Being kind to yourself is sometimes easier said than done. I know that I have a beautiful baby boy and I am less than 6 weeks postpartum and not cleared for regular activity but I am not happy with how I look and feel. I know I need to be kind to myself and I really try to remind myself of those great things but some days it’s just not that easy.

When I was still pregnant I was feeling really hopeful and positive about things but right now I’m feeling pretty down about it all. I had vowed to go shopping for clothes that fit well and to not stress about things but when you have 10 pieces of clothing and 9/10 don’t make you feel like you look good it’s really challenging to stay positive. I’m working on it though. Everyday is a new day and I know I need to work on being kinder to myself. I need to listen to my husband when he compliments me or encourages me to do things for myself. I need to realize that 5 weeks is not very much time and that right now I need to focus on healing taking care of myself and my family.

I know this post is kind of a downer but I wanted to share my realities. Life isn’t always rainbows and kitty cats. I’m not always feeling great and sometimes I find myself feeling negative about myself and my body. Now that I have said all this I can tell you I am already working on changing the way I think about things. Improving myself and my attitude. I’ll be posting more on that and my “plan” next week.

Have you ever felt down about your body? How did/do you deal with it? If you have had children how did you react to your postpartum body? Two years ago I wrote a similar post all about my foreign postpartum body.

Fit Pregnancy: The Birthing Month

July 7, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

I have finally reached my birthing month. Today I am 36w4d pregnant and that means this baby could come (almost) anytime now. Since I was 10 days early with Edith I am keeping that in mind by also preparing myself to go to 42 weeks as well if that so happens (which I hope isn’t the case).

I have to say this pregnancy has been less intentionally active than I was when I was pregnant with Edith and more active as a result of having an active toddler. Before I go further lets compare the two pregnancies:

Pregnancy With Edith: (Working a desk job) daily 1-2+ mile walks, yoga class once per week, strength training 2-3x per week and yoga at home once per week
Pregnancy With Baby #2: (Stay-At-Home-Mom) chasing a crazy toddler, 1-2 mile walks 2x per week and yoga or prenatal workout video 2x per week.

As you can see my pregnancy with Edith had me sitting more hours during the day at my job but I was making time for consistent and intentional workouts. With baby #2 I have been trying to stay active with semi-intentional workouts but most of my time has been chasing Edith, cleaning or being up around moving around the house (less just sitting). However, once 35 weeks arrived I suddenly realized that this baby could come in as few as two weeks and I suddenly felt this crazy urge to get myself more intentionally active.

Since around 35w4d I have been going out for daily walks with Edith and/or Neil, working on squats around 10 per day held for 30-60 seconds each, lunges, and lots of cat-cow on top of chasing a toddler, packing our house and nesting. While this may not seem like much it is actually a significant change in my activity levels and I’m feeling great. Feeling ready to have this baby and want to make the point that it’s not too late to be intentionally active.

I don’t over do it, try not to push myself to much and am making sure to rest, drink tons of water and listen to my body. Now on to having this baby!

Lady Talk | My ParaGard IUD Experience

June 17, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 41 Comments

I have talked very briefly about my experience with the ParaGard IUD and I am finally sitting down to share a little bit more indepth! Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional this is just my personal experience please consult your care provider if you have concerns or questions regarding the ParaGard IUD.
Towards the end of my pregnancy with Edith we were exploring our birth control options and to be honest we were leaning towards going the snip snip route because me + hormonal birth control do not mix. Seriously my experience with hormonal birth control is a whole other story in itself and if you’d like me to share it just let me know! When it came time to discuss birth control with the midwives we said we were thinking of going snip route and she said well unless you are 110% sure you don’t want more children that maybe a better route would be the ParaGard IUD a non-hormonal birth control. This was the first time I had heard of the ParaGard and was very interested to learn more. When we got pregnant with Edith we had been loosely practicing the FAM method for about two years. However, I knew going back to the FAM method wasn’t something I wanted to do just because of the potential risk of getting pregnant again before we were ready and the fact that it’s hard to follow this method until your period has returned and as a breastfeeding mom who knows when that would occur. So it seemed that since hormonal birth control was out, FAM method wasn’t ideal and we were only 90% sure we were one and done that the ParaGard was the (only) way to go.

At eight weeks postpartum I had the ParaGard IUD inserted and had no immediate issues with it. Within a month of having the ParaGard I found myself back up to my pregnancy weight, after having lost 15 of the 25 pounds I put on. While I can say that nursing, diet and lifestyle may have also factored into weight gain I continue to be unable to lose any of the weight even when improving diet and lifestyle. At around six months postpartum my period returned and the first month was on the lighter side but come the second month I was experiencing a heavier flow which I attributed to a postpartum period. I also had incredibly painful cramping to the point of nausea. I figured it was just my body getting back into things and that eventually I would get back to “normal”. Well that just wasn’t the case at all. Every month I experienced the same heavy flow and extremely painful, nauseating cramps.

I really didn’t know what to do though because we just were not ready to even consider having baby #2 and we were not ready to rule it out either. I decided to do some further research on my “symptoms” and found that it is very common for women to have pain and increased bleeding during the first year of having the ParaGard IUD and it’s actually one of the top reasons women get it removed. I also read that things usually common down after a year of having the ParaGard IUD so I decided to wait it out and see if things changed after a year.

Well nothing changed and that’s when I finally said I’M DONE. I discussed things with Neil and while we were not ready to have #2 we both agreed that getting my IUD out was the best choice for me and my body. We had planned to go back to the FAM method and while we were not officially ready for #2 yet we were okay if it happened. I set up an appointment with a naturopathic doctor/midwife and went in to discuss my IUD and having it removed.

At my appointment we discussed my issues with the IUD and one thing she pointed out is that the copper in the ParaGard IUD is there to irritate the uterus and work as a spermicide and all this can cause inflammation in the body. Inflammation in the body can cause an increase in appetite and weight gain. This is when I went DUH! I know this but why didn’t I just put this all together? So while we were supposed to just have a conversation about the IUD and my issues with it my doctor said she could take it out right then if I wanted her to and without thinking twice I had her take it out. Well I should have made note of the fact that Neil and I had been intimate the days before because I ended up ovulating that night and since sperm can live up to 72 hours we ended up pregnant with baby #2 (this is just a side note for those who are thinking about getting their IUD removed).

So that all being said I will not be going back on the ParaGard IUD after baby #2 arrives instead Neil is going to take one for the team because we are two and DONE.

I thought I would also include some other people experiences with the ParaGard IUD: Friend #1: She also got the ParaGard IUD after her daughter was born and found it challenging to lose the baby weight until after about a year of having the IUD. She didn’t experience any other issues and is still currently using the ParaGard IUD.

Friend #2: While she never experienced any issues with the ParaGard IUD she did end up with a surprise pregnancy after about 12 months of using the ParaGard IUD. Now she is debating what to do next as she doesn’t plan to go back on the ParaGard after #2 is born (I mean why would you if you got pregnant on it the first time around!)

Naturally Family Facebook Friend: I have a Paragard and it’s been fantastic for me. I got it one year postpartum (used a diaphragm first year postpartum for protection). It was terribly painful to insert (maybe because I had a c section). The cramping was awful and periods were awful for the first 6 months…but since then, things have completely stabilized. Normal periods, normal cramping (about a days worth every cycle). No weight gain or skin issues. Love that it’s non hormonal. I’m sorry to hear your experience wasn’t a good one! I am interested in reading about it.

Naturally Family Facebook Friend: I had a horrible time with it and had it removed roughly 17 months after placement, thankfully your advice about abstaining the day before prevented us from an unexpected #2

What are you currently using for birth control and how is it working for you? For those of you who have tried the ParaGard IUD what has/was your experience like?

Postpartum Weight Loss “Plan”

June 10, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 13 Comments

Here I am at 31w3d pregnant with baby #2

I’m not going to lie I am really hoping that I actually lose the baby weight this time around. With Edith I gained around 25-28lbs and within the first 8 weeks I lost 15 of those pounds. Then I got the Paraguard IUD and quickly the weight came back on. I will also admit the Oh She Glows Chocolate Chip Cookies and the stress of moving didn’t help with my weight loss either. When we moved to Oregon I made an effort to get my diet back on track, started running 4 days per week and doing 1-2 days of strength training. Despite all of that I simply wasn’t (and didn’t) lose any of the baby weight.

1 Year Postpartum after having Edith

Finally at 16 months postpartum I decided to have my IUD removed due to negative reactions to it (I’ll write more about that another time) and while I had it removed due to non-weight related reasons I was as little hopeful that I might start to see my weight go down. Well as you all know we are pregnant with #2 and due in 7ish weeks. So I never had a chance to test my theory. Also that means I started my pregnancy at the same weight I ended my last pregnancy and I have gained 20lbs so far and if you want to do the math that means I have between 45-50lbs to get back down to my baby #1 pre-pregnancy weight oh and on top of that I was already about 15lbs over my ideal weight when I got pregnant with Edith. So that is 60-65lbs to get down to my goal weight.

Summer 2011 before getting pregnant with Edith <-- also my goal weight

August before getting pregnant with Edith

Baby #2 Postpartum Weight Loss “Plan”:

I am not going back on birth control as we are two and done so birth control is officially all Neil *snip snip*.
My first priority is feeding baby #2 so for the 12 months my focus is to keep my milk supply up so I can feed my baby.
I plan to get back to running at around 9-12 weeks postpartum depending upon my healing this time around (with Edith it took me a lot longer to heal then I had hoped).
I plan to incorporate 2 days of strength training into my workout routine and light cardio once I am cleared to get back to normal activity.
I also plan to get back in a yoga routine since I have a 10 punch pass to a studio by our old house (and now by Neil’s new job) that I was lucky enough to get the expiration date extended until sometime in December.
Keep my eating in check! Postpartum/nursing hunger is no joke. Seriously when I first had Edith and was nursing non-stop I could have eaten everything in site. This time around instead of lots of Oh She Glows cookies I’m focusing on keeping it healthy but also making sure not to be too hard on myself when it comes to having a treat here and there.
Drink lots of water! Nursing makes you crazy thirsty and staying hydrated helps to flush toxins out of the body and helps to prevent water weight (I know crazy right?).
Buy myself postpartum clothes in whatever size I have to buy. I wore maternity clothes until around 8 months postpartum with Edith because I was just waiting to lose the weight and didn’t want to spend the money on new clothes that I hopefully wouldn’t have to wear too long. The thing is that wearing maternity clothes after the first six weeks of being postpartum is just depressing. Wearing clothes that fit well and look nice is an incentive to keep with it! It’s motivating! Feeling confident in what I am wearing helps me feel good and keeps me on track so this time around I’m not going to be wearing maternity pants for months and months postpartum. I actually have been consigning maternity clothes as the seasons change so that they just won’t be in my closet ie. I won’t be tempted to wear them.

So that is my current plan. How did you deal with losing the baby weight?

The Reality Of My Day With No Sleep

January 31, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

It’s 10pm and I’ve been asleep for a few hours already but I woke up dying for a giant glass of water and a bowl of cereal. I head to the kitchen and chug back a glass of water and then pour myself a big bowl of cereal with almond milk. I stand in the kitchen and eat my bowl of cereal and throw back another glass of water before heading back to bed. I’m back in bed at 10:15pm and asleep shortly after.

Then 3am rolls around I wake up and spend the next 20 minutes just laying there hoping to will myself back to sleep but it’s just not happening. I grab my phone and headphones and put an episode of The Office on, put my eye mask on and hope that I will fall back asleep while listening to Dwight and Jim play pranks on each other.

Well 5:27am rolls around and I’m still awake and at this point Edith is stirring. I rub her belly hoping that maybe just maybe she will go back to sleep for another 30-45minutes and that I will too because I know a long day is ahead of us. It’s 5:45am and Edith is wide awake, which means we are too.

We get ready for the day and decide to head out for a family breakfast date at Harlow where Edith and I share a delicious plate of polenta with kale, beans, tempeh and chipotle hollandaise and toast. Since finding a breakfast spot with good coffee is rare we make a quick stop at Heart to pick up coffees and unfortunately ended up getting a decaf and I know it’s better for baby #2 but this mama needed some “real” coffee today.

After dropping Neil off at work I attempted to go grocery shopping but I just couldn’t seem to focus. I picked up a few things and about 10 minutes into our trip I was feeling so tired and nauseous that I had to leave. Edith and I paid for our few random items and headed home. Next thing I know I look in the rear view mirror and see that Edith is passed out. For all you parents out there you know that 99% of the time this means that having an at home nap is out of the picture. In this case it meant no nap for me either; a nap I was counting on to make it until dinner (aka when Neil gets home).

Since then I have been in survival mode. We had a simple lunch of things I didn’t have to cook and have spent most of the day reading books and watching too much TV. Neil she be home from work soon and I hope that he can tire Edith out a bit so she goes to bed….err so we both go to bed early.

Tell me about your day!

Working Towards a Fit & Healthy Pregnancy

January 26, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Hello Second Trimester!

I went into the first trimester with the hopes of really kicking this pregnancy off with a super healthy start and honestly I fell short. The morning sickness set in hard and having an active toddler who doesn’t always like to nap through me for a bit of a loop. While this time around my food aversions were a bit more mild my gag reflex has been on over drive.

I know maybe a little TMI but I’m just going to tell it like it is. I have for the most part been able to stick to healthier eating because I still want salads, fruit, and other veggies unlike Edith’s pregnancy when all I wanted was citrus and bagels. However because my gag reflex has been so sensitive eating can be a challenge at times. Now I’m not talking vomiting (although that has happened this time which it didn’t with E) I am talking gagging like extreme gagging. Please tell me there is some other mama or mama-to-be out there that experienced this terrible pregnancy side effect. The worst part is drinking water actually triggered my reflex at times so I haven’t been drinking as much water as I should.

To top things off in the first trimester I was not getting in my workouts. A big part of this was just pure laziness. I was tired all the time due to the first trimester hormone rush and the fact that Edith went through a nap regression ie. she wouldn’t nap or would only nap on me. So getting in naptime workouts was a struggle and honestly when I did get a break I wanted to sleep instead of workout. At night I was going to bed at 7:30p with Edith because I was so exhausted.

So lets fast forward to the last few weeks. I finally am getting my energy back, my reflex has calmed down (although not disappeared) and I have been way more active. Neil and I got a couples gym membership to our local community center and it has been great because I get in a few workouts there per week and Edith and I go to the pool a few times per week. I am not getting in my goal of three gym workouts per week yet but I am working on it (right now I’m at 1-2). I also have been making more time to do workouts at home and have overall been more active while at home (ie. not sitting on the couch, laying in bed or just sitting around on the floor playing with Edith).

Now that I am feeling better I am determined to make this the most healthy pregnancy I can and somethings that I am doing/goals I have are:

Drink 70-100oz of water per day. I know that sounds like a lot to some of you but when you are pregnant you need to drink more water than you normally would. Right now I am closer to 64oz so I am working hard to increase that. One thing that I have been making an effort to do is to drink 1L of water first thing in the morning before I even eat. I find that this really helps me to stay on track during the day.
Workout 5 days per week. This is going to include a combination of at home workouts, walks during the day and gym workouts. Currently this is in the goal stage as I am consistently getting closer to 3 workouts per week. Time to up my game!
Bi-Weekly Prenatal Yoga (at a studio). This time around prenatal yoga is a little more challenging for me to get to due to Neil’s work schedule and the fact that many classes are during the day. When I was pregnant with Edith I didn’t have a toddler to care for as well so I was able to go 1-2x per week. This time around I am hoping to go at least every other week. I haven’t yet found a studio but I did some research this week and found two that offer a weekend class that I should be able to attend. So over the next few weeks I am going to go to both and see which one I enjoy more.
Eat 90% of meals at home. First trimester sickness and tiredness really put us in a downward spiral of eating too may meals outside the home or takeout meals. I would do great for breakfast, lunch and snacks but come dinner time I was wiped out. So we would turn to take out or dining out and although we tried to make healthier choices when doing so it will never be as healthy as eating at home.

What tips do you have for staying fit and healthy?

Disclaimer

Networks