Welcome Holli! I know how that post-deployment stuff goes.
I've got 3 munckins of my own, 3 (will be 4 in March), 23 months, & 2 months. I'm nursing the youngest two.
It sounds like you're doing pretty good on the weight loss.
Forty-three pounds in 9 months is nothing to look down on, that's for sure!
Tara, it might be that the same things which contributed to your gaining weight during your pregnancy will make it difficult to lose weight now. Sucks, right?
If you had GD, you may well have insulin resistance now; have you been checked for that? I've got PCOS, which is a sort of pre-diabetes in many ways, and it can make losing weight pretty hard. I've had a lot of success with SugarBusters, & I know others with the same condition who swear by South Beach. (They're very nearly the same thing.) Check your library for diet books that incorporate the Glycemic Index, like the two I just mentioned and also the New Glucose Revolution, Good Carbs/Bad Carbs, & the Glycemic Index Diet. (I know there are others, just can't come up with the names offhand.) The thing with the GI is that it helps you pick foods that will help you to stay full longer, so over the course of the day you'll eat a bit less.
That said, some women lose weight sluggishly while nursing. It's an evolutionary thing. Your body wants to hang on to some fat stores to ensure a good milk supply. One reason we nursing mamas have to be careful not to let our calories dip down
too low. The "normal" Weight Watchers POINTS goal for my weight would equal out to roughly 1200 calories; with the extra 10 for nursing it's 1700. Conversely, it's still possible to overeat, so it's a balance you have to work out.
Congratulations to both of you, by the way, on making it so long nursing! I am insane and so I have been nursing nearly 4 years straight, but y'all are in very rare company indeed to have kept up past six months! (I think it's something like 30% of women who are still nursing
at six months.) It's time to break out the "Yes, I'm still nursing" t-shirts for the babes, eh? If I remember right, I started to get shock at still nursing my oldest at around four months.