When I was pregnant with Riley, I was determined not to be one of "those women" that gains 50 pounds. I also had all these plans for how I was going to get back in to shape after the baby was born. Well, I accomplished my first goal by gaining under 30 pounds (can't remember the exact number, maybe 27 pounds?) I gave birth to a healthy 7 pounds, 6 ounce baby girl, and I was ready to accomplish goal number two. I had read all these women's reports of how breastfeeding made the leftover baby weight just "melt off" and I was excited! Ha. HAHAHAHA. There were just so many things I was not prepared for post-baby that presented HUGE challenges to getting back in shape.
Here are things you might not consider when you are trying to lose the baby weight.
(1) Your baby might be a horrible sleeper. In my head, I had visions of doing some of my workouts while the baby slept (you know, workout DVDs or strength exercises indoors). Well, Riley would ONLY sleep while she was being held, which meant that there was no working out while the baby slept. And, because she woke up multiple times per night, in order to be a well-functioning mama, I needed to use her nap time to get some shut eye myself. So workouts during nap time were out.
Here are things you might not consider when you are trying to lose the baby weight.
(1) Your baby might be a horrible sleeper. In my head, I had visions of doing some of my workouts while the baby slept (you know, workout DVDs or strength exercises indoors). Well, Riley would ONLY sleep while she was being held, which meant that there was no working out while the baby slept. And, because she woke up multiple times per night, in order to be a well-functioning mama, I needed to use her nap time to get some shut eye myself. So workouts during nap time were out.
Rare moments of baby sleeping not in my arms (after I snuck out from under her).
(2) Your baby might be the only baby in the world that HATES the stroller. Every baby likes going for walks, right? WRONG. Riley hated going for walks in the stroller. She started screaming before we even reached the end of the street. It wasn't until she reached about 6 or 7 months that she started to semi-tolerate the stroller. So going for walks as a form of exercise became more like baby torture, so that was out.
Riley totally not excited about going for a walk.
(3) It might take you longer than you think to recover from birth. 6 weeks is like the magic recovery number. After 6 weeks (even earlier if you feel good enough), if you get the all clear, you can resume working out and all normal activities. HA. It took me a LONG time to feel "normal" again. If I did anything even semi strenuous (fast walking, or god forbid, jogging), I would be in so much pain that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, it felt like I had been kicked in the pelvis. I honestly considered going to see a doctor to see if it was possible I had fractured my pelvis or something, because it was that painful. And since my sleep was so precious, anything that kept me from sleeping (i.e. pain in the pelvis) was not worth doing. It took a good 4 months for me to feel fairly normal again.
(4) Breastfeeding might totally F things up. You read all the wonderful health benefits of breastfeeding your baby (to both mom and baby). But there are lots of things you maybe don't realize. And every woman is different, so I know some of these things were pretty unique to me, and may not have happened (or won't happen) to you. My milk supply took 6 MONTHS TO REGULATE. So I had an abundance of milk, which meant lots of soreness, lots of leaking, and lots and lots of pain when exercising, even with 2 sports bras. And I could ONLY even think about exercising if I had just fed Riley or pumped, otherwise it was just way too uncomfortable. And then, once my milk supply did regulate? Too much exercise would cause my milk supply to drop. I seriously could not win!! And I couldn't just cut back on calories because again, milk supply would drop.
(5) When you finally wean the baby and can actually maybe get back in a fitness routine, you might already be pregnant again. Vicious cycle, I tell you.
I get more nervous about weight gain this pregnancy because I know now the challenges I faced in losing the baby weight last time. And don't get me wrong, when I got pregnant with this time around, I was at my pre-pregnancy weight (before Riley), so I did actually lose the weight. But it was so much harder than "just breastfeed, the weight will just come right off." Here's to hoping it's less challenging this next time around.
(4) Breastfeeding might totally F things up. You read all the wonderful health benefits of breastfeeding your baby (to both mom and baby). But there are lots of things you maybe don't realize. And every woman is different, so I know some of these things were pretty unique to me, and may not have happened (or won't happen) to you. My milk supply took 6 MONTHS TO REGULATE. So I had an abundance of milk, which meant lots of soreness, lots of leaking, and lots and lots of pain when exercising, even with 2 sports bras. And I could ONLY even think about exercising if I had just fed Riley or pumped, otherwise it was just way too uncomfortable. And then, once my milk supply did regulate? Too much exercise would cause my milk supply to drop. I seriously could not win!! And I couldn't just cut back on calories because again, milk supply would drop.
(5) When you finally wean the baby and can actually maybe get back in a fitness routine, you might already be pregnant again. Vicious cycle, I tell you.
I get more nervous about weight gain this pregnancy because I know now the challenges I faced in losing the baby weight last time. And don't get me wrong, when I got pregnant with this time around, I was at my pre-pregnancy weight (before Riley), so I did actually lose the weight. But it was so much harder than "just breastfeed, the weight will just come right off." Here's to hoping it's less challenging this next time around.
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