The biggest improvement as of late is that Elisa is now getting up only once a night! I feel like I'll jinx it by writing it here, but it has been pretty consistent for the past 2 weeks or so. It has made a huge difference on my body and my energy level. Getting up to feed her 3 times a night like I had to in the very beginning was exhausting, and left me feeling like a wreck every day. Last night she even went for a 6 hour stretch from about 11pm -5am. A few times a week we have a bottle ready for her at night so that Paul can feed her and I can sleep through the night, which is A-MA-ZING!
I think my emotional health is improving also. The biggest reason is that I am making a concerted effort to get out of the house every day. I'm making a little schedule for us - Monday: walking Silver Lake; Tuesday: the local farmer's market; Wednesday: weekly Target run; Thursday: Trader Joe's or Costco; Friday: City Center (our favorite Korean food eating area and grocery store). These lovely activities can happen out of order too - this is just a sample of our glamorous life. Even if I don't necessarily need anything, it's essential for me to get dressed every day and get out of the house to remember that I am some kind of active member of society, if even just a consumer.
I've also just started exercising again, which has been completely painful. My local trendy workout class, Pop Physique, offers a new mom's special which is an unlimited class pass for 3 months at a discounted price. It's an intense hour long workout similar to the Bar Method with exercises targeted at different parts of your body and core combined with some ballet and yoga stretching. I used to go before I got pregnant and found the class difficult but totally worth it. Now it is beyond hard, but I'm pushing myself to go three times a week to get the most out of my unlimited pass. It's pretty awesome so far - I've been twice this week while Paul watches the baby in the evening, and I've already noticed some changes in my body. Mainly soreness. Right now my core is totally sore and it's hard just to get myself on and off the couch! After labor, all of your extra body fat just turns into this squishy mess as if to remind you that something happened there. On my first day back at Pop, I was sweating through my workout trying to keep up with the instructor, telling myself to keep going. I had flashbacks of what labor was like and the sheer determination it takes to make your body do something it doesn't think it can do. It's very much like what my hands first felt like when I started practicing guitar again. It's so hard but so possible.
I've started a tradition that every month on the 11th, we get cupcakes to celebrate another month of Elisa's life. This month we didn't get pictures of the cupcakes because Paul accidentally dropped the box and they got smushed, but I still ate them. You know, so Elisa could have some too. But I did get a picture of her in the pretty blue dress that Auntie Lav sent us last month. All the 3-6 month clothes are fitting now and the newborn stuff is too small - in fact, at her 2 month checkup she was weighing 9 lbs and 15 oz - nearly 10 lbs!
Our little girl is growing so fast!
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