Starting a Diet Around the Holidays

The beginning of November held a realization for me: I did not have to wait one more second to start being healthier. Around the holidays, many people psych themselves up to start being the "better them" for New Year's- we've all made our resolutions but how many people really follow through with them past the first three months of the year? I certainly hadn't before, and I didn't want to keep telling myself "Tomorrow" "Monday" "After the weekend"- I made the decision to have a healthier lifestyle on a Wednesday afternoon.

If you're still with me, the suspense is now over: I began the Keto diet. 

Now, first of all, I hate the word diet because in my mind it is synonymous with the mindset that you do something for a certain amount of time, get the results, and then go back to what you were doing before. This will not be my story. 

Second of all, I did tons of research: 2FitDocs on YouTube, Magic Pill from Netflix, tons of articles and tips. I'm sure you all know what the basis of Keto is, you cut carbs so that your body will stop using those for energy and will instead use the excess fat in your body by releasing ketones into your blood therefore having your body be in an extended state of ketosis. You also want to eat more high protein and high fat meals (yes, bacon is allowed but it's not like I'm eating that with every meal). As the Magic Pill explains, fat somehow got a bad rap, "fat makes you fat", but in reality, good fats in food are good for you! Guess what makes you fat? Sugar! Guess what your body turns carbs into? Sugar! 

After all my research, I'm doing Keto for six months, trying to eat between 25-35 grams of carbs per day, and then I will re-introduce some grains and legumes in moderation back into my diet. After two solid weeks I began to see success in my body. Not only am I losing weight and inches, but I have not had a blood sugar crash since I've been doing it. The high protein, vegetables, and fat consumption leaves you feeling full and more energized throughout the day and in between meals.This has been awesome and this has helped me to stay super motivated to continue this lifestyle!

I don't have cheat days, but I have had to get creative with recipes and this girl has been an awesome source of motivation and meal ideas as she herself has been doing Keto for quite a while. She even has some desserts (I've made Keto brownies and keto ice cream and they've both turned out super yummy!) and cocktails.

Something interesting that I have yet to research more is that a lot of carbs you see on the nutritional label are derived from sugars, for example Egg-Nog you buy at the store has a total 27 G of carbohydrates, but 20 G of that is sugars. I'm wondering if the weight loss and feeling more energized (and my skin is super clear) has more to do with less sugar in my diet than a lack of carbs. I'll be able to take better notes of that when I try grains and legumes again in May when my six months is over. 

In addition to keto, I am working out at least five days a week. I'm intermittently doing high intensity work outs and strengthening yoga, all of which has been amazing. For me there was a three day hump where, after working out for three days in a row I was sore, tired and unmotivated but I soldiered on through days four and five. I found a groove and I've been loving getting stronger! Post-partum left a lot of muscles to be strengthened and I feel so much better in my lower back and my posture has immensely improved! It is hard to be consistent, especially when every day looks a little bit different with my sweet babe, but its worth it to feel confident and strong. In the end a healthier me is a healthier and happier wife and mother. I'm loving this new lifestyle, who says you can't start your New Year's Resolution two months early?! 

Thanks for reading! I'd love to answer any questions or receive tips or fun Keto-friendly recipes! :)

Marrying A Man Who Leaves

“Oh wow, he’s gone for how long?” “That must be hard.” “Since you’re getting married is he going to do something else?” “Since you’re having a baby, is he going to do something else?” “I guess that is nice when he’s home, but I just COULDN’T do that, it’s too much time away.” “How much longer is he going to sail?”

As some of you may know, my husband has a very interesting career. He sails on an oil tanker down in the Gulf of Mexico, and this job requires that he work for 75 days at a time and then gets to come home for about 75 days at a time. This means that when he is gone I am the only caretaker of our house and daughter, the only one going to church every Sunday (okay, almost every Sunday…), the one who takes out the trash, the main parent to our children and the person who sleeps with a gun on the bedside table at night.

But most of all, we are a married couple who love each other very much. So, yes, it can be hard. But, he may never do anything else. Unless we won the lottery, in which case HELLO COFFEE TRUCK! As we all know, those odds are slim. So, a-sailing he must go!

He was 27 and I was 20 when we met and was a few years into this career already, so there was hardly a transition. This just IS our normal. We have exchanged countless emails when he’s out at sea, and when he is in port, countless phone calls and texts. We got to know each other very well those months that we were dating and when I starting falling in love with him I very seriously weighed the consequences of marrying him. He who would have to be apart from me for almost three months at a time. Ouch. Of course, I decided that its totally and completely worth it. HE is worth it, and he obviously decided I was worth it too. Ever the gentleman, he did give me several opportunities to “back out”, and warned me that this lifestyle was not for everyone. Well here we are three years later with a baby. And neither of us will ever back out.

Our life is amazing. You know the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder”? Well, it does. I appreciate him always, but every time he leaves I am reminded at what an amazing man God let me marry. He is absolutely my best friend, and I like to throw around the term “soulmate” even though he thinks its cheesy as heck. Our relationship is on double time and on half time simultaneously. Since our time together is always precious we usually don’t sweat the small stuff. I say usually because how often can a girl trip over a man’s shoes in a day that were left in the walking path without getting the least bit annoyed? I can’t say that we are always good at “picking our battles” but we definitely don’t worry about things that are inconsequential in the long run. I’m not saying we never have disagreements or petty arguments because we do, but we have learned to resolve things quickly. We had to learn how to communicate very well especially when he is on the ship- because when he is working, everything else has to take a back burner, and that’s okay. He works really hard all day every day for 70-80 days straight.

Growing up I never thought I’d marry someone who would leave for extended periods of time because I like to be close to my people, yet here I am. Our life and this love are proof that the Lord will always know what is best for me and for us. This relationship is teaching me that I cannot always look to my husband for love, joy, and fulfillment; I must look to the Lord for those things.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him.” Psalm 28:7 NIV

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Psalm 23: 1-3 ESV

Me and Baby on the bridge!

Chief Mate himself, with his best girl on the bridge!

The Beauty That Is Breastfeeding

Good afternoon! I'm just going to jump right in here.

Breastfeeding.

When I found out I was pregnant the very first thing I started to "fantasize" about was breastfeeding my baby! What sweet moments between the two of us, the bonding, the nurturing and the satisfaction that I was giving my baby the best option! In reality, I've never cried so much and also... OUCH. Breastfeeding HURTS, however, there is nothing like breast milk when it comes to nutrition, antibodies and so many other things so I kept it up! It's so good for your new baby.... and when the time came for my milk to "come in" a few days after my girl was born I got a big huge nothing. Okay, I had a little bit. But my daughter is my husbands child and she was HUNGRY ALL THE TIME. After a few days, horror of horrors, baby lost weight when she should have been gaining. (Yes I know that babies loose some ounces after they are born because they aren't attached to the feeding tube aka umbilical cord. Baby lost her newborn ounces, gained some back and then lost them again... not good.) I started pumping and realized that she was only getting half an ounce from me TOTAL. I cried for days. After all, isn't this is what my body is supposed to be able to do?! Is there something wrong with me?! I started drinking a beer every day, I ate lactation cookies, took lactation supplements, drank gallons of water every day and when I wasn't feeding baby, I was pumping. I pumped while she napped, I pumped after I fed her to up the demand.... I started losing my mind. And on top of that I was still having to supplement with formula.

I found myself sitting all day, every day and my milk supply had only gone up by an ounce. I wasn't sleeping very much at night because baby was still waking up every three to four hours and I was starting to feel sad and angry all the time. 

Thankfully, Jesus loves me and all of a sudden women I was very good friends with started sharing how they too had low milk supply! I was stunned! Low milk supply is a thing?! I looked it up, and read blogs and articles about moms everywhere who, for whatever reason, also had low-to-no milk supply. I was encouraged and was able to come to terms with the fact that what I had going on was not unheard of. I started calling my boobs unmotivated instead of defective.

I had to start getting active again, and regain some of my sanity. I stopped stressing out about pumping all the time ( it wasn't really helping anyway), going on walks every day because I had a little more freedom and my baby was doing great! Normal in every way and gaining and growing. Formula was saving me. 

Fast forward to today- after the move and not being able to pump at all, or really nurse in the morning like we used to, my milk supply tanked and now I have drops. I have peace of mind though. As my OB nurse said, breast milk is great, formula is good. And now that baby is eating more solid foods I've stopped worrying about it completely. Baby is happy and healthy, and I'm not chained to my pump. 

Maybe with the next baby my body will kick into drive, but I can't hinge my triumphs or failures as a mother on something that's completely out of my control. I'm just thankful formula isn't evaporated milk and corn syrup anymore. 

Thanks for reading!

Basically newborns are awake only long enough to nurse and pee/poop.

Milk drunk is a real thing. Soooo cute

 

Baby was really good at breastfeeding! And then after a few weeks she figured out that the bottle was faster.... and then it was a battle of wills every time we had to nurse. She always won. 

Life Update

It's a rainy, cloudy day today here is North Idaho. And thanks to our newest member of the family (an at-home espresso machine) I have all the hot chocolate and lattes I need to get through the gloomy season now upon us. The past few months have been full of traveling! Husband had a work conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL in September, so the three of us flew down to spend the week by tropical Dania Beach. While he was away from 8-5 Mon-Thurs, baby and I swam in the pool, watched some movies, tanned a little, did yoga and read books! I got to meet some other moms/wives of Chief Mates and Captains, and we all endured the 90 degree weather and 80% humidity together.

Baby did extremely well on her first flights to FL (with a layover in Dallas-Ft Worth). Only the descent seemed to bother her, but she stayed on her schedule very well, taking naps and eating well during the flights. She is a pretty content child, though, and I suspect God blessed me with an easygoing baby on the first go-around. She is teething and while we were in Florida she popped her first tooth! She had another one start to poke out, but I think it retracted because I don't feel more teeth. The weekend following the conference we drove to Miami (which is only 30 minutes away from Ft. Lauderdale) and stayed at a fancy hotel that had direct access to the beach. It was my first time actually swimming in the Atlantic and it was amazing! I've always loved anything having to do with the Ocean (whether East coast or West coast). The sea mesmerizes me, reminds me of the Eternal One, and calls to my soul (as I'm sure it does for most people). I'm happy to have married a sailor! I could have swam in that warm, salty water for hours! Adeline gets up around 7 most days, so we got up with her and watched the sunrise over the horizon! The sun rises above the sea level much quicker than you think it does, quickly becoming very bright and warm.

After we got back from FL (both flights were delayed by a couple hours) we had four days to prepare for having family staying with us! My in-laws and my mom and sister come up and spent the weekend with us... only let's be honest, they just came to see the baby... It was so fun to have everyone here. My in-laws made dinner a couple times for everyone ( and those nights ended up being 8 people when my two brothers were over), they let Husband and I go on date nights and it was so nice to have time for just us! I love having a full house, and makes me look forward to doing it again for Thanksgiving! It will especially nice since Husband will likely miss all the holidays.

So that's the little update for all my avid readers! Hehe :)

Hanging out in the hotel lobby!

Our view from the hotel room!

Family photo while watching the sunrise.

Cutie girl!

Another sunrise.... in love.

Adeline loved the ocean! She got doused a couple times and was unfazed! 

My Birth Story

For all my soon to be first time mamas out there, ye be warned- this was MY experience, with MY body and I don't want anyone getting freaked out, or on the flip side, maybe too relaxed. I didn't know what to expect from childbirth, as I had never done it before (duh) so I read tons of birth stories and literally NONE of them were what I experienced. Which is fine! Let me share how my sweet daughter finally came into the world.

And I mean finally. These days they induce you at 41 weeks if labor hasn't naturally started already. That was me. All you mamas know how you feel the last few weeks! You're HUGE, your feet hurt, you can't really eat more than a few peas at a time because your stomach is so squished. "Uncomfortable" doesn't even cover it. That was me! That's everyone I've talked to. People told me lots of sentences that started with "Because you're...." fill in the blank. Because I was short, I might deliver early, because the baby was so low, contractions would start at any time, because this was my first baby, I would probably deliver just a couple days after 40 weeks.... and it went on and on. People trying to be encouraging, and it was lovely! But 39 weeks came, then 40, and midway through that week we saw my OB and he said "Alright, if nothing starts to happen by Friday, we'll induce you." So guess what?? The induction process began Thursday night!

Thursday night around 5, I was admitted at the hospital for a couple hours and they insert what is called a "cervical catheter". It's a tube with two little balloons about an inch apart on it. They stick it up there and one balloon sits on the top of your cervix and the other sits just below it, and they fill them with water and together they put pressure on the opening of the cervix. The hope is that you will dilate to at least four cm and with that, your body will start contractions. I went home with like three tubes just hanging out.... they taped them to my leg. (peeing with those hanging out of my downstairs was REAL WEIRD) 

The cervical catheter did the work it was supposed to though, and by the next morning I was having light contractions every 10-20 minutes and I was dilated to four cm. Friday morning at 7 AM my husband I were at the hospital in labor and delivery. I was hooked up to an IV drip, starting me on 2 ml of Pitocin in order to induce more intense contractions. Every 30 minutes the sweet nurses up'd the amount of Pitocin to increase contractions. Pitocin is synthetic Oxytocin, which is naturally secreted in your body to start childbirth. Natural contractions are their own hurtle, like you're using a muscle way past the "tired, sore muscle" stage, but I would say that contractions on P. are like really horrible, intense muscle cramps. After a few doses of the P. I was having a contraction every 3-6 minutes. (Oh at some point they also broke my water.... that was gross) From 7 AM to 12 PM I breathed through them- not dilating past a four- and tried the Nitrous Oxide. N2O is the most natural pain management you can do (its laughing gas), and you can't "overdose" on it. I didn't really feel like it took the edge off of the pain, but it made me care a little less about the pain. There was no laughing involved. I did that for a couple hours, and then just needed to level up. Fentynal was my  next hero. I did that for a couple hours but by 4 PM I was EXHAUSTED. See, I really hadn't gotten any quality sleep Thursday night from contractions starting, so by 4 PM Friday afternoon, I was a little bit out of my mind. Oh, and I had been at a four this whole entire time. I was having what the nurses told me were "unproductive" contractions. Cool. 

This mama voted for the epidural! Woo! The nurse explained to my husband (I was already sold) that it would probably let me get some rest, and relax, and that being able to just rest, I would probably start to dilate more. Boom. Got it. Several people asked me if it hurt when they administered it- an anesthesiologist pokes a needle into your spine and leaves a tube in there to administer the drugs- and the answer is a swift no. They do it while you're having a contraction, and lots of things that are painful are NOTHING compared to labor contractions. All I felt was a pop, and then the drugs started in my body like water would flow down your body in the shower. I blessedly started to have zero feeling in my mid-section and then my hips and then both my legs. I took a glorious deep breath and actually laughed because I felt sooo much better. I loved getting that Epidural. I took a nap, I got to eat food, I had a bladder catheter inserted so I never had to pee- it was great. I felt okay enough to have some family members come in and chat for a few minutes, but the best part is that by 11 PM I had fully dilated to a 10!!!!! 

They had me start pushing for about 45 minutes, but baby was at a slant still so I took a break, breathed her down during the contractions (I could feel them slightly, but no pain, just the physical contraction) so by 1 AM on Saturday baby was fully in position. I pushed and pushed and pushed and PUSHED and my sweet babe was born at 2:58 AM, and she was a girl!!! (We had kept the gender a surprise for us, and everyone else.) She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz, and her head was 14 cm. I had one little tear, but other that I was fine! It felt like years before they finally put her tiny body on my chest but when they did, I was absolutely weeping. Weeping from finally being done and from being so so tired, and so so joyful. What an emotional experience. Words don't do the feelings justice- your heart is not your heart anymore, every motive and decision will be completely different from now on, and you will nurture and protect this little human even if it costs you your own life.

I didn't know that after you give birth (at least for me), every muscle in your body is fatigued and you're a little bit in shock and so you shake and shiver like you're very cold. You are just extremely exhausted. I think I had about five or six heated, weighted blankets on me to help by body calm down. I finally got something to eat and my husband and I were enraptured. Our daughter held our complete, undivided attention and she was only ever awake enough to nurse. We were in our own bed Sunday evening, and thus began life with a newborn!

She is currently taking a nap next to me on the couch as I type this, and while bigger and chubbier, your babies forever are you little babies.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section.

This was taken by my mother in law maybe an hour after she was born!

For those who wonder, she looks exactly like her daddy, especially when they sleep. :)

<3

:)

Up, Up, and Away!!!

Well, we have officially moved up North! What a whirlwind. This move presented quite a few challenges, some expected and others were interesting. Me, three of my nephews, a friend, and my father in law all busted our butts loading the huge majority of our household into the U-Haul on the 9th. If I think about how all of our stuff fit into that tiny one bedroom apartment I get a headache. I couldn't believe things just kept creeping out of the woodwork. It was a crazy stressful day and in retrospect I will never do it quite like that again. Husband got back at one a.m. on the 10th, we packed up what remained and cleaned our apartment the day of the 10th and drove away the 11th. My awesome family was waiting for us that evening and we unloaded the majority into the house and garage and got the U-Haul checked back in by midnight on the 11th. Then it was a fun game of "Find Which Boxes Have Our Toothbrushes and Clean Underwear". By the time we finally made it up to our new town, I was so tired and exhausted- packing up an entire household and taking care of an infant at the same time will do that to a girl- I basically just stood around and gave directions while nibbling on some pizza. We've been slowly unpacking since- everything is finding a home, whether that's in a cupboard or the trash depends on the object in question. (At this point, I'm ready to be a fully committed minimalist, but I'm afraid my other half is not quite on board with that plan) We are settling in more and more every day, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our new house suits our family of three quite well, and though we miss our amazing friends and family back in our home town, the call of new adventure is so exciting! Baby adjusted great! I didn't really expect anything otherwise, as Husband likes to say, she's fine as long as she is with her people (that being Mom and Dad). This town is so cute, and really everything you want a small college town to be! It has it's bars and burger joints, but it also has it's adorable Saturday Market, coffee shops, and small local businesses. We have quickly figured our way around town and already know a few people thanks to some family of mine that already lived here. They are awesome, and it's so nice seeing them more than I have the past few years!

A little about the house, it is really honestly my dream layout. Its an open floor plan on the ground level with dining area, kitchen and living room all open and flowing into each other. I love this because it brings people together and I don't feel like I miss out on anything when I'm in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. Our master bedroom is going to spoil us to anything else because it's nice and big, but it also has a double vanity bathroom and a WALK-IN closet! I feel like Anne Hathaway in "Devil Wears Prada" when she goes into the huge rooms and closets for her wardrobe makeover. Now I just need actual fancy clothes and shoes... although on second thought, its rough constantly having drool, spit up, and various gooey substances from my infant on my regular clothes. There are two more bedrooms down the hall, along with another bathroom (bringing that to a total of two and a half bathrooms) and laundry room. Seriously. This place is the dream and feels like a freakin' mansion compared to our little 800 sq ft apartment.

Baby update- she is teething and she is also quite the chatter box so there is drool and spit-bubbles from raspberries aplenty. Somehow none of it seems to end up on my husbands clothes, no, I'm the lucky winner. She's so cute though, and you can tell she is also quite pleased with herself about how much she is telling me, it's hard to mind all the smears and smudges on my shirts. We have started introducing her to solid foods, so as new parents SHOULD (wink wink), we bought the fanciest gluten-free, organic baby cereal to feed her. She loves it, and figured out how to eat the cereal off of the spoon quicker than I thought she would. Half of the cereal ends up all over her face and hands, but she's happy so I'm happy. Just this evening we leveled up to some pureed banana, and her face was HILARIOUS. Apparently this mashed banana was secretly a lemon- she found it very tart and sour. Husband and I were dying of laughter and she just kept puckering up and doing the one-eye squint thing. You know, the one face you make when you've had a particularly disgusting shot of whiskey? That one. Lips out, one eye closed, shudder. We will be trying apple next, and hopefully she doesn't grow up with a strange aversion to bananas.

Since tomorrow is Saturday (Woo! Woo! Anyone have any amazing plans?!) we will be hitting the afore mentioned Market downtown. Thanks for reading!

Bye, Apartment 9!

 I had to pull a trailer for the very first time! (This is pulling away from in-law's house)

 Sweet Girl and I are settling in nicely!

Enjoying a nice little latte!

A Little About Myself

Welcome, and let me introduce myself. Although many of my would-be readers are quite familiar with who I am and what I’m about, for the sake of beginning a new chapter, here is a brief description about me. I was born and raised in Idaho. I got my first job there, met my husband there, and had my first baby there. Jesus met ME in Idaho when I was fourteen and has been with me ever since, guiding me, nudging me and suggesting that maybe I write a blog. Sounds a little hokey, but I just couldn’t get this idea out of my mind for several weeks. I plan on writing about being a mother (pregnancy, postpartum, and my general thoughts and opinions), being a wife to a Chief Mate in the Merchant Marine , and our new life in a small town in north Idaho. I understand that not all of these subjects will be very interesting for everyone who happens upon this (which I expect will be about three people, one of which will be my mother HI MOM), but I feel my experiences in all these things could be helpful to another mother, wife, or newly uprooted person. Who knows? I personally have found several “mom-blogs” very encouraging and up-lifting. 

Well then, shall we begin?

My husband and I at Arches National Park!!! (I was five or six months pregnant, but I love this picture of us!)