Schneider Baby Story: 6 Weeks Postpartum

Today I had my 6 week postpartum appointment at the OB and all looked well. I'm getting back on birth control...against Jared's wishes...oops :). He would be happy to get pregnant again right away but I told him I want some time alone with Layne to make sure he gets enough TLC before another baby comes along (and a little break for me in between would be nice!). It's also funny how he says he's "ready for another", but when I came home from my appointment after only being gone two hours he handed me Layne the second I walked through the door and said, "Your turn...I need a break...I'll clean the kitchen." Ha! I asked him if he thinks he'd be able to handle being a stay at home dad like I am right now and he flat out said, "No." It's a little harder than it looks, huh? :)

Not to mention...I want my body back before I go about ruining it again! I was cleared to workout by the doc, which is good since I already have been. I was also super excited to see that I had lost 3 lbs since I weighed myself last week, which is a lot considering I hadn't lost any weight in the week or two prior to that. So, a fun 12 more pounds to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. My goal was to get there by the time we go home at the end of the month, since I'll likely be in a swimsuit at the cabin, but I doubt that will happen. Oh well...good thing I'll only be in front of family...but it's going to be weird shopping for my first one-piece swimsuit since middle school :( I will also have to do some major clothes shopping even if I do lose the weight, because let's face it...these new boobs of mine don't fit into any of my old shirts and I don't think they're going to until I'm done breastfeeding!

With my doctor's permission, Jared and I have been restricting carbs and loosely following the "Power Protein" diet since Monday. I'm trying to stay close to 55 net grams per day, 1,800 calories and 100 grams of protein. I wish I would've weighed myself the day I started so I know whether the 3lbs lost was attributed to that. But, I am already feeling a little leaner, if that's possible, so I think it's working at least a little. What I've found in restricting carbs is that it's hard to actually get enough calories, so it's been interesting to see what I can eat that will give me enough healthy calories but stay under the 55 grams of carbs. Since I'm breastfeeding I need to eat at least 1,800 calories per day, since you burn roughly 300-500 calories per day from breastfeeding alone. I'm also trying to get most of my carbs from fruits & vegetables vs. breads and grains. For breakfast I've been having either a fruit & protein shake with coconut milk, eggs or a piece of light wheat toast with organic peanut butter. For lunch I'll do a salad with chicken breast, nuts & fruits, and for dinner we'll have a protein like fish, pork, chicken or beef with a vegetable and a salad. My new favorite snack are the Atkins bars, which only have 2 net grams of carbs and are actually delicious! String cheese or almonds are also good snacks. It has been hard for me to give up my morning oatmeal, but at 23 grams of carbs for one little packet it just wasn't worth it. Something I've learned about counting carbs when trying to lose weight is that you actually can subtract the grams of fiber from the total grams of carbs in whatever you're eating, since the fiber doesn't contribute to weight gain.

Anyway, enough of the boring diet talk... :)

Layne is still doing great at 6 weeks. This week he slept for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT for two nights in a row, from 10:30pm - 6:30am! Last night he only made it to 3am, but at least we are getting closer to him sleeping though the night. We are having a little bit of a hard time getting him to nap well during the day, as he only seems to want to sleep for 30-45 minutes at a time; that is, unless he's being held by one of us, in which case he will sleep forever. The little guy is asleep on my chest as I type this :) Oh well... as long as he's sleeping well during the night I'm a happy camper!

He's also eating well (maybe a little too well) and his 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers are already starting to get snug...I'm hoping he can at least wear all of his cute outfits once before he outgrows them :-/ I'm dying to know how much he weighs and we won't be at the doctor for another 2 weeks...I might take him down to the gym and get him on the scale with me for a sneak peek. I think he's turning into a little chunk!

And in even more exciting news, Layne is smiling much more and we're now able to capture some on camera as you'll see below! And what a beautiful smile it is...it melts my heart. My highlight of the week was when I went to get him from his crib after he slept 8 hours, and I was greeted by his cute little face, laying sideways in his crib, and smiling up at me. We feel so lucky to have such a healthy and beautiful baby boy and we are so much in love with him...we say to each other every day how happy we are and how we couldn't have made a more perfect little boy if we tried. He was definitely meant to be here and we are so glad he is!