Pregnancy Weight Gain

I tracked my weight gain all throughout my monthly posts. Since I never did a 40 week post (thank you Olivia for coming a few days early, I did not have a vegetable for a 40 week picture), I never posted a final weight gain. I figure you have been sitting on the edge of your seat, wondering, ever since Olivia was born. 

I spent the first 14 weeks incredibly nauseous. I spent the following 6 weeks pretty nauseous, so I didn't gain much weight early on. People kept asking if I was losing weight in the first trimester. While I was super sick, I felt even worse if I didn't eat - so I was eating anything that sounded okay. Pad thai one day, kraft mac and cheese another. That pretty much maintained my weight in the beginning.

Once the 'morning' sickness was over - all bets were off. I wanted FOOD. Always. No matter what. I didn't have any specific cravings. If you were eating it, I wanted it. I spent my days thinking about food, wanting food, eating food. I have never been hungrier in my life. 

I started using the app My Fitness Pal to track what I was eating. I needed to know that I wasn't eating too much fat (I have lymphedema in my legs that worsens with fat consumption), and wanted to make sure I was getting enough fruits and vegetables. I spent my days hungry and was still logging WAY more calories than my doctor said I should be eating. 

I felt like I was on the worst diet of my life. Knowing that I couldn't eat ALL day long. Telling myself to just wait 2 hours between my second breakfast and my pre-lunch snack. Drinking water, tea, etc to get through those two hours. Knowing that it wasn't healthy for me or Olivia to shovel food in. 

Prior to being pregnant, I made fun of Jessica Simpson. 'How could she gain that much weight? She just used pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything she wanted.'

I now feel bad for her. Everyone's body reacts differently to pregnancy. I know many people who ate completely normal. I tried. I tried so hard. And that was pretty miserable. 

I knew I was eating enough (more than enough) for Olivia and myself. Did my best to eat pretty healthy (minus the ice-cream, yum). And still felt that I could shovel in another 5000 calories and be happy. 

The day my water broke, I stepped on my scale.

37 pounds.

Woof.

When I got to the hospital, I stepped on their scale. Surely, I've lost a couple pounds of water. 

37 pounds.

Welp, there's my final weigh in.

Left: 12 weeks, normal weight. 

Right: two days before Olivia was born.

Gaining 'only' 37 pounds required a lot of self discipline. If I let myself eat as much healthy food as I wanted, I could have easily packed on 60 pounds.

The whole point in this post is to show that there are all sorts of 'normal.' If I see that someone gained a ton of weight while pregnant, I get it. I've been there. Or someone else who just couldn't keep the weight on, I get that too.

Its the first (of many) times that tiny little life inside of you lets you know who is in charge. 

So let's cut everyone some slack. Or a piece of apple pie.