The State of the Bod at 16 Months Post-partum
That's a really strange way to measure time, now that I think about it. When Jack goes to college, will I be thinking of myself as 18 years post-partum? God, I hope not.
Anyway, while I was gone, I discovered that I need to have my gall bladder removed. And I just have to say right here that gall bladder "attacks" are the most horrible thing in the world: severe epigastric pain, nausea, sometimes vomiting...ugh. I have now had 2 "attacks" and can't wait to get the damned thing out. That will happen on July 11th. This is another area where family history has much more pull than things like diet and exercise: my mom and my sister have both had theirs out and there is a history of gall bladder problems on my dad's side of the family (as he told me glibly when I told him about my surgery: "Oh, yeah. All of the Humphreyses have to get them out." Would have been nice to know beforehand), so I was a sitting [bile] duct. (Sorry. That was bad.) The surgery should be laparoscopic, unless there is a stone in the duct; then the surgeon would have to convert to open surgery and I'll have a longer recovery and more post-operative pain. I'm planning on it being easy and going smoothly.
As far as the rest of the bod: Jack's newfound freedom and determination and separation anxiety and agenda have made it even harder for me to get to the gym. I am still maintaining my weight, which is at my pre-pregnancy level, but I am flabby. I hate seeing my belly in the mirror: it's all loose and not toned. I do Pilates and yoga here at home as often as I can and I sneak out to a class once in awhile, but not as often as I need to. The power walking that I used to be able to do with Jack in the stroller is now the meandering through fields and over trails that I described the other day. We have tried roller blading, that is, Jack is in the jogging stroller and I'm on in-line skates, not vice versa, however, even though Jack likes the speed initially, he wants to get out and wander soon after we start, so it's not a real solution, either.
The first time we tried in-line skating, I took Jack and Syd and everything was fine until Sydney saw a veritable gaggle of geese by the river and ran after them, crossing in front of the stroller and sending geese running everywhere, while I tried to brake and not fall and ended up with the stroller on one back wheel going through the grass, which Jack thought was a riot. If he could talk, he would have said, "Do it again!" Since then, Sydney has been banned from our in-line skating trips.
So, I am getting to the Y to swim when I can and I'm doing whatever exercise I can sneak in and I'm trying to learn to love the rounder, pudgier version of myself, until Jack learns to love the child care center at the Y and I can get to classes on a regular basis again. One benefit of being a forty-something mom is that everyone expects me to be a little soft in the middle, anyway, I gave up 2-piece bathing suits a long time ago, and no one wants to see me with a belly-ring. Phew.
3:17:45 PM 
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