Pink Choker Dress

I am in that stage of getting my body back to my pre-pregnancy size and it’s getting there, slowly but surely. The hard part of having my baby in the winter is not being to go outside with her. It is just too cold to take a newborn outside and she hasn’t had her vaccinations as yet so do not want to take any chances.
Being inside means that I am not walking nearly as much as I used to but at least I am not having to deal with those polar vortex temperatures. I will gladly stay inside any day than have to deal with winter temperatures.

I am not dieting but I am trying to eat well especially since I am exclusively breastfeeding. I also was unable to work out right after giving birth but my doctor has cleared me to start working out again. It is just hard to make it to the gym since I am home with my peanut and I will make any excuse to not work out at home. Fortunately, breastfeeding really helps you to lose the weight. It causes the uterus to contract and helps it to return to its normal size quicker. Due to that, I lost a majority of my pregnancy weight gain right away. Another item that helped tremendously is my Tummy Aid bellyband. I wore this bellyband as soon as I got home from the hospital to help compress my stomach. I didn’t wear it to sleep though because I wanted to be comfortable at night and I was getting up so often to feed yet I still noticed a difference. I dropped the weight right away. Within three weeks, I lost two-thirds of the weight I had gained. I am really happy with the belly band and now 7 weeks later, I still have those last 10 pounds to lose but at least it looks evenly distributed and not just sitting around my waist. I would definitely recommend this product. It is simple to use, with just a velcro closure instead of those waist bands with so many hook and eye closings.

Currently my priority is building up my wardrobe with pieces to fit again now that I am 7 weeks postpartum. I bought relatively few pieces for my pregnancy and now it is time to revamp my closet. My cousin recently got engaged and her future sister-in-law was throwing the couple an engagement party. None of my dresses fit and it was time to find something new. Last week before the snowfall, there was one day where the weather was reasonable and I was able to take my little Chloe out for a walk. We walked around the neighborhood and headed to my favorite local clothing boutique in Astoria, Hanger! The funniest thing happened while I was inside. I hadn’t gone out much before so I just threw on a pair of jeans, a loose fitted sweater and an oversize coat. The man working at the store asked my if I needed any help and I informed him that I was looking for a dress for an engagement party. I had this pink choker dress in my hands because it wasn’t as form fitted as the other items in the store and I thought it would be able to hide the areas I felt I still need to work on. With my coat and having the stroller with me, I don’t think he realized what size I was and in his most polite way, he was trying to explain how this dress would look on and how it is a bit fitted and short and the waist is pretty tight. He pulled another dress for me that was very loose and not my style. I looked at it and said that it looked very matronly with a smirk on my face. I told him I would go ahead and try this pink dress on. While in the fitting room, he asked if everything was okay. He was genuinely concerned about me trying something on that may not compliment me and didn’t want me to be disappointed. I opened the door and his face was priceless. He was so surprised it fit and told me that I was just wearing to many layers today. He followed up with a few compliments about how well I was looking so quickly which were so nice to hear! I purchased the dress and it was a hit at the party. Sometimes, that one dress is all you need to make you feel like a million bucks!

Thank you for reading,

Andrea