Poor Baby

The tears are over. The pain is gone.

Oh, and Noelle is doing fine, too.

Yes, today was the day of the immunizations at the doctor's office. My sweet girl will be two months old on Tuesday (unbelievable), and today was her well-baby visit.

She did great for the first part. She weighs just under 11 lbs (around 50th percentile) and measures almost 24 inches (which is like the 85th percentile)! She laid on her belly and lifted her head up for the doctor, showing off all her baby skills.

The poor baby didn't know what was coming, though. I got her all cozy and warm, but then I had to lay her down on the table and watch the nurse viciously jab (OK...not really...she was very gentle) a needle in my baby's chubby little thighs not once...not twice...but three times. It's honestly difficult for me to write about because I am recalling the memory of seeing her sweet face go from wide eyed and adorable to bright red, mouth gaping open, trying to cry but no sound coming out. It seriously was several seconds before the poor thing took a gasp of air.

When she was all done, Noelle just looked at me and threw her arms out, screaming, tears coming down (does this rip your heart out yet?), and I picked her up and held her tighter than ever before. She calmed down pretty quickly, and the nurse did give her some pretty awesome silver holographic band-aids.

I got her home and fed her and gave her the first dose of infant Tylenol. She has now been sleeping for close to two hours.

Noelle won't remember this day...but I will as the day that I officially became a mom. No, I know I birthed the child two months ago...but when you cry because your child is in pain, and you would do anything to take it away (the thought flashed through my head-- THE KID NEEDS AN ICE CREAM CONE!)...you have truly arrived to Parenthood.

30 Day Shred - Day 15

Before Noelle's 2 month (TWO MONTHS!!!!) doctor's appointment today, I took advantage of her snoozing in her swing and did the Shred. I didn't do anything yesterday because I spent a day getting beautified (hair color, cut, eyebrow wax, and facial). There was no time to work out in between all of that strenuous beautifying.

So...in a nutshell...I am halfway through the Shred. Level 2 is kicking my butt...I don't know when I will be venturing into Level 3 territory. Stay tuned.

30 Day Shred - Day 14

I took yesterday off, but in my "off time" I did manage to go to the gym and run for 20 minutes straight on the treadmill! I bought one of those nifty Nike Plus things that go in your shoes (in my new Livestrong Nikes!) to calculate your distance, pace, calories, etc. It was pretty cool and motivating to see that I did 2.71 miles total (including my 5 min. warm up and cool down) and all in all at under an 11 min. pace as an average. When I was running, it said I was at an under 9 min. pace. This is good for me...considering "speedy" was never an adjective anyone used to describe me.

But, I put Noelle in her bouncy chair and managed to simultaneously complete day 14 of the Shred AND win Mother of the Year because I did in fact hear (yes, hear) Noelle have a blowout, but did I stop the DVD to change her? No. I was on the last circuit and thought that surely 2 more minutes wouldn't kill her. I know. Report me to CPS immediately.

On that note (the note of poop), Noelle's bowels have been moving quite nicely this week. In fact, since Saturday, I think she has had 3 massive poopy blowouts! Yay for her! I think this is one of those times when they say, "You know you're a mom when....you celebrate your kid's disgusting poops!"

Two cheers for busting a move and busting a diaper!

Regretnancy

This is my new word...regretnancy. It's mine...you can't steal it. It does NOT mean that I regret getting pregnant. No way. It DOES mean that I regret the daily Twix bars, bowls of ice cream, and McCafe Frappes I had in my 8th-9th months of pregnancy. Oh yeah, they tasted great at the time, but now I am left with the aftermath.

I gained about 40 lbs with Noelle. I lost 20 right away. Now I am left with the final 20. What sucks is that prior to getting pregnant, I had lost about 20 lbs over the course of 6 months or so by running and eating better. It took so long to get to that point, and now here I am, back at square one.

I wish I would have done better while pregnant. I now am less than a week from coming back to school and even my fattest of the fat pants barely button...and they look like shit on me. I guess sitting in sweat pants for 8 weeks helped me to ignorantly believe that I wasn't the size of a small cow.

I have made changes, especially over the last 2 weeks. I have been working out regularly and have finally started eating better (which is 95% the battle for me). In fact, I joined Weight Watchers online last week. I really love it so far and think it is going to pay off. I have lost 2 lbs or so in the first 5 days. I guess that's a start.

So, all my pregnant friends, learn from my mistakes. The weight is a million times harder to get off than to put on, especially now that I barely have time to brush my teeth.

Tasty Tuesday - Angelic Tomato Pasta

Yes, I made up the name of this recipe. Call me Rachael Ray!

I whipped this up the other night when I wanted something light and pasta-y (new word...goes down with "regretnancy"). I am trying to watch what I put in my mouth, so I combined a little a this, a little a that...and....Angelic Tomato Pasta was born! Enjoy.

Angelic Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 of a box of angel hair pasta (make it whole wheat if you want to be extra good)

2. 2 roma tomatoes, chopped

3. 1 garlic clove, chopped or one tablespoon of the already minced kind (which is what I have, and I don't measure it. I think on this one, I took the tip of my chopping knife, stuck it in the jar, and flung a heap into the pan...it looked like a tablespoon).

4. 1 tablespoon of olive oil (again...didn't measure)

5. 1 tablespoon of butter (I DID measure this one)

6. Lots of herbs...oregano, basil, garlic powder, parmesan cheese)

Process:

1. Boil pasta until done

2. In a sautee pan, heat oil and butter on medium heat.

3. Add garlic to sautee pan and let it roast a bit until slightly brown.

4. Add tomatoes...cook for a few minutes.

5. Add your first round of sprinkling oregano, basil, and garlic powder into the pan.

6. Drain pasta and then add to sautee pan.

7. Mix all the juices and tomatoes together with pasta.

8. Add another round of sprinkling oregano, basil, and garlic powder.

9. Cap it off with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper if you like.

It was pretty freakin' good and good for you, too. Enjoy!

30 Day Shred - Day 13

The wagon was almost broken down and my lumpy behind was half-hanging off of it, but I did climb back on and got it going again. Yes, I completed my 13th day of the Shred. I was simply too sore after jogging on Saturday to do the Shred over the weekend. I was proud of myself for having the strength to turn on the DVD and do the workout today. I have Zumba tonight as well, so today is a big victory in the workout department.

Also a victory is the fact that I have lost 2.5 lbs this week! Finally, the scale is moving in the right direction!!! Only about 37.5 lbs to go...HA!

Taking a Break

I am sad to say that I have taken a day off from the Shred today. OK, I am not that sad. I am tired. I didn't have time for it today. I did, however, get my butt to the gym and ran on the treadmill for the first time in a year. I was just going to start the Cool Runnings Couch to 5K plan again (if you are a new runner, this is a great plan), which consists of alternating 60 sec of running with 90 sec of walking for 20 minutes, but after the first minute I was feeling good and decided to keep it going for as long as I could. I ended up jogging for 16 minutes without stopping. Not too bad for my first time out...considering I had a baby and all.

Maybe it was my NEW running shoes that gave me the extra kick. Yes, I broke down and got some nice, new running shoes. Hey...if it motivates me and keeps me going, it's worth the money.

Jillian and I will continue our love-hate relationship tomorrow.