Week 24

This week I had my 6 month checkup. The good news is that Baby Kamman is doing perfectly! She is healthy, strong, just the right size, and the doctor raved about how wonderful all of the blood test and ultrasound results came back.

The bad news? She politely (or not so politely actually) told me that I need to stop gaining weight. Thus far, I’ve been right on track with weight gain and she hasn’t mentioned anything about it one way or another. In the last month, since my 5 month appointment, I’ve gained 8 pounds. EIGHT! It’s pretty hard to swallow. I’m supposed to be averaging 4 pounds per month. Eek. She asked me a bunch of questions like what I’ve been eating, how active I am during the day etc. And really, I am doing everything by the book. I’m not eating fast food, we cook 99% of our meals at home and eat super healthy; whole grains, vegetables, fruits, free-range eggs, hormone free milk, etc. etc. My portions aren’t any bigger, I really don’t feel like my appetite has changed much at all actually. I don’t work at some 8-5 sit at my desk job, I am CONSTANTLY moving, walking, bending, pacing…I literally do laps around my classroom all day and rarely sit down. I have to walk all the way across campus just to pee.

I admitted to her my downfall…..treats. Before pregnancy I would indulge in maybe 1 dessert type of item per week. We didn’t buy anything unnecessarily sugary and I was good about avoiding it in social situations and at work. Since I became pregnant, I feel like it has given me a license to indulge my sweet tooth. I can’t drink, I can’t eat lots of foods I enjoy (I miss sushi and feta real bad), I can’t water ski, snowboard, jump off of houseboats, etc. etc. (you get the idea…) so my philosophy was, well “HELL! I’M HAVING PIE!” My treat intake went from about 1 per week to at least 1 or 2 per day (depending on what was lying around in the staff room, what my mom was baking that week or what irresistible delight was strategically positioned by the cash register at Trader Joes.) So…I think that’s the culprit for those 4 unnecessary pounds I acquired this last month. Also, I think at least a pound of the blame has to do with the flip-flops I was wearing at the last appointment and the heavy suede knee-high boots that I was wearing this time, but maybe that’s wishful thinking?

I feel like I am my own worst critic…I mean, I spend time daily analyzing my rapidly changing body and all its unusual new developments, but I don’t FEEL like I gained 8 pounds in 4 weeks…I don’t see it! Where is it? Maybe I have some kind of pregnancy goggles on? But I think it’s all belly…or I hope. Maybe there’s a 15 pound baby in there already? Either way, now I am in between a rock and a hard place. I’m not supposed to try to LOSE weight, that’s a big no-no, but I need to majorly slow the roll on my gaining.  So now I am officially fixated on what I am eating or not eating. All last week I cut out any refined sugar and weighed myself every morning (mostly so I could indulge in latkes and sugar cookies over the weekend). But really, could I have found a better month to discover that I can’t gain any weight? DECEMBER? I mean, EVERYONE and their mom gains at least a few pounds in December. Even the doctor admitted she had indulged in several treats already that day. How’s that for comradery?

So, this month cheers to willpower, and my ability to find some. At my December 28th 7-month weigh in, I will be looking for less drastic news….and wearing a sundress and flats.