140 down!!

Today I got on the scale and expected nothing - I mean the weight loss has dramatically slowed down, as expected. 193!! That means I am down 140 lbs and feeling terrific.

We went to meet Shelby's new pediatrician yesterday and she asked about DJ and I's medical history - of course, nothing really for DJ, but for me there is a long list. When I mentioned that I am 9 months post op gastric bypass, her eyeballs about popped out of her head! She couldn't believe that I had been so heavy and that I had lost so much weight so fast. It was very flattering that a Dr. would be so amazed with my success! BTW - love the new pediatrician and its so close to home. Part of Children's Memorial which to me, is better than Aurora Medical Center. Very happy. Next step for transferring doctors is to meet DJ and I's new dentist. UGH - I hate dentists - they always want to drill on my mouth.

Fun stuff.

We bought tickets to go see Elmo Makes Music at Rosemont Theatre on Mothers Day! Shelby had such a wonderful time at the circus and she behaved so well in her booster seat, we thought we would try our luck again. Although she is really into the Backyardigans right now, she still sleeps with her Elmo and she still likes Elmo on Sesame Street. Hopefully, she will enjoy it as much as we will enjoy watching her! Happy Mother's Day!

Still a woman...

BTW - I still have my period and its now been 4 or 5 weeks. Its not a steady flow and its not strong enough for a tampon on most days, but still there none the less. When should I contact my OBGYN about it? When is it not normal?

Jiggle and shake...

My dr. said that because of my age, my skin should bounce back after a dramatic weight loss. I am here to tell you - it just isn't so! There are two places: my upper arms (under side) and my inner thighs. You'd think that these two places would be discreet and that no one other than my husband will see it. WRONG! What about short sleeves? Each day I wear scrubs (the kind nurses wear) for my daycare attire and each day when I raise my arms to do whatever (singing and dancing, SOO big, TA-DA!, etc...) I feel my underarm wings flapping around. Also, the stretch marks have gotten darker so that it appears like I have a huge cluster of blackheads!! Its absolutely disgusting. My inner thighs are terrible! I was running the other day and I felt areas jiggling that haven't jiggled and SHOULDN'T be jiggling! It was gross and strange. So how do I fix it?

EXERCISE! I need to desperately start an official, REAL routine! But how? Daycare runs 6:30 - 5:30 PM, then I have to clean-up, do dishes, make dinner, clean-up, do dishes, spend time with DJ and Shelby, do paperwork, do homework, go grocery shopping, work on menus, check and send emails, work on my licensing, etc... I usually go to bed around 10 PM or so completely exhausted to turn around and do it all again the next day. My to do list gets longer and longer and it feels like I am running out of time. I wanted to start home daycare so that I can spend more quality time with my daughter and ensure she is getting the best care possible - but am I really achieving what I set out to do? Then - to try to fit exercise into it all? Where? Yes - I have more energy than I have had in years and I get a lot of exercise running around after toddlers and infants all day and cleaning and doing and going all day - but its not steady, formal, weight lifting, toning type exercise. *sigh* I wonder how expensive it is to clone myself?

Pool season is coming and although I am looking forward to buyng a much smaller swimsuit, I know that it will still have to be a swimdress to cover what I can of the nasty areas. And who do I really want to see me that way? I want to take Shelby to a waterpark and go down slides and tubing and such... but who am I kidding? I am not exposing all that!

Seems to me I should be happy that I've lost so much weight and be proud of my new healthier body, instead of ashamed and embarrassed. But saying it and feeling it are very different things.

Surgery is an option - but my Dr. says to wait until after we have our second child... why spend time and money to fix what is going to get misplaced again anyways? And I have to give my body a chance to settle in at the weight its going to stay at. Not to mention, surgery is expensive!

For now, I will try to take walks to the parks instead of drive, I will try to park further away instead of in handicap, and I will try to do strength training with my bands when I can. But if anyone out there has any clue as to how to fit a square peg into a round hole (referring to all the things I have to do a day with the short time given to do it), I certainly would appreciate it.

Old faded blue jeans...

I totally forgot to mention that two weeks ago, I fit into my old (10 years +), classic fit, faded blue jeans that I have been keeping forever! They are size 18 and I am more of a size 16 now in todays fashions. I had such a hard time getting them on over my tush when I went to size 18 - I was disappointed. But then I realized that jeans today fit very different for us women than they did 10+ years ago. So now that I am a size 16, I fit in them! I think I might actually be getting closer to a 14 at this point, but I haven't bought anything new since Christmas.

I cannot justify spending the money on clothes that will fit me for a moment in time. Although, it was 60 degrees here yesterday and we were out at the park. I needed a light coat so I tossed on my old wind breaker (size 30/32). I was swimming in it! I have to go get a new light jacket because it looked terrible on me.

ONEDERLAND!

I DID IT! As of this morning, I am 199.8 lbs and down 134 lbs! I am now in ONE-DERLAND! It has taken me a little over 8 months to get here and a lot of hard work, and it certainly feels wonderful!!