Post Baby Body 0-3 Months

Jude is just past the 3 month mark so I thought I would do a post focusing on my post baby body (tummy).

Although it's pointing out the obvious (and is easier said than done), try never compare yourself to other mums as pregnancy, gaining and loosing baby weight has it's different challenges depending on each individual and how many pregnancies you have had. We all have our own insecurities after childbirth and whilst it may not be weight that personally bothers me, my fitness, muscle tone (specifically the ASS area!) and over all health is something I need to work on in order to feel like 'me' again.

To date I have done 3 workouts, one at around 4 weeks (not recommended) when I was itching to get active again, This workout lasted 45 minutes and of course was a complete fail. Attempting this a month after giving birth was never going to end well! The other two were 5 minute express workouts comprising of 5 different exercises, lasting 60 seconds each. These faired a lot better but to be honest I have had no motivation to keep up a consistent workout routine.

On the diet front, well there has been no diet, not unless we are talking about everything that is NOT good for you. Hot chocolates (my craving after the pregnancy), hot cross buns and biscuits have been my weakness in recent months, despite my best intentions of eating super healthy as I am breastfeeding and wanted to provide myself and the baby with nutritious foods. Don't get me wrong, I have concocted some home made soups and gone for healthier alternatives such as wholemeal over white pasta, bread and rice, however my diet is nothing I am proud of at the moment. This is something I plan to tackle in the New Year to get myself fit and healthy for myself and my children.

DISCLAIMER: These pictures do not show me 'letting it all hang out' (You know what I'm talking about). These were taken with me using what stomach muscles I had left after childbirth!  

And that moves me nicely onto my

TOP TIP: Hold in your stomach in for short periods of time (to begin with) as this helps re-train your muscles. Pick something you do regularly to act as a reminder to work that tummy. Doing the dishes prompted me to engage my stomach muscles through out the day. 

Here is my progress:

24 HOURS POST BABY

1 WEEK POST BABY

2 WEEKS POST BABY

1 MONTH POST BABY

3 MONTH POST BABY BODY

Lou xxx

Pregnancy Fashion & The Next Chapter

So it's been two months since I had Jude and already it feels like I was never pregnant. Anyone who has read my weekly pregnancy blogs or watched my YouTube updates, will remember that I was not someone who enjoyed the whole human growing process despite how much I love the little bundle I got in the end. Hence why it comes as a surprise that I look back at my baby bump pictures with fond memories and think to myself that I would quite happily do it all over again. This is proof that pictures can be misleading and don't always reflect the reality of life!

One of the reasons I blogged throughout my pregnancy, other than to have something nice to look back on, was because I wanted to have the realities my what I went through in black and white. Something to remind myself that I SHOULD NOT and most definitely WILL NOT have any more babies in the near or distant future, regardless of any kind of broodiness that washes over me.

Before I became pregnant, I had already planned how I was going to style myself during a pregnancy and had grand ideas of how, the third time round, I would make a concerted effort to look and feel fabulous from the beginning right through to the delivery. This however went completely out of the window when reality, along with morning sickness and pregnancy related eczema, hit hard. At the beginning, a good day meant I was wearing something, anything, other than pyjamas. In the middle, it was if my were hands not weeping from scratching them through to the flesh. Looking glamorous was far from my mind when just managing to conceal the angry red patches on my face felt like a feat. I was thankful for the the latter stages in my pregnancy, once these symptoms disappeared, that I felt like myself. I had a grace period of about 4 or 5 weeks where I was able to put on a face of make-up, dress up and feel good about myself.

It is pictures from this time that make me think that, for a moment, maybe I do enjoy carrying a baby. There is something so amazing about growing a mini-me in the belly and being able to nurture and protect them from the world they will enter. There is also that empowering feeling of knowing that your mind and body are strong enough to get through a labour and delivery and come out the other side alive!

Being pregnant is such a special time in a woman's life and I am so grateful it is something I got to experience. So whilst I look back at my baby bump pictures with fondness, I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows. I am in fact happy with my lot and am ready for the next chapter, what ever that may be.

I will finish with pictures of my style during pregnancy taken from my Instagram.

Just pregnant  *  12 weeks

Top to Bottom L-R: 

17 weeks   *   23 weeks

25 weeks   *   28 weeks

28 weeks   *   29 weeks

34 weeks   *   34 weeks

37 weeks   *   38 weeks   *   38 weeks

39 weeks

xxx

Review: My Skip Hop Duo Luxe Aztec Special Edition Baby Changing / Diaper Bag

I recently posted a review of my new changing bag on my YouTube channel and thought I would post some pictures on my blog to give you a closer look. For a detailed description of the bag, take a look at my video review here.

You can purchase the bag here.

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 37

Full term and ready to go, well almost! Technically everything is all set and baby is fully developed so I could go into labour at any time now. However, despite being uncomfortable at times, I would be quite happy to go right up to my due date. I am conscious of spending quality time with my two children as I know it will be a case of trial and error getting the balance right in looking after three kids,  making sure no one feels left out so I want to make the most of the time I have left as a mother of two. 

Source: Kaitlyn Hibbs Via Pinterest

As it is the school holidays, any kind of exercise, walking or otherwise has gone out of the window and I am starting to think about how my body will be after the birth. The common theme I have noticed with mothers, new and old, is the battle many face to loose their 'mummy tummy' after having a child/children, although this isn't the only area I find affected by pregnancy. As well as the boobs, the bum can go south too and I would like to start tackling this area again now even although I will be giving birth shortly, and what better way to do this than with a good old fashioned squat. The way I see it is, if I begin this squat challenge now, I will be a good portion of the way through it by the time the baby arrives. This way it might not seem so daunting starting from scratch with my whole body in a few weeks time, assuming I have a safe, natural delivery. The great thing about this exercise is that I can brake it up to into two or three sessions to be done during the day once I get further along in the challenge. This means I have no excuse to not complete it as I don't believe anyone can honestly say they don't have five minutes to spare once,twice or three times a day, even if this means squatting whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, dinner to finish cooking or just before bed. At least, even if my tummy doesn't go back to normal, I will have a great looking, perky butt!

My baby changing bag arrived the other day and I absolutely love it so please keep an eye out for a review of that along with some other videos I have planned. 

I shall leave it there and end with my bump pic at 37 weeks. I will hopefully be writing another pregnancy blog next week and not giving birth quite yet. Can you tell I'm stalling?!

xxx

Pregnancy Diaries: Week 36

Let the insomnia begin. At this point I am well and truly knackered. Night after night now I find myself lying awake thinking of things I need to do, followed by a couple of trips to the fridge, to feed the baby of course! The most frustrating part is knowing that I should be getting as much sleep as possible right now as in a months time I'll have a beautiful but hungry/dirty/windy/restless bundle of joy keeping me up all hours. On the plus side, the complete silence I get at 3am has allowed me to get more organised for the baby's arrival with the help of my many, handy lists I have created. I love a good old list, don't you?

I have left a lot of things to the last minute but am not stressing as everything will get done although I think I may be taking for granted, the fact my other two arrived around their due date and am assuming this baby will too. That's not always the case and I did have a scare a few days ago when I thought I was in labour, even convincing the husband with my bouncing away on the pilates ball. Thank goodness it was a false alarm and was so relieved when everything calmed down before bed and the bonus is I now have hospital bags packed!

Here is where the magic almost happened :/

As the kids are on their school holidays for the summer, we all marched in one by one for my check-up with the midwife to see if the baby was playing ball and I am happy to report that it is no longer breech. However, the head is not engaged yet which means there is a chance is could still move back so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays put. Please, please, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the weather getting warmer, I am feeling the need for new clothes but I can hardly justify going on a shopping spree for the time I have left although I did buy a couple of dresses in the H&M sale to get me through. I am now focusing my sights on all the things I'll be able to wear in a few weeks. Yay. Topshop, River Island and eBay, watch out.

The belly at 36 weeks

That's about it for this week but keep an eye out for some videos coming up with my baby purchases from the last few weeks.

xxx

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