Let's see...physically things are going really well. I chopped most of my hair off, so even though I had a little bit of shock over that, it feels good to start fresh. I had my 6 week postpartum checkup last Friday and I am completely healed from my c-section. The incision has healed perfectly (I am so thankful I've never had any issues with that!) and I'm feeling good. I've been keeping up with the food diary on MyFitnessPal and so far that's going well, I've lost 4 pounds (which feels pretty lame compared to Billy's 20 or so pounds lost, but oh well haha). I'm trying to keep in mind that my weight loss is always slow, usually averaging 1-2 pounds per week and that it's okay as long as I keep it up. I'm also making milk to feed a small human, so I have to keep that in mind :). I have 13 pounds to go until I'm at my healthy BMI/pre-pregnancy weight, and then after that whatever I lose will just be icing on the cake. I do feel like I'm eating a lot better than I was and we're definitely eating better as a family since Billy is doing this, too.
Since everything checked out okay with the midwife, I started some legitimate exercise this week. I am SO out of shape. Like, really bad. Billy has been doing Nike+ Kinect Training for several weeks now and it has worked really well for him. We bought a Kinect sensor to go with the Xbox 360 last year (using gift cards, of course!) and he bought the Nike game as a way to be held accountable for working out. Definitely worth it. We can't really afford a gym membership that includes childcare, so this is the next best thing for us. It's pretty accurate and detects when you're doing things incorrectly and also changes up the workouts throughout the week so you're getting a good mixture of strength training and cardio. I took the initial fitness test on Tuesday and I can definitely see where my strengths and weaknesses are. Anything to do with lower body strength is good, but upper body strength was rough...aka nonexistent. You would think with carrying all these kids around I would be strong, but nope. I have done two workouts so far and I am SO sore today so I guess it's working. I planned my workout days to be the same as Billy's so that I can be held accountable by him.
Mentally I'm doing well. I'm thankful that my hormonal adjustment has been easier this time around, so I'm not laying on the floor crying like I did after Piper was born (seriously, that happened more than once). I still get stressed and aggravated throughout the day, but I don't feel as overwhelmed by life as I have in the past (again...after Piper was born. Poor girl, I hope she doesn't get a complex because I keep referring to how difficult she was!). Spiritually, my prayer life is great thanks to Grace needing to eat late at night/early in the morning, which is pretty much my only opportunity for total silence in this house :). I'm still struggling with reading on a daily basis. It seems like I'll have a couple good days and then several where I totally neglect to do this.
Relationally I think I'm doing okay. Billy and I are trying to have more regular date nights, which means we have to be a lot more creative since these are happening at home. Last Friday I planned date night, which included Chipotle takeout, dessert, and playing Zumba and Just Dance demos on the Xbox. Those games would be worth buying for all of the hilarity that ensued. I'm continuing with book club, MOMS group, and trying to get together with friends, but lately some of those things have been canceled due to snow. I LOVE snow, but I'm also ready for some warmer days so that the girls and I can get outside. I'm kinda tired of being cooped up in the house these days.
One area that has been on our minds lately has to do with future children. This is pretty personal, but I feel okay sharing this since I know the people who read this blog care about our family and will either pray for us, encourage us, or at least keep negative comments to themselves. During my surgery with Grace, the OBGYN said that my uterus was very thin, like paper. If I were to get pregnant again, I would have a higher risk for uterine rupture, which is a very serious complication. Billy and I knew we wanted to have at least three children...now that we're there, we're not really sure if we're done or not. At 25 years old, I feel too young to say we're done, but I'm not ready to say that we will have more. We love being parents...it has been one of the best gifts God has given us. We've been praying a lot about what God wants for our family (including how many children we have). This is such a touchy subject for some people and everyone has a different opinion on it. We love our children and believe each one is a blessing from God. I've never wanted to place a "limit" on that and say that we're only going to have X number of kids and then we're done, but when you have risks to consider, what do you do? This is obviously something that won't be answered right now, but will just take time and prayer. On one hand, it makes me so sad to think that we might be done having children. On the other, I think about how wonderful it's been to have these three beautiful girls so close in age and I think about how much fun we'll have in the future as they grow up. Just think about it...we'll have a 13 year old, 15 year old, and 17 year old all at the same time! :) I also look forward to the day when everyone in this house is potty trained haha. Long story short, I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this and it's something that I just need to trust God with the outcome. I have always been a planner, but I just can't plan around this right now and that's hard for me to accept sometimes. So for now, I'm treating our little Gracie as if she were our last baby. It makes every milestone so bittersweet, but it also makes the difficult parts (the fussiness, getting up in the middle of the night, etc.) a little easier because I realize that this might be the last time and that I've gotta see the good parts in those hard things, too. I may not have another newborn, so I've got to treasure all of it while I can.
In closing, I leave you with some pictures of these sweet babies:
