Here I am at 31w3d pregnant with baby #2
I’m not going to lie I am really hoping that I actually lose the baby weight this time around. With Edith I gained around 25-28lbs and within the first 8 weeks I lost 15 of those pounds. Then I got the Paraguard IUD and quickly the weight came back on. I will also admit the Oh She Glows Chocolate Chip Cookies and the stress of moving didn’t help with my weight loss either. When we moved to Oregon I made an effort to get my diet back on track, started running 4 days per week and doing 1-2 days of strength training. Despite all of that I simply wasn’t (and didn’t) lose any of the baby weight.
1 Year Postpartum after having Edith
Finally at 16 months postpartum I decided to have my IUD removed due to negative reactions to it (I’ll write more about that another time) and while I had it removed due to non-weight related reasons I was as little hopeful that I might start to see my weight go down. Well as you all know we are pregnant with #2 and due in 7ish weeks. So I never had a chance to test my theory. Also that means I started my pregnancy at the same weight I ended my last pregnancy and I have gained 20lbs so far and if you want to do the math that means I have between 45-50lbs to get back down to my baby #1 pre-pregnancy weight oh and on top of that I was already about 15lbs over my ideal weight when I got pregnant with Edith. So that is 60-65lbs to get down to my goal weight.
August before getting pregnant with Edith
Baby #2 Postpartum Weight Loss “Plan”:
- I am not going back on birth control as we are two and done so birth control is officially all Neil *snip snip*.
- My first priority is feeding baby #2 so for the 12 months my focus is to keep my milk supply up so I can feed my baby.
- I plan to get back to running at around 9-12 weeks postpartum depending upon my healing this time around (with Edith it took me a lot longer to heal then I had hoped).
- I plan to incorporate 2 days of strength training into my workout routine and light cardio once I am cleared to get back to normal activity.
- I also plan to get back in a yoga routine since I have a 10 punch pass to a studio by our old house (and now by Neil’s new job) that I was lucky enough to get the expiration date extended until sometime in December.
- Keep my eating in check! Postpartum/nursing hunger is no joke. Seriously when I first had Edith and was nursing non-stop I could have eaten everything in site. This time around instead of lots of Oh She Glows cookies I’m focusing on keeping it healthy but also making sure not to be too hard on myself when it comes to having a treat here and there.
- Drink lots of water! Nursing makes you crazy thirsty and staying hydrated helps to flush toxins out of the body and helps to prevent water weight (I know crazy right?).
- Buy myself postpartum clothes in whatever size I have to buy. I wore maternity clothes until around 8 months postpartum with Edith because I was just waiting to lose the weight and didn’t want to spend the money on new clothes that I hopefully wouldn’t have to wear too long. The thing is that wearing maternity clothes after the first six weeks of being postpartum is just depressing. Wearing clothes that fit well and look nice is an incentive to keep with it! It’s motivating! Feeling confident in what I am wearing helps me feel good and keeps me on track so this time around I’m not going to be wearing maternity pants for months and months postpartum. I actually have been consigning maternity clothes as the seasons change so that they just won’t be in my closet ie. I won’t be tempted to wear them.
So that is my current plan. How did you deal with losing the baby weight?
Sounds like a great plan! Losing weight postpartum is always so daunting. This has been my healthiest pregnancy to date, but I’ve somehow already surpassed what I weighed when I went in to deliver N. That means I’ve gained 45lbs in JUST this pregnancy, which is about on par with my other pregnancies. I’m definitely hoping it takes far less than my average 2 years to lose the weight this time!
Well you look great regardless and just remember it takes time for us to lose the weight! I have to remind myself not to compare myself to others but I also can’t help but feel a little jealous when I see women go from being pregnant to looking like they were never pregnant shortly after birthing their babies.
Good luck. Rely on gentle kindness with your body. I firmly believe in the aruyvedic idea that it takes two years to heal in post-partum. Kids and your changing/recovering body will throw in road blocks but gentle kindness will help you assess what kind of action to take. Also please use a heart rate monitor to have a metric of how tired you may really be when elevating the HR >110 bpm. I am 14 months post-partum and an extended breastfeeder so having to remind myself of that gentle kindness message all the time. I actually put on 15 pounds one-year post-partum to boost my milk before a trip. I wish I had not because 10 of that 15 is still on. Le sigh. The things we happily do for our kiddos, right?
I completely agree with you that it take two years to fully heal (which is why we were hoping not to get pregnant so close together but well that was a bit of a fluke). We have so many things going on that my first priority is milk supply and just feeling generally good. I’m not putting pressure on myself to lose the weight quickly but rather to lose the weight overtime and to get back to a regular workout routine.
Thank you for the advise on the HR monitor I really need to get better at using it more regularly.
I also hope to do extended breastfeeding with baby #2 as well (Edith self weaned by 19 months but I think that was due to this pregnancy) so I know that I really have to practice gentle kindness with myself if I want to be able to do that.
I’m looking forward to following you through this journey, especially since I will be a couple of months behind you! I haven’t gained an excessive amount so far (but I have a feeling I’ll balloon in the third trimester), but I gained almost 20 lbs in the four months before pregnancy, so I feel far off from my comfort weight (which I wasn’t even at before those 20 lbs).
My first priority is to keep my milk supply up, but I’m a little concerned that post-partum life/first baby/dark, wet months of autumn and winter in the PNW = massive comfort-eating for me…
I know it’s a challenge here in the PNW with the weather. I actually found myself loving running in the rain when we moved here because I came from crazy ice, frigidly cold weather and snow to much more mild conditions. Also the BOB rain cover was great so that I could get out for runs with Edith even if it was raining.
So interested in your thoughts on Paragaurd?! We are keeping options for #3 open for about 4-5 years before ‘snip snip” so I was looking into IUDs this time and would love to hear more. It is key to have clothes that fit for the in-between phase as well, that is a smart decision! You can do it! I think a benefit of having two kids before we planned is that I can get back to focus on my running and exercise after this one (as well as can be managed with two kids! ha!) and not have to really think about the next one. You look great now though for sure, love that baby bump!
I am working (almost finished) a post specifically on the ParaGard – I personally had a really negative experience with it.
And thanks so much I have been enjoying following your 2nd pregnancy on IG!
I have to echo the other commenter above with I am looking forward to hearing how you go through this journey. It’s hard with so much going on in terms of your body and the baby and the rest of life, and I think it’s a good point that you need to spend a little money on postpartum clothing in order to keep you motivated and confident and making you actively engaged with how you look instead of falling into habit!
I didn’t share as much the first time around but I am hoping to share more this time to help keep me motivated and to share my journey whatever that might be with everyone.
Sounds like a good plan. Where do you go to yoga? I like how you decided to buy clothes to compliment whatever size you are at that time. Good idea!
I haven’t been in almost a year now but I was going to http://yogaomazing.com/ and I have a punch pass there so I’ll be going back again this Fall.
Good for you. Having a plan in place will really help. Good luck!