Shiny New Penny

I don’t really have a point to this post besides to share some recent pictures of Penelope. Let’s do a few of those first (you’ve already seen most of these if we are friends on Facebook).

She is growing so fast. These are roughly chronological and cover the last couple of weeks (from 2 weeks old to almost 4 weeks old):

   

  

Running

The last 2 pictures are from today when I returned home from my run. I ran two miles at 8:05 pace. :O God, I missed running fast! I am still on my runner’s high hours later. I’ve run a few times- just a mile or two at a time starting at 2 weeks after giving birth. I’m waiting until my 6- week postpartum doctor visit to increase the miles. I’m not sure I should be doing any running without my doctor’s approval, but fuck it. I feel great and can’t resist. I’ve been walking every day for a few miles too, so it’s been impossible not to sneak in a few miles of running.

I am not going to sign up for any races for a while though. I don’t want to rush things physically, and I have no clue what kind of time I’ll be able to devote to training over the next few months. I do plan to run a half marathon this winter and then a spring marathon (probably Eugene).

Motherhood

I’m enjoying my time with the baby very, very much. It’s super exhausting and challenging but I really love it. I have my moments when she is crying, or I’m extra sleep-deprived, or it’s super hot in the house (we had a heat wave this week), etc. But Zach keeps me sane. He takes care of Penny when he gets home from work and helps a ton on the weekends, which gives me the break I need. He even gave her a bottle today while I ran. Motherhood is different than I thought it would be. Certainly harder, but also more rewarding. I have found that motherhood requires a great deal of patience and confidence, which are not things that come easily to me. I’m working on it.

Body after Baby

I’m feeling fantastic. Still a little sore now and then but about 95% healed. It was a painful process of recovery and I’m glad I’m nearly through it. Poor lady bits.

Since I didn’t gain that much weight during pregnancy, I was lucky that it came off quickly. I am constantly hungry and eat nonstop all day long, even in the middle of the night because of breastfeeding. I’ve been surprised to see how my body has responded to all this. I’m actually the leanest I have been in a long time. I feel pretty mushy in the stomach-area, and I have no upper body strength to speak of, but that will come back with time. Also, needless to say, my boobs are huge.

In general, I have a new appreciation for my body. Both from the pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding side of it, and also from the running side. I am amazed that I was able to run throughout my entire pregnancy and then already again after giving birth. I think I have been too hard on myself in the past. I am really proud of what I’ve done.

Penelope

Did you see how frigging cute she is? I can’t stop looking at her! She’s so funny and adorable, we just love her to bits. She is growing so fast- already outgrown some newborn clothes and is into her regular cloth diapers already. She spends more time each day awake and alert- you can practically watch her brain developing. It’s a trip. I can’t wait to see what is next. I love her more every day.