I am so sick of reading blogs and hearing about women who only gained the recommend amount of pregnancy weight or only gained 2 lbs in the first trimester and still look fantastic. I think in real life I have only actually met one of those people (my hate comes from my jealousy). Since almost every woman I know personally has gained 40-60+ pounds while pregnant I don’t feel as bad, but I figured I would post my story about my real weight struggles and excessive pregnancy weight gain in the hopes that some random person on the internet will stumble across it and is looking for someone to relate to.
The hardest part about this pregnancy even over the nausea and other symptoms is the physical changes happening to my body. This has been especially hard because before I met David, I had lost 50 pounds. Then over the next year of dating I had slowly gained back 10 pounds which wasn’t too bad. Then add on a honeymoon vacation to Jamaica at an all inclusive resort and the following week a Hawaii vacation for my brother’s wedding I had gained probably 10 pounds of vacation weight. I was ready to diet and exercise and lose everything, but I found out I was pregnant and that dieting is a big no no. Then came the nausea and vomiting, secretly hoping that all of the vomiting would make me lose weight, but I actually gained even more weight because the only thing that helped my nausea was eating and the motions of working out made me nauseous and on top of that I had no energy to do anything. By the end of the first trimester I had gained 10 pounds (this is in addition to my 10 vacation pounds). Now that I am in the second trimester I have been able to eat better and exercise when I am not too tired (it still makes me a little nauseous though depending on the workout). I think in the past month I have only gained 2 pounds though…thankfully the weight gain is slowing down. All this weight gain is very hard on me mentally and I am looking forward to when I can lose it all after the baby comes. Until then, I am trying to do my best every day (and it is hard through the holiday season), but I must say being pregnant brings a whole new definition to the word hungry! Now, hunger strikes me at random times and I have to eat something immediately or I feel like I am dying of starvation.
On the bright side (kind of) I think at least 5-8 pounds of my weight gain has been in my boobs alone – in the first trimester I went up 2 cup sizes and they are bigger than they have ever been – even when I was at my heaviest! This sucks so bad though because they hurt all of the time just from being so heavy. Definitely planning on getting a breast reduction/lift after we are done having kids.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Sunday was not a good day. I made Dave an Advent Calendar with a new activity everyday. Our activity for Sunday was to "Make a fancy breakfast". We made some eggs with bell peppers and cheese and bacon. Well – that was the last day I am eating peppers for a while. I threw up so many times after that. That day was the first time Dave had ever seen me throw up too. I was about to get in the shower when it hit me like a ton of bricks. After a couple minutes of getting everything out I turned my head and to my surprise saw David was standing there like a deer in headlights – both disgusted and shocked. I wish I could have snapped a picture. I was actually glad he witnessed that because now I think he doesn’t think I am so pathetic or whiney when I tell him I feel sick.
Can I make a comment about the weight thing and pregnancy? Having been pregnant twice and knowing many who've had babies too...I always say your body knows what it's doing! With Addi, I didn't gain anything until between weeks 18-22 which was 10lbs! I stood there laughing on the scale saying that she couldn't be serious. My boobs changed the most with Addi and I was totally expecting the same with Levi, but they didn't. I think the second time around my body just knew that it had done this before and I didn't need to fill the largest bra I owned. I think I have about 6 bras that are different sizes, both in cup and band size. I could eat and eat and eat after the sicky stage...and it doesn't get better nursing. My appetite is much larger post pregnancy. But really, pregnancy can be the hardest thing in the world. Especially since all of ours are so different we can only sympathize with each other! Good luck, you look beautiful.
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