Introducing Jenny, a Mom Who Lifts More Than Just Her Kids.

I’m so excited to introduce myself to the moms that call the Tampa Bay area home! I’m Jenny, and I’m an {almost} 42 year old mother of Irish Triplets! What are Irish Triplets? They are 3 children born in 3 consecutive years. Haley was born in 2004, Ella in 2005, and Ronin in 2006, affectionately called “The Trio.” We also have an amazing {autism} service dog named Matthew. He’s a 100lb yellow Labrador and is an amazing asset to our family. This is our first “official” family picture taken in December 2006.

People often ask me “wow, did you PLAN to have your kids so close together??” Frankly, NO!!

We struggled to get pregnant with our first for over two years, and I kid you not, the day I was supposed to start taking Clomid, I had to take a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE! I was floored. After she was born, I was exclusively breastfeeding, and figured “oh, it was so hard to get pregnant with her, and I’m nursing, I don’t need any other form of birth control.” HA!! Surprise! And then silly me, I thought the same thing after Ella was born. Surely it couldn’t happen AGAIN….right??? WRONG! Surprise Again!

In 30 months I gave birth 3 times. But wait…there’s MORE!! Ella and Ronin were both unassisted births. They were born without a midwife or obstetrician present. My amazing husband delivered both of those children. Was that planned?? Frankly, NO!

It was determined during my labor with Haley that I have a condition called Precipitous Labor. Precipitous labor is labor that lasts LESS than 3 hours beginning from the first contraction. When most women hear that they often say to me “wow…you are so lucky.” Um, ya not so much. It’s crazy intense. I still go through all the stages of labor, there are just NO BREAKS!! Pain is majorly intense and mothers may not have access to pain medications because of the rate at which labor is progressing, and since my babes were born at home, there was absolutely no access to pain medications. But I delivered Haley with no epidural, so I knew I could do it at home with my next two.

From an emotional standpoint, precipitous labor was exceptionally hard on me. There is no way to appropriately describe the intense pain I was feeling and what makes it especially challenging is that there is little that can done to relieve pain. The only thing that worked for me was squatting. I bit down on the mattress during Haley’s birth as my doula tried her best to relieve the pressure in my back because not only was Haley coming fast, but she was sunny side up. And I screamed. A lot. When I got pregnant with Ella, our obstetrician agreed that it would be in my best interest to try to have the baby as close to home as possible because with Precipitous Labor subsequent births tend to get shorter.

Ella was born in 90 minutes, from the start of the first contraction until she arrived in a flower garden caught by my husband as the sun was rising, and the midwife was on her way. And then Ronin. My sweet Ronin. My pregnancy with Ronin was challenging. When Ronin was born, I had a nearly 1 year old, and a just turned 2 year old. When I hit 36 weeks of pregnancy my midwife put me on “house arrest.” I was not allowed to leave the home for fear that if I went into labor while I was out alone with the girls, it could end very badly. Ronin was born at 36W5D after a 38 MINUTE labor. Yes. 38 MINUTES. It was I.N.S.A.N.E. We called the midwife as soon as that first contraction hit, but she didn’t make it in time, and again, my husband delivered our son. I quickly went on birth control, and here we are 5 years later.

Besides the obvious fact that the kids got older, do you notice anything different??

Yes, we got fit. I lost 212 pounds the good old fashioned way; by changing my diet and adding in daily exercise and my husband lost 60 pounds. And I did with three small children underfoot, as a full-time graduate student, and as a working mother.

It was also determined during this time that my youngest son has some special needs. He’s PDD-NOS as well as having a host of other ABC disorders (basically that’s what I call the disorders that all have acronyms.)

After having these three little bundles of joy, I realized that I needed to take my health seriously. I joined a gym and began working out. 9 months (and 80 pounds lost later) I joined Weight Watchers. I started my path to a healthy lifestyle in October 2008, and reached my goal weight in May 2011. I’ve kept it all off nearly 2 years.

I started at 369 pounds, and a size 32, and I’m now 157 pounds, and wear anywhere from a size 6 to a size 10 depending on what it is, and who makes it. Along the way I discovered some pretty cool things about myself. First, I LOVE to be active and I’m actually a pretty good athlete. I run in all sorts of races from 5K’s, to ½ Marathons, from Mud Runs to Triathlons, to Endurance and Adventure Challenges, and I’m also HEAVILY involved in CrossFit. And I do my best to involve the children. Some races they can do with me, others they just come and cheer me on!

I’ve been able to take my story of weight loss and fitness achievement to an international, national, and local level, and I’m excited to share with you all the tips and tricks I learned along the way to help YOU achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. I’m no longer a work-out-of-the-house-mama. I write, I speak at public events, I train for fitness events, I garden, and I am around for my kids.

And I must include a photo of our amazing dog. He has changed our life and has helped Ronin so much! Ronin is in a mainstream class at school, and doing well, so Matthew doesn’t go to school with him, which means that I spend a LOT of time with this phenomenal dog. He’s got an interesting back story that I’ll share with you along our blogging journey.

What about you?? Do you have children close together in age? Are you looking to lose weight and/or improve your fitness? Do you have a child with special needs? Are you an “older” mom? Let’s talk.