Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Postpartum Week 1: That's All Breastfeeding!

I'm going to continue with the Pregnancy Series and move on to the postpartum period. Pregnant belly pics are fun, but watching someone recover is even more interesting.

So here we go! I'm not promising miracles (like Heidi Klum or Giselle, those biatches) but hopefully I'll continue to shrink back down and not...well...swell back up. With fat. And stress eating. And peanut butter cups.

Postpartum Week:
1
Weight Loss: 15 pounds! HALF MY PREGNANCY WEIGHT GONE!!!
Diet/Exercise: None. Still recovering.

In one week I went from this:
To this:
I am totally shocked. My stomach is so flat! Er...comparatively anyway. I know I still have a ways to go in my fab-U-lous white nursing top (that I wear 24/7).

This? Is ALL breastfeeding. It has nothing to do with me, trust me! I've been eating things like apple pie, chocolate cake, and these wonderfully delicious chocolate chip cookie/brownie/cakie things.

And 15 pounds?!? Half my preggers weight?!? I can't believe it. What a difference from my first pregnancy (and formula feeding recovery). I'm a complete believer in the "Breastfeeding Benefits Mom" propaganda.

If this keeps up, I'm going to turn into a Nursing Nazi busting into Weight Watchers meetings screaming, "Don't diet! GET PREGNANT! Your baby becomes a liposuction machine!"

And--this is kinda gross but whatever, I'll share--the bleeding is so much lighter. Much lighter.

I can't wait until I can go for a walk and not feel like I'm going to pass out. Right now, going up and down the steps is pushing it. Which reminds me, I need to take my iron pills...

19 comments:

Eads Family said...

Holy cow you look awesome!!!

HarmSkills said...

you do look great. Ive been BFing for 14 months and am about 4-5 lbs below what I was the day I got preg. sometimes it is literally sucking the life out of you, but its a nice benefit to be able to eat what you want.

also is lighter bleeding common with #2? just curious!

Good Egg Hatched said...

You look amazing! Good for you. :)

Kitty said...

You look great!
Eating while BFing is so much fun. I couldn't believe that I was supposed to eat MORE than when I was pregnant. And I felt like I was starving, so it wasn't hard, but still - to eat so much, not feel guilt, and lose lots of weight? Kinda the most fun time ever, except for the whole waking-up-at-night thing.

Melessa said...

You have stumbled upon the real reason why I breastfed all 5 kids. (Shh! I have everyone totally fooled into thinking I did it because it was "best for baby.")

Amy said...

I appreciate your PO very much the picture with the article. Continues to refuel!!

Rachel C Morgan said...

YAY!! All of my bfing friends swear the weight just falls off... I'm really holding onto that hope as the scale just tipped the 40lb mark. water retention sucks...

natalie said...

You look great!! I give all the credit to BF to get those first pounds off...I think about 25-30 in my case, but I was gigantic and gained 60 lbs! I wasn't able to stay with it though, and I still have about 10 lbs to go.

Snarky Mom said...

Yay! I formula fed my daughter b/c she was a preemie and could not get the latch going properly. It took me 14 months to lose the weight. My son was exclusively breastfed and I was 8 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight by the time he was 4 months old! And that is the reason I will be breastfeeding this next one...oh and it's great for baby..blah blah. Let's just be honest, I want to eat cake.

Marie said...

Yep I eat donuts every day and haven't gained a pound and I way less than I did when i got pregnant and my son is 8 months....TODAY.

Carrie Darney said...

You look fabulous! Way to go!

Ashley said...

wow! way to go!

Mary Margaret said...

You look great! My son is 7 months and I am having trouble keeping enough weight on! I can't do any exercise and I eat constantly and sometimes I still feel like I don't have enough milk. Throughout these months there have been several times when I wanted to give up breastfeeding (the week of stabbing pain, the new teeth, an easily distractable baby, and now a frustrated baby that often refuses to nurse combined with a lower supply). I'm so glad I stuck with it though because it has been mostly a great experience and I'm hoping to keep it up for several more months. Just remember that the rough spots are just a phase and "this too will pass."

Holly said...

Woot! I am so happy for you!

Janelle said...

Yep, breastfeeding rocks. I had chocolate creme brule for breakfast. Mmmm....
And my tummy is flatter every day...I even buttoned my pre-pregnancy jeans yesterday, but the resulting muffin top was not pretty...

Sassypants Wifey said...

HAWT!!! I am totally on the nursing to lose weight bandwagon. People used to ask me how long I intended to nurse, My answer was always "nurse till I'm skinny" ha. But it was 100% true. The contractions while nursing the first few days SUCK, but at least it doesnt last long! I love that you are now posting post preg pics, awesome idea!!!

AndBabyWillMake4 said...

I have been BFing for 15 months now...I owe the size 6 jeans I bought last week to that! Anytime someone tells me I look so good and thin (apparently I was quite the lard ass) I tell them I will breastfeed until the boy goes to kindergarten! Or have another kid, whichever comes first!

You look fab!! Woot-woot!!!

MrsDixon said...

You look so amazing!!!!

Sydney said...

The baby weight just fell off for me thanks to breastfeeding. Now I just need to do some toning. While I lost the weight, my damn pants still don't fit right.