I heart DVF

I have a slight obsession with Diane von Furstenberg. It has been an ongoing fetish since I worked at Bloomingdales in college. I used to be able to buy her dresses on ridiculous discounts and was able to acquire quite the collection. The problem was I was so hooked by the time I left Bloomingdales and I haven't been able to resist her clothing since. The obsession of dresses turned into a strong love for all things she makes, blouses, sweaters, skirts, gorg jackets the list goes on and on.

The DVF stores in Singapore will send me a text whenever there are new arrivals or sales, and they're always bombarding our mailbox with enticing catalogs. I think Justin cringes every time I hear from them. DVF recently started making shoes, and they are everything I expected and more. I have been eyeing a few pairs but haven't found the reason, or cash, to purchase them...until yesterday!

I may have guilt tripped Justin into buying them for me since he is leaving me and Charlie for 5 days next week. I was half joking when I said you should buy me these for leaving me all on my own next week, and when he said OK I didn't ask twice and pressed the purchase button on my all time fave website shopbop.com (my online shopping problem on said shopbop.com is a whole other blog entry). So how I persuaded my husband into letting me buy these shoes is neither here nor there, the point is they are all mine and will be arriving in 1-3 days. Now I just need somewhere fabulous to wear them.

Introducing the newest addition to my DVF collection, check out these bad boys. OBSESSED.

Fuss pot

Charlie's new nickname is Mr. Fuss Pot! He has been fussy at night once it hits about 5pm, he just only is happy being held. You can't even think about putting him down. Now I don't mind cuddling my sweet boy, but when you have laundry to fold and dinner to cook it can be a bit annoying. So the solution you ask? Baby Bjorn! One of my clients who I have become friends with gave me a bunch of baby things when I told her I was pregnant. She has three kids and is quite the expert at parenting as well as having tons of stuff to pass down to me. One of the invaluable things she gave me was my Baby Bjorn. This has been a lifesaver with Charlie. He stays so calm in it, I was able to cook dinner with no issues last night.

I made a fish salad recipe that is delicious and super healthy. It is one of Giada's recipes, I love her but Justin says you can't trust a skinny chef so he is not normally a big fan of hers. But we both love this salad and it has been a no fail meal with guests as well. You can get the recipe here - I follow it exactly except I sometimes use snapper or cod fish and I add avocado. The dressing is delish!

Charlie's 1st bottle!

So last night was the first night that Charlie used a bottle! For the last almost 5 weeks I have been purely feeding him myself. I have not been expressing milk, except for the one day we used a syringe when we were having issues feeding. Even though I am looking forward to the freedom that will come with someone else being able to feed Charlie, I was kind of jealous when Justin fed him last night. I would not have expected to feel that way a few weeks ago when all I wanted to do was give Charlie a bottle. It has been a bonding thing that Charlie and I have been doing 8-10 times a day, that I have really come to enjoy once we were doing it properly. It was funny not being the one to feed him last night, but I am sure I will get over that. Justin really liked being involved with feeding Charlie, this will be their new evening routine together.

Happy 1 month My Charlie

This past month has flown by. I feel like we have done so much, and so much has happened, but it does not feel like 4 weeks ago that I was in that hospital having Charlie. Life sure is different now, but in the best way possible. Now that feeding is under control, I am enjoying every second with our little man. He really is so precious and I know he is going to grow so fast. I will miss him being this small and am going to savor every moment with him. I love you Charlie!
These photos were taken when Charlie was 3 weeks old.

My everything

Working out post baby

This week was my first week back at working out since having Charlie. I started doing walks right after he was born, but I started running and doing weights this week. I actually bought Jillian Michaels, from the biggest loser, workout dvd's to use at home when I couldn't get out to workout while with Charlie. They are only 20 min workouts but they are actually pretty good. They have 3 levels that gradually get harder, level one was very doable for me and I even thought it was a little easy but I was sweaty and could tell I was working all the muscle groups. I look forward to trying the harder levels. My first run yesterday was on the treadmill, and I was able to run 3 miles like normal. I didn't know what to expect since I haven't run since maybe my 4th month of pregnancy, but besides having to wear 3 sports bras and some extra protection for any leakage (any mom's out there know what I am talking about) it was as if I never stopped running. And let me tell you how good it felt to be active again. For me, these first few weeks with Charlie have been challenging and that 30 mins of running really allowed me to relax and get out some built up tension. Working out is definitely going to be my release in the weeks and months to come. Well working out and wine, let's be honest.

I think I had a pretty easy pregnancy because of the healthy and active lifestyle I try to maintain. I know everyone is different, and I am sure genes and my age played in my favor, but continuing to workout until the very end of pregnancy I think really allowed me to have little pain or discomfort as my body changed and aided in my quick recovery post birth. It is pretty amazing how the human body can change, grow and adapt during pregnancy. This was my last pregnant photo I have of myself. It was taken on Feb. 14th and Charlie was born on the 18th, I had just been to the gym and did the elliptical for 30 mins. This is a terrible picture, but this was me in the hospital the day after Charlie arrived.And this was me 2 weeks after Charlie was born, I was able to wear my pre pregnancy clothes basically from the time I was back from the hospital. A lot of people ask how I stayed so fit during my pregnancy, the only advice I would give would be to eat like normal, not for 2, and stay active. I was by no means in the gym 5 days a week, but I made sure I did long walks or pilates at least 3-4 days a week. I am running my 2nd half marathon in a little over 2 months and I already know it will be an emotional run for me to cross that finish line after the changes my body has gone through this past year. I hope in the years to come I am able to continue to run and inspire my family to be healthy by living by example.

Sleeping baby

The last few days Charlie has been up and a bit fussy most the day, but sleeping at night so I guess we can't complain too much. After rocking him in his rocking chair this afternoon he had a nap in his crib. I just love how sweet he looks when he is sleeping.

Pictures Galore

Play time with mommy

Update - Charlie loves baths now, he just prefers the water to be nice and warm otherwise he hates it.
"Hi, my name's Charlie and I am adorable."
Charlie sleeping at Iguana's restaurant
Papa and Charlie boy having a nap

Papa's here

My dad arrived late Thursday night. He is staying with us for the next week, and then my mom and him will fly home together. It is his first trip to Singapore, and of course the first time meeting Charlie! Friday we took him on a little tour of Singapore in our car and had a nice lunch out. He was a little jet lagged so we relaxed a lot of the day, and then took him out for the famous local chili crab last night.Papa brought along a nice pressie for Charlie, a swing! The first try in it Charlie hated it, but the second try was a dream. I think he is in love. It plays music or you can plug your Ipod into it and play your own music. He is such a little prince! Now we are just running out of space in the apartment with all these baby toys!

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me about my breastfeeding post. Hearing words of encouragement and similar stories are so nice to read, and those who have made jokes and light of the situation thank you! Laughter seriously helps everything. I think the best thing I have heard yet was that "I'll have nipples of leather in no time" so not to worry, thanks for that Ness. :)

Charlie's favorite new position is being held on daddy's forearm. He was just so content this morning being held by Justin, Charlie didn't even mind the bouncing up and down while Justin was trying to do Keepie Uppies (which btw is a new term for me and in case you know nothing about soccer either here is the definition to keepie uppies - is the skill of juggling with a football using feet, lower legs, knees, chest, shoulders, and head, without allowing the ball to hit the ground).

Breast Feeding

Oh the woes of breast feeding! Charlie and I will have a good 3 days of feeding with no issues and then all hell seems to break loose. Yesterday Charlie just wasn't happy while feeding, wasn't happy after feeding, and wanted to eat every hour once it hit 6pm. By midnight I was physically and mentally exhausted. I couldn't even take his crying anymore. Thank goodness for Justin and my mom for being so helpful and encouraging through all this. I know it is common to have issues with breast feeding, I have several books that I look to for help, I've seen doctors and consultants that have given me great tips but when it is the middle of the night with extremely sore nipples and it is just you, it's pretty hard to stay relaxed and calm with a fussy and inconsolable baby.

Today I went back to where we did our prenatal classes because they offer help to mom's with problems like this, no one was in at the time to help me but they took my number and said someone would call. When the midwife called me I just broke down crying explaining my situation. She said I was being too hard on myself and offered me some relief. She suggested I pump my milk today to give my sore nipples some time to recover and to feed Charlie my milk with a syringe. I have to stick my pinkie finger in his mouth and once he starts sucking my finger you give him the milk through the side of the mouth. We bought some syringes and tried this method this afternoon. First off, what a relief pumping is versus Charlie feeding! No pain whatsoever! I was able to empty myself without pain or dealing with the cries from my baby and my breasts instantly felt better. Also, from pumping I was able to see how much milk I was producing. Charlie's big issue since yesterday was he wouldn't feed on my left side. After about 2 minutes on my left breast he would start crying. Well when I pumped today, my left breast produced less than half as much as my right. And after about 2 mins of pumping, my milk production basically stopped on the left side so no wonder Charlie was upset and frustrated. At least this gave some insight to his fussiness. We are going to feed him like this through the night and I will go and see this midwife tomorrow to see if we can help Charlie latch on to me better then.
The purpose for feeding him through the syringe is because apparently the baby can reject your boob if given a bottle before 4 weeks. Now I know this is a controversial subject and there is a lot of judgement on women who struggle with or can not breast feed their baby and give formula instead, but after experiencing issues with Charlie I can not blame these women who opt for bottle feeding right away weather that is with formula or breast milk. I am lucky that there are so many resources available to me in Singapore for help because if there wasn't Charlie would definitely already be on formula because I know I would not have been able to cope.

I will see if this midwife can help me with latching tomorrow, but if I am still having problems I think pumping and trying a bottle with breast milk will be the next step even though he is just under 3 weeks. As far as I am concerned a well fed baby and a sane happy mommy are more important than following the rules from my books or any consultants.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Saturday was Justin's birthday. We started the day out with presents! My parents got him a diaper man bag! He was pretty happy with this because he has already been refusing to hold my timi & leslie diaper bag.

Charlie and I got daddy a new cooler, some nice beer glasses and some new shoes that he has been eyeing. I told Justin that morning I had another present for him later that day. It was so nice out so we all decided to stroll down to the pool. We relaxed down there for about an hour. Justin and my mom swam, while Charlie and I hung out in the shade.
Don't bother me mom, I'm sleeping!
Feeding Charlie poolsideOur all time favorite face of Charlie's, post feeding coma!In the afternoon we met up with Michael and Katherine for lunch along the river. Charlie was so well behaved for the majority of the day, we really got to enjoy our day out.Katherine and CharlieThat night, unknown to Justin, I had arranged for a boys night out for him. In the UK they have this thing called "wetting the baby's head" where the dad's celebrate their new baby with the boys down at the pub. Justin has been talking about this night out since we found out I was pregnant. Since he was obviously looking forward to this celebration I thought his birthday would be a perfect night for him to go out to celebrate not only his birthday but also Charlie's arrival. I was able to organize, with the help of Justin's business partner Paul, for 15 guys to surprise Justin for his big night out. I lied to Justin and said we were meeting friends for a drink before my mom, Charlie and I were going to take him to dinner. We walked to a nearby restaurant to meet these "friends" for a drink, and as we walked up Justin saw a big table with his 15 friends clapping and cheering. Justin was so shocked. So much so that I wasn't sure if he was even excited about it. After saying hi to everyone he pulled me to the side and was like what is going on? I said "This is my last present to you. You have the night off, enjoy!" He had a big grin on his face, gave me a kiss and I left the boys to it! I had such a big smile on my face walking home that I was actually able to pull this night off with no one spilling the beans to him! They had a really fun night out, and even though I am not sure if Justin likes surprises he was really thankful I arranged it for him. I love spoiling Justin, and this was a really fun birthday to do just that.

Mini Date

Last night Justin and I went on a little mini date for few hours. After feeding Charlie around 7, Nana babysat while we snuck downstairs to a new bar that just opened by our apartment. It was so nice to just have some alone time with Justin. It was a beautiful night and we sat outside chatting about how life has changed and just generally catching up. I just love him so much, and after all these years still feel like he is my boyfriend who I just want to chat with for hours while holding his hand.

An added bonus to going on a date was I got to wear these new wedges that I bought a few months ago that haven't been worn because they have been too tight to wear with my swollen pregnant feet! :)
This past week has had it's ups and downs, having a newborn is definitely hard work. It is rewarding and fun but also tiring and stressful at times. Each day though I feel like I get to know Charlie a little more and become more confident with what I am doing. As much as I am enjoying every minute with Charlie, getting away for a little with my hubby was just what I needed yesterday!At the end of our date we discussed different ways we could convince my Dad that my Mom needs to stay in Singapore indefinitely so we could get mini dates more often. ;)

Naptime

How adorable is Charlie? I mean I know I am biased, but this is just about as cute as they come!

Play Time

Charlie was wide awake on his play mat yesterday. He can already move his head from side to side during tummy time! Strong boy.