Wow Leanne... you rock!

79# gone in under 6 months... I hope I can follow in your shoes. Thanks for the encouragement. I am trying really hard to eat the good foods, but boy do I crave potato chips and sourcream and onion dip!

I am doing pretty well at staying away from them though.
butterfly... I can totally relate to the dream of wearing cute maternity clothes and exercising all the way through. And to the disappointment of not making the dream come true. I was a bit lower at the start of this pregnancy than with my first, but not nearly enough for the really cute maternity stuff. And I got big a lot faster.

Also... I've been doing the braxton hicks contractions and am not allowed to exercise either... it seems just working is almost too much. I am a Montessori teacher and I have a class of 25 3 - 6 year olds so I'm on my feet a lot and when I'm not I'm up and down off the floor.
As to help getting back on program with exercise and low carbing I can only tell you to take it one day at a time. Sometimes (as with the chips and dip cravings) I actually take it 15 minutes at a time. Getting back into the exercise routine can be even harder than the food routine in my opinion. Even though I know I will feel better afterwards making myself exercise is always a real chore. It's easier to get into the habit of not exercising than it is to get back into the habit of actually going out there and doing it.
For me I find that at least part of it is the extreme fatigue I'm suffering. I know that I would feel less tired and definitely less stressed after a 20 minute walk, but actually finding the energy to start on that walk sometimes seems impossible. And for now I'm not allowed to anyhow so I know I have a lot of effort to look forward to once I'm given the go ahead to exercise again.
Have either of you had one of the 3D ultrasounds? We are going to get one around 30 weeks. I am really looking forward to it. Mya looks at the sample pictures in the books and says "hi baby" I can't wait to have pictures of her own baby for her to look at. I will probably have one more regular ultrasound between now and then too. I have a fibroid that they are monitoring - so far so good - it doesn't seem to be growing much at all thank God. I have to say I'm enjoying having all these chances to watch the pregnancy progress. We only had one ultrasound with Mya, and I didn't even know the 3D ones were available in our area.
I hope all is going well for you and your families,
Lara