Baby Weight

Who likes to talk about how much they weigh? Not me. And I'm not exactly planning on divulging my exact numbers, but I am planning on posting my baby weight experience as a means of accountability for losing of the rest of it.

(deep breath...)

I gained *gulp* 55 lbs while pregnant. Since I was planning on gaining about 25 this was a little shocking to me. Mostly because I couldn't imagine losing that much weight. Granted, some of it is supposed to come off when you lose the baby, but I'd heard you could lose about 15 lbs, 20 if you're lucky. There were lots of tears at a few of my doctors visits. Especially, when I knew I was eating healthy and walking a lot. So, why was I gaining so much weight? My midwife assured me that it's different for everyone and a friend of hers gained 60 with each of her babies, and lost it every time. I guess that made me feel a little better. Let me tell you, it's a lot easier to make sure you can lose at least 15 lbs when you have an 11 lb baby!

I can't tell you exactly how much I had lost when I left the hospital, but two weeks after Sophia was born, I had lost 30 lbs I wanted to wait that long to weigh in because I was retaining a lot of water after my c-section and I wanted an accurate number. I was so high on cloud nine for a few days as it was definitely more than I had expected.

Two weeks later, at 4 weeks, I had lost another 5 lbs. I was pretty happy, but trying not to get too excited because I knew the rest would be harder to lose than it had been up to that point.

Last Tuesday, I had my 6 week post-partum check-up. Everything looked great, even the scale. I lost another 5 lbs! So, I've lost 40 of the 55 so far, which is great, but I can't help being cautious. 15 lbs can take a while, especially as a woman. Especially, as a woman who has to rely on her busy husbands schedule to fit in workouts (which my midwife cleared me for). And, especially, as a woman who had about 10 lbs of "marriage weight" she needed to lose before getting pregnant.

My plan so far, which seems to be working, is partly too keep track of all my calories. I've been using a food diary on Self.com and it's so easy. The one down side is realizing how few calories you really are allowed and figuring out how to budget them well. It doesn't help that I'm finding myself craving Coke/Pepsi all the time lately.

I also started running last week, which was great, but again, Dan's schedule is super busy and since Sophia is too small to be in the jogging stroller, I may have to stick to yoga or pilates, or something I can do at home, while she naps.

Any moms that have any other tips that could help me out with this, especially the part where you stay motivated. :) I'm feeling pretty happy with how things have gone so far, and I think as long as I make sure I'm at least walking with Sophia in the stroller or Baby Bjorn and making good choices with what I eat, I should be on the right track, however long that takes. Mostly, I just keep trying to remind myself that I will never be exactly the same again, and that's fine. I have my beautiful baby and a scar to prove it. As long as I get back in my favorite jeans, I'll be satisfied.