So after two weeks of sob story blogs, I decided it was time to lighten it up.  Now, don’t hate me, but I completely escaped stretch marks.  And don’t hate me even more, but I pretty much lost my baby weight within the first few weeks.  I actually weighed less at my 6 month postpartum dr. appointment, than I did when I first found out I was pregnant. (I think the scale was light).   I swear though, I lost muscle and we all know that muscle weighs more than fat.  But nevertheless….I’ll take it for now. The first few months were tough on me…at least let me be a skinny bitch. 🙂 I have a few things I swore by throughout the pregnancy and some things that made clean eating really yummy.

So I gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy. I didn’t really gain anything until month 5 came around and then I started noticing a difference quickly.  I didn’t diet. I ate well.  I ate with a purpose.  And that purpose was Oliver.  No junky junk.  Now that isn’t to say I didn’t have ice cream or treats…OH HELL YEAH.  But when I had ice cream, it was all natural.  No chemicals.  No preservatives, additives, etc. I was clean eating.  I pretty much have been a clean eater my whole adult life, so there was no struggle to eat well for little O.  NO soda or as I like to call it, The Devil’s Nectar… I drank water like it was my job.  I had a week or so when my Blood Pressure was oddly low and we linked it to being dehydrated.  Also when I was dehydrated, I would get more of the Toni Braxtons (a.k.a Braxton Hicks Contractions)  I didn’t need another sad love song racking my brain like crazy (see what I did there?? Lol.) ..So hydrating was key!!

I also found an amazing recipe on Pinterest (of course) for banana peanut butter energy balls.  OMG!  If you have not tried these, YOU MUST!! It’s literally 2 ripe bananas mashed.  Add a cup of raw oats, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and either 1/2 cup of  raisins or, my favorite, 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips.  Mix it all together.  Stick the bowl in the fridge for an hour.  Roll teaspoons of the mix into balls and put on a foiled cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Viola! I would keep them in my fridge and eat at least two-three late at night with some almond milk.  They saved my ass.  Literally.  I pinned the recipe on my Pinterest board “Mommy Help,” but I am sure you could easily find it.  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!

When I would fall off the wagon it was for a Sonic Vanilla Shake.  I started by getting a mini….but that was just a tease.  I stuck with the small and I would be very satisfied.  Now they are by no means “good” for you, but at least they are made with real ice cream and real milk.  So THAT was my guilty pleasure and I savored them each and every time.  I am very grateful there is no Sonic near us where we live now.  I don’t need that kind of temptation in my life.  lol.

Another thing I did pretty much everyday of my pregnancy, was walk.  I kept up my usual 3 miles a day until I found out that I had placenta previa.  I was a bit freaked, so I completely stopped for about a week or so, and then resumed with caution for the next month while I waited to get the placenta’s position checked.  After the previa had corrected itself and after double and triple checking with my doctors, I resumed my regular walks…but took them a little easier, to be honest.  Once I hit the last few weeks of pregnancy, I was waddling.  But my husband and I would still go for a stroll after dinner pretty much every night.  Told you he was a good guy. 🙂

I mentioned avoiding stretch marks.  Now I do believe that some of that has to do with genetics.  I don’t know if my mom got  stretch marks from pregnancy (She can’t remember).  But after four (yes, FOUR) children, I have to say, I don’t recall her having them.  But…I wasn’t taking any chances.  I used two things.  One, I used in the mornings after I showered.  It is Alba Botanica Hawaiian Body Oil /Kukui Nut.  It was recommended to me by my sister-in-law who said she swore by it.  I LOVE it!!!

And, every evening, my darling husband used to put Burt’s Bees Belly Butter on my stomach.  It became our “before bed ritual.”  For that alone, I love this product.  And again, I didn’t get stretch marks, so I am sure it helped! It is a Burt’s Bees Product.  Their Baby Bee Line is wonderful for babies, as well.

Another thing I used every single day, was coconut oil.  In my cooking and on my skin.  Particularly my legs, which I mentioned got extremely dry.  The doctors just told me to suffer through and lather with Eucerin.  But nothing but coconut oil helped.  I still use it everyday.

As I had mentioned in a previous post, after I had O, I was swollen beyond recognition.  It was really bad the first week and got progressively better as the water left my body.  Much of what I gained was baby and what accompanies the baby in the womb.  Within a couple weeks my body had lost 25 pounds.  Because I put the weight on slowly, it came off faster.  Now you can stop your hating right now, because you know there is a fly in the ointment.  Even though, I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight….my body has changed.  And not in the way one strives for.  My scar from my c-section is quite low, but the little pooch that sits right above said scar remains.  Maybe if I tried harder, it would go away?   My body has somehow shifted.  I fit into my old jeans, but they just don’t feel quite the same.  I’m softer now.  In every way.  You see, I also just don’t care quite as much as I used to about the appearance my body.  That isn’t to say I don’t want to be healthy, of course I do.  And I enjoy clothes too much to not fit into the crazy closet I acquired before baby O.  But I don’t need to strut around in a string bikini anymore.  In fact, the notion is not just laughable, but completely impractical.  I enjoyed many more years of that than I probably should have pre-baby.  I just don’t want to be one of those moms with her baby at the beach, falling out of her bathing suit while she picks up her little one. There is a lot of bending, stretching and heaving a heavy child involved in my day.  I don’t need to be wearing a string bikini whilst doing so.  But, hey, that’s just me.

Point being, my priorities are just different now.  Does that mean I am just going to “let myself go?”  No.  I enjoy making an effort and I hope my husband appreciates it, as well.  But it isn’t a top priority right now.  Nor, dare I say, will it ever be again.  Let’s do the math.  By the time Oliver is at the age where I can actually relax at the beach, I’ll be in my mid 50’s or older.  The bikini boat will have sailed by then, don’t you think? …Don’t you hope?

Going into the pregnancy at the age of 43, there were so many things that could have gone wrong that I would have no control over.  How I took care of myself was actually something that I could take an active part in.  My doctor told me that a huge part of why my pregnancy went well was because of the good shape I was in before I got pregnant.  It is no guarantee, obviously, but it helps.  My advice, unwarranted as it is, is to keep active during pregnancy.  WALK!  The greatest exercise there is! And feed your body the way you would feed your child.  Would you give your infant a Big Mac and fries?  I hope not.  So why give it to him in the womb?  Anyway, that’s my story and I’m stickin to it.  Until next time, keep fighting the good fight!  And remember, behind every great kid, is a mother who is pretty sure she is messing it up.  🙂  xo