At Home Dumbbell Workout (and a Quick 6-Week Check In)

Alternate blog post title: My first postpartum workout! AH! Last week, I had my postpartum checkup at my OB/GYN’s office. I was a bit anxious about everything and had some questions prepared for my doctor. Thankfully everything ended up going really well! I am pretty sure my nerves shot up to the ceiling when they went to check me out but apparently everything is healing well and I was given the clear to workout again. Hooray! Here’s an at home dumbbell workout that I love.

At Home Dumbbell Workout

Yesterday morning, I took myself through my first postpartum workout while Chase snoozed next to me in his Rock n’ Play. I started to get the urge to work out again a week or so ago but it wasn’t until I started lifting weights again yesterday that I realized just how much I really did miss my workouts. I honestly felt my whole body come alive! Bless you, endorphins!

I grabbed some dumbbells and took myself through the following workout:

It was a total-body strength workout and even though I took a lot of breaks to check in with Chase’s coos, replace the pacifier in his mouth and bounce him a bit when he got restless, I consider the workout a small victory!

Up until yesterday’s workout, I have solely been walking outside for fitness. I worked up to walking 5 miles comfortably but have really missed strength training a lot. It’s my favorite and I am already anxiously awaiting to my first postpartum BodyPump class. (I’m a little freaked out about it, too! I am sure I will be sore for dayssss.) I’m also really looking forward to blogging about fitness again!

During a short walk with Chase and Sadie yesterday, I was feeling a little zippy after my workout and decided to try running a bit just to see how it felt. You guys, I felt like my insides might fall out and after about 20 seconds I stopped and realized I will really have to work up to running again. It felt SO strange and my body felt very, very different from my pre-baby runs (almost sloshy, if that makes any sense).

Chase: A Quick 6 Week Update

Once we got back from our walk, it was time to nurse and entertain Mr. Chase with lots of playtime on the floor.

His fluffy blonde mohawk kills me.

Chase is so, so close giving us a big smile right now and his facials amuse me to no end.

This week has been much better than last week (so far, anyway…) in terms of Chase’s sleep at night. Last week was pretty darn horrific and I felt like my brain was only half-functioning every day, so I am kind of terrified to jinx myself by saying we’ve had two good nights in a row.

Other developments? Chase is officially a nine pound baby! He weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces yesterday. (We bought the Watch Me Grow baby scale after Chase was born since he was so small and I’m a little too obsessed with weighing him.) It’s so crazy to me to see how quickly our little man is growing and changing. I feel like he’s already so much bigger than he was when we brought him home from the hospital. We have his one-month pediatric appointment this morning and I’m looking forward to hearing more about how he’s doing and what to expect from Chase’s doctor today.

It feels like Chase is a baby now – no longer a newborn – and he’s so much more alert (both at night – oof – and during the day). He’s holding eye contact for much longer which feels like a shot straight to my heart. He loves being on his tummy, swinging on the swing outside, kicking his legs, staring at our salt lamp and ceiling fans and bouncing on the lap of anyone who will bounce him for hours and hours.

Chase has also fallen victim to the dreaded “witching hour” and becomes super fussy after dinner in the evening. We’ll do everything to calm him down and it often feels like nothing will work. Eventually he will settle, nurse and fall asleep but man oh man his post-dinner breakdowns can be draining at the end of a long day. I’ve joked with my friends and family by saying I think God made babies so adorable as a defense mechanism for the moments when you start to feel like you might lose your mind. I am more than ready for bed by 9 p.m. every night, that’s for sure!

Mornings are Chase’s favorite time of day and therefore my favorite, too. Chase usually wakes up in a good mood and loves to play on his activity mat for a while. He’s really into tummy time and I love watching him lift his little head higher and higher every day. He’s so determined! He’s also very, very active and wiggly and if he’s not kicking and moving his arms, he’s craving movement from one of us in the form of bouncing, swinging and swaying. A busy little bee!

And I think that catches us up with all the baby updates right now! Thanks for checking in today and I hope you guys have a wonderful Wednesday!

Questions of the Day

• Mamas: I’d love to hear about your postpartum fitness journey. How did things go for you? Did running feel super strange to anyone else out there?