D's Birth Story

I wanted to write up Ds birth story as I'm still amazed at myself and what I accomplished. God is truly good and an amazing creator. I'm amazed every day how he made woman and all the things we can do.

As many know my pass two births have not gone completely as planned. With the first my water broke and I was group B + so they put me on Pitocin. That was the only drug that I had during delivery so it was painful during transition. With the twins I had an epidural and was in the OR incase the babies started destating and they were both born vaginally. With the third I was hoping I could have the delivery I always wanted and I did.

At around 4:00 PM I woke up from a nap with Brianna and was noticing some cramping I also thought I may have had my water break but wasn't completely sure. I called Brian and he wasn't answering. I called my mother in law and told her she should probably prepare to come to our place. I started to get everything ready to go to the hospital.

labor selfie

Around 4:50 Brian got home. I was having contractions every 10 minutes. I had his birthday dinner in the oven and he started to get everything ready so the girls would be able to eat.

By 5:15 the contractions were coming at about 6 minutes a part. Brian called our neighbor who came down to watch the three girls. I'm so lucky to have such great neighbors where we live. They are so awesome and it is a great place for my kids to grow up.

By 5:30 we were at the hospital. I broke the snow scraper on the way out of the car. This was hilarious as the day we came home there was about an inch of ice on the car and we are in winter here in Erie. Don't worry my awesome husband has already purchased a new one.

I walked into the OB ward of the hospital and both nurses were so excited. My husband works at the hospital that I delivered at so it was awesome that they were waiting for us and ready.

My OB showed up a short while later. He is an amazing man. He is so laid back. He also has a sense of humor.

The nice thing about delivering at a small hospital was that both nurses were attending to me. There was only one other patient on the floor as she had delivered two days prior. It was strange as the last two I had at Magee and it was always different people in and out and they were always very busy.

labor selfie 2

We were sitting there discussing an upcoming vacation that my OB was taking and I remember thinking "wow this isn't so bad".

My OB decided that he wanted to check me and he said you are at 9 cm. I remember thinking that I would see my baby soon. He said that he wanted to break my water. I went to sit up for him to do this and it broke on its own.

A few minutes later I knew I had to push. 4 pushes later Danielle was born. I remember when my OB said it was a girl thinking Wait What? I would have swore it was a boy. It was such a happy surprise. God knows that I can handle girls and wouldn't be a good mom for boys.

They put her on my chest and it was love at first site

When they weighed D she was 6 pounds 13 ounces.

Abby weighed 6 pound 13 ounces. D was 19 inches long. A was 19.75 inches long. They were both born at 38 weeks and 2 days.

They handed her back to me after being weighed and measured and cleaned up and she latched right on. This was exciting as I had a ton of problems with A and pumped for three months with B and C because they were in the NICU.

My hospital stay was incredible. You stay in the same room you deliver in. No one else came in to have a baby. So the entire stay there were two nurses and two patients. It was awesome.

The food was good for a hospital. Also the staff were incredible. After two nights  was discharged. I don't sleep well without my husband. Also that first night I was poked and prodded ever few hours.

We weren't even home an hour and this is what I did:

This was such an awesome experience. People keep asking if we are going to have another to try for a boy. I don't want to have another as this experience was too perfect and I don't want to play the odds. My husband is such an incredible father to our four girls and such an amazing partner for me. He is used to the pink that has taken over our household and doesn't mind not having a boy.

I pray each day that we raise all four girls to be Godly women. Thank you God for giving me the privilege to be their mom.

Week 2 Round up

Well this week was much better than last week. I got my nutrition more under control. I was very proud of myself. It was hard but I knew I needed to do it to reach my goals and to be healthy for my kids.

On Monday I did Total Body Cardio Fix. I used 5 lb weights. I just kept thinking of what Autumn says at the beginning of the workout: "Take it one day at a time one pound at a time". This will be my mantra for this week. I really want to lose the weight and I know it won't come off fast. I know I need to do my best today and tomorrow will be another one. Also what is in the past is in the past.

I made progress from last week. I could do 30 seconds of the cross country skiers before I had to modify each round. This was exciting for me. These have always been my hardest exercise and now they seem even tougher.

I also added the Ab Fix today. IT felt good to get them working. It is such a short but fun workout. The only thing that sucks is that I have a cough and every time I cough my Abs hurt.

I got over four hours of sleep last night which is a record for the last few days. We have been up multiple times with D as she needs fed. We have also been up multiple times with C. She is a very light sleeper and I think she wants attention. A and B have also been up a few times the last few nights. This leads to us being up way more than normal.

I love that I can workout while the girls are napping. All four nap at the same time. This is so awesome! I love that I put D in the bouncer after I fed her. At the beginning of the workout she was watching me and I don't know when but she eventually fell asleep. I love that I can teach them healthy lifestyles from such a young age.

Day 2 brought Upper Fix. I used 5 and 8 pound weights again. I as able to do more reps so I know I'm getting stronger. I'm still having trouble doing pushups and the forearm plank. My abs need lots of love. I love the ab work during the second round. It felt so good. And I was pushing myself.

I did have to do this workout later today. When nap time hit I was so exhausted from being sick. I listened to my body and napped and then got my antibiotics after nap and was able to push through the workout in the evening.

My nutrition today was spot on. I was so excited and I got antibiotics today so I'm finally feeling a little better. I'm excited to see what tomorrow will bring.

Day three was Leg Day. I finally felt human again! I was able to do the entire workout with no modifications. This was exciting. I used the 5 and 8 pound weights. It was exciting to be able to dot he entire workout again. It hurt so good.

My nutrition was great again today. I did have to add a vegetable to my afternoon snack as I was starving and was worried about my milk supply.

Day four and time for pilates. I needed the stretch today. If you are doing this program you cannot skip pilates. It is an active recovery day and will help you feel better. I loved every moment of today's workout. I did the forearm without putting my knees down. This is a huge improvement from last week. I had to modify the plank hip drop though. I'm improving every workout.

I did have a cheat this morning at mops. I had some crackers with pepperoni and cheese. I also have a couple chocolate covered strawberries. These were my cheat for the week. Then this afternoon for lunch I got right back on my plan.

Day five and it should have been time for Cardio Fix. This by far is the hardest workout of the week and I ended up not getting to it today. This morning we had open gym play at my church. I spent a lot of time chasing the girls around and kicking balls with them. Then we got home and I rushed to make lunch. Then it was nap time almost an hour late. The baby needed nursed and didn't want to go to sleep. Then C woke up with  102 degree temperature. My husband didn't get home late from work. Then we just ordered out as it was already almost 6pm. By the time we got all four asleep in bed it was 9pm. So we just didn't work out. The worst part about it was that we ordered pizza for dinner. I only had two pieces and a bread stick but that still was two too many.

Saturday morning I was ready to recommit to working out. I did Dirty 30 in the morning and then did the cardio fix in the afternoon. I was determined to do all seven workouts this week. I love Dirty 30. I'm sad as I can no longer do the side plank leg lifts at the end of the workout without modifying. Give me a few weeks and I'll be back to doing them unmodified.

This was from after Dirty 30

 My eating today was awesome. I stayed right on my eating plan with no extras.

Sunday and it is yoga day. I'm was so excited for yoga today. I needed the stretch. I needed to stretch out my shoulders. I'm definitely feeling the chest flies from Dirty 30 yesterday. Then I ended up falling asleep during nap time. I was so tired. D clustered fed last night. she ate for 30 minutes every hour. This evening C puked all over at dinner time and then D decided to just eat and eat and eat this evening so I didn't get it in. I was so sad.

My nutrition was okay today as I didn't get my morning snack as we went straight from church to grocery shopping as the fridge was bare. I didn't have anything to take with me. Then we went to Sam's Club first so I didn't get any food that was easy to eat there. By the time we got to Wegmans it was too close to lunch. Therefore I had a big lunch. Then I ended up sleeping through my afternoon snack. Then I wasn't really hungry for dinner so I ate a tiny dinner.

Here is my plan for week 3:

Here is my meal plan for the week.

Week 3 21 Day Fix 2015

I'm looking forward to a great week 3.

March Specials

It is a new month and time to unveil the latest Beach body specials. This month there are four of them. I'm so excited to share these with you. All of these are challenge pack specials where you get the workout program and one months Shakeology.

The first is Beachbody on demand. To learn more about this program check out yesterday's blog post. This is an awesome option for those always on the go or get bored with one particular program.

The second is Focus T25. This is one of my favorite programs. I lost so much weight when I used T25 after the 21 Day Fix. Here were my Alpha Round results:

I loved this program because in just 25 minutes a day you saw results. You workout six days a week and get a stretch workout for the seventh day. This program is 10 weeks long. There are two phases an alpha that doesn't use any weights and a beta where you need weights or a resistance band. The meal plan is simple and very user friendly. The workouts vary from week to week so there is no boredom. There are five workouts for each round.

The third special is the 3 Day Refresh. I'm hoping one day I'll be able to try this program. When it first came out I was pregnant and now I'm breastfeeding. It is too calorie restrictive for me at this time. I will try it once I am done breastfeeding. Here was my blog post on this program. My friend and upline coach lost five pounds in just three days. Here is her review and results

The last program TurboFire. TurboFire gets you moving to music in 12 workouts. It is kickboxing and interval training combine. This is a 90 day program. The workouts vary from 10 to 55 minutes in length. Because of the nature of this workout you'll need good shoes as there is a lot of jumping. Other than that the only other equipment required is a resistance band. You definitely lose weight doing this high paced workouts.

I'm excited as my next group starts tomorrow. I'm excited to start helping even more people reach their goals. Are you interested in joining us? Please message me.