The Baby Weight Chronicles - Part I: Packing It On

[Preface: This started out as one post, but then it got SUPER long and obnoxious - even for me - so I decided to split it up.  This is Part I - it ends before the losing begins.  So be sure to check out Part II (coming soon)!  And since the baby weight saga is not even close to being over, this will likely have multiple parts - at least until I lose all motivation and get a new wardrobe the extra lbs are gone.]

Before I found out I was pregnant, I was following a weight watcher points-type plan in order to maintain my weight (I've struggled with weight issues pretty much my whole life, and I have to modify weight watchers for it to be effective for me.  It recommends keeping track of your exercise and allowing whatever exercise you do to increase the amount of calories you can eat under the "points" model. This flat-out does NOT work for me - I have to get in an hour of cardio six days a week, minimum, and only then can any "extra" exercise be used to increase what I can eat.  Apparently I was MIA on the day God handed out metabolisms).  My plan, while requiring pretty serious dedication, allowed me some wiggle room on weekends and was maintainable, as long as I kept a close watch on the fat girl in my head (I love me some foreshadowing, a harbinger if you will).

Despite following my plan pretty strictly, I weighed about 5 lbs more than usual, thanks to the holidays, when I found out I was pregnant on January 22. But, unlike usual, I couldn't just get a little more strict with myself for a few weeks to lose that weight. After all, I was pregnant.

Like any good pregnant and paranoid lawyer, I extensively researched things like what the "experts" recommended for levels of exercise and calorie intake during pregnancy and increased my calorie intake based on that.  When I hit about the 8th week of pregnancy, my usual weekday 5:30 a.m. workouts became impossible due to my body's new requirement of 9-10 hours of sleep per night in order to be even marginally productive during the day, and after work I was usually so exhausted that I couldn't bring myself to do anything more than walk around the block with Reilly and Scott.  I wasn't one of those lucky pregnant ladies that can't eat, throw up a whole lot, and end up losing a bunch of weight during the first trimester (ok, ok, I know they're not really LUCKY, and I'm sure their sickness is far worse than my mere nausea, which was actually pretty miserable.  But that doesn't mean I don't sometimes think that I would trade the baby weight I'm still holding on to for a few weeks of miserable sickness).  Rather, I was one of those with constant, flu-like nausea during the first trimester that was only relieved by eating small amounts of cheezits, popcorn, "puff" corn, now & laters, watermelon, cereal, pretzels and cheese dip (seriously yum), and enything else I decided I wanted and was available within a .5 mile radius of my desk.  This snacking happened almost all. day. long.

Despite my almost constant snacking at work and lack of exercise, I had only gained 2 pounds (on top of the 5 extra I was already carrying) at my 11 week OB appointment, which was right on track with my plan to gain between 25-35 pounds during the 40 weeks of pregnancy.

After learning I wasn't gaining much weight despite my bad exercise and snacking habits, the the fat girl who lives in my head started sounding more credible and, unfortunately, I started to listen to her.  In short, my inner fat girl quickly convinced me that my workout/calorie management plan (which had helped me to lose the massive amount of weight I gained in college due to some extremely poor food and alcohol decisions AND which barely maintained my not-too-thin figure) was far too strict and clearly unnecessary, especially during pregnancy.

So, I didn't do anything crazy, but I did stop tracking my caloric intake and continued with my snacking, although it was less constant once the nausea subsided.  I maintained a reasonable(ish) level of exercise, but nothing like I'd done before.

Then, I think it was at my 15 week doctor appointment, the first during my second trimester, my weight gain JUMPED.  I'm talking 8-9 pounds in 4 weeks.

This was NOT, I repeat NOT, in the plan.

I tried to reverse it.  I tried to shut my inner fat girl up and get back to working out - even for just 30 minutes - every day I could get the energy to do it.  I stopped keeping my snacks in my desk. 

The weight kept piling up.  It wouldn't stop.  It probably didn't help that my inner fat girl was pretty much in control now and had me doing things like buying chocolate icing "for the brownies I would make while my nieces visited" (which I polished off a week before they arrived) and regularly eating half a watermelon in one sitting for my lunch "dessert" (don't judge me - it was summertime in Memphis, it was HOT (2nd hottest summer on record here!) - and they were damn good.)

I did test out of gestational diabetes, although just barely.  I failed the first test, then apparently passed the 2nd long test - even though the 2nd test made me so sick and exhausted I thought I had to have failed, and my OB mentioned at one point that she thought I was "pretty close" to having it.  It has occurred to me that I may have had a very minor case that somehow cheated its way through the second test.  I plan to be very cautious about this possibility during my next pregnancy, and may even ask to go on a modified GD diet just in case.  I'm not even kidding.

Anyway, the pounds kept coming until here I was, a full 52 pounds later:

(Confession: even though this post is somewhat complaining about my excessive weight gain during pregnancy, I actually love these pictures and the way my body looks in them, and especially the fact that they were taken only a few nights before Bailey arrived (even though I intentionally made them pretty small - blame it on a little paranoia about perverts the internet.)  Even though all the pregnant ladies I've seen lately, including the ones that are only a few short weeks away from their due dates, seem to be about half this size (including a girl having triplets - I mean really could she be any more adorable?), these pictures truly leave me in awe of what my body was able to do to bring Bailey into this world.  Plus my hair and makeup look pretty flippin' good.)

So...........how much weight came off after having Bailey?  Was ANY of it just bloat from that miserably hot summer? (Did I mention it was the 2nd hottest on record in Memphis? Because it totally was.) (Also, did I mention that Bailey was 8 lbs 13 ozs? Because she totally was.)

Check back soon for Part 2!!!