Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Boosters, and Belly Button Rings

It's been forever since I've blogged. Not for lack of material; just lack of time/energy! This morning, however, I am filled with a powerful fury that needs an outlet. Writing is the mot appropriate one I can think of ;) However...that is all a tease, because the source of my rage will nt be the topic of this post :P

Baby 2 is nearing 2 years old! He's almost 22 months, anyhow. And it is only now that I can say I've regained my pre-baby body. I remember when I started to get back into shape a few months after his birth, my pilates instructor told me it takes and average of 18 months to return to your former glory - and I scoffed - who has that much time?? I had a wedding looming, so needed to lose my baby belly STAT. And I did. Sort of. I lost enough weight to look cute in  my beachy wedding dress, and compared to bing pregnant, I was quite pleased with my body's progress.

There is a big difference between "acceptable" and "good", though - and good, I was not. Not when I had spent most of my life as a skinny girl, and suddenly found myself uncomfortably close to the top of my healthy weight range :s For the first time in my life, I had to diet. And work out regularly. I chose Weight Watchers (online) on the recommendation of a friend, and paired it with 1-3 times weekly sessions with Jillian Michaels (on my TV, sadly). It worked! In about 3 months, I managed to lose the 23lbs that was my goal. I am now learning how to maintain my weight, and it's a work in progress - but I can say that I am HAPPY with my body - AFTER 2 BABIES! :) I'm not going to go on about the process, but am happy to discuss it with anyone who would like to message me, and highly recommend WW and JM to anyone looking to shed some poundage.

What struck me this morning, though, was the state of my belly button. Now that my belly has a distinctly different shape, I've noticed that my belly button looks different - a telltale sign that I've had children - but what's worse is the EXTRA belly button I have above it. Before Baby 1, I had a belly button ring. I took it out as my belly gre with him, for fear of it tearing through the skin and other horrific things I'd heard about :s And I never put it back in. But unlike an ear piercing, navel piercings are done with a hollow needle that actually removes a column of flesh :s - and that doesn't grow back. You've got that hole forever.

I briefly considered reinserting a ring to fill that hole - but quickly realized I'd then be just an old person with a belly button ring. Plus, it would interfere with wearing my pants up nice and high, as old people are wont to do. Okay, I'm not quite there yet, but let's face it Mommis: no matter how much weight you lose, that belly of yours will likely never have the same texture it used to - and low rise jeans are no longer our friends. I'm not ready for the under-boob rise, but have certainly graduated to the "mid-rise". Sigh.

While I have been working to lose weight, my babies have been gaining. The Little Guy must have gone through a growth spurt because he suddenly started EATING. Meal time no longer requries an hour-long song and dance effort just to get him to ingest the minimum nutritional components to sustain life! It's s friggin' miracle, I tell you. I honestly wondered on almost a daily basis how he continued to live - and thrive! - on the amount he was previously force fed. Now, I don't have to worry (as much - as if we ever stop, right?). Baby 2, who I now refer to as my Medium Sized Guy (I do realize at almost 2 and almost 5, neither qualifies as a baby anymore), has become interested in the scale, too - he wants to "grow bigger", so has been stepping on the scale every night, hoping for an increase. He's been eating up a storm lately, as well, and has finally broken the 40lb mark! Do you know what that means? He is big enough for a booster, instead of a full car seat.

People have varying thoughts about this, I'm sure. Personally, I've always been a car seat snob and put a high value on my child's in-vehicle safety. As such, I have never considered a booster before. We have a Diono Radian RXT and a Britax Frontier CT that keep the Medium Sized Guy secure and protected in a 5-point harness up to 65lbs. BUT...they are not cheap! And while the Britax seat actually IS very easy to switch between cars, sometimes the logistics don't make sense - for example: child is sick at school, Gramma is going to pick him up, but Gramma has no carseat and Mommi has hers in car at work... Do you buy another $360 carseat for Gramma's car? If yes, you rock. And we did, when there was only one baby to transport. But since then, we reclaimed that seat we gave to Gramma (actually, she pruchased her own, so we are technically borrowing hers - isn't she wonderful?).

When Gramma has plans to take the boys out, we switch cars, so she has access to both ultra-safe seats in one of our vehicles. But for occasional and unexpected trips, like the sick child at school scenario, or extremely short trips, like just the drive to and from school (about 1 1/2 minutes in a 40km zone), another $360 seemed a bit much. So...I caved and bought my first booster. It's a super ghetto booster, too :s We used it for the first time this morning, and I was horrified. Do people actually use these things for their children on a regular basis???  I know that the answer is yes. The booster seat itself does not even attach in any way to the vehicle seat! The regular seat belt barely contains any part of my wiggly child! And he plastic clip thingy that brings the seat belt in closer above his shoulder? - a joke! Just crazy. I spent the whle 1 1/2 minutes drive looking at him in the reareview mirror, sure he was about to be dislodged at any moment - and THAT can't be safe, either.

So...I'm saving up for another couple $360 carseats...and you should, too!

Also: Avoid the dilemma and an extra belly button. Just don't pierce your navel to begin with. My two cents for the day! :)

(P.S. I am actually much less ragey, so this writing therapy worked!!! :D)
(P.P.S. Oh, until I started thinking about it again. Now, ragey, ragey, rage, rage.)

Almost-Entirely Unrelatead Car Seat Humour. Just because.