We’re just over a month in, and here’s what’s been going on:

Me: My mastitis started to clear up after several days on the antibiotics. I waited until all the pain and swelling was gone before attempting to run. 9 days after antibiotics, and 3 weeks + 2 days after my c-section, I went for a run. I only went one mile to start off since it had been 59 days (yikes!) since my last run. At first it felt very awkward. It was like I was going through the motions but it felt so foreign to my body, like it forgot how to do it. A few minutes in though and I got into my rhythm and felt really good. I took it VERY easy. I did not look at my pace until I was finished because I didn’t want my competitive juices to start flowing and make me push myself. I just wanted to give my body a good test drive and see how it responded. The last run I had gone on I was 34.5 weeks pregnant and running between an 8:30 pace (on a good day) and a 9:30 pace so I had no idea where I was going to be post partum. When I finished my mile I was surprised to see I had run it in 7:59! It was just a mile, but I really was taking it very easy and FELT like I was running more like 8:30-8:45 pace so I was pleasantly surprised to see it was just under 8 minutes!
The next morning I woke up sore! It was mostly in my legs, but also in my abs. I don’t know if I’ve ever been sore from running 1 mile easy before…but I guess my body has been through a lot and the muscles took a pretty severe beating. I went for another mile run that day to try to get some of the soreness out. I finished that mile in 7:49! By Monday I was still sore so I took that day off and just went for a walk with the dog. Tuesday I did a mile again, but felt sort of tired and had some achiness in near my incision. Not too surprising, I ran a little slower, 8:07 pace. I continued with my 1 mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday and felt about the same. On Thursday though there was a dad and daughter that crossed the road at the same time as me and they were running faster than me. My competitive juices started flowing again (and I was actually glad they were still there!) and I picked it up and decided I couldn’t let them leave me in their dust! So I stayed right behind them for the remainder of my big 1 mile run and was thrilled to see I ran a 7:19! It felt harder, but not race hard. I was getting more encouraged.
On Saturday I had my best run yet. I went for my first 2 mile run and I averaged 7:09 pace for the two miles. Again, I was NOT pushing myself, just out running and enjoying being out there. I felt good, and didn’t have the soreness near my incision this time. I still have a long way to go, but its encouraging every time I step out the door and feel good.
After two weeks post partum I had lost 20 of the 26 pounds I gained during the pregnancy. I hadn’t done anything to lose the weight. I was just breastfeeding and eating when I was hungry. It was encouraging and I figured in another couple weeks I may be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Wrong! Now that I’m 4 weeks post partum I’ve stayed exactly the same, 20 pounds down, 6 to go. I did read that when you’re breastfeeding you probably will hang onto 3 pounds or so due to the extra tissue in your breasts. So, I would like to still lose another 3 pounds, but I’m not doing anything right now to try to make that happen. Breastfeeding burns a ton of calories (up to 600 a day) and if you try dieting while breastfeeding, it can negatively affect your supply. So hopefully now that I’m running again it will just happen naturally.

Alexandra: She has been doing great! I don’t know if it’s the ranitidine, the dairy finally being out of my milk or the fact that I’m off of antibiotics, but she’s seemed to be so much happier. Yes, she still gets fussy sometimes and still has some crying spells, but its not like it was before.
She’s already got a strong personality. She’s very stubborn. When she wants something, she will not give in until she gets it. I’ve been trying to get her to take a bottle of my pumped milk since she will have to when I go back to work and I want to start building my stash. We struggled and struggled and then my sister in law suggested Dr. Browns bottles and I finally tried them and we were thrilled she took it! Then my dad watched her for us for a few hours so we could go to my nephew’s birthday party and she took it from him! Then my sister from Colorado comes to town and I thought it would be great to have her experience feeding her niece and the little stinker refused! I think she knew that I was there and wanted to nurse instead and she through a little fit until I finally caved and nursed her.
She’s starting to smile and even laugh. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world when she looks at you with those baby blues and gives you this big toothless grin. I melt every time.
She’s been getting more and more scheduled and has been sleeping longer at night. We HOPE this continues!!