Emilia Tommasina is Here!

I'm back!!  And I had a baby!  Ha ha ha :)  

Finally after a lot of waiting (and pushing!) Emilia Tommasina is here.  And we love her to pieces!  She is absolutely wonderful in every way and we are so happy that she has joined our little family!  As cheesy as it sounds, my life feels so complete now that she's here.  I honestly love being a mama...it's given my life so much purpose and I feel like this is what I was meant to do.  Is that mushy enough for you guys?!  Sorry, ha ha :) 

Emilia was born on the 11th of September 2012 at 4:24pm and weighed 7lbs 3oz.  I will probably do a more detailed labour & delivery story post but in the meantime, if you haven't seen it already you can watch our labour & delivery video here!  Giving birth was an absolutely amazing experience and I still can't believe Jonathan and I created her!  She is such a beautiful gift :)  

Here are some pictures from my Instagram which were taken over the last week.  Here we are in the hospital wearing our matching outfits!  From Baby Be Mine Maternity :)  I also had a matching gownie & pillow case!  All the staff at the hospital loved them and wanted to know where they were from!

Waiting for her grandma's visit (wearing the cardigan she knit her!)  It's sparkly & pink -- she loves it :)

One of my favourite pictures of her.  Her eyes are so beautiful!  She was born with hazel eyes...amazing :)

Sleeping!  She is such a good baby.  She barely cries and just sleeps, feeds & smiles (especially when she's about to poop!  Ha ha ha!)

Pretty in pink!  This was her going home outfit.  She looks like a marshmallow!  

Friday - three days later...ready to go home! 

The best pjs ;)

And here's the belly 1 week post partum!  This is what everybody has been asking about!  I honestly don't have much to say or report other than the fact that I am breast feeding and wearing the Belly Bandit.  Not dieting or even exercising yet...just eating normal and drinking lots of water!  I haven't given much thought to post partum weight loss or dieting yet, it's kind of the least of my concerns at the moment.  Emilia has taken top priority and that's probably how it'll stay for the next couple of weeks!  (Well, okay that's how it'll stay forever but you know what I mean!)  I am concentrating more on feeding her and giving her what she needs...I feel like if I started cutting calories it would be a bad idea and I would just get burnt out.  I'm also feeling super hungry since breast feeding so I'm just listening to my body and doing what feels right!

I did weigh myself when I went in for induction last Monday and my total weight gain this pregnancy was 24lbs (141).  As of this morning I now weigh 129 so I still have 12lbs left to lose before I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight!

Don't mind all the creases & lines on my belly...ha ha ha!  They're from the Belly Bandit!  You can see my little stretch marks around my belly button -- they've faded white and aren't as noticeable anymore.  My linea nigra has also faded a bit, but you can still see it!  

And here I am wearing the Belly Bandit!  I got the bamboo one from JellyBean, who are the official distributors for Ireland.  So far, I absolutely love this and although I've only been wearing it since I returned from the hospital on Friday I already see a difference.  As well as tightening my tummy and helping the uterus to contract it actually works as a great support while breast feeding and gives better posture.  If you are curious about sizing, I would ask to be professionally fitted.  I had no clue what size I would be (although the website does give measurements for reference) but the owner of the boutique where I got it fitted me and recommended the XS.  You need it to feel super tight and snug for it to work properly!  

Also please ignore the milk stains...ha ha ha!  I'm leaking like a drippy tap ever since my milk came in, but thankfully the Belly Bandit is machine-washable!

Stay Stylish!