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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss

I've been completely famished since I gave birth. I can't eat or drink enough no matter what I do. I'm trying to generally choose healthy foods, but I'm not dieting. Except for the addition of sushi, blue cheeses and cured meats, I'm eating the way I ate when I was pregnant. For almost nine months I tried to eat as healthy as possible while following the recommendations. (I didn't deny myself some treats now and again.)

Breastfeeding is said to help women to lose pregnancy weight. I gained about 25 pounds during the pregnancy and, according to our scale, I lost all of that weight in the first two weeks after labor. That was surprising to discover since my body didn't and doesn't look like it. My belly is still swollen (presumably from the c-section surgery) and I'm a slightly different shape all over. Even my feet are a little bigger. I know that I will need to work on strengthening my muscles once I feel up to it.

During pregnancy, my belly was particularly large. In fact, the doctor thought that I was measuring on the big side and was having a gigantic baby. I'm much shorter than my husband and she pointed at him saying, "you chose a very tall partner."

During our last sonogram, however, the doctor could better measure the baby and determined that the baby was progressing normally. Apparently I have a large uterus. (I have no idea what that means. It seemed to mean nothing, since everything went well.)

I've started to take some very slow walks with the bambino in the stroller. I look forward to the c-section pain being completely gone (it still comes and goes) and starting to take longer, more active walks. Maybe I'll return to doing yoga, too. I'd stopped with longer, regular walks and prenatal yoga at  about five and a half months because I was slightly dilated. The doctor put me on what she called "modified modified bed rest," which meant that I had to take it easy, but I didn't have to stay in bed or even at home.

For more on healthy weight loss after pregnancy, see the Mayo Clinic's page on the subject

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