Hey everyone!

After a week or so of feeling "different," on Friday I noticed I was a day late with my period. I grabbed a test, and lo and behold, it came up positive! My husband and I have been devastated ever since my previous miscarriage and we're hoping for my first successful pregnancy.

I was just shy of completing my first trimester in early 2011. While I'd already lost a significant amount of weight from my highest (over 100 pounds), I had regained quite a bit throughout the previous fall. And when I found out I was pregnant around that Thanksgiving, I was happy and excited of course, but was also scared to death. I was still trying to get over a very bad cough, had been through a very stressful time (dealing with a death in the family in addition to some drawn-out legal issues), and was completely worn out. I was absolutely heartbroken when I ended up in the hospital and lost it.

After taking some time to mourn the loss, I decided I needed to get serious again about my health. I've worked extraordinarily hard since then to eat healthy and get active, not letting myself give up no matter what, even through the weeks where I'd gain. And a little over a year later, it's paid off. I've lost 56 pounds and have hit the lowest weight I've ever reached as an adult. I have energy, I feel strong and agile, and eating healthy has become second nature. I'm extremely careful about portion sizes, have learned to be satisfied with less, and have avoided added sugar. I started jogging (!) and am more active than I've ever been. My main drive has been to get my body healthy enough to carry a baby full-term; I'm not getting any younger, you know (I'm currently 37).

Now that I'm pregnant, I have to change my mindset again. I'm still going to eat healthy of course by focusing on healthy foods, avoiding added sugar and the like, but should no longer eat at the deficit I've grown accustomed to. I'm definitely going to remain active; I'll just focus on low-impact, trading in jogging for walking and swimming (I haven't been jogging for long and am still at a relatively high weight so I'd rather not stress my body at this time). All of this is going to take a while to sink in, especially since I've been so anxious for my tummy to get smaller!

I'm not scared like I was last year; I'm in a much healthier state both physically and emotionally. And even though I haven't gotten down my goal, I know it'll still be within my reach once I've gotten through the pregnancy. Right now, I need to focus on what it takes to nurture a healthy growing baby, and also to treat my own body as well as I can. I've set up my first OB-GYN appointment and will discuss my eating plan with them.

From my own calculations, I should be due in the middle of December. That seems so far off! Wish me luck!

Awwww I'm so happy for you!!! & I am so happy you're feeling comfortable with yourself physically and emotionally..that is going to be key during this pregnancy. Yayyy a December baby!!
I want to share with you that I also lost my first pregnancy, back in 2008. I was in my first trimester as well. After that loss, i focused on my weight&health and lost 60 pounds. And then in 2010 I became pregnant again. I now have a healthy happy 2 year old little girl.
Enjoy this pregnancy, it's an amazing experience. And I guarantee you after you have this baby you're going to miss pregnancy lol..I sometimes miss having the baby bump.

Ataraxia - Thank you for sharing your story, it sounds very similar to mine. I'm sorry for your loss but am glad to hear you've got a healthy little girl now!

After I'd lost the baby, several of my relatives told me they'd also lost their firsts but went on to have healthy babies. I have faith that's what's going to happen with me as well. I'm looking forward to all of the new experiences!

<3

ETA: I was actually popping over to see if anyone had any more advice on what to prepare for before conception. I got reminded of my mission again after this post: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/20-s...-pressure.html

Congrats! My hubby and I are working on making our first.

Congrats and good luck!

As far as eating... I have been pregnant twice, in my experience your body tells you what it needs. You will likely eat less in the first trimester due to nausea, then naturally will begin increasing your calories as your pregnancy progresses.

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting. (I also want to say that I'm sorry to hear about your previous miscarriage, that must have been devastating ).

You've been so successful with your eating and weight loss so far, I know you'll be able to keep it up and stay healthy throughout the pregnancy. One mistake I made while I was pregnant was to just allow myself to eat as much as I wanted, using my pregnancy as an excuse (when in fact the body only needs an additional 300 calories/day during pregnancy). Best of luck to you, and congratulations again!