Kenley:: 1 1/2

It's Tuesday and it's time for....

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
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As of this coming Sunday, I will have a 19 month old {say what?} I am really loving this mid-year age range because I can get away with telling people she is "a year and a half" instead of using months and watching them get all confused trying to do math. That, and this is pretty much the most fun age ever! It's been MONTHS since I've done a Kenley update, so here's what my crazy kiddo is up to:

Weight: 26 pounds

Teeth: 12 pearly whites. The molars were really tough, now we're just waiting for those pointy ones to come in. Brushing her teeth is also the highlight of her day. She LOVES it!

Words: Kenley's vocab is increasing every day and it's SO FUN! Right now her words include : mom, dad, yia yia {grandma in Greek}, bob {which can mean Ball, BaBa (what we call her milk) or Auntie Bob (which is what she calls her Auntie Tate) depending on the context}, trash, wow, yes, yeah, no, up, done, gone, hi, shoes, socks, hat, hug. She can also make the animal sounds of a dog, pig, cow, lion, snake, owl, fish, and monkey.

Sleep: Bedtime is usually around 8:00 or 8:30pm and she sleeps until around 7:30 or 8:00am.

Eating: Fruits & Veggies. If this child never saw meat or grains on her plate she would be as happy as a clam. Tomatoes and blueberries top the list but she's also a big fan of cheese, olives and LOVES mustard. Seriously, she's such a little weirdo.

Diaper Size: size 4 or 2T in her Pampers Easy-Ups for potty training.

Clothes: A mix of 18 months, 24 months and 2T. Because she's so tall & skinny all of the 18 months fit perfect but are too short. The 24 month & 2T are perfect in the length but fall off her. She comes from a long line of long legged skinny butted people - so I'm afraid this will be a battle she fights her whole life.

Hair Color: Little blondie! Her hair is getting so long and SO thick! This child definitely got my big Greek hair. And it's CURLY!

Eye Color: She has eyes just like her daddy - they aren't really hazel but they definitely aren't blue or green and they have really cool flecks of gold in them.

Nicknames: Kenny, Buddy, Mou, Kenny Kakes, Squeezy, Kenners, KenKen, Kenny Pops

Milestones: I can't keep up. This child learns something new every single day. It just amazes me! And she is such a copy cat, she will see me or Jason do something ONCE and will start doing it. I guess it's officially time to be on our best behavior!

Interests: Kenley LOVES to dance. Every time she hears music she starts to do her own unique dance moves, it makes this former-dancer-mom SO happy. She also love to accessorize. This child cannot be without a necklace or hat or teething rings doubling and bangles. 

She is also OBSESSED with Bailey. Jason and I are a little salty because the puggles gets probably triple the hugs and kisses that we do. Her favorite shows are Bubble Guppies, Wallykazam, Mickey's Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins. Her favorite song is Talk Dirty to Me by Jasn Derulo {that's not a joke}. She loves more than anything to be outside playing at the park, swimming in the pool, chillin' in her stroller, or watching planes on the deck. And, her favorite person in the whole wide world is her mom...sadly, I'm kidding on that one, she is a complete and total daddy's girl.

#4WeeksFit - The Results

Can you even believe that tomorrow is the last day of May? Time is a-flying and I can't say I mind because June is my favorite month of the year! The end of May also means the end of our 4 week fit challenge. I was SO excited to see how many of you linked up with me and Erin and joined in to challenge yourself to get healthier in whatever way you wanted. I was so inspired by all of your goals and following along with your progress has been a huge motivation for me this month! 

If you read my goals post, you know that I set three different goals for myself. But, in truth, I had more. When I originally sat down to write that post I came up with 7 goals but decided to narrow them as to not over-promise and under-deliver...the point was to set myself up for success, right?

I decided that I would strive to achieve all these goals but really focus on the first three and not beat myself up if I didn't meet the rest. 

I am so proud of what I've accomplished this month. I didn't necessarily achieve each goal but I achieved a lot. I think the biggest lesson I learned over these past 4 weeks is to listen to my body. I've really been striving to push myself {something I have not been good at in the past} but I do need to know when its too much and I need a break. I had a little meltdown on the Friday before Memorial Day and realized my body was flat out exhausted. I took a couple days to rest and then came back totally energized and ready to finish the month strong. So let's get down to the details, shall we?

Here's how my month went down...

1. Drink 100oz of water per day - almost nailed it!

I gotta tell ya, this was a really hard one forme. I reached 100+ ounces 22 / 29 days and am PUMPED about that. My lowest day was 64oz which is my daily goal on fitbit and also significantly more than I was drinking before I set this goal. Overall, I averaged 105oz per day and feel like I've FINALLY made drinking enough water a habit. Success!

2. 30 day plank challenge - not-so-much!

I. HATE. PLANKS. Hate, hate, hate them! As you will see on my calendar I made it to a 3 minute plank and then threw in the towel. I think anything over 3 minutes is completely unnatural and absolute torture. I take that back, anything over a one minute plank is unnatural and torture. I will say, I am MUCH better at planks now than when I started and I do want to try and make a 1-2 minute plank part of my every day routine. 

3. Finish C25K - kind of nailed it!

Yesterday I completed the C25K training app! I will admit that as the distances got longer it got much harder to run every other day, especially with all the other workouts I was doing, so I did skip over a couple of the days to give myself a break. BUT, the point of doing this was to train for the 5k I am running this Sunday and I feel ready and excited to achieve a new personal record! Wish me luck!

4. 10,000 steps every day - we're going to say nailed it!

I missed TWO frickin' days of 10,000 steps but I averaged 13,300.5 steps a day this month so I'm totally considering this one a win! Thanks FitBit!

5. 25 {non-walking} workouts in the month of May - sooooo close!

13 C25K training sessions + 4 kickboxing classes + 2 yoga practices + 1 TC Bump Club Stroller Strides Class + 1 Moms on Mats Pilates + 1 Zumba Class + 1 Jillian Michaels DVD = 23 non-walking workouts this month! And...just for fun I counted up all the walks I took with Kenley & Bailey this month which came out to 12, so I guess you could say I exercised 35 times this month! HOLLER!

6. All calories entered in to MyFitnessPal - nailed it!

I've been a calorie entering machine! Even when I splurge I've been entering my calories which is hard because when I splurge I really don't want to face the harsh reality of the amount of calories I consumed. BUT, I really can't tell you how much counting calories has helped me. I've learned that for me it's all about what I eat, no matter how hard I work out.

7. Lose 5 pounds - nailed it!

During the month of May I dropped 5.2 pounds! Which puts me down 20 pounds since New Years and 44 pounds down from my pregnancy weight!  Holla!

I'm so excited to read how all of you did and share in your success! Just because May is over doesn't mean your goals need to be! I'm busy working away on my goals for June!

Guest Mama :: Creating a Birth Plan

Happy Tuesday mamas!

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

I'm really excited about today's guest post, because I think having a birth plan is an important part of pregnancy and childbirth. I shared my birth plan with Kenley and while things didn't go exactly as planned I was so happy I wrote it. Whether you print it out and bring it to the hospital or just use it as a way to brainstorm what you want for your birth and discuss those desires with your hubby - I think it's time well spent. I used mine as a way to share what I wanted with Jason and my doctor so that they could advocate for me when I wasn't thinking entirely clearly, so pretty much from first contraction on. 

Melissa has some GREAT information on things to consider including in your birth plan, so enjoy! 

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Hi everyone! I’m excited to be here at Mama and Mou to share what I’ve learned through my birth experiences. My name is Melissa Woods, and I am a blogger at Welcome to the Woods. I blog for the homemaker in you; my posts include DIY projects, financial advice, and parenting tips. I hope you enjoy this post and stop by to check out my blog!

After having two children and two very different birth experiences, I thought I would share 5 things I think are beneficial to include in your birth plan. I know everyone has different ideas about birth, so these are just coming from my opinion, experience, and research.

1. Delayed cord clamping
Delayed cord clamping involves the umbilical cord staying attached to baby and placenta staying intact immediately after birth for about 5 minutes. This benefits the baby by allowing fluids (especially blood) that were being shared between baby and placenta to drain back into the baby's body. Delayed cord clamping eases the transition into the world. This video does a wonderful job explaining why it is a good idea to delay cord clamping:

From personal experience, my first child (girl), who we allowed the doctor to do standard immediate cord clamping for, developed jaundice. My second child (boy), who we did delayed cord clamping with, did not.

2. Exercise  
Listen, I know some people opt to get an epidural or other pain medication at the start of labor and this does not allow them to get up to move around, but hear me out. Standing, swaying, walking, balancing on a birthing ball and other exercise during labor drastically improves pain and helps the labor progress faster. Sitting on a bed is not the best position for labor. You are putting weight on your bottom, right where the baby is trying to come out! When you stand, gravity helps you to handle the feeling of baby's descent. If you still want to get an epidural, my advice would be to hold out until you can't anymore. It will expedite your labor greatly.
From personal experience, my first I labored sitting on a hospital bed the whole time until the pain was so unbearable I got an epidural. Labor was 5 hours long. With my second, I stood and swayed and walked and knelt and moved the entire labor and it provided so much relief (along with my doula offering massage) that I did not use any pain killers. Labor was 3 hours long.

3. Immediate skin-to-skin contact 
  Most doctors place baby on Mom's tummy right after delivery. This is great, but take it one step further and have the first thing your baby feels be your soft familiar smelling skin. All a newborn wants the first seconds is to be close to its mother. Don't put things between you like clothes or blankets. Spend baby's first hour just holding, cuddling, and feeding. Immediate skin-to-skin contact has been shown to increase chances of successful breastfeeding, encourage Mom's milk production, help baby stabilize breathing and nervous system functions, and strengthen the mother-infant bond. It is used as therapy for premature babies, but ALL newborns can reap the benefits of skin-to-skin. And don't be self conscious about having an exposed belly during labor; the people in a delivery room have seen it all.

From personal experience, my first was set on my tummy briefly, then whisked away to be bathed and swaddled. We tried breastfeeding about an hour after delivery and it went okay. She was groggy from the epidural and wasn't orientated to the outside of my body. She was never a great eater and then developed jaundice; breastfeeding was a real struggle the first month. With my second, as soon as he came out, we were skin to skin. Within twenty minutes he wiggled himself to my breast and started feeding. Our first feeding was phenomenal and he's been a great eater ever since.

4. Opposition to an Episiotomy  
An episiotomy is a surgical slit your physician makes on your perineum (the space between your vagina and anus) to facilitate baby coming out near the end of delivery. They are not considered standard practice, but they used to be and unfortunately some physicians still regularly perform them. The reason this is unfortunate is because episiotomies are difficult to heal from, can easily get infected or tear dramatically, cause more severe tearing in future births, etc, etc. Ultimately, episiotomies are something that should be avoided unless necessary. It sounds bad, but there are practitioners out there who will perform an episiotomy just to speed things along. My first born was delivered by a physician with this mentality. Write it in your birth plan and talk to your provider about what circumstances might warrant an episiotomy. Natural vaginal tearing is almost always more preferable.

From personal experience, with my first I did not have a birth plan and did not even know what an episiotomy was. During the pushing phase, I felt a slice and suddenly my daughter fell out. I was mostly numb from the epidural when I was sewn up. I had no idea why my episiotomy was performed, except that my physician rushed off to deliver another baby a few minutes after mine. With my second, I had told them I did not want an episiotomy. I knew the physician thought about it because he double checked with my doula at the last second saying, "No episiotomy, right?" I had very minor tearing and healed wonderfully in four, not six weeks.
 

5. A Doula
This one I didn't learned until going through labor once. With my first, I had complete faith in myself and trust that my support person (hubby) were a dynamic team ready to take on labor. My labor and delivery with my first was not a poor experience, but there were many things that would have went better if I had a doula. A doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth. My doula was phenomenal at helping me through every stage of labor and delivery. My experience with my second made me see the huge benefits of having someone knowledgeable advocate for you during one of the most difficult and precious times of your life. Please consider hiring a doula, and if you're in central MN, contact the wonderful doula I used via doulamatch.net or on facebook.
Photo credit NV Photography, courtesy of www.thegreatletdown.com

From personal experience, my first birth experience was a blur because I had a vague plan. When bad things happened, no one was there to offer solutions. During labor with my first, I did not breathe deeply, I was not in optimal birthing positions, I did not manage my pain, I gave in to a medicated birth that I didn't want, I experienced periodic deafness, and I was disappointed with the choices made during the labor process on my behalf and that of the staff. Having a doula along with my second, all of those things were turned around, plus I had a coach, an emotional rock, a masseuse to manage the pain, and a knowledgeable advocate for the medical circumstances that arise which you just can't foresee. I felt elated, empowered, strong, and so proud after my delivery experience with my second, all because I had a doula.
These are just a few of the many choices moms are faced with when having a baby. This is not intended to be medical advice; I am not a medical professional. Do your own research, write down a birth plan, and consider including these five things.

Thanks for reading and thank you to Kristin for having me at Mama and Mou. Visit my blog http://www.welcome-to-the-woods.com to see more!

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To submit a birth story or guest post - email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Preggo Style :: Kristin Cavallari

Happy Tuesday mamas! 

I'm finding that when I schedule my Baby Talk posts the link-up doesn't work despite me setting it up and adding the code to the post - does anyone else using LinkyTools have this problem? I've sent them an email telling them they better fix it and fast - so if the link up doesn't work again today, I'm sorry! I'm working on it!

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

I'm also actively working on not completely sucking as a blogger. A whole post on how is coming up - get excited! 

Anyways, Kristin Cavallari has been all over the news for welcoming her second baby boy last week. And all of the photos of her pregnant have really made me admire her pregnancy style. I never watched Laguna Beach or The Hills or any of those shows so I literally know NOTHING about K.Cav {do people call her that?} But I do know that girlfriend knows how to dress a bump AND she does it in a way that could totally be duplicated by a non-celeb-mama-to-be, aka ME in a couple more years. 

She mainly rocks some form fitting tanks or dresses and then adds a blazer or cardigan which are probably non-maternity. Such a great way to mix up your outfits without investing in a bunch of stuff you can only wear for nine months. 

She also jazzes up what can be VERY boring maternity outfits with fun prints and colors, but again deos it with pieces that can be worn afterwards.

And just because part of being a celeb is getting to dress up and part of being a celeb stalking is drooling over evening gowns...here's some of her preggo night out looks. 

SO GORG. 

Who is you celeb mom fashion favorite?

Abbie's Birth Story {12.21.12}

It's Tuesday and it's time for....

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

Hi Mama & Mou readers! I'm Jess, and I blog over at Being Mrs. Beer. Yep, that's really our last name - I guess I hit the jackpot on that, huh? My husband Chris and I welcomed our little girl, Abigail Ann, into the world on December 21, 2012. I'm a full-time working mom, and I blog about our life as a family of three (plus two cats), motherhood, getting healthy, and whatever else pops into my head...I warn you, it can be random. On that note, here's the story of how our Abbie made her arrival...9 days late. After waiting around for Abbie to arrive on her own with no luck, we went in for induction on Thursday, December 20. Honestly? I kind of always knew it would come down to that. My whole pregnancy I thought she'd be late. I know a lot a people are worried about inductions, but I really wasn’t worried at all. People have inductions all the time, so I was pretty laid back about it.

 

One of my last bump photos - 41 weeks!

We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 pm, so Chris’ mom took us out to dinner beforehand, knowing that I wouldn’t have a good meal for a while. We went to one of my favorite places, Coastal Flats – and I was so glad later that I had eaten - little did I know, I wouldn't have solid food again for two days. After dropping his mom off (and checking my hospital bag about a million times), we took a final bump picture and then set off for the hospital. We arrived on time and got registered. While we were registering, another couple walked up, obviously also for an induction. We didn’t talk, but Chris gave the other husband a nod, sort of like, “yep, this is happening.” (I wasn’t really paying attention, but Chris got a kick out of this). After we registered, we headed upstairs to get checked in to our room. There was some sort of backup upstairs, so it took a while to get into our room, number 303. The labor and delivery rooms at our hospital are really big, but we were lucky enough to get a corner room, which meant it was a HUGE room. In addition to the labor bed and a sleeping chair for Chris, we also had a couch, a bench, and a window. I was glad to see we had so much space since my mom was coming later in the evening.  

We finally were settled in about 9:30 or so, and the nurses came in to draw blood and put in my IV. Normally, doctors and nurses have no problems finding my veins, but I was so swollen from pregnancy they had to try multiple times to get a good vein. 10 days later, I still had a huge bruise on my right arm. Once the nurse FINALLY got my IV in, the doctor on call came in to place the cervidil in my cervix (since they were just placing medicine, it wasn’t a big deal to me that it wasn’t a doctor from my practice doing it). At that point, I was dilated to 1 cm. 

By about 10 or so, we settled in for the night of waiting. My mom got to the hospital at about 11pm. Shortly after the cervidil was in, I started having pains, and started to look at the clock every time I had them. My nurse dismissed them, saying that cervidil sometimes causes cramps. I had my doubts, as the cramps were coming about every 20 minutes or so. Mom and I started timing them, and we now have no doubt that I was having contractions – my body had decided to go into labor after all! I was so glad to already be in a hospital when they started…I can’t imagine having been at home . I knew I was already in the best possible place and didn’t have to travel anywhere. We were scheduled to start Pitocin at 7am. So with contractions starting, I tried to sleep. After a while, I kept feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t actually have to go most of the time – I think my body just liked the change of position for dealing with the contractions. I didn’t sleep much, and neither did Chris or my mom. Just before 6, the nurse came in to check on me, and I asked if there was any way we could get things going a little sooner. Thankfully, we did. They took the cervidil out and gave me a few minutes to get situated again. About 6:30 or 7, the nurses started my Pitocin drip, and at that point my contractions got more regular (looking at my tracker, they were about every 2-3 minutes) …and I immediately asked for my epidural.

 This is another thing I knew my whole pregnancy - that I would want the drugs. I applaud mothers who do things without them or at least try to...but it's not me. I always knew I'd want the drugs, and had no qualms asking for them right away. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible - having a baby was stressful enough! The anesthesiologist was doing a c-section at the time…and while I understood in the rational part of my brain, I really just wanted to whine and cry – I was SO uncomfortable and exhausted. I think it was around 8 or so when he was finally free, and my mom left the room so I could get my epidural (they only allow one person to stay with you at that point, so of course Chris stayed). The epidural – well, I was equal parts scared of and ready for it. The anesthesiologist started by telling me something I’ve been dealing with my whole life – that my short torso and extra weight would make the epidural difficult to do, since the bones in my spine are close together. (Cue me remembering how difficult sit-ups always were in gym class and how Pilates is really difficult for me…damn short torso.) He told me to round my back as much as I could and stay really still..and I held on to Chris and tried to stay as steady as I could. After a few adjustments on my part, I was in the right position and the epidural was in…and the pain started to go away. The epidural was GLORIOUS. The pain subsided, and I was actually able to sleep for a few hours, which was much needed after my mostly sleepless night. 

Once I woke up from my nap, (I think it was about 10am) my doctor checked me and I had progressed to 4 centimeters. I was so thankful to finally have some progress after weeks of no progress at my OB appointments! I continued to have contractions and my mom was timing them and helping me through them. I felt my water break at about 11am, and I definitely had the big gush people talk about – there was no doubt that it was my water, and I was glad it broke naturally. After my water broke, my doctor checked me again and I was at 7 centimeters. At that point, things start to get a bit hazy for me. My blood pressure had been a little on the high side during my pregnancy (but at that point not enough for concern), and during labor, my blood pressure continued to climb. I also developed protein in my urine, and had hence developed preeclampsia while in labor. For the first time during labor, I was scared, for both me and Abbie. I don’t remember a ton in this time frame. I know doctors and nurses were going in and out, and I was just trying to breathe deeply to try to calm myself down – it was the only thing I could think of to lower my blood pressure. Chris said my doctor brought in another doctor to consult on my blood pressure, and apparently at that point the thought of a c-section had come up. Thank goodness for that consultation – the other doctor suggested that the amount of activity in the room was stressing me out, and advocated taking as many people out of the room as possible, dimming the lights, and trying to let my body calm itself down. They did just that, and thankfully my blood pressure went down. 

Before I knew it (about 12pm), my doctor checked me again and I was at 9.5 centimeters – I couldn’t believe it. She suggested starting to push to help dilate that last .5 centimeter, so we geared up to start to push. While the epidural had taken away the pain, I could definitely still feel pressure (it was weird - it felt like it was ALL in my left butt cheek). The first bit of pushing dilated me the rest, and I pushed for about an hour and a half . Our daughter, Abigail Ann, was born at 1:30pm on December 21, 2012 (my mom of course noticed later that the two clocks in the room weren’t in sync, and says she was born at 1:26pm – only my mom would notice that).  

I was so glad that both Chris and my mom were in the room. I heard Abbie cry, and breathed a sigh of relief that she was out! I think I said something along the lines of “I can’t believe I did it!” While they ran Abbie’s tests and weighed her, my doctor started to deliver the placenta…and it did not seem to want to come out. It took some poking and prodding, but I finally delivered the placenta and my doctor started to stitch me up (I had a second degree tear), but because of the epidural I couldn’t really feel her doing it.   Finally, I got to hold Abbie again, and my mom left the room to call my dad and sisters. Chris called his mom and she left for the hospital. I couldn’t believe she was finally here – there is truly nothing like meeting your child for the first time.

  

I wish I could end this here with all happiness and rainbows, but that wouldn’t be the truth of what happened. My blood pressure was still really high, and they had to put me on a magnesium drip along with another blood pressure medication to try to regulate it again. That also meant a catheter – and that I was still stuck in in the labor bed. You know, the one that came apart for birth and is super uncomfortable? Yeah, that one. If you ever need to be on a magnesium drip, let me tell you – it makes you feel horrible. I was tired, still in pain from being in the same position for hours, and upset because I was stuck. I also wasn’t allowed to keep Abbie in the room with us without someone else who was awake and alert there with me – so I didn’t really get to spend a lot of time with her immediately after birth. My mom stayed with me while Chris took his mom back to her hotel and ran home to shower. He also took a blanket Abbie had been wrapped in home to our two cats (we had read that bringing home a blanket that smelled like the baby would help them adjust). Once he got back, my mom left for home. When we were making plans for delivery, we had every intention of Abbie rooming-in with us. I knew I wanted to start breastfeeding right away, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her being separated from us so soon. My medical condition changed things, and Chris and I made the difficult decision to send Abbie to the hospital nursery for the night, even though that meant she’d be getting formula instead of breastfeeding. Looking back, I have mixed feelings about it. I think it really damaged our breastfeeding relationship, but I think it would've been difficult for us to have her in the room with me as out of sorts as I was. Saturday morning I was finally starting to feel better, and I can’t tell you the relief I felt when they finally took me off the medication and took the catheter out – I could move again! We settled into our room in the Family Centered Care unit and the nurses brought Abbie back to us. (Cue happiness and rainbows again!) We settled in for the day and Abbie had her first visitors. After one more night in the hospital, we took Abbie home on Sunday begin our lives as a family of three. Thanks so much to Kristin for having me today!

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If you'd like to submit a birth story, please contact me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

be sure to visit my friend:

#4WeeksFit - My Goals!

YAY! YAY! YAY! Who is excited to link up with me and Erin for our #4WeeksFit challenge?!?!

If you missed my post last week, here's what you do....

1. Pick a goal or challenge for yourself to complete in 4 weeks! It can be anything from vowing to cut pop out of your diet to going to the gym a certain number of times...whatever you want to challenge yourself to do to get healthier!

2. Leave a comment here or on Erin's blog or write a post sharing with the world what your challenge will be!

3. Post about your progress throughout the month of May with the super awesome hashtag #4WeeksFit and use our super awesome button, found right here:

4. Rock your goal! Dominate life! Then share your success on May 30th and link up either here or over on Erin's blog Love, Fun & Football. 

5. End the month of May a little bit {or a lot bit} healthier than you started! GO YOU! 

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Now for my goals, I've decided to attempt three of them. Wish me luck!

I am terrible at drinking water. Like so bad. So for the next 4 weeks I'm going to try and drink 100 ounces each day, I'm going to keep track on my FitBit app and hope that this challenge turns in to a habit.

I'm also really bad at planks - I have ZERO core strength whatsoever so I'm going to test out the 30 Day Plank Challenge. Jason has actually agreed to do this one with me, so for the next 30 days we'll be plankin' at our house.

My last goal is my big one. I am participating in my second 5k of the year on June 1st and for the first time ever I'm actually "training" for it using the C25K app. I've completed the first 3 weeks and figured if I go for a run every other day this month I will get all the way through the program just in time for the race on the 1st. So this goal is a two-parter; Part 1: Finish the C25K training program and Part 2: Set a new personal record on the 1st.


There you have it! What are your goals? Link up! Get excited! Get fit! Get healthy! YAY! 

be sure to visit my friend:

ANNOUNCING....a "4 Week Fit" Challenge!

Happy Friday my friends! I've been regularly sharing posts on my weight loss {and gain} journey {read them HERE} and have been getting absolutely amazing comments from all of you! Thank you SO much for the kind words, great ideas and helpful advice. You definitely have pushed me closer to my goal and I'm so excited about the things that are happening south of my hair {my hair is a hot mess but that is a story for another day}. 

Hearing how many of you are in the same or similar boat really got me thinking. I've been lucky enough to have a weight loss partner in Erin since the beginning of the year. We both have similar goals and having her to text to complain or share victories has been a huge help and a huge motivation to not give up! So, together we thought, why not make a buddy system out of the blog world?

Here's the deal: Erin and I are encouraging you to come up with some sort of 4 week {that's just one measly month people} fitness, nutrition, or weight loss challenge for yourself. Maybe you want to be better at counting calories so you're going to challenge yourself to use MyFitnessPal every day for 4 weeks. Or maybe you've always wanted to try a yoga class but have been too scared to go, why not challenge yourself to go to one class a week for 4 weeks? It can be anything, big or small, but has to be something that is going to push you a bit and get you closer to whatever your goals may be...and you know we all have them! 

Erin and I will be posting our goals next Thursday, May 1st which will officially kick off the 4 weeks! Feel free to post about your goals on the 1st too and leave us comments letting us know what you hope to achieve. THEN, and this is the fun part, link up with us on Friday, May 30th and share with everyone how you did!

We even have a really fun button and hashtag you can use so that others know you're participating and can encourage you along the way! It's all about being held accountable, right?!

Get excited! And who is ready to get #4weeksFit?!?!?!

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Infertility Awareness Week!

It's Tuesday and it's time for....

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

Today I am honored and excited to have Lauren {better known as LO to me and the MN Blogger posse}from our crazy ever after here to share her story with infertility. I know more couples than I care to count who have dealt with or are currently dealing with infertility in some capacity. I love and admire so much that LO is is not quietly fighting her battle. She is sharing it all! And while I'm sure it's difficult to do, she is using her experience to educate others and also encourage other couples dealing with infertility to speak up! It's OK to share your journey and your disappointment and your heartache because it's only then that you are able to find support from others who know exactly how you are feeling. LO has an incredible outlook and incredible attitude and shares all her trials and tribulations with a humor that always has me chuckling out loud. She really is an inspiration and I am so honored that she is sharing her story with all of you today!  

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Hello to all you hot mamas out there. Or hot mamas in the making. I'm Lauren, and I'd like to consider myself one of the latter. I've been trying ever so hard to become a mom for over two years now. And it's just not working. There have been countless doctor appointments. Shots. Sterile cups of sperm. Inseminations. Empty bank accounts. My period arriving like clockwork. More shots (maybe tequila, maybe not). Tears. Screaming. Sadness. Anger. Oh yeah, and hope. I still have that. I honestly don't think I'd be able to share my story if I didn't have hope.

That's Jesse and I the first time we saw each other on our wedding day. I love that man so much. Little did I know exactly a year after this picture was taken, on our one year anniversary, that Jesse and I would be sitting in the office of a reproductive endocrinologist. It would be confirmed that our dreams of having babies wouldn't be realized as easily as we'd desired. Don't worry, we still celebrated our one year anniversary with greasy, delicious burgers at the 5-8 Club after the appointment. I went through a flood of emotions throughout our second year of marriage. I was angry a lot. My friendships changed. People I loved so dearly began to go on to do life in a way I wanted to do life. I was jealous. Being around friends with easily conceived babies was virtually impossible. I felt misunderstood, almost like people thought I was overreacting. I heard every cliche statement imaginable. Maybe it's stress!? You could adopt! Go on a vacation and then you'll get pregnant! Of course I wanted to be gracious, and field their well meant advice with a smile. It got hard, and so I just avoided people like a plague.

The first year after we were diagnosed we did seven medicated cycles, with five of those being IUIs. I like to refer to this year as the time we went buck wild for our baby. What's an IUI, you ask? It's this super romantic procedure where you basically have a threesome with your nurse. Wait, what? The nurse is in the room so she can shoot Jesse's sperm through my cervix with this long catheter thingy. It's definitely NOT romantic, and definitely NOT how one plans to create life. After each failed cycle, I was losing more and more hope. Our doctors wanted us to stop with the IUIs and jump to IVF, something we didn't, and still don't have the money for. IVF can cost anywhere from $13,000-$30,000, but the success rates for a couple with our diagnosis is more than 60%. We ain't poor, but we definitely don't have the dollar bills for that right now. And yes, it sucks that money is basically the one thing getting in the way of me becoming a mom and Jesse a dad.

Finally by November of this last year, we'd had enough, and decided to take a break from treatments. I was weighing in a whopping 20 pounds heavier (can we call that baby weight?) and the hormones I shot myself up with made me super crazy. So crazy that I am convinced Jesse was searching for a one way plane ticket to Canada, and his coo coo loco wife was not invited. I honestly felt robbed of those first precious years of marriage with my husband, and that's why for the last several months we've been trying our best to reclaim our marriage. To remove the infertility blinders, and embrace and cherish what we have until we can more aggressively pursue treatments. We're choosing joy right now. I strive to live my life everyday so that when I do have children, they would be proud of how cool their mom and dad were before they were born. Look at those cool future parents down there, just hanging out in the liquor store. Holla!

I never thought I could be so passionate about something I hate so much. I never realized I could feel a deep connection with women who were experiencing the same thing I was. I discovered an entire blogging community with the same dreams and desires. We support one another. We vent on the tough days. We cry when a cycle fails, and we rejoice when one of us finally sees those two precious, pink lines. The women I have met through this journey have been my silver lining. They make infertility suck just a little less.

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. I am so honored that Kristin, a fellow Minnesota blogger, is opening up her blog to me today. She's letting me share my version of Baby Talk. This year's theme is resolve to know more. Kristin is doing that by allowing the voice of an infertile to be heard on her blog. Thank you so, so much for listening. If you or someone you know is struggling, please don't hesitate to reach out. You are not alone. You are loved. And you matter.

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I want to be sure to mention that while LO and Jesse are enjoying their marriage and "choosing joy" they have also created a fantastic business to help them become the wonderful parents I know they are destined to be. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check out Jbaby Rags on Etsy to shop for adorbale burp cloths and bibs handmade by LO & Jesse! All of the profits go to help them get their miracle! 

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