First was the OB. While I was super excited to introduce Sofia to them, let's be honest. I wanted to see how much I weighed. For the most part, I'm back in my regular clothes but it's hard to determine because the regular clothes I'm wearing these days are stretchy yoga pants, loose sweats and my loosest pair of jeans. My stomach is pretty much flat again but my hips are just a little too big for my skinny jeans. I thought I would be more upset about this, but you know what? I'm 35 years old and I just gave birth. It's right that I have hips - I'm a woman now! I've earned this body and I love it!
Plus, I'm only six pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. *At the time of this posting, I'm calling it five pounds because it feels like I'm nursing 24-7 and I have to have lost another pound since last week.* That was fun news! I've done absolutely nothing so that's very encouraging. I wonder how much more weight I can lose by doing nothing.
Of course, those six pounds have made a home on my belly and walking around the block gets me winded so I know I still have a ways to go. But I have a cute baby so let's focus on that!
This is Marcel, my super fabulous Blood Dude.
And yes, the baby's dress is way too big but she's so tiny
nothing fits her!
Katie, my OB's medical assistant.
She's one of those sweet bubbly people that you just want to hug all the time.
The one, the only Dr. Michelle Heintges
When she walked in the room, I gave her the biggest bear hug and thanked her over and over again. Yes, I did the work, I had the baby, but we were a team. We worked together and it was with her help that I had a wonderful birth experience and for that I'm eternally grateful. Dr. Heintges is the real deal - she genuinely cares about her patients. You can't fake her enthusiasm and her sincerity. And she's not just about the medicine. She listened to my concerns, laughed with me about all the crazy things that happen with pregnancy and really made me feel like I was a person, not just another chart on the door. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a great doctor!
Next, we went to see my RE, Dr. Noel Peng. Dr. Peng was the one who diagnosed my low ovarian reserve, and ultimately my clotting disorder. He took lots of blood which didn't make him one of my favorite people and we were not friends at all the day he did my endometrial biopsy. However, he found the problem that was standing in the way of me becoming a mother so I completely forgive him.
He said the baby was too tiny to hold.
I guess he's only comfortable with making babies, not holding them!
That's cool, I'll hold her.
I'll hold her every day for the rest of my life.
We went over to Labor and Delivery so I could visit Angie, my amazing and awesome nurse who was with me the day I gave birth but she wan't there. I was so disappointed but I left her a note thanking her for being so wonderful.
After that, we visited Dr. Weiss, my Maternal Fetal-Medicine specialist. I saw him once a month for ultrasounds to determine that my clotting factors weren't causing growth restriction. Thankfully, the Heparin kept that at bay and she grew perfectly. I was so thankful to have been able to carry her to term and super grateful to Dr. Weiss for keeping a close eye on her. One of these days, I'm going to put all of her ultrasound pictures in a baby book. A few days before she was born, we got a final ultrasound of her little face and it's precious! You could see her fat little cheeks clear as day! Looking back, I'm glad we didn't do the 3D ultrasound - we knew her gender, her weight and in the end the day she'd be born. Not seeing her features clearly allowed us to 'meet' her right after she was born instead of 'matching' her to pictures we'd already seen.
Dr. Weiss and my Itty-Bitty
I'm so grateful to all of my doctors for all that they did to get my daughter to my arms. I know that like any profession, there are good ones and bad ones and I feel incredibly fortunate to not only have good doctors, but great ones! I'm not quite ready to do this again, but if/when I do I know that I'll have the best medical team in the city!
DUDE. Need I remind you that you JUST had a baby??? Girl I wanna smack you upside the head! lol It took months for my hips to get back to "non-birthing hips" status. Especially after baby #3. And 6 lbs away from pre-baby weight? I'm 20 lbs away from pre-baby weight from 3 babys ago. lol
ReplyDeleteyes i still have belly pudge, annnnnnd I'm not too positive that will ever go away. Right now my focus is eating healthy, and doing my walk training for the Walk for the Cure. If I happen to lose weight doing that, it's a bonus.
Don't be too judgmental of your post-birth, (only 6lbs away from pre-pregnancy weight) body.
From where I'm sitting, you're GORGEOUS. Love your body and enjoy that absolutely cute little baby girl!
Um, you look amazing - so put together! I could only manage to do my hair or makeup for the first three months, never both ha! Your girl is so adorable!
ReplyDeleteHas it been 6 wks already? Wow. I'll bet they love when happy endings (or beginnings!) walk thru the door to remind the good side of what they do. LOL at the baby being too small for the RE.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great blog post! I plan on becoming an Ob/Gyn myself (in my 3rd year of med school right now hehe :)) and can't wait to have patients like you and help bring life into the world!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, hate you for being back to normal weight wise---that is disguisting and abnormal. LOL ;). Secondly, this post made me tear up! The team that brought Sofia to you safely! Awesome! Do you know that on Aidan's birthday I still send his RE a card reminding him of my gratitude and I let him know that I'm praying for him on that day? Thank you God for this team that helped Sofia make her way to her mommy and daddy.
ReplyDeleteAwwww!!! She is too cute and a happy dance for losing the baby weight! I can't wait till I am only five pounds away. I'm getting there bit by bit.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm going to post pics. I promise. I'm even going to finally post my labor story :-)
P.S. It is amazing how close your are with your medical staff. It's great to see medical staff that are caring and build relationships with their patients.
ReplyDeleteYou look great!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about my doctors and nurses. I wish I woulda took pics like you did. My nurses and obs were awesome and I would not have made it without them.
They rock! You and Sofia are cute. Thats all I got.
ReplyDeleteAll that smiling and Sofia cuteness is just too much! I love her facial expressions.
ReplyDeleteI can fit into all my pre-preg clothes except for one skirt that is just tight. It zips up but is way too uncomfortable. I'm not doing anything about it at the moment but I'm really intrigued by barefoot running so I've started going barefoot a lot to build up the bottoms of my feet. Running barefoot is really cool--totally different than with shoes and you feel really light and springy when you run. Maybe I'll start running for fun and for the sheer joy of it rather than slogging through running to be more fit.
Yay for good doctors! :)
ReplyDeleteGood work on the weight loss without trying! LOL I wish I could do that. hahahhahahahahha
Sofia is just precious. I love it. EEK.
Yay for amazign doctors! yay for amazing babies! yay for 5 lbs:) Yay for liiiiiiiife
ReplyDeleteWhat a great closing of the loop for you and Baby Sofia to meet her mommy's "helpers"!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story and glad you're doing so well post baby with losing the weight! I will give you another HELPFUL HINT (it's old school, one that my mom taught me, but it TOTALLY worked and I was back into my pre-pregnancy clothes even after my fourth within just 3 weeks) - those girdle panties. Not sexy (oh LAWD how NOT sexy they are!), but seriously, it'll help shift your pelvis bones back after birth instead of allowing them to stay pushed out and they will help flatten the tummy.
:)
Don't forget that those 6 lbs could be in your boobies! Yeah for breastfeeding!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that those 6 lbs could be in your boobies! Yeah for breastfeeding!
ReplyDeleteAwwww!!! She is too cute and a happy dance for losing the baby weight! I can't wait till I am only five pounds away. I'm getting there bit by bit.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm going to post pics. I promise. I'm even going to finally post my labor story :-)
What a great closing of the loop for you and Baby Sofia to meet her mommy's "helpers"!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story and glad you're doing so well post baby with losing the weight! I will give you another HELPFUL HINT (it's old school, one that my mom taught me, but it TOTALLY worked and I was back into my pre-pregnancy clothes even after my fourth within just 3 weeks) - those girdle panties. Not sexy (oh LAWD how NOT sexy they are!), but seriously, it'll help shift your pelvis bones back after birth instead of allowing them to stay pushed out and they will help flatten the tummy.
:)