Forgive my lack of posts, sleeping has been somewhat erratic recently. The clocks changed and it all went wrong. We're back to newborn uncertainty! Seems that bathing before bed works a treat so we'll continue in this manner every night & see how it goes.
This post is a purely selfish waffle. I'm writing about me. Isaac's development will follow in due course. So anyhoo. I've been a mother for 7 months now. Some things I wasn't expecting have happened, well quite a few of those, but the main ones are: random hair and losing weight.
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| While my belly isn't this flat, my jeans were about this much too big |
Regarding the weight loss. I was under the impression that, when one had a baby, one lost control of ones stomach muscles and got fat. I believed as much because there is a multitude of products available to "help you get your pre-baby body back" - exercise DVDs (Cindy Crawford springs to mind), diets, creams, therapies etc. I'll admit to being a little concerned by all this. My weight had crept up to an unacceptable (for me) level before I was pregnant and I really didn't want to get any bigger thank you very much. You can imagine my surprise, then, when the weight started to drop off before my very eyes. Within 2 weeks I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight and dress size. 7 months on I am exactly 2 stone lighter and 2 dress sizes smaller (on the bottom and 1 on top) when compared with pre-pregnancy figures. Needless to say I am delighted for several reasons. 1) I've lost the weight that's been steadily creeping on since my teens. 2) I didn't have to do anything to achieve said loss. 3) I had to go shopping to buy clothes that didn't fall off! It's lovely to be able to shop for clothes in the regular section of stores rather than the plus size bit, something I haven't been able to do for years now. Anyway, I feel great - I just hope it doesn't all come piling back on when the breastfeeding stops.
The Hair, nothing freaky don't worry. At about 4 months pregnant I noticed that I lost a small patch of hair at the front of my scalp. I didn't think anything of it & assumed it was part of the ageing process. Didn't even cross my mind that the raging hormones in my body might be responsible! I looked in the mirror the other day and, lo & behold, it's growing back! This I was not expecting. I was reminded of when I was about 8 or 9 and fed up with the same missing wispy bits of hair. In my infinite wisdom I decided to chop them off so that they weren't there any more. What I didn't realise, and what Mum told me (while smirking) would happen was that the hair would grow back giving me a temporary and horrific mini-fringe. Here I am at the ripe old age of 28, feeling the frustration of a 9 year old, only it's not self inflicted this time.
I've already had the freaky hair loss in the shower thing. I'll explain...I don't brush my hair apart from when I wash it so the way I keep tabs on hair happenings is the amount that comes out in the shower - anyone with hair that needs squeezing in the shower will know what I mean. During pregnancy I noticed that it all but stopped coming out in the shower. Again, I thought nothing of it and got used to it - it made the washing of hair very quick! At about 3 months post birth, my hairs appeared to be jumping ship! I didn't really know what was going on until one of the NCT Mums said that her hairdresser had mentioned it would happen at around 3 months. Phew. I wasn't balding! Massive relief. I guess my hormones are rebalancing because my hair loss is back to pre-pregnancy levels now and it's maintenance levels are too...boo! I could get away with washing it once a week during pregnancy. Back to every other day now.
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| Click image to zoom for full gory details! |
The return of the periods also made me a little sad. It means Isaac is needing less milk from me. I know he'll continue to need about a pint a day until he's 1 or so, but still. I'm not his main source of food anymore. Initially I thought weaning was getting my son onto solid food. Now I think it's that as well as weaning me off him.
My caesarean scar has fully healed. It's quite smooth on the left side. The right side is less purple and more that reddy pink of scar tissue; it's nowhere near as bumpy as it has been. and I don't notice it anymore when I pull clothes on etc.
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Wow, I've always been a proponent of using TCM to managing menstrual problems, but I did not know acupuncturists could do the same! I always thought that was more of dealing with general aches and pains, not so much menstrual discomforts! Looks like I learned something new today and something extra to research on :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your speedy recovery and growing little boy - 7 months!
I still have yet to mow the lawn and the weather is still pretty mild outside. We've had a couple days of non-nonsensical heat which I should add, were not very nice to my snow-tires rubber, but back to rainy season again before summer sets in... I'm not looking forward to my first mow of the year because that just means my work has begun :D
Acupuncture is a physical part of TCM. It uses the same meridian system to manipulate the energy of the body so it can be used for anything really...apart from broken bones etc. I went to see my acupuncturist to specifically get my cycle sorted and (with hindsight) my L/GB under control as I used to be evil just before my period. Sorted me out good n' proper :-)
ReplyDeleteI had some acupuncture to get Little Man on the move as he didn't want to come out & the hospital were getting pretty narky about me not wanting to be induced.
What aspects of TCM are you familiar with for menstrual management?
Hrm, well that's interesting... most of the things I hear about using acupuncture for was definitely not menstrually-related, but all-be-damned that it works for it! I guess I'll have to add that to my repository for when one of my girls complain about period pains and whatnot!
ReplyDeleteMost of the TCM I've ever encountered was through a Chinese herbalist. A lot of the times, those herbal centres will have a TCM doctor/specialist who will write up forms after a diagnosis of your body's pulse and energy. For convenience, they can also select/pack the right herbs in a package for processing later on. Most of it involves submerging all the components into hot water and drinking the resulting water. It's hard for me to relay this information since most of what I learn from it is done in Chinese and translations into English are always hard! Using a combination of herbs, right for a specific individual, the TCM doctors can help target the root of the problems which cause the menstrual discomforts.
I had herbs too *grimace* (!) in conjunction with the acupuncture. I guess the herbs on their own are similar to a doctor's prescription? (action, not content) My acupuncturist described it as giving the energy work a kick start. I went for a specific reason though; I started to take the contraceptive pill when I was about 15 to regulate my periods which were very frequent & heavy. With hindsight (that wonderful thing) I realise my body was probably settling into its own pattern and would've levelled out eventually. I decided at 24/25 that it was high time I came off the pill & wanted to sort my cycle out naturally rather than continuing to take lots of drugs.
ReplyDeleteFrom university studies of TCM/Shiatsu, menstrual cramps/pains are viewed as all bodily ailments are in TCM/5 elements - a blockage/breakdown in the energy of the body. If people are serious about sorting out their menstrual stuff I think a totally holistic approach is required including food, lifestyle etc.
Anyhoo...I waffle enough!
Yep, that's right.. there's really no fool-proof method, it is all about adopting a lifestyle that is bearable and will help control menstrual discomforts. Some TCM doctors are better than others, either using milder conjunctions or "better/neutral"-tasting herbs. Throughout my life, I've had an assortment of TCM doctors because our family greatly believes in Chinese herbs for "maintaining" good health, so even if we don't have any specific ailments to tackle, we will still do some maintenance every once in a while. I've had everything from puke-worthy herbal water to not-all-too-bad tasting herbal water.
ReplyDeletePersonally, the way our family saw it was that often we would consider acupuncture as a way to solve "physical" things (things in general you can feel/touch) while herbs were meant to solve "internal" things (things you can't always feel, but still occurs within your body). However, this is of course from a layman point-of-view and not that of a medically-oriented viewpoint.
It's good that you quit using the pill after a while and although it was a good 10 years, your body definitely doesn't need that type of hormone-tampering chemical within! Although I know drugs will come with side-effects while having positive effects, I have heard/known one-too-many girls who have experienced VERY negative reactions to the pill or other anti-contraceptive products. I always advise my girls not to take them unless thorough consideration is taken, weighing the consequence that even should they go off it, it might take a while for things to 'go back to normal'. While I do understand for those who suffer great pains and heavy periods, the pill does provide a method of control, I always hope to steer them towards using a more natural approach and rather that suppressing hormones and such, to deal with the root of the problem - something within.
Waffle all you want, it's your own blog :lol:
[...] – it can’t be my hair because I wrote about that already in my last post. Isaac’s hair is lovely. It’s so soft and fluffy. He’s developing a little mohawk [...]
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