Post-Partum Mommy

There have been A LOT of changes since this little one arrived.  I would say that I have been lucky my body bounced back rather quickly, though I definitely think breastfeeding has helped that process... You can burn between 300-500 calories a day breastfeeding!

First off, I want to shout to the rooftops.... I have been jogging a little bit and it feels fantastic! While I exercised through the last month of pregnancy, Doc asked me to stop running in November due to some pains I was having in my abdomen. So it was almost 4.5 months since I last ran.

My stamina is nonexistent, but jogging feels good nonetheless.  I feel so bouncy, lol, likely because I had a bit of extra weight on me for quite some time. And the ladies are a tad over-ambitious, I'll have to figure out how to secure them a bit better as my running gets a little better!

The rest of me started feeling like a normal human being around 4 weeks. Sorta. 

It took my belly button several weeks to decide it wanted to be an innie again. And the Linea Nigra (the line dark line that appears down the center of a pregnant woman's belly) has just NOW started to disappear. Who knows how long it will take to completely disappear. 

I'm also experiencing some severe post-partum hair loss... globs of hair in the shower drain, something that was nice to not have during pregnancy. I can't tell you how much hair I am losing, it is ridiculous! I really hope I don't actually start to look bald! 

This is after almost every shower... In addition to all I lose in the shower!! Ugh!

But I think the little one is having some sympathy hair loss.... it's thinning on both sides of her head, of all places! It's not like she rubbing that like she would the back. 

So that's why I attribute it to sympathy hair loss ;-). 

And while I am lucky my body shrank rather quickly, everything still seems "soft".  My belly, legs, hips, they are cushy and smooshy now, not toned like they used to be. I'm sure that more has to do with me starting some weight-training, but I don't see that happening any time soon. I'll enjoy my mommier-figure :-). I was also lucky enough to avoid stretch marks, any that I can see anyway. And I'd like to keep it that way!

Emotionally, it took a long time to feel like myself again. And saying myself, I feel like a better version of myself because of my completely different perception on life.  I honestly didn't think I was going to survive during the first month or so, I had the post-partum blues some kind of serious. Our struggle to breastfeed played a large factor in that. Looking back though it seems so far away and every moment completely worth it, squeezable belly and all!