Christina Applegate & Baby Girl Sadie Grace

Christina Applegate gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Sadie Grace LeNoble on January 27, 2011 (one month after I gave birth to Baby Max). It touches my heart to read and watch Christina Applegate share her childbirth experience. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 36 years old. Her battle with breast cancer resulted in a double mastectomy. Yet, at 39 years old, she has given birth to a healthy baby girl. They were featured on People Magazine this month and the following is a video where Christina Applegate shares her child birth experience on The Ellen Degeneres Show. I was surprised to hear that she hated the feeling of the epidural and ended up in natural childbirth. Meanwhile, I though the epidural was wonderful and improved so much since I had my first child!!! Applegate also mentions what she felt like after having the baby:

"... just that moment they were pulling her out, I dropped my gwon, which I don't ... you know This part of my body is very private"... that's a real private place. A place that I don't have a good relationship with, lets say, but at that moment of pulling her out and I just tore that thing off and there's a room full of people that I don't know - nurses and doctors - and she and I just laid there ... It was the best thing that's ever happened to me."



Ellen Degeneres responded with "that's beautiful" ... I think most mothers in the audience would agree. Some may have even relived that childbirth experience. There is nothing like it in the world. Lets all extend a HUGE congratulations to Christina Applegate (39) and fiancé Martyn LeNoble (41) on the birth of their sweet baby, Sadie Grace. My the Lord continue to bless you!

You can leave your congrats message for Christina Applegate & Baby Sadie in the comment section below!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Weight Loss - Losing Weight After Pregnancy

Our baby is almost 2 months old. Sleep, life and work is almost back to "normal". The 6 week waiting period has passed and I am ready to lose this pregnancy weight. Some has come off naturally and I am still drumming up the motivation to get started with an exercise routine. It is not that I don't want to lose weight. I am certainly not in denial about needing to lose the pregnancy weight. It is more of a motivational issue because of the following:

TIME & SPACE
It was hard enough to make time to exercise before I had the baby, now there is much less "me" time. Plus, it seems like everyone is always around me in the house. If I have to leave the home to exercise, it takes me extra time to get ready because I have to settle my other son for homeschooling, get presentable, make sure my business needs are met, prepare and support the milk filled breasts, etc. This all makes it a hassle to go to the gym or aerobics class. I know this will pass as the baby gets older and life becomes even more organized. For now, I need to make myself add this one more thing (exercise) to the schedule and have everything else work around it. This is hard!

* I have to make time to exercise NO MATTER WHAT and remain consistent.

EATING HABITS
I just noticed that the whole family's eating habits have been changed for the worse. It is not that I did not eat healthy while pregnant, but I was much more flexible about portion sizes, starches and junk that I typically did not permit in my diet (lots of craving given into). Max's dad put on weight, too. He has become totally unrestrained and obsessed with fast foods (cinnamon buns, burgers, pizza, ice cream, pop, etc.). My 2nd oldest son, Jonny, is now addicted to things I monitored more closely. I didn't realize this until I saw empty pop cans in his room. Last night, he told my mother that French fries are his NEW favorite food. What a bummer coming from the mouth of a child that used to prefer to drink water to any other beverage and loved eating broccoli with dip. Yesterday, I had a totally healthy eating day that ended with a sweet attack. My will power is shot

* I have to established the better eating habits and exercise will power. Hopefully, my changes will carry over to the other family members , though I will not give in when other family members choose not to do what is best for their bodies.

MOTIVATION (Self-Motivation & Motivation From Others)
The time, space and eating habits are common issues for why healthy people have a hard time losing weight. Losing weight after pregnancy is not much different, though can be a challenge for breastfeeding or single mothers. Regardless, doable in any case so long as one knows the issues are and how they can solve them. This is where the self-motivation comes in to play.

* I have narrowed down to what I need to do to lose weight. 

GETTING STARTED - "The best laid plans of mice and men" ... 
No matter how carefully a project is planned, something still may go wrong, therefore I better make reasonable plans according to my "issues". 1) Time / Space = I will set my schedule to exercise AT LEAST 3 times a week and for AT LEAST 1/2 HOUR each session. If I can do more ... great! If not, I can do at least what I committed to do for my body. 2) Eating Habits = I'm 5'8 and medium boned, so I Googled to find the ideal weight for my height and got the following: "According to your height of 5' 8" your ideal healthy weight is 147 pounds. Your recommended weight range is between 131 and 164 pounds." I think 1600 calories a day will work fine for my starting goal. It just depends on how my body feels and nursing. I will start by going back to the way that I ate before I got pregnant (cutting down breads, sugars, chocolate ... lots of water) and then work down to a low fat, high protein and vegetable diet. I'll post again to let you know how "it's" going, but I am interested in your motivational tips, challenges, success stories, etc.

If you are in the process of losing weight after pregnancy or have already accomplished your weight loss goals? Please make sure to share your experience in the comment section below.

Here's To YOUR Weight Loss Success!!!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Dunstan Baby Language

Dunstan Baby Language is a system that explains how you can learn your baby's secret language, so that you both can get well needed sleep ...

"All newborn babies produce 5 distinct "pre-cry" sounds that signal their 5 most important needs. By listening for these subtle cries, you are able to prevent the crying from even starting. Dunstan Baby Language System will teach you to identify exactly what sounds to listen for, so you know precisely what your newborn needs. Learn how to listen to your baby's 'babble', and respond quickly. Your baby will reward you by sleeping more, allowing you to sleep more."

Check out a blog post called "Has My Infant Been Talking To Me?" - there is a video of my son talking to us - at age 2 months - just as explained in the Dunstan Baby Language System :)


I do hope that you find this program useful!


If your baby is too old for this program, you may want to check out Your Baby Can Read. I have placed links to our baby's experience with this early reading system.

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

6 Week Doctor Appointment

Picture of Baby Max - 6 Weeks Old - February 2011 - Shows interest in his toys.

Max just had his 6 week doctor's appointment and it went well. I was a nervous wreck because his father took him for the well baby check up. This is the first time in my parenting life that I did not have to take a child to the doctors, so I was extremely uncomfortable and relieved at the same time. I was grateful not to have to watch them stick my baby with needles, but nervous that his father would not know to comfort Max just as soon as the nurse was done giving the vaccinations and that he would have a hard time dressing the baby. He later told me about the experience and I was relieved while listening to his father explain how he comforted our son. Thank God! He was also extremely protective and empathetic once Max got home. He even picked up the baby's eye medicine and Triaminic Fever Reducer before he got home, and made sure we gave it to him as soon as Max started showing signs of discomfort. What an awesome new dad! I was able to get some rest while they were gone, so that I could do another night of breastfeeding and broken sleep :)

The baby doctor gave Max his 2 month immunizations at this 6 week visit. They checked our son for everything (hearing, vision, feeding information, hips, back and answered questions about his irritated eyes, (ended up being an infected tear duct for which they prescribed Erithromycin eye drops). I was impressed to learn that they went over car set, tobacco smoke exposure, back sleeping, family and developmental milestone information with Max's father, as well.

Max weighs 10 lbs (25%). He is 22 1/2 inches long (50%). 15 inch head circumference which puts him is the 25 percentile. He was only 7.7 lbs and 19 3/4 inches at his 1st doctor's appointment.

BTW: Max was a little cranky and slept a lot, but had no negative reactions to the vaccines.

We will see how the eye drops and massaging his tear ducts will work for the conjunctivitis. The doctor says this should clear up on his own. I sure hope so! Looks like our little bundle of joy is right on rack with where he should be. I am relieved and excited that he is developing well. It seems like Max can see is better than the websites explain infant sight to be. He is alert and has started following things with his eyes. He can already hold his head up when we carry him. He is such a snuggly little baby. We love him so much! I can't wait until his 4 month appointment. I bet he will be so big!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child