For the second last time...Hi everyone!
Just to get some admin out of the way, please follow cait_calibrate on instagram if you'd like to continue following me on my post-natal journey or if you want to ask me any questions please reach out there or via email. This week is my penultimate calibrateBUMPS update, my fourth trimester is already coming to an end...
This week was my first week “back at work”. Although given the COVID restrictions this means I’m only back teaching a few hours online, in another week or two I might start to see a few clients offsite - I just want to get the timing with Noah right first. It feels great to slowly start to make my way back and rejoin the Calibrate Team, I’ve missed them!
Noah had quite a week (more on that a little later) which meant I was only able to train once this week, today. Luckily the rest of the week I was still able to get lots of steps in (again, more on that later) so I'll take it.
Training
Monday
Today felt a lot colder than the last few days! I only taught one class in the morning and then really didn’t feel like doing much after that. My body was sore, I was tired, I was hungry all day, and it was cold outside. Naturally, Noah decided to chose today to boycott sleeping. She wouldn’t sleep on her own because life was too distracting, she wouldn’t sleep in her carrier because life was too distracting, she wouldn't sleep in a dark room because life was too distracting, and she wouldn’t even sleep on the breast because life was too distracting. She just wanted to talk, stand, and look at different colours. Having said that, she was also definitely exhausted. Her eyes were red and she was burying her head into my chest all day. I took her into a dark room at 8:30pm to nurse her to sleep and all she did was stare at me and smile and talk...
Despite being cold and tired I took her on 2x 45-60min walks to attempt to sleep her. Both walks were not successful.
At least she’s adorable.
Tuesday and Wednesday
See above (it was a long start to the week)...
Thursday
After 3 days of essentially not sleeping she chose this morning to take all the morning naps. She was asleep more than she was awake up until about 1pm. I went on a 90min morning walk with her asleep in the carrier, I then took her into central to run errands and she slept almost the entire 2 hours I walked around.
By the time we got home at 2pm I was sufficiently exhausted, not physically but actually just very tired. So I sat down for the rest of the day and didn't do anything.
Friday
See Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday above but throw in an extra 2 walks and an osteo session during which she screamed for 10 of the 30minutes...We ended the day with a BBQ dinner and a bonfire session at my parents' place, Noah slept the whole time.
Saturday
Decided to start our morning with a hike up to the Peak. Surprise, surprise, Noah didn't want to sleep and she also didn't want to be in her carrier so we had to carry her up. Nothing like getting some isometric arm work in while you scale up to the Galleria. After the morning hike and morning of no naps we then spent the rest of the day at home with her while she once again attempted to sleep but really just wanted to talk and look around.
Sunday
For the first time since Noah's birth - I left the house without her and went to the studio to train. After a week of a lot of walking but no other training, I felt like throwing a few kettlebells around. Jack was left at home with Noah with one task: get her to take a bottle. Apparently it was moderately successful!
4 sets each:
Kettlebell Lunge Complex
Bear Crawl Turkish Get Up (my name for it - not the official name)
Kettlebell Deadlift Complex
Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell Squat Complex
Kettlebell Clean to Rotating Press
Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlifts
Plank Drags
Videos from this session can be found on my instagram: cait_calibrate
Life in General
Well, I can’t believe how quickly this moment has come but this week Noah seemed to leave the newborn phase and enter the baby phase. I think it’s pretty obvious she can see some colours now (definitely green but I think also red) which means life is getting very interesting and her brain is now working extra hard. In addition to seeing colours, she’s started to actively reach out and grab hold of things (she almost pulled a saucer of soy sauce off the table at lunch on Saturday).
She started babbling responsively a few weeks ago but this week when I was reading to her (as I do every day) she was “reading” along with me. When I sang to her, she sang along with me - making the same vowel noises I was making.
With all these new things happening in her brain it’s no wonder she found it hard to sleep or switch off, life must be so much more interesting now!
I remember very distinctly sitting on the sofa with her on Thursday and just watching her stare at her fingers and then reach out to touch different things, equally fascinated and confused. She’d then look at me, back at her hands, and repeat the process. Smiling. At that moment I realised I no longer had a “newborn”, I had an infant.
Another sign of growth, today (Sunday) I left the house for the first time without her. Ok, maybe not the literal first time but the first long period of time. I left Noah at home with Jack, Jack’s brother, and Jack’s dad as I headed into town to train. During my absence Noah was actually pretty successful with a bottlefeed. The bottle has been her arch nemesis for a few weeks now and now that I’m heading back into work and wanting to ramp up hours, she really needs to be comfortable with the bottle. I think now that she’s a little older, a lot more comfortable with herself and with Jack, she’s more open to the bottle. Things are looking up!
As exciting as the time ahead is and as cliched as it all sounds, it is crazy how quickly they grow up!
I might not have been able to do much this week but it didn’t bother me at all, it was fascinating to watch her learn and discover new things each day.
As for me, physically I feel like I’m almost back. I will go see Kate Smith at Thrive Health at some point this or next week to see if I’m able to start jumping or running but until then, life is such an adventure with Noah right now I’m really not in a rush to get back and that’s not my priority. I love running but I think I’m enjoying watching a tiny human’s brain develop a little more.
Next week will be my last bumpdate, who knows what next week has in store....