Of course I knew it was healthy to gain weight, but after working so hard to lose the 70 lbs in 2006 – 2007, I found it surprisingly emotional to cross into familiar territory on my bathroom scale as the numbers steadily crept up month after month. In my ideal world I had hoped to only go up the recommended 25 – 35 pounds… oooh how the scale must’ve scoffed when at 33 weeks pregnant I blew past the 35lb mark.
Even though I wasn’t allowed to attend Weight Watchers meetings or be on program while pregnant, I could’ve been more careful about what I ate. Did I really need those frequent stops for chocolate frosty shakes at Wendy’s? Was it necessary to have two bowls of cereal every morning? Could I have kept up some semblance of a workout routine?
So, I made some mistakes. I indulged a bit too often and got kind of lazy… but who doesn’t when they’re pregnant? Okay, yes, there are a handful of crazy women who manage to do everything right, but I should’ve known I wouldn’t be one of the chosen few. Food is a huge temptation for me, and when I don’t have a clear focus or goal it’s really easy for me to get off track and shrug off my healthy conscious in favor for dipping Oreos in a big glass of milk. MmmMmm.
The problem is now I have to deal with the consequences. So what exactly was the damage? FORTY NINE POUNDS. Now I’m especially grateful that I went into labor 3 days early because at the rate I was going I probably would’ve hit the 50 pound mark by then.
What does all that translate to in real numbers?
Weight Watchers goal: 112 lbs (& where I’d been hovering before getting pregnant)
Final weight before giving birth: 161 lbs
The craziest thing was when I got home from the hospital … I was so excited to see the numbers drop and was shocked when I got on the scale and found I was 10 pounds heavier, weighing in at 171 lbs (only a few pounds short of my all-time heaviest weight!).
So how does one go about actually gaining weight from having a baby? Oh the magic of a c-section. I was so full of fluid that my legs constantly ached that first week & I even found it difficult at times to walk because my feet would fall asleep as soon as I stopped moving. I was weepy enough from my failed homebirth, breastfeeding woes, and c-section pain… when I saw the 170’s that first day home from the hospital I completely lost it – tears flowed out right there in the bathroom.
Thankfully I’ve pulled myself together since then and have seen a big shift in the numbers (consistently dropping bit by bit each week – which I’ll share more of in another post).
In the meantime, here’s a slideshow of the c-section itself – photos taken by Nick & Dr. Koch:
