Hello from the Florida Keys! This is one of our favorite places to visit. It’s were I filmed my Florida kettlebell workout two years ago.

I’m doing well and I have some very exciting news (at least I’m super excited!) that I’m going to share next week. There is a BIG adventure ahead but until then here is a little update on life lately.

The last few weeks have been focused on finding our family’s new “normal”…well as normal as life on the road in an RV can be.  As those of you with kids know, having a new baby is a challenging but wonderful adjustment. Trying to figure out how to do homeschool, travel, exercise, work, errands, and everything else that needs to be done with a new little person that requires constant attention can be overwhelming. I’ve kept my expectations low but have been blown away by my older boys willingness to help. The other day Thing 2 even watched the baby and folded laundry while I took a shower! Thing 1 made dinner the other night and both help with daily chores!  

I did follow my midwives recommendation and rested thoroughly for 3 weeks. When she told me about the “21 day rest rule” I was very worried about going stir crazy. That did happen a few times but for the most part those 21 days very special and I’ll cherish that time always . My days were spent bonding with Thing 3 and spending time with the older boys. I did my best to not even think about the things that “needed” to be done and instead I focused on really being in the moment with my  littles or not so littles. At times it was a bit surreal to be nursing a baby and having heart to heart talks with my teenager.

I was surprised to find myself sad to resume normal activities after 21 days of doing nothing. Don’t get me wrong I was excited to be up and about but I found myself missing those long days cuddling and nursing the baby. I wish I would have done the same thing with my older boys but I’m very grateful for my wise midwife who insisted that I do this with Thing 3. I’m also grateful to Brent and my parents who recognized how important this time was for my healing and Thing 3. I’m fully aware that not all women have this type of support and I don’t take it for granted.

I’ll be six weeks postpartum tomorrow but I won’t likely be resuming strength training for another 4-6 weeks. My labor and delivery were very difficult and my body is going to need more time than average to heal.  If I’m understanding “Dr Google” correctly, there may be some damage that is going to take many months to heal and perhaps a lifetime of conscious lifestyle choices to manage.  My midwife didn’t want to give me a diagnosis before giving my body plenty of time to heal so I’m trying to remain hopeful that my body will continue to repair itself. Fingers crossed Dr Google is wrong!

Since I’m not strength training I started walking and doing some light yoga. Thing 3 likes being in the stroller and he often falls asleep.  So I’m hoping that when I am able to resume strength training I’ll be able to go on walks and do a short kettlebell workout while he chills in his stroller afterwards.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Check out our family’s adventures at Newschool Nomads as we travel in our RV through the United States!

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The post Life Lately – Finding a New “Normal” with Baby appeared first on Girl Heroes.

New RV!!!

I’m sitting in a hotel room right now. We’ve been living out of bags for the last few months since we sold our RV but tonight is the last night because tomorrow we pick up our NEW RV!!! I’m so excited that I can hardly sleep!!! We are heading over to Dixie RV tomorrow first thing in the morning. Let me tell you getting here was a bit crazy.  Driving through the Florida panhandle in the ice storm last night was no joke. Thing Two and I kept going because we were anxious not only for the new RV but to be with Brent and Thing One again.

We had been apart since we said goodbye at the Indianapolis Airport 11 days ago.  I had to get to a doctor’s appointment in Florida but the weather was so bad in the midwest and, at the time, we weren’t sure if we were going to go with a new RV or a used one in Michigan so I just flew down while we waited for the weather (and our minds) to clear.

Baby Nomad is Breech

The doctors appointments went well but I found out Thing Three is breech.  I reached out on my Facebook page about his breech position and got some good stories and advice. Someone mentioned Spinning Babies and I’ve been doing the exercises. I hope they help. I’m really hoping to have a second VBAC. It sounds like he has plenty of time to turn!

Growing Belly

While we are on the subject of babies, here are a few belly shots. These are not my most recent but they were the only ones I could quickly grab off my phone. I’ve grown a bit since then. I’ve been slathering my belly with coconut oil every day hoping to avoid stretch marks although, honestly, it’s more about genetics than any sort of oil or cream. I gained almost 70 pounds with my first kids and didn’t get any on my belly but I did get some on my hips. I’m 11 years older so I’m hoping that doesn’t change things but if it does it’s not the end of the world.

Bells

I got back to Florida to find my kettlebells corroding with rust! It must be the salty moist air. Oh well, I’ll consider them battlescars…kinda like the stretch marks on my hips. Speaking of hips, during my second trimester I started having terrible pain in my hips and lower back every evening.  At the time, my workout schedule was sporadic at best with about 1x maybe 2 workouts a week. About 6 weeks ago I decided to make my workouts a priority.  I’ve been strength training 2-3x a week , yoga 2-5x a week, and walking every day. After the second week of being consistent with my workouts the pain disappeared. So yeah, consistency counts!!

Well that’s about it. I can’t wait to show you our new RV. The kitchen is amazing and cooking will finally be fun again!!!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Life Lately – Baby Belly, Bells, Bunches of Other Stuff like our NEW RV!! appeared first on Girl Heroes.