Getting it Back

I am 3 months post baby, and on my way back to getting my six pack abs back. Its been a long road in such a short time. I have had so many roadblocks and feel like I am finally accepting that I can't do it all. With the demands of breastfeeding, and the never ending days juggling myself between house work, and  kids I am exhausted all the time. I was able to do start P90X and complete a month of it before my milk supply dropped drastically, so for now I do 3-6 days a week of high intensity fully body resistance work-outs. Its been tough but I decided to commit and stick through this until the very end.

Even though I have a long road ahead of me, I am making the effort and giving myself some grace. Being fit has been apart of who I am for the past few years, so being tired and not having energy is not something I can come to terms with so easily. I still remember how long it took me to feel like "myself" again after I had my first son, so even though I am not doing too bad so far I think all of us would like to magically wake up with our pre baby bodies in a day. Not to mention I had two babies in two years, which can take a toll on anyone's body! I feel blessed that I haven't had a problem dropping the weight, or fitting back into my jeans, but lowering my body fat has been a challenge, and does take me time. I know it will happen in time, but for now this is my second round of getting my body back and it is hard work I tell ya!

If you are in a similar boat, there is hope! With time, hard work, and patience results will come.

Placenta Encapsulation Review

With Boo I never saw my placenta. I was too busy rubbernecking at my son who was being weighed and measured and tested across the room. It was unceremoniously thrown away. Now I regret dismissing this piece of our birth so carelessly, but at the time I didn't know any better. With Alex, I wanted things to be different.


If you had issues with Post partum depression or milk supply then this is what you need to improve your post partum experience. I had a little bit of both. The depression wasn't horrible for me but definitely was a huge burden feeling so blue all the time for no reason. Not to mention the crying for no reason. I would sit at home and cry just by staring at my baby. I just felt emotional all the time, sometimes not even sad but just emotional. 


There are a few ways to approach consuming the placenta, you can eat it (ewwww), encapsulate it yourself by purchasing a kit, hire a specialist (the best choice), or make it into smoothies (ewwww again). Even though this is hard to stomach the fact is its so beneficial for you and your baby that its worth it. The problem with not encapsulating it is it will only last a few days, and when it is in pill form it lasts 6 weeks. Let's face it, 6 weeks of feeling awesome is much better then a few days. I chose to hire a specialist and felt it was the easiest and best decision to make. 


Tricia Hayes, was my specialist, and she was AMAZING! More then accommodating. If you are wondering how this all works, let me break it down for you. You birth the placenta, sign a medical release form for it, it is then put into a red bio hazard bag, and it is your responsibility to put it into a cooler and bring it home. The faster you get it home, the better.  The idea is to have your pills ready for you once you leave the hospital. You must encapsulate within 72 hours. Your specialist brings all the equipment to your home, and makes your pills for you in the comfort of your home. It takes 2 days to do. 8 Hours of dehydrating it, then encapsulating it by grinding it and putting into capsules. I had mine ready for me once I left the hospital (after one day). Tricia kicked butt and made sure I had them by day 2. She also dehydrated the cord and it surprisingly was beautiful! It was shaped into a heart and had a nice little keepsake bag it came in. My pills came in a beautiful blue jar, and had instructions that came along with it for the dosage. You can either consume all the pills or freeze the remainder for menopause or any other time in your life where hormones are raging and changing.


My experience was overall AWESOME!!!!  I really needed these pills. There was no way I would've been able to be up and running the day after I gave birth with my 2 year old without these pills. Coming home to a toddler is a whole other ball game. A lot of work, and no rest, so these pills helped me get through this time.  It gave me energy, and made me feel "happy" every time I took them. I honestly was fearful of them running out because of how great they made me feel. I had a great milk supply no depression at all, and healed so quickly it shocked me. I couldn't believe I had just had a baby. I was able to keep up with my 2 year old, and feel good! It was nice to come home and be able to jump back into things and make the transition for my son so easy and smooth. 


I attribute there being no jealousy towards the baby  due to the fact that I was able to give him attention, and had the energy to still play and make it seem as if I hadn't just had a baby. 


So, yes I LOVED doing this, and will do it again for our next baby. I couldnt go back knowing how awesome it made my experience. 

Here are some pictures of my little love bug. Hes going to be 8 weeks next week already! So amazing how fast time is flying by....

Alexander Elijah Brady

It's been ages since I have blogged and it feels great to finally be updating everyone!Alex was born almost a month ago, and I assure you it has been the fastest 3 weeks of my life. I remember how slowly time passed when Boo was a newborn. I thought I would never sleep again and couldn't wait for him to grow up and be independent. Now that he's growing, and becoming a little guy, I want him to be little again. With the boys, it's been a surreal experience so far. I had a lot of people tell me how hard it would be with two, especially two boys, two years apart in age, but it's been the furthest thing from "hard." It's been super easy, and fun! Alex is the complete opposite of Boo when he was a baby, he's EASY! Boo really has taught me the meaning of patience, and also has shown me that I am not in control, but God has a plan for these little ones, and they will flourish in there own way no matter what we do as parents. I also haven't been on newborn house arrest this time! I had my first outing when Alex was 3 days old. As I had previously written, I had my placenta encapsulated, and it has made my recovery enjoyable, and super easy. I will definetly have my placenta encapsulated the next time around. I wouldn't have another baby, and not do it knowing how AMAZING it makes the recovery process. I was up and about 2 days after I gave birth, and had such mild pain I couldn't believe I had just had a baby. By the time it was a week, people were asking me what my secret was, and of course all I could do was rave about the placenta encapsulation.  My doctor even wants to try it with her next baby because of how quickly I have recovered. I started working out less then a week after birth, have been able to cook, clean, play with boo, take the boys out and still have energy even though I running on a few hours of sleep. So much to catch up on, so I will do everyone a favor and talk about the birth, and let you know about the encapsulation process, along with a review of the warm milk hobo bag and how much of a lifesaver it has been for me.



April 3, 2011, I was 4 days away from my due date, and beyond desperate to get baby Alex OUT! I dont know what it is about the last month being so brutal but it is literally hell those last few weeks before you meet your little one. My last pregnancy, I had my mom and doctor both say, "eat Italian food!" so I ate chicken parmisian, and low and behold I went into labor while washing the dishes after cooking chicken parmisian. This time around, I read about eggplant parmisian and how many women have eaten this and gone into labor. Infact, there is a restaurant called Scallinis in New Jersey, and they have a whole section on there website dedicated to all the mothers who have had babies after eating there eggplant parmisian!


;---------------Here is a Scalinis Baby! Check it out when you get a chance. There are thousands of women who claim this eggplant parmisian will help you go into labor! I decided to make the eggplant parmisian on April 3rd after many miles of walking, and attempts to get this baby out. Ended up just buying the dish from a local restaurant after my mom became impatient about the list of groceries I had to get in order to prepare the dish. We caved and just bought it. No Joke, 4 hours later, I started having contractions! They started around 8-9ish. We were watching Grey's Anatomy and I wanted to finish the season off, I also thought I wasnt in labor so just was breathing my way through the contractions, and realizing that this actually may be it. Of course, I didn't think it was labor and was frustrated. By midnight, I had some mild bleeding, and the contractions were getting stronger so I knew it was time. All I coud think about was how that was my last day of being a mother of 1, and my last day "ALONE" with Boo, and it was  a sad and exciting moment all at once. Grandma, Grandpa, and Chris came to our apartment to watch Boo, and I labored at home until my water broke. Once my water broke, that was it, the contractions and labor were so fast the pain was so much more intense this time around. I thought I was going to birth him in the car! I went from 4 to 8 centimeters in 20 minutes, and when it was time to push the nurse had to deliver Alex because everything went so quickly. After one "practice" push his head was out, and after the second push I met my little Alex. I passed out after I had Boo so vaguely remember what happened after I gave birth. This time around I was up, and able to look at my little guy. His cord was bleeding out because it was cut too closely to his skin, so they took him away from me very quickly. I panicked, but he was fine. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 20 inches long and was born 4/4/2011 at 7:16 am.


I was released after one day at the hospital, and beyond estatic to be home and see my Boo!!! Coming home and seeing my boys together has been the best feeling in the world. There is no way to describe seeing your family grow, and realizing that you are so blessed you get to see there little faces everyday!!! There has been no jealously so far. I am shocked how easy its been with the two of them. Feels like Alex has always been here, and Boo loves his little brother. I thought there would be a hint of jealousy but none!! He is super gentle, and loving with the baby and doesnt mind me nursing him round the clock. Overall, it's been awesome! I didn't think I could love someone else as much as I love Boo, but I do...the love just grows! I feel "needed" again which is nice because Boo has become so independent that it's nice to have a snuggle bug again. Life is busy with the two of them, the days go by way too fast, but the days seem so much more enjoyable now. I love being a mommy of two, and want to encourage anyone else who is a mother to just have some grace with yourself. Life is short, and everyday we have with our children is a gift. They grow so fast, and before you know it they will be in school, married, and having a family of there own. These past few weeks, have really shown me that time is precious and today is only here once. I am so compulsive about cleaning, and having things planned, but today I am throwing in the towel and just going to hang out and enjoy our family.


I have my product reviews to post, that have made my life so much easier while I am on the go. It's only been 3 weeks since Alex made his grand entrance into the world and I have been out and about with the boys. Thanks to the help of my baby must haves its been super easy to be out, nursing in public.

I hope all our family and friends enjoy reading about and seeing our now family of 4. Here he is.....