me again :-)

Hello again, well I know I said that I woudl make the 2 year old post my last but now that they are 3 years old and 2 months of age I get about oooo 9  mins a day to faff online. I got really clucky again recently and started cooing at babies and started to think what if....

Then I got the flu.  Holy cow, I was unable to eat for 3 weeks and it put me right back to memories of HG. The Flu was not as bad as HG as I could drink and had no motion sickness, hypersalivation etc but I did have 2 kddies and was so tired. It made me remember that I cannot risk HG again while these nippers are still young (unless I hire a personal nurse, nany for the kids and accept guilt).

Another more important thing has been on my mind, well 2 things, one, how/ why do people get HG and 2, the recovery after.

1. I have read a few reports of women eating a high fat diet and links to HG. Not sure how tenuous or researched that link is but that thought hung with me and then...

2. I was exhausted after they were born having had no food and atrophied just about every muscle (including my brain).  At 18 months I plummed further being so tired and always ill with a bad virus.  The doctor wondered ME and then after a move to the US I had some blood work done and they found Candida Albicans.

So ME symptoms, constant wheezes and viruses were casued by candida.  Only usual candida patients are in chemo, have aids or some other bad illness. The only illness i had was HG and then huge antibiotics for the c section.

I started to read nutrition books to see how I could get better. Then I started to get very interested in nutrition.

I have had a battle to kick the candida, that is hard and very restrictive (remember the battles with yeast at 8 weeks old?).  I think it is mostly under check.

I had read up on the candida diet and also read some other books like Born to Run (I used to run so this was escapism), it mentioned vegan diets. I used to be a vegan so was inetrested.

Then I watched Forks Over Knives and my life changed. I read The China Study, got the Engine 2 book, enjoyed Rich Roll's Finding Ultra.

I changed to a low fat, whole foods only plant based eater and my energy came back :-)

I also wondered if the point number 1. that  I made about high fat diets could have some sway.  It seems all western diets are too high in fat. Dr Mc Dougall and Dr Essletyn  and Jeff Novick (all leading Drs and dietician in US) will recommend the plant based whole food and low fat diet and they recommend a much lower fat intake per day than the standard American diet recommends (SAD) at 10% or less.

Anyway, interesting thoughts to add are could too much animal proteins lead to HG? Would being a plant based eater help avoid HG in the first place?  So many illnesses come from eating meat based food and drink and so much illness is reversed from eating plant based that it makes me wonder.

So guess what I hope to return to university to study? (next year)

2 years later (I got a moment of peace!)

So this is probably my last post for the blog. I had no idea I had even updated it after their birth!  They are 2 now and very hard but lovely and rewarding work. 
I just read back on some of these posts and think a few things:
HG suffering is definatly worth it - look at them!  Never again tho :-(
Breast feeding - I did 14 months and no supplementing and I am immensely proud but really ladies, chill. If i had to go thru that thrush again or if I had twins again then I would erm...relax myself and maybe bottle feed after 3 months. 
Sleep - ahh well, forget it! They still wake every night for at least an hour or take it in turns to so I only get a full nights sleep about once every 2 weeks. Honestly!  teething or illness, or night terrors. I have heard age 3 is the magic 'ta da' age :-)
Weight gain...well apparently my metabolic rate was so shot from not eating for 7 months and bed rest that I was doomed to pile it on. I have been eating healthily every 3 hours and that helps. Cake I am afriad is bad ass and would make anyone gain weight. no. more. cake.  I had to stop running due to stability issues and hips from the preggo but am doing heaps of pilates now and barefoot running practise so maybe one day....... Tough 2.5 years but they are the best lil beans and it just gets better! if I had no HG, a killer body and a full time nanny I would have 12 kids :-)

Good sleeping :-)

Woohooo! I feel that we have cracked so much in the sleep area in the last 2 weeks. A couple of weeks ago Joe woudl not sleep without bouncing. That went on for about 10 days until we introduced a proper routine for their bedtime. This has made all the difference.

So...before the last feed we take them upstairs, get them into their sleepers and sleep bags, wash their faces and oil them, then feed them and then read them a baby story book. These steps seems to be working as signals as bedtime has become much more of a pleasure. They are always asleep by 8pm, 3 times a week they just drift off to sleep with nowt a cry but 4 times a week they cry a bit and we shhhh them gently and rub their tummies and heads which helps them calm down. I hvae let them just cry for 5 minutes and then I be a mum and go and pat and shhhh them again - usually they then nod off.

Of course, I know by now that next week coudl be different but they are loving their routine right now. I do not really have a schedule but around certains parts of the day I have routine...want to know??

OK

They wake up. If they are still asleep at 8am I wake them up (but usually they wake at 7:30am)

Feed

Carry both downstairs and change and dress, They play on own and with me for 100 mins after wake time and then they have a nap and sleep for 30 - 45 mins. They go down very easily for morning nap

Play a bit more and then feed 3 hours after morning feed so approx 10:30.

Then pop them into buggy and go for walkies. I usually go get a coffee and chat to peeps. i have just found a nice park full of mums to chat too as well - tres happy about that :-)

Next feed 1:30pm, then straight up for a nap after feed. They sleep for 30 mins to 45 mins.

Then they play on own and with me until next feed at 4:30pm.

Then we play for 45 mins (we do standy up, sitty down, rolly over, we play with toys and sing, dance, look in kitchen etc etc) and then I pop them back into buggy and we go for a run! I run for 40 mins and they can look out of the buggy (thru the mozzie net and sun shader) at trees, rivers etc.

Then we play a bit more, or I have one in the baby bjorn front facing and one in the bouncy chair on the worktop and prep dindins - they like to 'help' me by watching or holding wooden spoons.

Then BUG gets home and sometimes I crank out a heeeelp, but more often these days I am feelign much more normal and can hold down an adult conversation where I actually ask him how his day went!

Then we start the bed time routine like I mentioned.

I am usually in bed by 10pm, asleep by 11:30 (I cannot sleep boohoo). We do a night feed anytime from midnight to 5am. It takes just minutes and they go straight back to sleep.

How things change from those early days. I would never of believed we could do all this on our own back then, i feel pretty proud about things esp the breast feeding which is still goign very well.

Running

Me weighing a heavty amount, no bum shots allowed - too big!!

Check out the Chariot!

(how do it turn the picture round?)

So I have been running now for 5 weeks. I wanted to start running at 4 months as I have always loved running and it has always been good for weight loss.

Ah...weight loss. At their 4 month doctor appointment (meant to be 3 month but was late) I weighed 84 kilos!!! I have put on a third of my body weight since I was 16 weeks pregnant and I am looked pretty heavy AND HORRORS - I have 'fat back' YUK I hate fat back!! I have never been so weighty so I am feeling pretty bloddy sad about how I look.

How did I get this big? Well, I can tell you :-).

Breastfeeding does not burn calories with everyone and I have eaten a lot of cake! Also I have not left the house to exercise until week 15! After birth I weighed 77kilos, went upto 79 by week 6 and then was 84 at week 16.

SO for the past 5 weeks I have gone out with the Chariot twice a day. My morning walk and then my run. My run loops are both 4.5k. Bearing in mind I have had 11 months of atrophy 4.5k is pretty good and I started it by just walking it for the first week. Then I started adding in little jogs. My boobies were all over the shop so wore another bra on top of other bra and by third week was running to one tree and then walking to next etc etc. Now I can run 3.5 k in one go and my last run I was running parts - not just jogging! It comes back quickly you know. Even if you are a running novice it can only take a month to build muscle up (a bit longer for ligaments etc so don't go crazee). Also, I have the official word and evidence from me that exercise does not reduce milk supply if built up carefully.

I plan to add more distance soon and when winter comes maybe get on the turbo trainer.

I think the kiddies enjoy the routes, they see trees, cars, rivers, bridges, birds and dogs.

A few weeks in and I am stuck at 80kilos but know that I am still having the odd oaty biscuit or slice of cake (shhh heheh) IF I cut down even more then another 4 ks should shift.

Slowly and surely.

First laughs

This week both Joe and Helen both did their first laugh out louds! I was so suprised at their little peels of laughter and of course LOL'd myself. Joe laughed when I was slobbering him with big slurpy kisses and Helen laughed when I put her feet up her nostrils haha! She spends most of the day holding her feet so she was in awe of her new found toe skills :-)

They are starting to be little humans now. They still have the same basic personalities that they were born with but they add layer upon layer of newness onto their little selfs. They are changing so fast now that I am trying to remember all the changes and hope that I do not forget them.

PLUS sleeping...Joe has been hard work since Munchy left with getting him to sleep. While Helen rolls over, sucks her thumb and goes off to nod, Joe screams for ever until we give up and bounce him. I know this is wrong and a potential bad habit but he disturbs Helen and then she cries and boom goes the next hour! We are thinking of separating their rooms so he cannot disturb her.

Joe talks!

So this evening I was talking to the juniors and I noticed Joebug watching my mouth closely and trying to repeat my words!

I said "mama"

Joe said "mmmmmammmmma"

I said "Helen"

Joe said "eeeeeeeeeeennnnn"

I said "hello"

Joe said "eeeeeeeeeooooooo"

Our new Chariot CX2

We finally purchased the best model of Chariots on the market! I am so excited about this marvellous buggy. It can run, ski, bike and hike on trails, it has full suspensions, disc brake, glides like a dream. the kiddoes love it and I can get out more. Cannot wait for snow now to x country ski some wide trails :-)

Chariot do a couple of dual models and they are made right here in Calgary.