[chickadee32]

Hi all. I think June was the last time I was around, so it's been quite a while, but now seems like a good time to get going here again.

When I last posted on 3FC I was pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, I found out just after 8 weeks that I had lost one of the twins - we saw Baby B's heartbeat twice, but at what would have been my last appointment at the fertility center the heartbeat was no longer there. It was a devastating loss, and the fear of losing the second baby was paralyzing. But despite a complicated, high-risk pregnancy, my baby proved at every turn how strong he was, and my beautiful, amazing son Nathaniel was born in January.

Because of some complications and my love of food I gained a whopping 95 pounds while pregnant, 10 lbs in the last week alone! I was 133 lbs on the day of my embryo transfer, and about 228 the day before I went into labor. In the 12 weeks since my son's birth I've lost nearly 55 lbs (no doubt a good bit of what I gained and quickly lost was fluid/water weight), and today (and for the last week) my scale reads 175.7 lbs. I think I may set an initial goal of getting back down to 145-150, where I felt really good and fit comfortably in a size 8. My ultimate goal would be to get down to and be maintaining in the 135-140 range by a year PP. I have an awesome pair of size 6 jeans I'd love to wear again next winter.

I'm currently nursing exclusively, and eating a really odd diet (the Dr. Sears complete elimination diet, due to food allergies/intollerances that are causing some issues for my son), so I'm not planning to get back to calorie counting for a while yet. The elimination diet is pretty good for weight loss though - it's really hard to overeat or eat poorly when you can only consume 8 foods. The biggest change I'm hoping to make soon is scheduling some time to get some exercise in; I wasn't allowed to exercise through most of my pregnancy, so I am REALLY out of shape! I missed it so much, and I look forward to the day when I can call myself a runner again. I think getting back into the exercise will be good for both weight loss and my sanity... I just have to figure out how to make it happen with an infant.

Anyway, just thought I'd update and say hello. I look forward to being around more again; this place was so instrumental to my weight loss the first time around, and it feels good to be coming back.

[Mozzy]

Congrats on your son!
Take it one day at a time, good luck!

[sacha]

Oh congrats chickadee! I'm so happy to hear about your happy birth My son (now 5.5 months) was also a twin which we lost early at 10 weeks, I'm sorry for your loss.

Welcome!! And congrats on exclusively nursing. I'm exclusivly nursing this one (#2) and it has helped my weight loss a lot (compared to #1 who was formula). Enjoy your 8 foods and hey why not use it to your advantage??? Less choices means less calories, LOL

[sacha]

I love your goals too, very reasonable and realistic. Women put so much pressure on themselves, it's nice to see. Nursing and enjoying your new baby (if I recall, a very much wanted baby with a long difficult TTC correct?) is soooo important. We can't forget our health, but it's so important to focus on the big picture!!

[foreverfaye]

Congratulations on the baby!!

[briters89]

Congrats on your baby! I think you can get down to that weight! It definitely sounds reasonable. I'm 15 weeks pregnant with our first, and plan on nursing/pumping up until 6 months-1 year. So far I have actually lost about 10 pounds. I was trying to lose weight, and then we found out I was pregnant.