worth the weight
i gained quite a bit of weight during my pregnancy. i don't feel comfortable saying exactly how much at the moment, but it was a lot. i have to admit that for as long as i can remember, whenever i thought about being pregnant, i got excited at the prospect of eating with wild abandon for nine whole months. ah yes, i love to eat... and i'd say during at least half of my pregnancy, i ate whatever i wanted; most days that included at least half a pint of ben and jerry's ice cream. and while i really did enjoy it, somewhere in the back of my mind, i knew that it wasn't the best idea. i knew that it was something i would have to deal with after stephen was born, but that seemed so far away. and then it happened, he was born, and i went home from the hospital in my maternity clothes looking like i was still 5 months pregnant. it was hard. i've always struggled with my weight but somehow i thought that this would be different. i had this irrational hope that the weight would just fall off if i breastfed. as the weeks wore on, it became clear that wasn't going to happen. the water weight came off after three or four weeks, but progress slowed to a snail's pace after that. i started trying to work out about two months after stephen was born. i've gotten serious about it since my maternity leave ended, working out every morning before work. i'm slowly working on my diet, but it's been a struggle. it doesn't help that i can't eat lettuce or broccoli, because they upset stephen's stomach. i still have a little over 20 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which is pretty depressing; even with 5 workouts per week, plus the extra calories burned breastfeeding, i seem to be stuck. i am STILL wearing a lot of maternity clothes... not good for the old self esteem. i planned to give myself a year to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and that time is passing by so quickly.
evan and i definitely want to have at least one more child, maybe two. if we try to space them two years apart, we'll probably start trying to get pregnant again in may, when stephen turns one. first of all, holy moly. that seems awfully soon. second of all, now i'm wondering if i will even have lost all my pregnancy weight from stephen before getting pregnant with another baby. now i know how so many women pack on 20 or 30 or 40 pounds over the course of several pregnancies and never manage to get it off. i really hope i don't let that happen to me.
evan and i definitely want to have at least one more child, maybe two. if we try to space them two years apart, we'll probably start trying to get pregnant again in may, when stephen turns one. first of all, holy moly. that seems awfully soon. second of all, now i'm wondering if i will even have lost all my pregnancy weight from stephen before getting pregnant with another baby. now i know how so many women pack on 20 or 30 or 40 pounds over the course of several pregnancies and never manage to get it off. i really hope i don't let that happen to me.