Body by Baby

When you get pregnant (and for me... it was when you FINALLY got pregnant) you relish the thought of that little rounded belly because you know what lies beneath. You buy maternity clothes in anticipation of being big enough to wear them. You love that little pudgy gut to death.

Then you get pregnant, I mean really pregnant and then go overdue.....

You resort to wearing all black just to temper the comments about how freakin big you are. Like you are the last and only woman pregnant in the world. That's me at 41 weeks.

No one really tells you what you'll look like after you give birth..... everyone seems to have forgotten how long it took them to lose the weight. Your hospital paperwork tells you to bring loose clothes with you. I mean you've got to loose a ton of weight right? All that baby, water, placenta, etc.... it's gotta be the majority of the weight? Riiiiiight.

I gained a total of 31 pounds in my pregnancy- that last week of going over due tipped me over my goal of gaining the recommended 25-30 pounds. Thanks Bee!

This is me 6 days after giving birth. I made the mistake of weighing myself and almost rammed my head into the wall. The scale told me I'd only lost 4 pounds. I'd just delivered a 6 pound baby! Liar! Liar!

I looked about 4 months pregnant and that belly was pure jelly. I felt awful, sore and generally still like a killer whale. I tried to go walking with my dad when he came to visit but had to stop after a quarter mile due to the pain.

This one is 6 weeks after giving birth. I'd lost a total of 18 pounds at this point. Getting there but it felt all wrong. Like the muscles in my stomach didn't exist anymore. It was squishy up by my ribs where I'd never had loose skin before. My hips were wide and fitting in my clothes all wrong. Dressing was all about camouflaging the stomach. I still wasn't working out at this point but starting to walk around the neighborhood.

I decided to set a goal for myself and rallied a few girlfriends into signing up for a 5k with me. I decided that we'd do the Color Run that was happening in Phoenix. It was 13 weeks after Bee's birth so I thought that sounded reasonable. I have always run at the gym but adhered more to a gym rat way of life.  I dubbed our Team Baby Body Back and signed us up.

This one is 8 weeks later- total weight lost 25 pounds. My hips hadn't narrowed yet but I was able to work out. I had just started working out the week before this picture was taken. I started on the elliptical for the first session and then went back to running by the second week. Running felt like my insides were being ripped apart one by one. I had worked out my entire pregnancy but did not run at all. It had been a year since I had gone running at this point. In a word just painful painful painful. If I hadn't signed up and already paid for the 5k I would have never done it. Also running with nursing pads on was a new and exciting experience. Or not.

The Color Run is finally here! Oh was I not ready. With James work schedule preventing me from going to the gym on some weeks and just generally having a freakin newborn we hadn't been able to run as much as I wanted. I was fully confident in finishing but I didn't think I'd be able to run the whole time. Mother Nature decided to test my will big time. It was cold and 100% chance of rain the day of the run. James hinted that he didn't want to do it and swore I'd get sick. We got there and I saw the puffs of color shooting in the air. There was no going back, let me out of the car! We persevered and did it anyway. The whole team were trooppers-way to be awesome Howitz's! It was crowded, flooded and slippery so I didn't get to run as much as I'd hoped. It was a great first goal for coming back from having a baby. A fun, non competitive run to just get back out there without serious runners mowing me down.

And here I am today- 13 weeks later, down 26 pounds. I call that gut Baby's Last Stand. My hips are gradually narrowing and I'm able to wear a lot of my pre-baby clothes. My stomach is still foreign territory to me- extra skin and squishy. I'm back to work and still trying to work out how I'm going to work out. I'm happy with where I am at this point which I will attribute to breast feeding (I still am pumping only) and genetics (have you seen my mother?) Also, I'm dairy/soy/nut free at this point so I don't have much chocolate and cheese in my life anymore- sigh.

I'm working to get those final pounds off and already looking to sign up for another 5k- where it hopefully won't RAIN in the DESERT. The goal for the next 5k is to push the baby in the BOB. I aim for James to push her most of the time but we'll alternate....really we will.