Postpartum Baby Belly Workout #sweatpink

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 1 Comment

Wow, today Hilary is 7 weeks old….that went fast.

I’ve started my arm workout today and it was really easy to fit in – even with both daughters at home (Lilly was sick). She was relaxing and Hilary was asleep so I picked up my 5 pound weights and did a few sets of each. Not sure if the bones in my back liked the workout as they kept making noises. Maybe it’s because they haven’t been worked out in a while.

Other than that, I haven’t been doing much in the way of exercise. I took the girls for a short walk (in the cold weather today) but haven’t managed to get out for a run. We are still working on Hilary taking a bottle and have only been successful once. Life sure is busy with a new-born and toddler even when our oldest goes to daycare, my 24 hour day go by fast so I need to fit in short workouts here and there until I can get out running.

I am fully committed to working out and running since I got the A-Okay from my Doctor last week. I recently came across this little workout and am putting it into action, as I have a little baby belly to get rid of before I start moving into some intense workouts.

Check out the video/workout: Dr. Oz – The Baby Belly Workout. It’s only 2:20 long and easy to do anytime of the day.

postpartum belly tiger stripes

What workouts did you do postpartum?

Did you jump right into workouts or build up over time?

How did you fit in your workouts with a newborn (and more children)?

First Exercise Postpartum #sweatpink

January 10, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 1 Comment

Yesterday was THE perfect winter day in Nova Scotia…..sun was shining, snow was everywhere, cool air hitting your face and perfect for taking your 5 week old out for a stroll.

So, that’s what I did 🙂

It was our first walk outside, my first walk/exercise since sometime in November!!!

We bundled up….

Anna and Hilary going for a winter stroll Jan 2013

And planned on walking for 20-25 minutes – a short route around where we live.

Our view walking down our street

I changed my mind and decided to walk my normal running route but backwards as we were already on route.

It ended up being a 40 minute walk.

Clear sidewalk for us to walk on (doesn’t always happen)

I was feeling pretty good except my right achilles was sore (and still is today). No other pain today. As I was walking I felt great. I felt like it was the right time to start moving again. My body felt awake for the first time in a while – such a great feeling.

I am hoping to get the A-Okay from my Doctor next week to start running…oh I can’t wait! For now, I’ll enjoy any walks (outdoor/indoors) I can get.

Happy Walking (for now).

Hilary’s Birth Story – Part 2

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 3 Comments

To get the first part of the story, check out Part 1 here.

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Hilary’s birth story – Part 2.

I started pushing as my body had decided it was time to get things moving on. This was by far way more painful than it was with Lilly. I later learned after Hilary was born that she was face up – which usually means major back pain and also more painful. I’m sure glad the waited to tell me that after she came out!

As each contraction started, I would suck back as much gas I as could and then push. For some reason I decided to hold on to the hospital bed railings above my head and was pulling down on them as hard as I could. Why? I don’t know, I guess I thought it would help me push the baby out. Well, the only thing it did was give me strained arm and back muscles for a week afterwards. Bad idea. With Lilly I held onto Sai’s index finger through each contraction – not this time, I think he was secretly thankful.

At one point in between contractions I remember giving everyone a thumbs up to say that I was doing okay and my thumb shook uncontrolably…I then said “this F#$%ing HURTS! They all had a good laugh. (Hurt was an understatement but they got the point).

I pushed for about an hour and then she was out and on my chest just like that at 3:07 am on Monday December 3rd. I looked at my husband and he said “it’s another girl”….and of course the tears started. I couldn’t believe how much she looked like Lilly – it was crazy.

We stayed in the delivery room (I forgot to mention this was the same room as with Lilly’s birth) until 6:30 am and then off we went to our private and extremely small/awkward room. We were all exhausted as we had no sleep since Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Around 7, my husband decided to head home and get Lilly so she could meet her little sister. By 8:30 am, I decided it was a good time to get up and get moving around so we walked around the maternity ward a little and back to our room. I saw my husband and Dad and realised that Lilly was with them and I started to cry…

I couldn’t believe how emotional it was to see my big girl knowing that her life was about to change with the addition of her little sister. She was so excited to see us! HILARY, she shouted and gave Hilary her monkey. It was love at first sight for Lilly, an extremely proud big sister.

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Monday Dec 3rd

Lilly left the hospital with my Dad to head to the sitter’s as we wanted to keep things as normal as we could. She sure wasn’t happy about leaving us but managed to settle once she reached the sitter’s house. We on the other hand visited with my mother and father, tried to sleep a little, cuddle with our newborn and I took a shower. Oh my, that shower made me feel like a million bucks.

Monday night was a little more challenging than I had expected. We decided my husband would go home and help my Dad with Lilly and give her a little normality to her night and morning. I on the other had fed Hilary almost every hour from 7 pm until 2 am with no sleep in between. It was rough. The nurse ended up taking Hilary out of my room and cuddled with her so I could get an hour worth of sleep – that helped a lot. I did this again at 5:30 am for just over an hour. With Lilly we had to wake her every 3 hours to feed, pump etc because she was premature, however with Hilary it was feeding on demand which was a completely different concept and I don’t think I was prepared for her little cluster feeding session. We managed to live to tell the story 😉

Tuesday Dec 4th (my husband’s birthday)

My Doctor came by at 7 am to check things out and see how we were doing. She asked if we wanted to go home later that day after some blood work was completed or stay another night. I decided to go home. Again, with Lilly, we stayed in the hospital Sunday night until Friday afternoon – it was the longest week of my life and I did not enjoy being there so long. When I had the option to leave, I took it. We left around 2:30 pm on Tuesday and went to buy a birthday cake for my husband to celebrate his birthday and Hilary’s 🙂

Hilary going home

Though this birth was longer and more painful it was completely worth it in the end. I had a natural birth, my family Doctor delivered, we had great nurses, my husband was there, Lilly was happy and safe with friends and family and we had a healthy 7 lbs 14 oz baby girl. It couldn’t have been a better experience.

Hilary Elise Dec 3rd 2012

The End.

Don’t forget to check back for my postpartum post in a few days.

Hilary’s Birth Story – Part 1

December 28, 2012March 5, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything – sorry about that. It’s been a busy few weeks with our newborn, Christmas and having company from across the pond.

I feel like this could be a long-winded post, so I’ve decided to break it up in to a few parts and compare part from our first born’s birth too.

Welcome to Part 1.

Baby number 2 was due December 11th 2012, which also happens to be my sister’s birthday. And, our first daughter, Lillian (Lilly) was due on my birthday, July 10th 2010 – but she came 4 weeks early to all of our surprise.

I decided to finish work around 35 weeks pregnant and believe that was the best decision for me. I was able to rest a lot, get a few things done around the house and prepare for baby #2’s arrival. Once we got past 36 weeks 2 days (the day we had Lilly), I was able to relax a little more and hope to make it to 37 weeks or term. And we did. We made it to 38 weeks 6 days before baby #2 arrived.

It’s amazing how much 2 weeks can make for a baby. Lilly was considered a premature baby and had a few challenges that we had to work through to get her to nurse properly. I’m not just talking a few days/weeks of challenges but more like 2.5 months to get her to latch/nurse properly with the help of a lactation consultant and a osteopath. With baby #2 it was like she was born to nurse – completely different.

Sai and Anna Dec 2nd 2012

Back to the birth.

On Sunday, December 2nd I was feeling a little frustrated and beyond exhausted from being pregnant. I had a little nap in the morning and then had lunch with Lilly and Sai. Once Lilly was down for a nap I was going to go shopping and get a few Christmas items we needed. As Sai was putting Lilly down for a nap I got up to go pee and thought I felt my water break! I surely wasn’t peeing myself but comparing it to my water breaking with Lilly, it wasn’t quite the same. This was around 1pm. At 2:30pm we went into the hospital after calling with my symptoms – they just wanted to check me over. They couldn’t get a clear sample if my water had broken or not but I was clearly dilating – Was 4-5cm at 4:30pm. They admitted me.

Lilly was hanging out with our friends after her nap and then Grandad came to hang out with her for that night. She was in heaven and my Dad was too.

I figured we’d have the baby by 8:30/9pm as Lilly’s birth was extremely quick (less than 4 hours from my water breaking to her coming out). When 8:30 hit and I was only 6cm, I was rather discouraged and the pain was increasing fast.

Sai and I walked the hallways a lot and I sat on an exercise ball for a long time and then things started to get more painful. I really wanted a natural birth as I had one with Lilly and thought I could do it again. (Man OH MAN – talk about painful!!!).

There was a point when I just couldn’t handle the pain anymore but was confident I didn’t want an epidural or narcotics but was thinking about the “laughing” gas as an alternative. As the contractions grew stronger and more painful I was convinced I wanted the gas and made Sai go tell the nurse that I wanted it. It arrived not too long after and on went the mask when I had a contraction.

Nothing happened 😦

I was expecting to have a little relief of pain but it didn’t happen. So, I kept at it. Inhaling the gas like it was the most enjoyable product known to man kind. After about 5-6 contractions and inhaling the gas, I felt extremely light-headed and sort of fell back in my seat. Ahhhhhhhhh, it was working. I felt a little drugged/drunk as the nurse described I could be. She was right.

My water still had not broken at this point and the contractions were getting closer and closer and MORE painful. Seriously, how more painful can it get – apparently a lot more.

My Doctor arrived at the hospital around 12:30 am and we started discussing my options. At 1:45 am and 8 cm dilated, I decided to have my water broken. All I remember is how warm it was, my contractions still painful and the gas permanently stuck in my left hand for when I needed it.

All of a sudden, it was time to push. I had to push, I couldn’t hold back…this baby was ready to come out and join us.

To be continued….