baby weight

So motherhood is slowly coming together. My days are pretty much the same as it's summer and lucky for me I get to enjoy it with one kid...my kid. We decided to start supplementing with formula at night as I don't produce enough milk by the end of the day and usually around 6 baby J starts his grumpy baby routine and has baby meltdowns and wants nothing to do but eat. And, I'm sorry, but I just can't have a baby attached to me for 4 hours non-stop. So the hubs and I decided to start supplementing by giving him one bottle of formula for baby J's feeding before bed. We've been doing it now for a little over a week and it has made things a lot easier. I'm not feeling like a bad mom (I got over the breast feeding guilt), baby J goes to bed with a full belly which seems to help him sleep more soundly. We average anywhere from 5-7 hours of straight sleep at night now (which let's be honest makes for a happy family of 3) and the hubs gets to help out with the feedings now.

Breast feeding was and is something I want to do for my babies but it's super hard. I'm beginning to see why some women don't stick with it. It's extremely time consuming--having to plan my day and errands around when he needs to eat and then the time it takes for him to get full and content. Plus the worry that he's not getting enough (seriously sometimes I think we girls should be equipped with measuring cups) and putting on enough weight. Which is ironic and brings me to the point of this post. While I'm trying to pack the pounds on my little meatloaf, I myself am trying to shed the baby weight like someone would shed a ski jacket in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Now I know the saying, "9 months on, 9 months off" but it doesn't make me feel any better when I look in the mirror and still see a soft middle section with a few more rolls than I'd like. I know, I know...I just had a baby less than 2 months ago but nonetheless. Now I've never had a rockin' physique anyway and have always struggled with a healthy body image (my freshman year of college was horrible...I all but stopped eating and went from a size 6 to a size 0--we do not want a repeat of those days) but I would like to be back to my pre-baby weight by the time school starts back up in August. I gained 34 pounds with baby J and so far I have lost 20 pounds since having him. I've got 14 more pounds to go plus an extra 5 just cuz I want to. Breast feeding has helped and I work out 2-3 times a week at my parents on their Bowflex Treadclimber and have decided to add walking with baby J in his carseat and stroller on the days I don't go over to my parents.

I was lucky to be able to get back into my regular jeans within a week of having baby J but would still like to lose the 14 pounds at the least and not have some of my jeans leave horrible imprints on my tummy...that Magnum ice cream bar I just ate probably isn't helping but here's to getting back into shape the healthy way.

Me shortly after my 21st birthday and my inspiration..