There was a lapse in healthy living last week after a frantic, miserable 48 hours for baby duck and I. My first week back on the healthy eating bandwagon saw a 3 pound drop on the scale. Then there were 2 days of misery; crabby, hungry, angry nursing misery.
If nursing the monkey hadn’t gone so horribly wrong I probably wouldn’t have panicked. If the duck weren’t so little I also probably would have taken it in stride. If we hadn’t spent 10 weeks doing everything we possibly could to get to a place where nursing was easy and pain free I probably would have been okay. But listening to your little one cry and yell and then claw at your chest as he tries to get something to eat is heart breaking.
When the monkey was 8 months old I made drastic changes to my eating and exercise habits and our nursing relationship, already on shaky ground, ended much earlier than I was ready for it too. It broke my heart and so I will admit that I freaked out a bit when my supply tanked last week. I kept eating the same healthy fruits, veggies, and grains but I also added back more fats and starches into my diet in hopes that it would jump-start my production. That, combined with a whack of oatmeal and ‘lactation’ cookies, meant that by Wednesday things were back to normal on the nursing front. I’m grateful that I had a stash of pumped milk in the freezer and that baby duck, frantically hungry, was willing (albeit begrudgingly) to take a bottle.
But there’s nothing like seeing yourself on TV to get you running and jumping back on the healthy eating bandwagon . Milk or not I don’t want to be wearing maternity jeans for another single, solitary day!
And while it might be negative motivation it worked.
So do the charmingly honest comments from the firefighter.
Watching me put on a wrap to carry the baby duck in a few weeks back he asked if it was underwear for my back breasts.
“Huh” I thought to myself, until I looked in the mirror. Apparently to a six year old my rolls are size-able enough to resemble breasts.
Just yesterday he was keeping me company in my office while I edited photos, chattering away about anything and everything that came to mind.
“See that picture there” he asked, pointing to a photo from the 10K I ran last May. “The one where you were a lot smaller”
Who needs negative self-talk when you have a six year old to remind you that your body has changed and not necessarily for the better.
So my back breast toting, maternity pant wearing, and mirror-avoidant self is back to tracking and vigilantly monitoring what I eat; one eye on the calories and nutrient intake and the other on the baby duck, making sure he’s happy and fed too.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I watched the video of you on TV, it was great, your so natural and confident on camera. I am saying this with total honesty, I thought you looked BEAUTIFUL! But its one thing for me to look and at you and see beauty, its another for you to look in the mirror and feel beautiful. I wish that for you. KIDS! ughh….yep they are way to honest…I remember when Kay was 3 and I was engaged in my daily 3pm choc binge she said “MOM put the choc away!” You have so much on the go, and nursing, that must have been really hard struggling with the supply. Small baby steps, you will get there. Your already BEAUTIFUL, now to just feel great too
wink.
I’m just going to go out there and say it: I want to be Katie when I grow up. This will be the year to start growing….or shrinking. For now I’ll avoid mirrors and just focus on healthy eating for the duck and I.
And thank you xo
Wow, kids are brutal, eh? Mirrors are enough for me… I am jumping back on the bandwagon, too! I’m rejoining W W today, and this time if it affects my milk supply, I’m going to adjust, not completely abandon and dive into a box of cookies like last time. Skye doesn’t need me eating so much that I gain weight! It’s super scary hearing them scream with frustration and hunger… Kudos to you for finding balance and sticking with it! What are those lactation cookies called? Is there anything special about them?
His honesty was what I needed even if it sucked hearing it! I know I can keep my milk supply up without going overboard on eating, I just need to figure out the balance. Lactation cookies are full of yummy goodness but also all the nutrients that help increase supply (oatmeal, flax etc). There are tons of recipes out there but I’ll get the one my friend makes because they’re really yummy!
Sara, have you heard of the myfitnesspal app? I think that’s what it’s called. You can track all your food there (like many other apps), but what I love is that you can scan the barcode of whatever you’re eating or using to cook and it automatically puts in the nutritional info and you can adjust the serving size to reflect what you’re actually consuming. It also lets you input your exercise, weigh ins, how much water you drink and other stats. I love it.
And don’t focus so much on counting calories, rather what types of calories. Compare an avocado and a chocolate bar. They might have the same amount of calories (I’m not sure if they do, I’m just using it as an example!), while the avocado is high in fat and the candy bar is loaded with sugar. If you’re counting only calories and fat, you’d likely choose the chocolate, but surely most would agree that an avocado is FAR better for you than junk food. Our bodies NEED fat… the good healthy kind. Breastfeeding mamas REALLY need some good fat in their diets since it’s essential for a lot of important baby development, brain function, etc.
Your honesty is refreshing… your six year old’s perhaps less so! *wink* Out of the mouths of babes, eh?
Thanks Amy:)
I love myfitnesspal!! When I lost weight before getting pregnant thats what I used everyday for over a year and I’m back using it again (I’m eisangel3). I think adding healthier fats into my diet will help a lot – they’re something I don’t tend to reach for but after the supply scare I realized that low fat isn’t helping anyone, even me. I’ve never been a huge fan of nuts but am trying to embrace almonds and other nut butters since I can’t take peanut butter with me when I’m on the go.
I SOOOOOO get you on the milk supply front, I was uber paranoid about that. Glad to hear things have evened out – and give me a call if you want to hook up. Walking date??? I’m off work Thurs/Fri this week, one of them will be ‘date day’ but we haven’t picked which yet!
It’s hard enough managing food when your body isn’t making milk; this just adds an added complication! I want to walk more but I’m slow right now because of my foot. DH is off now until after Labour Day so I’ll be able to get to physio. I think I need new runners too. And possibly to embrace all your salad making prowess – I’m so unadventurous!
Baby duck is sucking out A LOT of fat, so that’s gotta help. How’s your foot?
Foot is betterish but not useful for foot related exercise. Physio is the next step and will talk to him about whether orthotics would help. Right now I just stretch and push through the pain but that can’t be a long term solution
I tried to diet when D2 was still nursing and it had the same affect it had on you guys. A week of agony as he nursed around the clock. I gave up for that time and I am glad I did. You will get back to where you want to be. Make good choices now, good quality and enough quantity to keep your supply up and soon enough you can get back to where you were
It’s so good to know I’m not alone. I think we’ve reached a turning point in the last week as I find him nursing less, which might mean I have a bit more leeway with my diet. He’s discovered his thumb and is using that for comfort rather than wanting to nurse so frequently. I guess we’ll wait and see if it lasts!
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