Normalcy (or what it now consists of)

The human body is an amazing thing.
It knows what it can do, and what it can't do.
But boy the things it can do are pretty amazing.

I am about 16 days postpartum right now and had major abdominal surgery. I braved what every pregnant woman fears and took a series of postpartum photos.

First, my 38 week pregnancy picture. This was taken the day Kesha was born (Sunday, September 5th)

This first postpartum picture is a day after my c-section. I most certainly went home wearing maternity clothes! (yes, I felt as horrible as I look)

One week later...

Two weeks postpartum...

Thanks in part to a horrible stomach bug that had me sick as a dog for 4 days, incapable of eating anything and drinking very limited liquids, I am already back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I still have the infamous "dough stomach" (nice mental picture, right?), but won't be able to do much about that until I get clearance from my OB to workout which he won't give me until my appointment next month. A couple of pairs of my normal pants fit me again (hooray!) but are still uncomfortable to wear due to the incision site's continued sensitivity, so I am currently wearing super baggy pregnancy pants (which are the most comfortable thing in the world by the way).

I can't wait to start yoga, join a gym, take Kesh for long walks, just be plain active again! Once I get the green light to work out I am hoping to walk a lot (with Kesh), take yoga classes, and I would love to start spinning! I told myself I would run a full marathon before I was 30. Well, I'm almost 28 and have yet to do it, so my training will start very slowly in 3 weeks with walks around the block, to downtown, and the like. I am so amazed at how much it still bothers me to walk (but as my mother would say "you are recovering from major abdominal surgery, Becca, slow down!").

On another matter, we have discovered that leaving the house has become a bit more time consuming than it used to be. Kesha has to be fed which always seems to take longer than usual when we're trying to get ready to go, thus pushing our departure times back significantly. I can't shower until she is fed so she doesn't get hungry while "mom" is in the shower (although I have stuck to my "leave me alone when I'm in the shower this is my time" thing and it is great to have those 10 or so minutes all to myself most days). I have also found that going places with a baby is much harder than without. You have to think about where you're going, how you're going to be carrying her, will there be locations to change her, how will breastfeeding be, etc. But I am determined to keep my super active, leaving the house all the time life I had prior to her arrival. In fact, today we bought a Kunga (the Ecuadorian version of a Moby Wrap). I can't WAIT to use it! I think it will make my life so much easier when we leave the house! I am thrilled! I'll let you know how it works out for us.

Well, nap time... I'm beat!