Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A Heavy Issue

I knew going into this pregnancy that the issue I was going to have the toughest time dealing with was how much weight I was going to gain, how big I was going to get, and how in the world I was going to take off the weight post baby.

Things were going really well, at first.  By week 14 I had only gained three pounds.  The doctor had said, if done right, I should only need to gain about 30 pounds.  Great!  30 pounds I can work with.  30 pounds is not going to make me look like a whale.  30 pounds is doable to lose post-pregnancy.

I'm roughly 22 weeks pregnant and the pounds have been packing on the last 8 weeks.  I've gone from 3 pounds gain to about 18 pounds gained.  The hope of only gaining 30 pounds is totally out the window.  Now, I was warned by several of my athlete friends that I was going to gain a lot of weight - like 50-60 pounds.  Good gosh, I hope it's not that much!  I'm still hoping to stay as close to 30 pounds as possible.  I'm trying my best - I'm still working out 5 days a week and I'm eating reasonably.  I eat a lot of food that's totally not good for you, but I'm not pigging out either.  If you see me now, it's quite obvious I'm pregnant (and I had the first random stranger ask me this week when my baby was due - of course, I was in my swimsuit).  But, I'm still looking pretty small for how far along I am plus my belly is starting to get round - all baby.  (Picture to come on Thursday.)

It's hard to pep-talk everyday and know that I'm doing alright.  I've never been this size; I've never been this weight.  Moving the weights on the scale freaks me out every time I do it.  I know that after the baby is born, if I breast feed, go back to running, and eat better (ha!) that I will be able to lose the weight.  I know that I HAVE to gain this weight to have a healthy baby.  I know, I know, I know.  I just want to know that everything is normal and that everything (my body) will return to normal. 

3 comments:

..:danielle:.. said...

you will make it through this and be ok... keep your head up.

Unknown said...

Oh sweet girl... I'm with you. At 13 weeks I'm up about 2 pounds. I'm bracing myself for the next 6 months. It's hard when you work so hard to keep your body the way it is and then know you have to gain weight. You are doing everything right (don't stress about eating crappy... I'm with you there too). You are fine. And yes, you'll probably gain more than you want, but you are smart, and will bounce back, better than ever.

**please give me this pep talk in approximately 9 weeks. thanks**

Unknown said...

I think I gained 35-40lbs with Keira. I got really close to weighing the same as Ryan,who was at the lowest weight he had ever been at and was freaky thin. That was super scary for me. It was constantly conflicted about it too. Like part of me said screw it, eat whatever you want since you are "allowed" to gain weight right now, and another part of me said HOLD UP! Don't put on another pound! It is really so hard, but also keep in mind that tinier people will sometimes put on more weight during pregnancy than someone that already has some extra weight. It is like your body needs to be at a certain body fat percentage or something. I was about 5lbs heavier when I got pregnant with Soren than Keira, and I didn't quite put on as much weight. Part of it was that I had been through it before and was taking care of another busy child, and the other part was that I still got up to about the same amount, maybe just a lb or two less.