The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I'm devoting this post to me to provide an update on life post-baby.

We'll start with the good:

• How natural it is to be a mother.  When Charlotte needs something I don't think, I jump up and do it.  Sure there are times when I wish I didn't have to (see the bad), but for the most part, it's not a chore at all.  There's something very gratifying about taking care of someone so helpless.  I think parenting has come very naturally to Chris as well.  He's a great partner and does whatever he can to help out.
• Mornings.  Morning is the best time of day.  Charlotte almost always wakes up happy and just grins and laughs constantly.
• Weight loss.  I think I mentioned that I gained 55 pounds when I was pregnant.  Crazy, I know!  A lot was attributed to water weight gain, but a lot was just packed on for some reason.  I'm not really sure how it happened considering that I didn't overeat -- I would wake up in the middle of the night and be hungry, but I never let myself eat.  I walked a lot in the beginning, but my back problems made that hard in the middle of the pregnancy, so maybe that was a contributing factor. Anyway, I've lost 45 of those 55 pounds and I'm still on the losing side.  Unfortunately, I'm still in that in-between world where most of my clothes don't fit, but I'm getting there, and I'm pretty proud of myself.  My pre-pregnancy jeans fit, although pretty tightly.  The holidays are upon us, and all that good food makes it hard to continue to lose weight, so if I maintain my current weight during this period, I'll be pretty happy.  The ultimate goal is to have all the weight lost by nine months postpartum, so that would be around March.  
• Speaking of weight loss, my wedding rings finally fit on my finger again! I was so sure I would have to have them resized, but just today, I tried them on, and they fit!  Hurray!  I haven't worn my rings since January.  I resorted to wearing a ring from my right hand on my left because my right-hand fingers are a half-size bigger than my left.  Strange, but I'm left-handed, so I guess I use my left fingers more, so they're more toned?
• Going back to work has been much easier and more enjoyable than I expected.  My company is very accommodating and family-friendly, so that helps as well.  I enjoy being around my co-workers, while at the same time always thinking about my little girl.

The bad:

• Being sick and having a baby.  I somehow contracted strep throat.  I have no idea how or from whom, but I've got it.  After spending perhaps the most painful weekend of my life, where even swallowing my saliva was torture, I begged Kaiser to get me an appointment with my doctor.  Yes, I understand that an accompanying cold means it might be a virus, but this was the worst sore throat ever!  My doctor took one look and said, yep, I think it's strep.  She did a throat culture just to be sure, but went ahead and prescribed antibiotics, along with some cough syrup mixed with codeine, and said I could take vicodin for the pain. 
• But let's back up for a second.  In those B.C. days (Before Charlotte), when I would get sick, I'd sit in bed, sleep, and basically do nothing while I convalesced.  That is no longer an option.  She relies on me for food, entertainment, etc.  Combine that with Charlotte also having a cold, and you've got a fussy baby, and a sleepless mommy.  Charlotte also gets very fussy if we're not busy, busy, busy on the weekends.  There's only so often that we can move her from the ExerSaucer to the swing to the bouncer to the blanket before she's had enough.  However, if you take her out and about for errands and she's in her car seat?  She's happy and calm for hours.  But I was sick, so taking her out and about was not an option.  Chris took her on an errand or two, so I could get a little nap in, but for the most part, we dealt with a very bored and fussy baby this weekend.
• Luckily, I was able to take a sick day from work today, and we sent Charlotte to daycare thank goodness.  And seeing as how I'm still contagious and that there are pregnant women at work, I'll be staying home again tomorrow, and Charlotte will be going to daycare again!  This truly makes me appreciate stay-at-home moms who most likely don't have the option to drop the kids off somewhere when they're feeling lousy.
• Let's see, what else is bad?  Not much.  I don't get a lot of free time.  We still haven't cashed in on offers from friends and neighbors to babysit Charlotte so we can have a date night, although that's probably due more to our laziness than anything else.  She goes to bed at 7, so it's easy!
• Pumping is still a pain in the rear.  Once I made peace with the fact that I could only produce about half of what Charlotte eats, it became easier.  I just do what I can and know that's she getting enough calories from formula.  Still, it's annoying because I can't really take any other breaks or I feel guilty, and pumping takes an entire hour out of my workday.  But I know it's worth it for Charlotte.
• Here's a bad-turned-good.  I used to hate working out.  It was last on my list of what I wanted to do.  But now, it's a chance for me to go running or to the gym and just be by myself.  I feel relaxed and invigorated afterwards.

The Ugly?

• I'm not really sure about this one.  Stretch marks, maybe?  Eh, but I don't even really care.  They're becoming less noticeable and I guess they're a badge of motherhood.
• Poop?  Yes, I've dealt with my fair share of explosions, but I got over the yuck factor pretty quickly.
• Charlotte's mullet?  She has quite the party in the back, and it just keeps growing longer. And there's a lovely bald spot right above the mullet.  Okay, so I really don't think it's ugly, but pretty hilarious.  I'm not really sure what to do.  Cut it?  It's going to take a long time for the rest of her hair to catch up. Hmmm...
• I'd say the only real issue to add to this column is when, every so often, I stop what I'm doing at work and add up the number of hours I'm physically spending with Charlotte during the week.  It doesn't add up to much.  But I try not to do that because I know that it will just bring me down, and I know that life is pretty good the way it is.