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If there are any folks that read this blog and don't want to hear/read about breastfeeding, then this post isn't for you. When I was pregnant, I made the decision that I wanted to breastfeed Baby Wilson. I did some research but most of what I read said that it is hard to prepare beforehand. The best way to learn was with your little one already here. As someone who likes to plan and prepare, this made me nervous. I always like to "keep it real" on this blog so I'm going to tell you some of my thoughts. There are a few things I didn't realize beforehand and I thought I would let some of you all know of how things have worked out for me.

1) Breastfeeding is hard. Moms that say that it is "easy" have it pretty lucky. The actual act of breastfeeding isn't difficult; it is all the other things that go along with it. You really have to be committed to it and want to make it work. There is lots of overthinking and worrying that goes along with it (just like with pregnancy). The first few days (and week) are kind of painful as your body adjusts to this new task. There are things that help with the pain and it subsides. The pain is never excruciating, just discomforting. I just would tell myself "Let's try one more day" everyday until things got easier... Kind of like running a half marathon. "Just one more mile.. I can do this." And then it got easier, just like everyone said it would.  Thankfully there was a support group at the local hospital as well as a wonderful Facebook group that are always discussing all things breastfeeding. They helped me get through those first few days/weeks.

Patsy and I at the Nursing Moms group Halloween Party

2) Newborn babies need to eat every 2 hours during the day (3-4 hours at night). Babies also can eat for about 40-50 minutes. So, if they eat every 2 hours, and it takes them 40-50 minutes to eat, that means I have 1 hour and 10 minutes to get anything done before she needs to eat again. I think the first time I left the house without the baby was to go get ice cream for me and the hubs. I think I was gone for about 15 minutes. Patsy is slowly starting to go 2.5-3 hours in between feedings during the day. That extra 30-60 minutes makes all the difference! Here is a little example of a real life scenario and part of the reason I started to ask for help while Christmas shopping...
Start feeding baby at 12:00, finish at 12:45.
Put baby in car seat, finish packing diaper bag, start car, put baby in the car.
Finally pulling out of the driveway at 1:00.
Drive to the mall 25 minutes away. Get out of the car, unpack stroller, load diaper bag onto stroller.
Get into the mall at 1:35. Get to shop for 25 minutes before it is time for Patsy to eat again.

Hanging out in the backseat after one of our many backseat nursing sessions

3) Everyone has a different opinion about breastfeeding. I am extremely lucky to come from a family where all of my relatives nursed their babies. I spend a lot of time with my in-laws and they all nursed their babies as well. My husband is also hugely supportive of breastfeeding which makes things so much easier. Without such a strong support system, things would have been a lot more difficult. Thanks to my trusty Boppy nursing cover, I've been able to nurse Patsy around friends, relatives, and in public. (Patsy has eaten at Panera, Bakers Square, TGIFridays, Portillo's, and all around the Michigan City Outlet Malls) I've gotten a few stares here and there while using it, but I don't really mind the stares. I'm not going to feed my baby in a bathroom. I wouldn't want to eat in there, why would I want to feed my baby in there? :) I know every mom has to make their own decisions as to what works best for them, whether that is formula or nursing. I'm pretty lucky that breastfeeding has worked out for me. I hope to breastfeed for 6 months and eventually a year. Right now we are just over 3.5 months and still going strong! :)

Nursing Patsy Rose at Ann Taylor LOFT!

4) Breastfeeding isn't just putting your baby by your boob and hoping for the best. There is the latch (is it good? Is it strong?) and the transfer (how much milk is baby getting?). Since the milk is coming from the source, it is hard to gauge how much the baby is getting unless they are weighed before and after feedings. I left the hospital feeling confident in my breastfeeding capabilities. After a few weeks, I started going to a Nursing Moms Network at the local hospital. There, I started doing weekly weight checks and Patsy wasn't gaining as much as we would like to see. I was able to take some milk supplements, eat some oatmeal and my supply increased! Patsy started to gain more weight and we were on the right track. I feel lucky to have had such a great support group for help! I think I would have worried myself sick if not for other moms who have gone through something similar.

5) Despite the difficulties, bumps in the road, and worries along the way, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world! The bond that I have with my child through breastfeeding is something I really can't describe. I won't go into more mushy details, but it really is quite amazing. :) I feel that this is what our bodies were meant to do. Even if I don't meet my end goal, I am grateful for every time I get to nurse my child and for every ounce of milk she gets from me. As I go back to work, I know the challenges will only increase, but I'm about as ready for them as I can be! :)

As I mentioned in a previous post that the most important thing I've learned about being a mom is that you have to think beyond your original plan. Babies don't always do things according to plan so you have to be able to roll with the punches when the changes come (and they will come). I hope some of you found this post helpful!

I've been a bit removed from the blogging world for the past month. I've been trying to thoroughly enjoy my maternity leave as it comes to an end. We also hosted my family over on Christmas Eve (about 40 people) for a nice homemade dinner. Needless to say, I was quite busy while also running around with Patsy! The Christmas season started before Thanksgiving when I took Miss Patsy Rose to go see Santa at Macy's.

Apparently I forgot to ask them to zoom in. Patsy looks so tiny! Oh well, new mom mistakes! I'll know better for next year! We also christened our baby girl in early December and she received lots of really cute Christmas clothes that she was able to get a lot of use of during the month of December.





In case you can't tell, our girl is pretty happy. We are pretty lucky we have such a wonderfully happy and adorably baby girl!

Her weight gain had been a little slow so I was nervous how things would go between pediatrician appointments. Turns out I was worried for nothing and she is gaining weight just fine, along her own curve. (She is in the 5th percentile for weight.) For those of you that don't know (I used to not know at all), all things baby are compared to these percentile rankings. These are data sets put together on a global basis, looking at babies' weights across the board. So, it is basically a system for moms to go crazy comparing their babies to others. :)

After hearing that our little Patsy Rose is doing just fine, I was able to stop worrying so much and enjoy the rest of my maternity leave! We hosted Christmas Eve at our house with my entire family so there was lots of planning, prepping, and cleaning that needed to be done. It was really wonderful to host Christmas in our home as a new family. We were able to enjoy the evening with our little girl without needing to run all over town at all hours of the night. :) Patsy's dress was PRETTY adorable. Carter's has some of the best baby clothes out there, seriously.



Now that Christmas has passed and the new year is starting, I have lots of big goals for 2014. I hope you're ready to follow along for the ride! :)

Life as a new mom has kept me pretty busy. Patsy isn't sleeping as much during the day as she once did, so her attention consumes most of my days. Plus, the end of my maternity leave is in sight so I'm really trying to make the most of our time left together! As the holiday season is upon us, I thought I would put together a gift guide for your favorite runner(s)! I'm not super fancy with images, photoshop, and nice links... So I created a Pinterest board with my top ideas! All gifts are $30 or less--many of which I've talked about on this blog before!

And just for good measure, I've included some fun holiday photos from previous years. (A full post full of Patsy's Christmas clothes will be following!)

Pepper all dressed up for the holiday season and Mokena's Pet of the Week in 2012

Breakfast with Santa in 2011

Christmas Eve Cookie Exchange 2011

Blogger Brunch and Jingle Bell 5k 2012

Run-ning? What's that? Oh yeah, the reason why I created this blog in the first place! So, let's talk about running for a change. I got the chance to run with the FNRC last night. Looking at the calendar, I hadn't had the chance to run in almost 2 weeks. Oops! I guess that's what happens when you're busy working part time while being a mom. (I don't know how I'll do it when I'm back at work full time. I guess I'll have to figure it out!)

Bathroom Selfie (the only area with a light)

Amanda and her boyfriend Derek slowed it down and hung back at my pace during the run. I have been feeling that my pace is about 11:00-11:30 these days. I don't really like to focus too much on pace on my Garmin at this point, but I thought it was funny that my average pace for the run was 11:09... Right on target with how I was feeling. Little by little, I'm getting back into shape. I'm enjoying the journey along the way! I'm trying to get back into the habit of taking photos of myself (instead of just the baby). I finally got the chance to test out my Oiselle Flyte top on a run. (I bought it while I was pregnant and I've been looking forward to wearing it!)


And just for good measure, here is an adorable Patsy photo of her in her pjs... complete with bunny slippers.

I said before that I thought I was having a boy, but Patricia has totally rocked my world! I absolutely love picking out her outfits pajamas included) every day.

A little while ago, Kim had sent out an email to her blogger friends about a weekend workout class she would be hosting. The date of the class happened to coincide with my clearance to work out, so I was in and excited about it. I haven't attended a strength class in a long time and this was the perfect opportunity. I made the over an hour trek to Essential Fitness with plenty of time to spare. Bobbi had so graciously agree to watch baby Patsy while I worked out. As Bobbi is a fellow mom, it total put me at ease leaving Patsy with her. :)

Pre-class photo... Complete with Bobbi and baby L to R: Bobbi, me, Erin, Rachel, Maggie, Alyssa, Anne, Melanie and Amy

Thanks so much for all your kind words and support on my post from last week. It really is great to open myself up and be honest with all of you, and to hear all your kind words of encouragement and support!

It really is quite crazy how quickly the time goes by. Pregnancy and raising an infant is kind of a weird time vortex. Things seem to go extremely slowly yet very fast all at the same time. It really is hard to explain. I've been trying to run 3 days a week but it seems like 1 or 2 days a week seems to be much more normal. I'd like to get back to my 3x per week runs, but that will take some time. Patsy isn't really on a routine just yet and I'm doing some part time work for my job while out on maternity leave (this will allow me to take more leave time off).

I've been able to meet up with the folks on my Thursday night group a few times. The group is so amazing and I love that there are some people willing to hang out and go my speed. Definitely a "pay it forward" type of thing; no runner left behind! It is starting to get a little too cold to bring Patsy out on runs in the BOB so I've been out with Pepper. I'm hoping to make this a part of my weekly routine. I had to wipe the dust off my head lamp and find my reflective stuff all over again!

While some of my friends were running the Naperville Marathon on Sunday, I was going for a leisurely jog around my neighborhood. My SIL came by to watch Patsy and I went out for another run with Pepper!
The temps were beautiful! I had a lot of fun out there in some nice weather. I also loved wearing all my running gear again. I have lots of stuff that I still need to take the tags off of. Oops! I think I have a bit of a shopping problem. I only went for a mile but it was a fun mile!
This is what a mother runner looks like. I wanted to post this photo also as a follow-up to my post from last week. Looking at this photo, all I can see is my little pouch. I totally get why many moms hide behind flowy tops and capri pants. I'm working on getting my confidence back and posting this photo is taking me down the right road. :)

And because she is smiling all the time, I just had to post my new favorite photo of my little angel, Miss Patsy Rose. She was kicking up a storm (the hubs calls it "riding a bicycle") and smiling like a big ham for the camera. I just had to share this photo with all of you. I hope it makes you smile just like it makes me smile all the time.

I have previously spoken a few times about my experiences and issues with food (here and here). I talked about how I dealt with these thoughts and ideas during the beginning and end of my pregnancy. Now that our little nugget is here and I have one of those "post-baby bodies", I thought I would give an update about how I'm feeling and coping with some of these new thoughts, feelings, and body images.