First post-baby run

Yesterday I got the all clear from my obstetrician at my 6 week post-birth appointment to run again! Crazily I was very excited.

So I decided to hit the ground running - really - and headed out to Gurney Drive tonight to attempt 2.4km without stopping. I made it but won't be running out there too often at night... You can picture it I'm sure - lots of pedestrians strolling along and blocking the path and cars zooming by so I couldn't go on the road. My time wasn't the best but hey I just had a baby and was dodging people.. so all up I think I did ok!!

I am feeling great to get back into my running.. just need to buy some new running gear that fits properly as all my pre-baby stuff not surprisingly is a little small!! Let's hope it doesn't take me too long to fit into it.

6 Weeks Old!

Declan is 6 weeks old! I have been trying so hard to get back on here regularly but it has been so difficult. I have a lot of things happening at the moment so will be back on here more to report on it! One thing I am very excited about is a 8 week fitness challenge I am starting on 13 April with a Bootcamp company over here. It is from all reports pretty full on and intense but I am excited!

I will be on in the next few weeks with all the details about the challenge, and also with my new fitness goals now I can run again!

Here are some 6 week pics of Declan.

2 weeks old!

I can't believe Declan is already 2 weeks old! The last 2 weeks have flown, and I know I will have to work really hard to keep the posts up on here. :)

We are absolutely loving having another little man in our family. He is so cuddly and sweet, and rarely cries which is a bonus! Sleep is a rarity but I am trying to rest when I can and trying to get out to go walking to wear him out and that seems to be working!

Here are some pics of our newest little guy:

2 weeks old: 24 February 2015

1 week old: 17 February 2015

First walk to the shops with his big sister and Mum

Cuddles with big sis

Big smiles

Chinese New Year

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year which is the start of the Year of the Goat. Here is a little excerpt I found about Chinese New Year.

According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. 2015 is a year of the Goat.

The Goat comes 8th in the Chinese zodiac. The 12 zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The Luckiest Things for "Goats"

According to Chinese astrology, each animal zodiac has its own lucky numbers, lucky days, lucky colors, lucky flowers, and a best direction.

Here are the Goat's:
Lucky Colours: brown, red, purple
Lucky Numbers: 2, 7
Lucky Flowers: carnation, primrose
Year of Birth: 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027

The Goat's Personality: Calm, Gentle...

People born in a year of the Goat are generally believed to be gentle mild-mannered, shy, stable, sympathetic, amicable, and brimming with a strong sense of kindheartedness and justice.

They have very delicate thoughts, strong creativity, and perseverance, and acquire professional skills well. Although they look gentle on the surface, they are tough on the inside, always insisting on their own opinions in their minds. They have strong inner resilience and excellent defensive instincts.

Though they prefer to be in groups, they do not want to be the center of attention. They are reserved and quiet, most likely because they like spending much time in their thoughts. Goats like to spend money on fashionable things that give them a first class appearance. Although goats enjoy spending money on the finer things in life, they are not snobbish.

Today at school the children celebrated Chinese New Year a day early because they are off for a long weekend for mid term break as of tomorrow.

We had a great morning - they had activities including dragon dance, lion dancing, tossing of the Yeesang, karate demonstration, drumming demonstration, fan making and a few other fun activities. Lots of families went to watch including us. It was a great morning.

The dragon dance

Isabel with her fan she made

The lion dance

Keenan tossing the yee sang with his class

Our new addition - Declan Hamish

Well time certainly flies when you have a newborn in the house!! I thought I had better make time to update on the arrival of our newest little family member.

On Tuesday 10 February I delivered Declan Hamish via caesarean section at Island Hospital here in Penang. The surgery went really well and now, 8 days later, I am feeling fantastic. I have the occasional twinge but apart from that I am all good.

I ended up staying in hospital for 3 nights and we left hospital at around 11am on Friday morning. My obstetrician, Dr Narinder Singh Shaden, was absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend.

The staff at Island Hospital were lovely too. It was a bit difficult at times with the language difficulties but they tried really hard to make sure they helped me with whatever I needed, and there was no pressure or stress. Malaysian people really are very loving and gentle, and the nurses just loved having Declan there as they thought he was very cute. I guess western babies are a bit of a novelty!

Declan is sleeping quite well and feeding well - 2-3 hours been feeds, and sleeping up to 3 hours in a row at night. We have had a few big nights and he loves his milk. I have been managing to keep up with his feeds and am really enjoying breastfeeding. I think the fact he is my fourth baby I am more relaxed and this is reflected in him being pretty chilled.

Here are some pictures of our gorgeous little guy:

With his big sister and brothers - who already adore him.

With Mum

Declan's first bath time :-)

37 Weeks

Baby growth:
According to the thebump.com Baby Murray is still the size of a watermelon. Baby is approx 51cm long and weighs approx 3kg.

Total weight gain/loss:
13.5kg - haven't weighed this week so hoping I am still about where I was last week. I haven't been eating too much so if I have put on any it would be very minimal. Hoping to have under 10kg to lose after I have bub - so with only gaining 13.5kg this is a realistic goal I think. 10kg or under is mentally do-able for me as I know I will lose the first few kilos quickly and then it will no doubt slow down. I just need to be back into my pre-baby clothes by early July for my beautiful friend Cynthia's wedding (so I can fit into my bridesmaid dress) and am feeling like it is definitely going to happen! I am determined no matter what i will get there! I did order a new Garmin Forerunner 15 so will have that ready for after I recover from the c/section. I am also going to grab some new scales so when I get back into it I can record exact weights and measurements to keep me on track.

Maternity clothes?
As previous - Yes!

Stretch marks?
As previous - Yes!

Sleep:
Very little! Lots of insomnia and 3am Facebook surfing! It is such a pain because I know next week I'll be up at this time feeding a baby.. but there is little you can do when you're wide awake and a baby is kicking inside to keep you awake.

What I miss:
Sleep!

Movement:
Lots of movement!

Exercise this week:
Nothing - except walking to and from the shops and around the apartment.

Food cravings:
Nothing - not hungry at all!

Have you started to show yet:
Most definitely - no disguising this pregnancy!

Gender:
Boy!

Questions or concerns this week:
I am trying to squeeze in last minute things this week - getting my hair cut and coloured tomorrow, and having some maternity photos taken on Friday. It is also my big boys birthday tomorrow (the big 10!!), so I have been crazily busy trying to make sure everything is sorted for that. I have cupcakes being delivered tomorrow for their school friends so I will drop them over to school and we will have a family dinner on Friday night with cake to celebrate.

Hospital bags ready to go!! Just need to add toiletries at the last minute, and chargers for iPad / iPhone / camera. :-)

36 Weeks!

Baby growth:
According to the thebump.com Baby Murray is still the size of a honeydew melon like last week. Baby is 48cm long and weighs approx 2.7kg.

Total weight gain/loss:
13.5kg - Went to see my Ob on Tuesday and I had lost 500g - so I am 500g down compared to this time 6 weeks ago which I am quite happy with since I haven't been dieting at all - just eating smaller amounts since I am so full with this little man.

Maternity clothes?
As previous - Yes!

Stretch marks?
As previous - Yes!

Sleep:
Last night was horrendous. I was awake every hour on the hour and ended up on Facebook and browsing the net. So need to have my stomach to lie on again - lying on my side is not what my body likes.

What I miss:
Sleep!

Movement:
Lots of movement!

Exercise this week:
Nothing - super sore legs and pelvis so my big exercise is walking down to the shops every day or so to get a few things. Even doing that means I end up sitting down when I get home with my legs up for a few hours.

Food cravings:
Mango - managed to get some yummy (and expensive) Australian mangos at the wet market and have been making mango & banana smoothies... delicious!

Have you started to show yet:
Most definitely - no disguising this pregnancy!

Gender:
Boy!

Questions or concerns this week:
The Ob seems to think this baby is going to be a bit bigger than the last three, and his head is measuring between 38 and 39 weeks o I am quite glad I am having a caesarean. 12 days to go - can't wait!

Next things for me to do are to finalise the packing of my hospital bag and make sure everything is sorted with the children while I am in hospital - i.e. their school routine, lunch orders. They have a busy day at school when I have the caesarean planned. They have a spelling bee and also book character dress up day - which I have no idea what they're going to dress up as! Maybe something to do with Hunger Games / Dork Diaries etc. The last thing I want to organise but since they're at their new school I want to make sure they are all set or else they'll be quite disappointed. I also need to get them some Chinese New Year outfits which I will try to grab this week.

It is my big boys birthday next Thursday so I have ordered 60 cupcakes so that they can take them to school to share with their classes, and also ordered a cake (Chocolate Kit Kat cake with m&m's on the top) for our family to enjoy to celebrate them turning 10. I just knew the last thing I needed was to have to bake cupcakes and a cake! I went out today and bought some of their presents and will finish it off on the weekend.