Another BOOB Baby...

Congrats to Jen over at "What You Lookin' At Skinny?" ...  She had her baby boy!!! Whoo Hooo!!!  Not sure she's posted anything yet, but just sharing the good news!

Feeling a bit out of sorts...

Cowgirl Lucia

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July...  ours was VERY quiet, which is just fine!  Lucia had her 7th birthday party on Saturday (a bit belated so that we could all be there) and had it at a horse farm with pony rides... she was THRILLED!  And it was pretty easy... of course, anything NOT at my house would be better than at my house!  It was hot though - I never thought about the fact that the farm wouldn't have air conditioning in the party room.  Oh well - we didn't dawdle!  My brother and sister-in-law came with my nephew for the day, and then on Sunday my parents went home to NJ... suffice it to say, the house is quiet - it is really the first time I've been alone with Liam since he was born since Lucia is at day camp this week, and my mom has pretty much been here (with the exception of 2 weeks) since my accident on April 27th, so it is just WIERD in the house!  Too quiet.  I've been sorting / doing laundry and waiting for Liam to wake up...  Nothing exciting, but I am going to meet a friend for lunch which I am looking forward too.

I am loving life with 2 kids - I can't remember it without him really, but I am feeling a tad bit out of sorts... the hormones are still kicking, and out of the blue I will have a crying spell but then 10 minutes later it goes away.  I'm KNOW a lot of it has to do with sleep deprivation, but I am definitely keeping an eye on things.  I don't want to mess around with baby blues if that is what this is moving toward.

I also am having this internal struggle in my head of wanting to be back at work (i.e., the mental stimulation) vs. doing the "mommy" things at home... The later is where I need to be right now, but I also am craving the schedule and consistency of school and work.  Yikes.  It is only the first week of the summer (kind of) - what am I thinking?!?!?  (sigh)  I know Lu doesn't want to be back at work yet, and I also know once I'm back that the grass will look greener in the rear-view mirror!

The next 6 weeks are planned out with camps and other adventures... then believe it or not, we are only 3 weeks from Labor Day.  So it isn't all that far off, and I know that Lucia is enjoying the time with me at home (and I'm enjoying it with her)... I just need to find my "off" button for thinking about work.  I think the 7 weeks at home on bed rest have put me ahead with the "itch" to get back...  And I'm not even sure that is what it is.  Does that make sense?

At any rate, not much new to report - Liam is getting big - I think he's having a growth spurt for the amount he wants to eat lately!  All good by me since it means he is healthy and growing...

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...  Enjoy the week!

Lu & her friends... 

My favorite girl!

My brother & sister-in-law & nephew

A few thoughts on being banded & pregnant...

Hello fellow bandsters!  And welcome to the 7 new followers I picked up in the last week... wow!

I thought while Liam was napping, and the rest of the family is up in Northern VA at the new American Girl Store for lunch (for Lucia's birthday) that I would put out a post that is a bit more band-related...  I should be napping myself, BUT... I'm not.  (note:  I started this post 5 hours ago... Liam is fussy today!!  First time seeing this side of him...)

I have had a lot of thoughts throughout the pregnancy about this time around, and how it has been the same or different from before I was banded.  When I was pregnant with Lucia, I was close to 265 when I got pregnant, and over 300 at the end.  It was NOT EASY being that heavy and pregnant, but I didn't have any other kids to worry about, so I didn't really know the difference.  I will say now, that I can't imagine being at that weight and dealing with the pregnancy, an existing child, and all the peripheral crap that we were dealing with this time around.  In so many different ways, being banded has changed my life for the better.  Without a doubt, Liam is the best outcome (and kind of unexpected) of being banded.  I had a relatively healthy pregnancy, and ended up with a beautiful baby...  WIN!  Don't get me wrong... losing weight has done so much for me, but honestly I am not sure I would have gotten pregnant if I hadn't lost 80 pounds before hand...

Just for comparison sake, here are 2 pictures... the before and after!!!

Bringing Lucia home, 7 years ago TODAY!!!  We were both so tired and scared!!!

Bringing Liam home on Friday

So, here are some other thoughts on being banded and then pregnant and what is in my future in regard to the band... not in any order - and kind of random so bear with me!

• I still gained weight being pregnant. In fact, I think I gained more this time (about 45-50 pounds?) than last time...   I am still losing the surgery weight if that makes sense.  I think I will end up about 225-230 when I reach my 6 weeks out point.
• My weight gain was all tummy mostly (although I think some of the bad stuff in the next bullet point went to my thighs)...  You could still see my collarbones the day I delivered!  That was a definite NSV for me.
• I fell back into some not-so-good habits while pregnant, because I was unfilled and could eat whatever I wanted too... and I used being pregnant as an excuse to indulge a bit too often...  not a good thing.  Can anyone say milkshakes, cheeseburgers, pasta????  Yum.  (sigh)
• Even though I was unfilled, I still had some restriction and got stuck.  In fact, I almost got stuck on my lunch today (noodles with veggies)... so there was still the band feeling and to some extent, help, on some occasions.  Of course, the band IS still in place - just not filled.
• A lot of medical personnel don't have a clue about what having gastric surgery (of any kind) is or does.  Lots and lots of questions...
• Liam had a habit of kicking my port...kind of grabbing it with his toes toward the end.  I'll be interested to see what shape it is in!
• I am not a born exerciser - and even though I was in a good routine pre-preg, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I stopped.  Probably not the best decision!
• People actually KNEW I was pregnant this time as opposed to just looking really heavy last time (until month 7).
• Mostly I was able to buy off-the-rack maternity clothes, size XL, instead of having to catalog order plus-size maternity stuff.  Another big win!

There is a lot more to share, but for now I am thinking about the future... here is what it is looking like it is holding for me:

• I go back for my 6 week check-up at the end of July... and hopefully will be given the green light to start exercising again (and hopefully, yeah right, it will cool down outside).
• I go in for my fluoroscopy & fill in early August... before pregnancy, my port was inverted so fills were always a bit of a contortionist act.  I am hoping it isn't any worse and they can fill me up!
• If both go well, that will give me a month before I go back to work to really get back into a routine.
• In the meantime, I need to reacquaint myself with the "golden rules" of being banded:  high protein, no drinking with meals, chewing well, etc...  I've fallen off those wagons!
• I've signed up for the Wicked 10K in Virginia Beach at the end of October which will give me about 12 weeks.  I have no illusions that I will run the whole thing but want to be able to finish comfortably!
• Need to find a few Fall 5K's to ease back into running with...
• We have a wedding in Key West in December that I have a specific dress in mind for... which is going to take some work to get in to!
• And I was just below 200 when I got pregnant, so I would really like to shoot for ringing in 2012 at that same point.  It will take some work. but I have double the reasons now!!!

That's all for now... more to some and a quick shout out to Stephanie & Nikki for both nominating me for the adorable blog award!!!  I will work on paying that forward soon!!!

1 Week Old Today...

Wow, how life changes in a week!  I promise I'll get back to blogging about the band at some point, but for now, it is a totally kid focused post!  Well, not completely - I will say that I am still waiting to figure out exactly how much "extra" weight I have to re-lose... I still have a good amount of swelling from the surgery, but for the most part I'm feeling good.  I will definitely need to hit Goodwill or something similar for some transitional pieces, because I had gotten rid of a lot of my larger clothes after I lost the weight.  Oh well... just a few pieces hopefully, and not for long!  I have my appointment to get re-filled in early August, which I am looking forward too and will start the high-protein/low-fat diet in the meantime.  AFTER Lucia's 7th (!) birthday tomorrow, because I am going to enjoy cake!

Here are some new pix...

Grandpa & Liam

After his first bath (at home)

Grandma & Liam

Sleeping just like his sister & daddy do...

With Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop Fogler

And it keeps getting better...

Wow...  all of you who are parents know that absolute, unconditional love of having a new baby...  add that to the sheer amount of love I already had for Lucia, and I am in heaven!!!  The last  days have been wonderfully exhausting...  I am re-learning how to do things one-handed while holding Liam (like posting a blog entry!) and am reveling in watching Lucia's absolute adoration and protectiveness of her little brother.   Combine that, with the coos and gurgles, and with seeing Dennis loving both his babies, it is an absolutely amazing, beautiful thing!  I am extremely content and happy, to say the least.  I can't remember life before 10:21AM on Tuesday!

I have a lot of thoughts to share about being banded and experiencing this pregnancy, as compared to last time... more to come on that though because the extra morphine in the epidural has officially worn off, and although the love hormones are strong, they aren't kicking the pain away!  So, a few more pictures to share for now, and more in the future to come...  We are hopefully heading home tomorrow and I can't wait to be an official "foursome".

As I sign off, here are a few of the pictures from the hospital photographer... damn them - they do great work, and how could I NOT buy the set of pictures with my two babies in them???  (sigh - a good sigh, but sigh...) So, enjoy...

William Thor (aka "Liam)

Liam, in his going home outfit that Lucia chose

Ecstatically proud big sister...
 

Lu & Liam