Letter to Scarlett - Month Two

Stats at end of month:

4.722 kg & 56cm in length

 

24th October, 2015

Dear Scarlett,

You are already two months old. I cannot believe it. So much has happened this month with you and it is exciting to see you develop and grow.

You have begun to smile at us socially. It is such a beautiful smile you have. When you smile your eyes light up as well. It completely melts my heart, however it has been impossible to capture the smile in a photo. It is so hard to believe that one little smile completely melts me. You will also giggle when we tickle you or make funny faces at you.

An ongoing joke we have is whenever you have taken a massive poo in your nappy, when you are being changed we will say "Scarlett made a haha," maybe you are only smiling from relief of getting to poo out but honestly, when we are cleaning you up, that's the time you seem to smile and giggle the most.

During the day you do not like to sleep much. Sometimes I get can you to sleep a three hour stretch during the morning but this does not happen most days. You are a fantastic sleeper at night. You will usually sleep a 5-7 hour block from 7pm. On the night of my birthday, you slept all night. You had a big day and was very tired so I know this was a once off but you managed to sleep from 9.30pm to 5am which was unbelievable.

On my birthday, Daddy used paint to make a canvas for me with your hand & foot prints. Whilst it was hard to get you to keep still, it is your first artwork and something I will always treasure.

The toughest moment we had this month was when you got your six week vaccinations. You were already having a tough morning and the doctor took 30 minutes to see us after our appointment time. By the time we actually got to your vaccinations you were already irritated. Two nurses gave you the injections at the same time. You turned bright red and forgot to breath for about 10 seconds and then you screamed. It was horrible knowing you had to go through that pain. Afterwards we cuddled and I fed you before we went home but I was crying myself seeing you go through that. Your next injections are in December and I am making sure Daddy will go this time as I don't want to be alone to go through that again.

You also managed your first long drive in the car, about 50 minutes each way to Warrandyte for Danielle's bridal shower. You did so well in the car and at the Bridal shower. I didn't even hear a peep out of you when we were driving home.

You love playing on the activity mat, being held and being in your carrier. You enjoy walks in your pram and mostly seem to do well when we go to the shops. You also enjoy cuddles in bed in the morning and I love having a lazy hour with you just lying there and cuddling you before we start our day.

You are not a big fan of tummy time and the bath can still be hit or miss sometimes but we are slowly managing that.

I look forward to seeing what month three brings!

Love you to the moon and back!

Your Mummy & Daddy.

 

October Thermomix Challenge

About a year ago I purchased a Thermomix TM31 second hand. It was still quite expensive second hand ($1,200) but I was excited with all the features of it. Whilst I do not follow a strictly 'healthy' diet (who am I kidding, I live for fried chicken), I did like the idea of being more in control of what was going into my food.

Prior to purchasing the Thermomix, I was wanting an appliance to make smoothies and when I realised the Thermomix can do so much more that that, I decided the extra investment was worth it.

A year on, and we use the Thermomix about 3-4 times a week in our household. I have read blogs and seen on Instagram people who use it multiple times per day. Whilst I am not sure if I will get up to this level, I am interested to try new recipes and see if there are things I can make in my Thermomix that I am still buying at the supermarket.

Therfore, for the month of October I am going to keep a list of when I use my Thermomix during the month and what I make in it. I am going to challenge myself to try 2 new things in my Thermomix each week. I know this will be a challenge in itself as I have a almost 6 week old but as the Thermomix does reduce time with cooking this might be a good thing.

At the end of the month I will post how I have went.

A couple of things I have made in my Thermomix

Letter to Scarlett Myra Farrugia - Month One

Scarlett Myra Farrugia

Born - 24th August, 2015 at 1.35pm

3.19 kg's and 44cm in length

First Daughter to Daniel and Candice Farrugia

 

Stats at end of month (24th September)

3.792kg & 52.5cm in length

 

 

 

24th September, 2015



 

Dear Scarlett,

 

Although I am a couple of days late in writing this, I am so excited that you are already a month old. This month has went so quickly and even though Daddy & I are lacking a lot of sleep, it has been an incredibly exciting time for us and we both struggle to remember what life was like before you were born.

 

In your first couple of weeks you were a very content baby. Usually you would feed, have a nappy change and sleep for 2-3 hours. You were happy to sleep in anyone's arms which made you very popular with visitors. It was also a lovely time for our little family as Daddy had three weeks off work which gave you lots of time to get to know each other.

 

You received so many gifts from family and friends, both from Australia and overseas. You are very much loved. You have so many clothes that I won't need to buy anything for a year and there is a chance you might not get around to wearing some of them.

 

In weeks 3 & 4, you have decided you are not a big sleeper during the day often only having 1 or 2 catnaps which may only last an hour or less. Sometimes you will have a sleep in the afternoon but this is not everyday. You will usually fall asleep easily in someone's arms or in the car (karozza in Maltese) but as soon as you are moved to your bassinet, you will wake up almost immediately. However, you do sleep well at night, usually having a 4-5 hour sleep followed by 2-3 hours after your feed and nappy change. You have even managed a six hour sleep which is bliss for your Dad & I as we managed to catch up on sleep ourselves. I am looking forward to when you will sleep through the night.

 

During the day, you are so alert and we keep you entertained by talking to you, playing on your activity mat (including tummy time) and playing music in your bouncer. By far, your favourite thing is being carried in your Ergobaby baby carrier. You always manage to fall asleep in it as you love being snuggled to my chest. However, as per normal as soon as we take you out you are awake. I use the baby carrier around the house to do my housework and even have you in it when I need to pump as it keeps you so content.

 

Ally has slowly gotten use to having you in the house and no longer being the only 'child'. She hates hearing you cry and will often run away when you are screaming whilst having a nappy change or waiting for your milk. She is very curious about you and often has a sniff of you. She has shown no signs of aggression towards you and I am confident that you will grow up to be close buddies. My favourite moment so far is when you were doing your tummy time and Ally came as close to you as she would dare, (which is not actually that close at all), and also laid down on her tummy.

 

You have already been on a number of outings and have managed them quite well. You have visited both Mummy & Daddy's work, been to the shops and on a few walks with Ally as well. We also took you to Werribee to have your newborn photos done. We are so excited to see them as we know you will look adorable in them and will be printing a few on them on canvas to put around the house.

 

One of the funniest things you do, (although it is completely disgusting at the time), is you always seem to have a habit of deciding to do your business while we are changing your nappy. The number of wee and poo we have had to 'catch' is quite high and more often then not, your Dad and I will miss them which results in the washing machine being turned on, which is usually already running anyway. The amount of washing in the house has increased significantly and I am slightly terrified to see our water and electricity bills!

 

The biggest challenge for you and me during your first month is our breastfeeding relationship. I was determined before you were born that you would be 100% breastfed. I strongly believed that 'breast was best.' The first few days of breastfeeding seemed to go ok between us. However, tiredness took it's toll and being the only one that had the ability to feed you was tricky.

 

One day, when you were just over a week old, you spent 10 hours needing to be fed every hour. I don't know if you were not getting enough milk or if you were having a growth spurt. That feeding session took its toll on me. My nipples were red, raw and cut up. I was in so much pain every time you tried to attach and after feeding you I would be in tears from the pain. You had trouble attaching because you were so anxious to be fed and would be screaming and I would not be patient enough to work with you to attach properly. It came to a point that I was dreading every time you would wake up as I knew I would have to feed you. When I realised that I might need to introduce formula to you, I was in tears. After I came home from buying the formula, I sat in my car in the garage for 10 minutes in tears that I did not have the ability to feed you myself. I was emotionally drained and terrified that I might end up suffering post natal depression.

 

At that point I decided to start expressing, only giving you the formula twice until I had managed to express breast milk for you. This system has worked so much better for us. Now Daddy, your Nanna and Aunty Victoria have helped out with your feeds and at night this has allowed me to sometimes get a decent stretch of sleep as Daddy can look after you on his own. I can also go out for a couple of hours to the shops and not have to rush back as I know you have milk ready for you. I realised that I am still able to give you breast milk so you are still getting all that goodness. I have even managed to freeze about 2 litres of breast milk which will become valuable later on when you go through your growth spurts and I am not able to keep up through pumping. After a few weeks I have finally started to put you back on the breast occasionally. I cannot however see myself going back 100% of the time so I will continue to express regularly for you but I will try to breast feed you 2-3 times a day in conjunction with bottle feeding so we can continue with that relationship.

 

We love forward to continue to seeing you grow and develop into the wonderful young girl that we know you will become.

 

Love from you Mummy & Daddy.

 

 



Welcome Back!

It has been almost two years since I have written on this blog. The whole reason for this blog was to document my running, which I originally took up to lose weight for my wedding. I ended up loving running.

Over the two years since I have written on this blog (which was under the name 'Later I Shall have Chocolate'), a lot has happened. Daniel & I got married, had a wonderful 4 week honeymoon in America, vowing to return for our 10 year anniversary (if not earlier). We scored a 2 week holiday in Europe thanks to Daniel's work and we finished building our dream home, however it took us another 8 months to sell the house we had been previously living in.

Although there were some amazing things that happened, 2014 did have some sadness. My beloved Nannu passed away whilst we were in Europe. We had the opportunity to say goodbye to him before we left but I always have a small regret that I was on the other side of the world when he left this world. On the day of my Nannu's funeral, Daniel and I found out we were pregnant. We were so excited and told family and some friends quite quickly. It was the uplifting news we needed after the passing of my Nannu.

However, 4 weeks later, at our 8 week viability scan, we found out the pregnancy was not viable due to a blighted ovum. The news was devastating for both Daniel and myself. I felt like a failure that I could not give my husband and my family the child and grandchild that they all wanted. My body never recognised that I had a miscarriage so at 10 weeks, after once again confirming the pregnancy was not viable, I had a minor operation done to remove the pregnancy as my body was not releasing it on its own.

The one thing I learnt from this was that is was not my fault. I started to talk to people around me. In the space of about 3 months I had spoken to 3 other people at work who had all had miscarriages during 2014. Lots of others told me it had happened to them and I was reassured to know that they had went on to build their family.

In October, I had taken a new job, so Daniel & I decided to wait a couple of months to try again. We were also moving into our house in December so we thought the right time would be after we had settled into the house. However, it seems God had other plans.

In early December (about a week before moving into the new house), I had the most vivid dream. I saw my husband holding a baby girl in his arms. I usually struggle to remember the dreams I have but this one stood out to me. That day I brought a pregnancy test but decided to wait to use it. In my mind, I didn't think we would be pregnant yet.

After a couple of days, and realising that I was late, I decided to take the pregnancy test without telling my husband. It was positive. I was so excited but at the same time, scared given what had happened last time. I walked downstairs and showed my husband the test. He was so excited. We agreed not to tell everyone straight away. I didn't end up getting the pregnancy confirmed until 2 weeks later as we were so busy moving into the house and I had a 4 day work trip to Renmark.

This time the pregnancy felt different from the last. I actually had some morning sickness, started to crave certain foods and I actually 'felt' pregnant. I was determined to continue with my running (something which I had done, even after having the miscarriage, it was a form of therapy for me). However I actually felt sick this pregnancy so my running was reduce significantly.

At Christmas we started telling family (I was about 7 weeks), but we chose to wait until 13 weeks to tell friends, although some friends were suspicious given my late of alcohol during summer events. Once we got past the 13 week mark we felt comfortable enough to tell friends and officially announce our pregnancy. We were due to welcome our first child in August.

At 19 weeks we found out we were having a baby girl, something I was adamant about given the vivid dream I had before finding out we were pregnant. This was very exciting for both families as this was going to be the first granddaughter and on my side of the family, no girl has been born since my sister, Victoria, in 1996.

I was very lucky that my pregnancy was reasonably straight forward. Apart from the WORSE HEATRBURN from 26 weeks onwards which cause me to vomit several times a week, I did not have any other complications. The last time I ran was at 18 weeks for the 5.5km Run for the Kids. After that time I stopped running because I felt a lot of pressure on my hips and my bladder.

I will be completing a separate blog post about Scarlett's birth story but going forward, for me this blog is to continue to document my running after becoming a Mummy to Scarlett, hence the new name for the blog 'Running after Scarlett.'

For me, I will use the rest of 2015 to build up my fitness once again. I aim to participate in a few Parkruns to get my running speed back up, but aside from that I will not have any specific goals. Once I receive the all clear at my 6 week post partum appointment, I will use that weight as my starting weight to work towards getting back into shape.

My goals for 2016 are as follows:

1) Fun Run for Kids - 15km. I would like to aim for a sub 1:20 time. The best time I have on this course is 1:31:05.

2) Half Marathon - I am desperate to run a sub 2 hour half marathon. I think this is something I may not achieve in 2016 but I want to have the goal on my list as I can chip away at the time during the year. My current PB for a half marathon is 2:06:52

3) Marathon - In my first (and currently only) marathon I was aiming for 4:30. I ended up finishing on 4:39:38. I was still thrilled with this time considering the state of my fitness a year earlier but I am still wanting to go sub 4:30. I would like to complete another marathon by my 30th birthday which is 18th October, 2016 (I am not fussed if I do not achieve this time by my 30th birthday). There are a few options for a full marathon next year which include Great Ocean Road (May), Gold Coast (July), Adelaide (August), Blackmores - Sydney (September) & Melbourne (October - usually one week before my birthday). Most likely I will make my attempt in Melbourne as I am not sure how easy it will be to travel with a new baby but I am open to seeing how my training goes if I can attempt it earlier.

4) Parkrun PB - I want to complete a sub 25 minute 5km run. My current PB is 25:42 which was on the Point Cook course (very flat).

5) As I am not longer a member of a gym, I will commit myself to completing 1-2 Kayla Itsines workouts a week to supplement my running(number of sessions depends on time and how much running I am doing). I have my own weights at home now so having a baby should not be an excuse as it is a 28 minute workout so I can complete whilst bubs is sleeping on early in the morning whilst hubby stays with bubs.

6) I will also go to a casual class at the gym once a month. I am interested in Body Pump, Body Attack and Spin. I do not want to commit to a membership but I enjoy classes so still want this as part of my routine.

There seems to be a lot in there, but these are 2016 goals so I have time to work towards theses. Once bubs is a bit older I will be able to take her out for my shorter runs. I also have a great support system in place with a very helpful hubby and my Mum will also be able to stay with bubs so I can go on runs.

It feels great to be able to but this down in writing and actually hold myself accountable to my fitness/running goals for 2016. I also hope to be able to at least semi-regularly update this blog so that I can document working towards these goals as well as documenting Scarlett's milestones so that one day she can have a look back at this.

Day before going into labour at 40 weeks and 4 days.

2014 Running Goals

As the year comes to an end, I have found that I am starting to plan out my running goals for 2014. There are a number of events I want to participate in and given I have a little thing on known as my wedding and honeymoon, I am trying to plan now so I can achieve the best times possible. Some of my more general goals are:

- 5km in 23 minutes
- 10km in 48 minutes
- Sub 2 hours for half marathon
- Sub 4 hours for marathon
- Place in my age group in a Sri Chinmoy race
- Be under 70kg (about 6kg to go, these are the toughest kg's ever!)
- Continue to incorporate more weight training in my gym routine.
- Do 'The Bird' in Body Balance

 

This is a running event schedule that I have put together in order to help achieve some of these goals. There is a lot in there but consistency will help me to hopefully reach some of these goals. As I am getting married in February and having a month long honeymoon, my events are not going to start until April.

 

April:

13th - Run for the Kids - 15km

27th - Princes Park - 15km (Sri Chinmoy)

 

May:

4th - Puffing Billy Race (13.2km) (Must beat the train - most likely the second one!)

11th - Mother's Day Classic (8km)

25th - Como Landing Half Marathon (Sri Chinmoy)

 

June:

22nd - Albert Park Half Marathon (Sri Chinmoy)

 

July:

6th - Gold Coast Marathon (will make a bit of a holiday out of this one!)

20th - Princes Park (either Half Marathon or 30km)

27th - Run Melbourne Half Marathon

 

August:

10th - City to Surf (Sydney) (14km) - most likely a fly in, fly out type thing

 

September:

21st - Yarra Blvd Half Marathon (Sri Chinmoy)

 

October:

12th - Melbourne Marathon

26th - Maribyrnong Rive Run -12km (Sri Chinmoy)

 

November:

9th - Yarra Bend Trail Run - 10km (Sri Chinmoy)

Point to Pinnacle Half Marathon (Tassie - toughest half marathon!) - Date not yet set

City to Sea - 14km (Date not yet set)

 

December:

7th - Cherry Lake, Altona - 10.5km (Sri Chinmoy)

 

Lots there to keep me busy and hopefully a few opportunities to achieve my goals!

 

 



Maribynong River Run - 12km

Last Sunday I participated in another Sri Chinmoy event. The one thing I love about these events is that it is cheap to enter ($25) and you get pancakes at the end of the run! Since I done the Melbourne Marathon a couple of weeks ago, I have continued to run 2-3 times a week, although I haven't run more than 12km in a session yet.

Whilst I am still deciding whether I am going to go for another marathon next year, I have decided I want to concentrate on shorter distances (when I say shorter I mean 10-15km) and aim to reduce my times for these shorter distances, which will then contribute to reducing my overall marathon time.

I decided going into this 12km event I would aim for a sub 65 minute time. I was basing this on the fact that in my last half-marathon I had run 10km in 54 minutes. I felt I would be able to achieve this goal but also challenge myself.

I don't think we could have asked for better weather for the Maribynong River Run. It was a clear day but not too hot, ideal for running. I had a feeling I could actually go sub 65 minutes.

I was aim to set into my pace quite quickly. The 4km loop was quite flat and given it was along the river, it was a lovely view to have whilst running. I only took drinks from every second station however, because my pace was faster than my training runs, I did find it difficult to take on liquids. On the final lap with about 2km to go, I noticed the time on my phone and thought I actually had a chance to go sub 65. A girl did overtake me and whilst I did try to keep pace with her, I was not able to.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 65:41. Just slightly over the time I wanted but I was happy to take that. At the medal ceremony, the girl that overtook me, ended up coming third in our age category. I was a bit upset because that could have been me! Oh well, if anything it has lit a fire because I really want to be able to place in the top three, so I will be aiming to do that at the next Sri Chinmoy meet in December in Altona. I ended up finishing 4th in my age category (18-39) and 5th overall.

The one great thing I got out of the run is that I was granted priority entry to City to Sea on the 17th November. This is a 14km race and in order to start in the front half of the field (and avoid the joggers and non-serious runners), you had to provide the organisers with official times from your run.
The event is just over two weeks away, so I don't think I will be able to improve my time too much, however I am going to aim for 76 minutes for this distance.

A couple of things I have noted from this run:
-My first pair of Lorna Janes which are a size Large (the rest I have are medium) are still good for the gym, not so good for running. Must stick to my mediums from now on.
-I don't usually run in singlets because I am scared of chaffing but I fund that wearing a singlet for this distance did not bother me.

This Week's Training Plan

So I was very happy with my training plan last week. I mostly stuck to it (except for one day) and actually did add a couple of extra things. The only thing I did miss was my hill sprints and this was due to crappy Melbourne weather. However, I covered it with a Body Attack/Body Pump double class so I am still happy with what I achieved for the week.

This is what I done during the previous week:
Monday: 30 minute Spin Class and 45 minutes boot camp (focus on legs - lots of sprints and lunges)
Tuesday: 12km run in the morning, including 2 laps of The Tan
Wednesday: 1 hour Body Pump class and 45 minute Boot Camp (mixture of sprints, skipping, triceps, etc)
Thursday: Timed Weekly Challenge (2km sprint, 3km bike, 50 compound rows, 50 push ups & 20 burpees -as fast as you can - any order, I completed in 21.50). I also did 30 minutes Body Attack & 30 minutes Body Pump.
Friday: 30 minutes Personal Training. I will do a post soon with the routine I am currently doing in PT.

Saturday I had a rest day and today I competed in a run, which I will blog about soon once the official times come through.

The one thing I did miss this week was a Body Balance/Pilates class. So I need to be able to add this to my training. I was wanting to do Pilates on Tuesday lunch, but I did have some urgent work to do so I missed the class. However, I am determined I will be there this week. So here is this week's training plan:

Monday: AM: 30 minutes Spin Class and PM: 45 minutes boot camp
Tuesday: AM: 12km run in the morning and PM: 30 minutes Pilates. (if I feel good I will also do 30 minutes of Body Step but I will not hold myself to this).
Wednesday: AM: 1 hour Body Pump and PM (evening): 45 minutes Boot Camp and 45 minutes Body Balance (I need it!)
Thursday: AM: Morning Run including hill sprints (distance will not be too much of a concern) and PM: Body Attack class.
Friday: Personal Training
Saturday: REST
Sunday: Run - 15km.

Should be a busy week! I also got a heap of Lorna Jane tops during the week. I had been given a few vouchers for my birthday which you can see in the top picture along with my dog.

Have a good week!