Hello!
Today marks both the end of my fourth trimester and also Noah’s 3rd month-iversary, this means this post is my last one.
Before I start with the usual recount of the week I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you. Thank you for sharing this journey with me, thank you for the support, thank you for the advice, thank you for the encouragement, thank you for the empowerment, and thank you for helping me navigate this most incredible time. As much as I hope the posts were fun to read for you, they were part of an invaluable ritual for me. A lot changes every day during pregnancy and even more so post-birth. The ritual of sitting down at the end of every week to reflect on the good, the hysterical, and the bad was incredible. It allowed me to tune into my pregnancy and my journey in a way that I otherwise wouldn’t have. It kept me motivated, it kept me sane, it kept me on track, it let me acknowledge the bad, it kept me focused on the good, and, most of all, it was fun to do!
My hope with this blog was to allow for an honest and open conversation about all things pregnancy. As you all know, it wasn’t all smooth sailing (pregnancies rarely are) and I did honestly try to be as honest as possible and in my lowest points many of you reached out and it meant the world. I’d like to pay it forward. I‘m by no means even close to an amateur in all things mental health but I can be the friend (or the stranger) you need if you need reassurance, empowerment, support, or just someone to complain to. The more we all start talking, the more the stigma surrounding mental health erodes and the better off the world will be.
It’s been a wild ride, an unforgettable adventure, and, as Kimberly Guilfoyle so eloquently yelled, the best is yet to come.
With that, let’s get to the week.
Training
Monday
I needed a rest day today after my first kettlebell session in many many moons yesterday. Of course with Noah that means I clocked 15k steps during her nap times.
Tuesday
Jack attempted another bottle feed in the morning so I popped down to the gym in our building for a fairly boring, run of the mill gym session. I was either going to be needed in 5 min or not at all so I just opted for a very simply full body workout. Short and sweet (took less than 30 min).
3 sets:
A1. 10 Dumbbell Thrusters
A2. 12 Lat Pulldowns
B1. 10 Dumbbell RDLs
B2. 8 Incline Push Ups
C1. 45s Plank
C2. 45s Side Plank
I don’t win points for creativity with this work out or for intensity but sometimes all you need to do is move a little. A little is better than none.
Oh, and most importantly, Jack and Noah nailed it!
After a morning of errands (like her French passport photo) Noah and I had a lovely quiet afternoon together reading and then watching a travel show about the Trans-Siberian Railway, yes, I’m planning our first post-COVID adventure.
Wednesday
Other than the usual walks I really didn’t feel like doing much today. I did participate in Ziggy’s (@zig.fitmama) Move It For Mental Health Challenge but that was just a quick and easy 5 min blast all in the great name of mental health. I posted it the series on my @cait_calibrate instagram if you want to check it out! I also found out on Saturday night that I won a few prizes which I was not expecting at all!
Thursday
Today history was made as Kamala Harris stepped into her new role as Madam VP and as a new mum to a little girl - I wanted to share this day with Noah. She’s too young to know the significance of this moment yet but one day I’ll tell her all about it and hopefully she’ll grow up to continue our fight to tear down all the walls, shatter all the glass ceilings, sit at all the tables, and lean in.
In terms of activity, I took 2x60min walks today while Noah slept and that's it.
Friday
I had grand plans today to do some walking all over southside and spend time in the sun. I walked towards Shouson in the morning and then I could feel the pollution in my throat. I figured it probably wasn't a great idea for Noah to be out and about in pollution levels that I even found a bit gross so we spent the rest of the day indoors. We did run an errand in Central indoors but other than that, we hid at home.
Saturday
Super quiet day today. We had a late start to the morning, went for a little 60min stroll, and that was it! I spent the late afternoon with the Calibrate team playing some mahjong (I'm pretty sure I lost) and that was about it!
Sunday
Yesterday evenings bottlefeed didn't go so well so we decided to have another crack this morning - I went to the studio to train and left Jack at home. He wasn't so successful, unfortunately. More later.
I decided to try my hand at a shorter than usual training session and opted to stick to a barbell.
This isn't a popular thing to say when you're post-natal but I'm actually almost 5kg lighter now than I was before I got pregnant. All the weight I lost was muscle mass which is pretty disheartening. I don't have the strength, and I don't have the endurance. On the positive front, I have a super happy and healthy child and the good thing with starting at rock bottom is the only way to go is up! More on this later too.
3 sets:
A1. 10 BB Deadlifts
A2. 10 BB Bent Over Rows
B1. 10 BB Lunges
B2. 8 BB Strict Presses
C1. Bear Crawl
C2. Lateral Bear Crawl
I then topped off the rest of the day with a 2 hour stroll.
Life in General
To kick off this section, this week was a week of yet another “first”. However, this wasn’t a great ”first” - she fell off the sofa. Well, she almost fell off the sofa, luckily another piece of furniture broke her fall so she didn’t actually hit the floor (she actually only fell a few inches) but she fell far enough to scare her. It shattered my heart. Luckily she’s a hearty little thing and after I checked her over and decided she was totally fine, I just gave her lots of cuddles and 90 seconds later we were singing. The plus side to this experience - she fell because she threw her hips over in an attempt to roll onto her stomach. We’re making ground towards rolling over!
On the singing front, she is a HUGE fan of 3 songs by a Canadian artist called Raffi. I spent all week singing the same 3 songs over and over and over again because when I sing, she sings along and it’s absolutely heartwarming. You’d think I’d be sick of the songs but I’m honestly not, she’s just so darn adorable :)
Bottle feeding went very ok this week which is better than we used to be able to say. I think we're at around a 50% success rate. We’re going to try a few tweaks next week and if it doesn’t work then I think we’ll have to ditch the bottle. Our only saving Grace, she seems to genuinely enjoy being syringe fed by Jack so hopefully I’ll continue to gain some independence.
In other developmental news, I got her to sleep alone at nap time a few times this week so the next step is getting her to sleep in her crib at night. We’ll get there, no doubt. I'll probably cry more than she will as we transition her off of bodies and into cribs, but it'll only be temporary and I have full faith in her.
Lastly, as I mentioned briefly earlier, this isn’t a popular thing to say at all but I’m almost 5kg lighter now than I was when I got pregnant. I don’t remember the last time I dipped this low and I’m not a big fan. I’m eating constantly but haven’t yet been able to get myself back up to starting weight. The strength repercussions of this are pretty staggering. I know it’ll take a while to build the strength back and it’s not like I’m in a huge hurry but it’s pretty disheartening to step into a gym and genuinely not be able to lift weights you used to warm up with. Sunday’s gym session had me quite down but then I reminded myself that the good thing about starting at the bottom is the only way you can go is up! Plus, I have an adorably happy and healthy child and that’s much more important than the weights at the end of a barbell.
Moving Forward
There are still a few things that need to happen that have yet to happen, you’ll have to follow my Instagram to see how I get on though! - A full transition back to work (this requires her to take a bottle or we’ll just have to keep with the less ideal syringe)
- My period to come back
- A transition from body sleeping to cot sleeping
I have full faith in achieving all of the above, it’s just a matter of time.
I’m sure other things will continue to blind side us but If I’m honest, I’m looking forward to it. Life is so genuinely exciting and Noah is honestly my favourite human in the world - it’s all worth it!
Although this is the end of the calibrateBUMPS series for now, it’s not the end of my post-natal journey. I’ll continue to post updates and training videos on my Instagram, so feel free to follow me if you want to continue on my journey!
These last 40 weeks have been an incredible whirlwind of emotions, of excitement, and adventure and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you, all of you.
For the final time, I hope you all have a fabulous week. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay positive, and love one another.
Bye for now, friends!