25 Weeks and All is Well...

I'm 25 weeks today.  I weighed myself this morning and thought this would be a good post to talk about food, appetite, and eating habits.

I have officially gained 14 pounds throughout the pregnancy.  I had only gained 3 pounds at 20 weeks and in the last 5 weeks, my body ballooned!  I think it's important to talk about how weight gain effects the pregnant woman.  I've, fortunately, never really struggled with weight.  Sure, I've gotten chubbier at times but then again, there are times when I got skinnier.  In general though, I fluctuated in the same 5-7 pound range in the last 8 years.  This doesn't go without work though.  I love working out.  When not pregnant, I workout quite regularly and am a huge fan of Jillian Michaels DVDs.  Unfortunately, I haven't worked out nearly as much as I've wanted throughout the pregnancy due to health complications that always seem to come about, but, I'll write a post just about that some time (if I remember).

After Liliana is born, I'm sure I'll do a post just about Jillian's DVDs and which ones I recommend.  I own all of them and feel like an expert on them...I've only done each about 100 times.  In case you can't tell from my DVD mentionings, I do work out at home (versus a gym).  In college, I was a rec center fan...a big one.  I was there 5 times a week.  But, as law school started, I realized I no longer had time for this.  By the time I drive to and from the gym, I've lost out on a lot of precious studying time.  Therefore, after my first year of law school, I got addicted to working out at home.  I think this will be helpful as I become a working mom.  I can put Liliana in the play pen as I pop in my DVD and get to it.  Plus, I save so much money by not joining a gym.  I know a lot of gyms out there have great deals (ex: just $20 a month!!!!) but I'm a math person...do the math...that's nearly $250 a year.  I know some people love the gym.  My husband really enjoys going to the gym.  I'm sure he'll get a gym membership after he graduates and that's fine. But, in the mean time , if you need "at home" advice, I'm your gal.

As for weight gain in pregnancy, I lost weight the first trimester (which is incredibly common).  I didn't throw up too much during my morning sickness time: 3 times.  So obviously, this isn't what took the weight off.  I just didn't want to eat!  I wasn't hungry!  I felt so sick, so miserable, and so yucky until week 16.  Even though I didnt' work out throughout the time period and was sitting on my butt feeling crappy, I wasn't eating enough to gain weight.

As the second trimester rolled around, I started thinking the pounds would come on.  I was wrong.  At week 20 I had only gained 3 pounds and started worrying about whether I was gaining enough weight.  I asked my OB and he calmed me down.  He said he HATES how the pregnancy books say to gain about 1 to 2 lbs each week.  He said around week 22 or so, the baby will start gaining anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 lb. a week and that's when you'll start gaining.  But, why should you gain so much before when the baby isn't growing at that fast of a rate?  I finally calmed down and stopped intentionally trying to gain weight.  Sure enough, he was right!  The weight came on by itself.

As for my eating habits and any cravings:  I have not had ONE craving yet.  Through all my morning sickness, I had two things that didn't' make me feel horrible: macaroni and cheese and gingerale.  But, I didn't crave them.  Plus, I love macaroni and cheese all the time, not just when I'm pregnant.  I feel like a horrible mommy-to-be because I haven't eaten healthy at all.  I just eat whatever sounds appetizing at the time.  If that means pizza, then I eat pizza.  If that means bananas, then I'll eat bananas.  But I haven't changed my eating habits.  Included in that statement: my appetite hasn't increased one bit yet.  I know it likely will with time, but from every thing I've read, most women have had an increase in appetite already...and I haven't.  I'm not complaining about this though.

My philosophy with eating throughout this pregnancy is pretty simple: eat when hungry, not just for the heck of it.  I've had COUNTLESS people ask me "are you enjoying being able to eat whatever you want??"  Why in the world would I do this?  I'll just have to work out even more after Liliana is born if I maintain that way of thinking!  So, I'll eat when it sounds good, but when my body isn't hungry, I won't eat needless calories that will give me more stretch marks and a dumpier butt.  No thank you sir!  : )