Losing the Baby Fat

Thevy and I have been losing weight. Thevy, who was once a 90th-percentile baby, has gone down in the ranks. During her first several months of life, she was in the 90-95th percentile for both height and weight, meaning, she was bigger than most baby girls her age. Then at her nine-month well-baby check-up, while her height remained in the ninetieth percentile, her weight was somewhere in the 80% range. Three-months later, at the age of 12 months, her height moved down to the eightieth percentile, and, get this, her weight is in the 50th percentile! Though some may still see her as a chubby baby, her weight is considered to be average for her age. In fact, she weighs the same as she did three months ago.

I had noticed that Thevy appeared to be slimming down. I thought she was getting skinnier. Then in the last month, her appetite had also decreased. I attribute part of that to her being sick, where the doctor says she could have even lost a pound from that, and I also think she hasn't been eating simply because she did not want the foods I would feed her. I also joke about her being a "baby bulemic". Yeah, you may not find that funny, but we all know I'm not PC! Anyhoo, I call her this because more than once I have caught her with her index finger in her mouth, shoving it far enough it that it causes the gag reflex. Ha! :-P

Where Thevy was once a chunky baby, right now it appears she's evening out. Her pediatrician said that many babies triple their birth weight by the age of one. Thevy hasn't yet reached that. Triple would be over 24 pounds. A couple weeks ago, she was at twenty.

As for me... I've steadily been losing weight over the past year. I never knew for sure what my usual weight was since I never really owned a scale. I always would place my weight at somewhere between 140 and 150 pounds, expecting fluctuations just because I've never had a constant way of life in terms of eating or exercising.

During pregnancy, I've heard the average amount of weight gain should be 25-35 lbs. Well, good grief, I was above average! I had my prenatal care at a practice, with several doctors to choose from. At this particular OB-GYN office, you are required to meet with all the doctors at least once, before getting to choose the one(s) you'd like to see regularly. I had one doctor tell me I was gaining too much weight during my pregnancy. And then I had another, Dr. D, who basically said everyone was different. Don't you know, Dr. D was my favorite. :-P But not just because of that; she was actually a really nice person.

So... towards the end of my pregnancy, wouldn't ya know! I broke two hundred! Basically, I gained about 60 pounds during pregnancy. Who knows how much of it was my weight gain, the baby's weight gain, or simple fluids? There was one time I visited Costco where I stepped on the scale and it read 212. Hehe. There were people who saw me pregnant that said, you don't look that big. Then there were some others who said I was huge. Bastards. lol.

After giving birth, you still look pregnant and you don't automatically go back down to your "normal" weight. I think I was still around 180 a few months after Thevy was born. I did no (still don't) exercise. But I have been breastfeeding, which supposedly contributes to weight loss, not to mention, I don't eat very well. Often times, I don't even eat! I know that's not good or healthy, but that's the way it is.

And right after giving birth, you still wear your maternity pants. A month post-partum, I did squeeze into a pair of pants I wore while pregnant, but not full-term. Every now and again I would try to put on my pre-pregnancy clothes and to my dismay, they didn't fit! I couldn't get them past my thighs! That's when I would turn to Peter and say, "I hate you!" :)

But now, I can say I can rock my pre-pregnancy jeans. I've still got flabby skin on my belly and avoid many of the tighter-fitting tops I used to wear. But for the most part, I'm back to my old wardrobe and that's just great. And as for the recent weigh-in: 150 lbs. Try that on for size! :-)

Below are a couple pregnancy pics for those who never saw me "with child". (You can click on the photos to see them larger.)

This picture was a month before my due date:


And this photo was taken a couple weeks before giving birth: