OpEd: Exercising with dad's busy schedule

I recently turned 30, and went to my doctor to get a Tdap (Diptheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis) shot specifically so I wouldn't get Eli sick with Pertussis by being a silent carrier.  Adults can be infected with Pertussis and not show any symptoms, and then pass it along to babies (who can't be inoculated yet).  So if you have a new little one, please get the Tdap injection, especially if you work in high risk populations (inner city, health care, etc).

At the doctor's office, we had the regular talk of how everything was, and I mentioned to my doc that I'd like to lose a few pounds but I'm having a hard time fitting exercise into my schedule.  After I told him about my daily commute (2-4 hours round trip depending on traffic) and Eli, my doctor smiled and said not to worry too much, but to make small lifestyle changes (take the stairs, move around, watch your portions, etc).  I'm already doing most of those things, but I want to make sure that I'm able to keep up with Eli when he gets older so it's not enough.  Then it hit me last night by accident.  Eli was being fussy, and I was sitting on the bed bouncing him up and down / side to side and it reminded me of medicine ball exercises for your core.  I got into a better position for that sort of exercise and Eli loved bouncing back and forth!  So to summarize, my son liked bouncing, and I was getting a core workout (for the 5 minutes he'd let me).  \o/

I'm already picking him up a lot and he loves hovering horizontally in the air, and my arms are getting a good workout seeing as he's 15.25lbs already.  Also, whenever we go for walks I generally take the Baby Bjorn and carry him in it.  It slows me down somewhat for Food, and we have a deal; she carried him for nine months, I get to carry him for the next nine.  Again, as he slowly quickly grows I'll keep getting more weight added to me, which my body should respond by shedding weight of its own (hopefully).

Now, am I saying this can be made into a workout regimen?  Probably not.  Also, don't do anything with your child that he or she can't tolerate.  Eli is a solid 15lbs and has really good head control, so bouncing him and moving around a lot without me supporting his head much is fine.  What I am saying is that I need to relax, and worry about one less thing.  As long as I keep playing with Eli, I'll get some form of exercise, and the more I play with him, the better off I'll be for when he gets older.