Week 3, whoopee

Weight (in jammies) 222.8

I'm probably not going to lose much more weight just on my own; I'm not breastfeeding anymore (more on that in a moment), so I'm going to have to start working out.  I'm going to start easy, with those Leslie Sansone walking workouts.  It's going to be too hot outside to take Ian for a walk, plus I need to get a new tire for the jogging stroller, so I'll just stick to the videos in the house. 

Breastfeeding is going to be a no-go this time around.  Ian never has figured out how to latch--he can't even latch to a bottle well--although I must admit I haven't spent nearly the amount of time trying that I should have.  Even with pumping during the day, the amount I've produced has decreased over time.  The last time I pumped, on Thursday, I pumped probably less than an ounce the entire day.  It hurts my breasts to pump, and it just isn't producing anything.  So I'm giving up.  I was able to give him a little each day over the course of three weeks; that will have to be enough.  Hopefully it is enough to give him the stuff he needs for his immune system.  I have ordered some probiotic drops that the pediatrician recommended, which are supposedly the bacteria that are found in breastmilk.  He recommended them as a solution for colic (which Ian seems to have a problem with), so we're going to give them a try.  We got the Enfamil Gentlease formula that Brendan had, but it doesn't seem to have helped Ian with his tummy problems.  He cries a lot, and squirms and arches his back.  He strains like he's trying to poop really, really hard.  Eventually he manages to poop or fart, and then he calms down for a while.  Rubbing his tummy and pumping his legs seems to help a bit.  But I had really hoped that the formula change would help.  Makes me a bit sad, since I think if Ian were breastfeeding he wouldn't have this problem.  It's that feeling of failure that I had when I was struggling to breastfeed Brendan.  I know that formula can be just as good (for the most part) as breastmilk, but still, it's disappointing.

It's been a rough couple of days.  Didn't get much sleep the other night because Brendan threw up a couple of times, necessitating several jammie and bed changes.  I kept him home from the sitter yesterday, which was probably a good thing for her because he threw up a few more times that morning.  He didn't eat or drink much, other than water, the rest of the day yesterday, and so we thought he was OK.  But then Ross put him in the car to run an errand this morning, and Brendan ended up throwing up all over inside the car.  Ross doesn't have a good stomach for such things (I think only mommies have the stomach to deal with all the bodily functions of children).  We'll definitely need to get the car detailed now!  That's the only time he's thrown up today, so far (fingers crossed).  I really hope he gets past this quickly.  No fun.  I also hope he doesn't give whatever it is to Ian, Ross, or me. 

Anyway, I hope Brendan feels better soon, Ian's tummy stops hurting him, and my tummy gets smaller.  Soon!

Day 176 - 6/25/09

Weigh-in: 198.2

Slowly. Very slowly.

I was reading an article online about celebrities who lose their pregnancy weight very quickly. A number of people complain about magazines posting such stories, titled things like "50 lbs in 6 wks! How DID she do it?!" Because it's rarely weight lost in a normal-person way. Instead, the celebrities get trainers and chefs on their staff to take control of the diet and exercise. They can afford to spend both the money and the time each day to nothing but working out. Then they appear in public six or eight weeks after the delivery, looking fabulous, so that the paparazzi can take photos and write stories titled "She lost the weight in 6 weeks! Read how!"

Anyway, I found it entertaining--I looked up an article that gave away the "secrets" of such skinny people as Uma Thurman and Debra Messing. At least Messing's "secret" was a normal-person move: she just breastfed. A lot. Not, since she's got a superskinny frame anyway, I'm sure she has a better than average metabolism to help her out. But still. The best part of the article was at the end, when the author decided to state that losing the baby weight takes time. "Remember, it took nine months to put it on." Great. It's taken me eleven years to put my current weight on; is it going to take that long to remove? Crap.