A few days ago, my mom told us that we will be moving soon. We have one month to find a house to move into. She got a letter in the mail saying that the owner of the house we currently live in is selling the property. That is what happened in our last home, which is how we ended up moving here. We have lived here about a year and a half now and I really like our neighborhood and city. It’s the first time that I actually really liked where we were living. I am super upset about the fact that we have to move because I really like this area, it’s close to my job and moving in general is such a hassle. Now that I have my baby it’ll be even more of a hassle for me. I have so much stuff to pack and unpack, I feel like it will take me forever to get everything ready. I will try to enjoy my last month living here in Alhambra. I think what really sucks about when we have to move is the fact that it’s basically two weeks before Christmas. I wish they would’ve at least given us until the beginning of 2020 to move out. But we need to leave by December 15th. We are still currently looking for a new home, I hope we can find one in time.
Month: October 2019
LA County Fair
Last month, I went to the LA County Fair with Selena and the rest of my family. Even though she couldn’t do much, the rest of us had fun. We walked around, the kids got on rides, and ate some good food! I got to try rainbow grilled cheese sandwich, it was so good!
One of the things that we love about going to the LA County Fair is getting to see all the farm animals. Selena was too small to go and touch them, but the rest of us got to walk around and pet the goats. We are city kids and don’t spend much time around farm animals. My siblings would freak out every time a goat got too close to them. It was too funny.
Next year she will be 1 year and a half when we go and I am sure she will have more fun. She will probably be running around everywhere!Somehow she spent most of the time at the fair asleep.
Long Beach Half Marathon
A week ago, I ran the Long Beach Half Marathon. It was my first half marathon of the year and my first half marathon as a mom. I am 9 months postpartum. Last year, this was my last half marathon as a pregnant runner, I was 6 months pregnant.
Last year it took me exactly 3 hours to complete and this year I improved my time by more than 30 minutes, finishing in 2 hours and 22 minutes.
I normally try to follow a training plan, but many things stopped me from following it completely this year. I was much busier juggling my baby with running and working. I didn’t run as often or as long as I wanted to. I used to be able to wake up early and go for runs, but now I just want to sleep in as much as I can and since I don’t have anyone to watch Selena so I can go running, I would just skip my runs. In fact, the longest run this year prior to the half marathon was a 10k a month ago!
I felt so undertrained and so unprepared. My original goal was to finish in under 2 hours. However, because my training did not go as planned, I said I would be happy to beat last year’s time, 3 hours and to finish. I ended up running a good race and to make things even better, I ran the whole half marathon nonstop! This was something I had never been able to do prior to becoming a mom. At the end of it, I was exhausted but so proud of myself. My next two races are much shorter, a 5k and 10k this weekend. I have no goals, just to go out and have fun! One of my sisters will also be running, but she will be running the 1k.
Zero Waste Lifestyle
Over the past few months, I have learned so much about the zero waste lifestyle. While I am not in any way perfect, I have made many changes to my life to try to reduce my waste as much as possible. Here are some thing that I have changed in my life and some things I plan to change in the future.
Cloth Diapers/Cloth Menstrual Pads
When I first found out that I was pregnant, I started doing my research on cloth diapers. At first I was grossed out by the fact that I would have to wash diapers with poop in them. However, the benefits of using cloth diapers which include saving money and saving the environment, outweighed the ickiness of having to wash diapers with waste. Once the baby started using those, I decided to do my part and use cloth reusable pads. At first it felt weird, but it’s not that bad. Plus I also save money with those. I paid about $25 for 12 of them. These will last me years as long as I take proper care of them.
Garden
A few months ago, I started my own garden. I bought space in a community garden hosted by the YMCA and couldn’t wait to get started. However, this was much more difficult than I expected. I can do many things well, but gardening is not one of them. I just don’t have the green thumb. However, later on in the future when I have more time, I would like to give this a try again.
Reusable grocery bags
A few years ago, California made it against the law for grocery stores to give out single use bags. Many Californians, including myself, started using reusable cloth bags instead of buying the multi use plastic bags. This is one of the easiest ways to help the environment, by not using plastic bags.
Mesh produce bags
Even though plastic grocery bags were made illegal in California, produce bags are not illegal. Personally, it doesn’t make sense to me to waste plastic bags on produce. Most produce don’t needs bag. For the ones that do need bags, I prefer using mesh bags. They are light, reusable and easy to clean. I got mine on Amazon.
Reusable straws
This one is a little bit harder for me to do. I have reusable steel straws, but I am constantly forgetting them at home. I can definitely improve in this area.
Cloth napkins
This was an easy change for me. I got some cloth napkins on Amazon and reuse those every day. I wash them twice a week and they are so easy to clean, just throw it in with the rest of your clothes. If you don’t want to spend any money on cloth napkins, you can always reuse any old cotton shirts and make them into napkins.
Glass jars
One of the grocery stores that I go to, Sprouts, has a bulk area. Whenever I go there, I always make sure to use glass jars to store my items instead of using plastic bags. You can buy mason jars or reuse old spaghetti sauce jars, coffee jars, any jars rally. Just make sure you wash them well so the smell doesn’t linger. The only jars I don’t like to reuse are the alfredo sauce jars because they usually stay oily.
One thing I really want to do is throw a zero waste or at least low waste birthday party for my baby girl. If you have any tips on how to make a party zero or low waste, comment down below!
One and Done
Being a mom is much harder than I thought. My mom, who had six children, makes it look so easy. Maybe when I am a little bit older, I will change my mind, but for now, I am so one and done! What do I mean by that? Well, as of right now, my baby girl Selena will be my only child.
When I was younger, I never really thought I wanted to be a mom. I always thought if I became a mom, it would “ruin my body”. I was under the impression that becoming a mom meant getting stretch marks, gaining weight, and getting cellulite. I was also scared to have a baby because I knew it would be very painful. Of course I realize now that these are very dumb reasons for not wanting to have a baby, but back then I thought it was important to look a certain way.
Finding out I was pregnant last year was very shocking and upsetting at first. As time went on, I would feel my baby kicking and all her little movements and started picturing my life with her. When I found out that I was having a girl, I was super excited. The closer I got to my due date, the more excited and happy I got. I came up with a list of nearly twenty names and Selena was the name that won, although if it had been completely up to me, her name would’ve been Anastasia.
As much as I love my baby,being a mom is hard. I really thought I would have more support. My mom and sister help out as much as possible, but they work and have their own things to do. I wish I could just stay home with my baby and be a stay at home mom or at least work from home, but this isn’t possible. I had to go back to work when my baby was 3 months old and I hated it. I was always worried about the baby when I was working and I dreaded going to work because I just wanted to be with my baby all the time.
People don’t really talk about the postpartum period and the “fourth trimester” as much as they talk about pregnancy. I knew I shouldn’t expect to sleep much with a baby and was told I would never “get my body back”. However, no one warned me that it is mentally challenging as well. Postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety are two challenges that many mothers go through after giving birth. I used to think why would anyway be depressed after having a baby? It’s such a joyous and happy occasion! I didn’t realize that some mothers get postpartum depression for many reasons. I also didn’t realize I had it until I was about 3 months postpartum. Some of the symptoms that I have experienced while dealing with postpartum depression are: insomnia, over worrying about everything, constantly feeling like I am not a good enough mother and that Selena deserves a better mom,not eating enough, lack of interest in doing something I love (working out), getting angry way too quickly, and having trouble concentrating on most things. At 9 months postpartum, I feel like I am finally starting to feel like my normal self again, though occasionally I do still have some really bad days. I feel like I lost myself as a mother, but through running and writing, I have found myself again, as cheesy and corny as that sounds.
Regardless of all this, I love by baby girl Selena. I just don’t think I can put myself through this again. The last 6 months have been so difficult for me. I am struggling financially, sometimes emotionally, and even physically.
Here’s a great article I found on postpartum depression if you want to learn more about it.
90s California Runner Mom 