A long awaited update

I looked at the date on the last post and it was June 16, 2010.

So much has happened since then.  On June 19, 2010, I discovered that I was pregnant with my second, and my husband’s third child. This joy was tempered on September 19, 2010 when my brother-in-law passed away a week shy of his 35th birthday.

Now as my due date approaches, we are busily getting ready for our new addition. A boy for whom we only have initials for his first and middle names. My husband and his brother shared the initials JP and so will our son.

Other things that are happening – I’ve been taking online classes since last June, and walked into a classroom for the first time in over four years last week. This is a blended class with lecture/tests online and lab/lab tests in the classroom. I’ve got two other classes (one blended, one fully online) scheduled to start after my maternity leave does.

My Etsy business continues to chug along at a slow but steady pace, and I’ve added some unrelated product offerings as a means to supplement my savings to for my third solo trip to New York later this year and the 1st with both kids in tow.

I am excited to try breastfeeding again, and worried that 1) it may not work out and I may wind up exclusively pumping again or 2) that it does work out and we will have to really figure out a good pattern. One thing exclusively pumping was really good for was making sure that our daughter was well fed throughout the day so that she began sleeping through the night (6 hrs at a time) at 11 weeks old.

This time around I’ve purchased a Freemie system and a 12V car adapter for my Medela Pump in Style and hope to be able to incorporate pumping into my day right away as I’m planning on returning to classes as soon as possible.

And while I’ve gained less weight this time around with this pregnancy, I weigh more now than ever as I didn’t lose all of it after my daughter was born. In fact the week I found out I was pregnant, I was planning on taking the summer to kick my butt into gear and lose at least half of what was still hanging on so that I could be healthier for TTC.

So, while on leave, I also want to get back to this pregnancy’s pre-pregnancy weight (Goal 1) and then once I return to work, focus on getting back to my original pre-pregnancy weight (Goal 2) and finally, next year, focus on getting down to my happy weight (Goal 3). We are not planning on a #3 for me or #4 for him, so I feel like I’ll truly be free to focus on my health without worrying about my weight-gain happy body doing its thing again for another pregnancy.

I will be posting these goals – yes the actual weights – with weekly progress, recipes and possibly even pictures of the foods, etc. There will be breastfeeding/pumping talk, along with a review for the Freemie. There will be talk of school, entrance exams and of my return to work. We’re planning at least one road trip to visit folks with the new baby, and there will be my plans (mentioned previously) to visit friends and family with a toddler and a baby in tow with as little luggage as possible as is my norm.

Thanks for visiting, and please know that there will be more regular updates to come!