Goal #16

#16: Lose all my baby weight prior to getting pregnant a second time.

Note: Just because this goal is accomplished that does NOT mean Goal #25 is accomplished. That my friends is completely impossible until after Oct. 11. ;)

So I did it. Not that I am not glad, but in reality I didn't do much to accomplish this goal, it just sort of happened! Thank you breastfeeding. Sorry others who are still working on this goal. I'm not exactly sure how much I gained with Ainsley. The weight gain started pretty slow but then about month 7 or 8 it shot up much more than I was expecting! On my due date [4.5 days before Ains was born], my jaw dropped as my total weight gain at that point was 36.7 lbs. and nearly kissing 200 lbs! I didn't feel that big. I didn't think to weigh myself before going in to the hospital, even though I would've had plenty of time as Chris enjoyed his breakfast and I sat and tapped my foot. The majority of my weight came off within the first week and for about the last 2 weeks, I've just been waiting in these last 5 lbs. [Aren't we always waiting on those last 5 that take forever?!] Technically I was down to my true pre-pregnancy weight within 2 weeks of Ainsley's birth, but for this goal I decided I had to be to my pre-I-found-out-I-was-pregnant weight to count. That's what I get for losing ten pounds in December when I didn't know I was preggo!

Since there isn't much else to say about the goal, I figured this is as good as time as ever to talk about my post-pregnancy body. [Don't worry, it'll remain completely PG.]

Pregnancy does some amazing things to a lady's body, and of course it's miraculously fascinating how our sweet baby girl was once simply a fertilized cell in me. She was the size of a seasame seed when I found out about her! And the size of a lentil when we spilled the beans to our immediate family--I don't know that I've ever blogged about how I went about doing that. Perhaps I will. :)

Anyways, through out my pregancy I was shocked as I didn't have any stretch marks--believe me, I have them, but not on my stomach from the baby. Then along came August 13th, 2 weeks before my due date. This was the day I was really thinking hoping our lil' one would come and as I was rushhing around to head to a shower, I noticed my first pregnancy stretch mark. Only about an inch, but there it was. Bummed that I was getting a stretch mark on that day, and not a baby, I was just hoping I'd just have one. A couple more sprouted up over the next 2 weeks, but still not as many as I expected. Oddly [to me at least] I'm pretty sure I left the hospital with more stretch marks than when I was admitted. Perhaps that's what 3 hours of pushing will do to you.

Another oddity was that I had read about linea nigra thanks to countless weekly pregnancy email updates, but I never noticed that dark line on my stomach. This too showed up after Ainsley's arrival. Weird.

Probably the most fascinating post-pregnancy body related thing has been breastfeeding. Now that it isn't highly uncomfortable, I repeatedly amazed how Ainsley and my body's are intune with supply and demand and how my body is producing everything her lil' body needs to not only survive, but to thrive! There's a lot that I don't know/understand about how it all works [like does it taste different depending on what I eat? Seriously that thought crosses my mind every day], but luckily our bodies seem to know what they are doing and it's mind-boggling!

So all in all, I have been amazed at the female body throughout and now after pregnancy, like most other things with my pregnancy it hasn't been as I expected, but it's all working out anyways. I'm glad to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight and now just need to work on the pre-pregnancy body stomach!