Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Losing the Baby Weight: Week 1

Okay, I'm not really actively trying the lose the baby weight at this point... I'm more like a casual (although keenly interested) observer. But I have to say that I was a little shocked when I was over at Nani's house the other night and I stepped on the scale (we don't have one at the apartment). I'd only lost seven pounds. For a moment I was shocked. How was the possible? I delivered a nine plus pound baby and I only lost seven pounds?!?!?! Then I reminded myself that the next two days were spent with bags of fluids being pumped in through my IV... and the question answered itself.

Here's a recap as I begin the slow journey back towards my pre-pregnancy weight. When I found out that I was pregnant with Sadie I weighed in at 126 lbs. I weighed 168 at my last doctor's appointment before I delivered her. Pre-Maggie I had made it down to 125 the month before we found out that I was expecting. This time I maxed out at 169, although I'd started to lose weight the last couple of weeks. So I gained 44 lbs give or take a few pounds.

Yesterday, at one week post-baby, I weighed myself again (right before dinner... I would like to try a morning weigh in and see if that was a bit more dramatic) and was down to 156. 13 lbs down... 31 lbs to go.

Last time the first 20 went quickly and then things got a little bit slower, although it stayed pretty steady until I was within 10 lbs of my goal.


I am wearing a postpartum c-section corset pretty much 24/7 for support. And it is definitely a key factor in fitting back into my old clothes quickly!

And that is my first post-baby weight loss update. I really hope this time things go along as quickly as last time. Right now after a catching-the-falling-toddler-mishap that resulted in a large dark purple (almost black) bruise along my incision, I am off of even going on walks for a while... It's so hard not lifting the 35 lb toddler. She's constantly crashing and I reach out to catch her without thinking (she's also in a climbing phase, which really doesn't help) and the result is never good! I can hardly wait to be 6 weeks post baby and able to scoop her up again!

So this is the beginning of my once a week "get back in shape" posts. I'm hoping weekly updates will help me resist temptation next time I'm facing a snickers bar (my greatest weakness!).

4 comments:

  1. Good luck!

    I have about 15 pounds to go myself in order to get where I want to be. I know your posts will be an encouragement to me. They always are!

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  2. My daughter is one of those lucky people whose main effort after the first few weeks post partum is to keep weight on. She lost all of the baby weight by 3 months, is now at least 3 or 4 pounds below baby weight (she hasn't weighed this little since she was about 17), and can eat anything she likes. With my first I was 10 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight at a year (with no dieting), but it took me close to 6 months to get back to the pre-pregnancy weight. With my second I was also at pre-preg weight at 6 months, but remained there despite being more active.

    Everyone is different, in general you can count on nursing to burn up at least 300 calories a day. Don't push yourself too hard in these early weeks. You just had a baby, you're entitled to a decent recuperation period (especially after a c-section). I know it's tempting to do the "I am woman watch me roar" routine in these weeks where the baby is still new and pretty sleepy. Don't overdo it, though, because in a week or so she's going to have one of those "I need to nurse every half hour" couple of days. The meals will be nice to fall back on then, but don't get yourself exhausted in the meantime, or those frequency days and a baby who doesn't sleep as much will be harder to deal with.

    You'll have a chance to get back into your exercise routine in a few weeks and the weight will come off, eventually.

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  3. Hi Cam! I just wanted to say, you look *beautiful* and I look forward to your posts about post partum weight loss, since hopefully I'll be going through the same thing again someday soon :) On the fluids...My grandma had open heart surgery recently, and she hated the hospital food :) so she wasn't eating much. We all figured she had lost tons of weight, and when they came to weigh her, she had gained about 7 lbs. We all scratched our heads for a minute, but then realized it was the fluids they gave her at, and after, surgery. It'll come off! It's hard to be patient though, I know. Hang in there!

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  4. Cam, I'd like to look as good as you do 6 years postpartum LOL. Go easy on yourself! You're a beautiful momma :)

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