If this is too personal, feel free to ignore (is that really possible on here??).
I'm curious about the immediate weight loss postpartum. How much of the weight you gained did you lose right after delivery? Obviously there's baby, but you also lose weight from fluid, placenta, etc. Did you lose a lot more by your 6 week check up?
I know that I'll be able to lose the baby weight, but I'm just trying to size the magnitude...
ETA: I lost 70 lbs before I got pregnant. I'm pretty good at the weight loss thing (including the time and patience part of it).
@RunBooRun With DD, i gained about 35-36 lbs and I lost about 11lbs immediately (baby was 6lbs), and then got stuck at that weight until I went on a strict calorie-counting diet 18 months later and lost another 25. But I wasn't actively trying to lose the weight right away and everyone is different... and I only BF'd for a month (which they say burns like 500 cals per day).
@RunBooRun I left the hospital much lighter.. probably at least 10 pounds. I had gained 39 with my son.. I ultimately couldn't lose the final 10 before this pregnancy, but my clothes fit from before so I don't know how it had been redistributed (my boobs weighed a bunch in early stages of nursing). He was born in March and I wore a bikini the following summer if that's any indication. Nursing definitely helps.. !!
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 1 Samuel 1:27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this is too personal, feel free to ignore (is that really possible on here??).
I'm curious about the immediate weight loss postpartum. How much of the weight you gained did you lose right after delivery? Obviously there's baby, but you also lose weight from fluid, placenta, etc. Did you lose a lot more by your 6 week check up?
I know that I'll be able to lose the baby weight, but I'm just trying to size the magnitude...
ETA: I lost 70 lbs before I got pregnant. I'm pretty good at the weight loss thing (including the time and patience part of it).
I lost about 11 pounds by 36 hours. Its a really gradual loss, so I wouldn't expect a quick difference. I still look pregnant, too.
With my first, by 6 months postpartum I was at 20 pounds LESS than my starting weight.
Keep in mind limiting calories isn't really a good idea when nursing...it takes something like 500 extra calories per day to nourish a baby! Exercise and healthy diet are the slow but steady way.
First baby--gained 40. Lost 15in hospital, not doing anything but breastfeeding lost all but final 5-10 in a few months. But I really found that it wasn't as much about weight or the number as it was just about feeling "tight" again/fitting into clothes the way I did pre-baby.
With my first, I gained just shy of 40lbs and lost 15 by the time I went home, and at my 6 week check up had lost another 15...and I held on to the last 10 lbs until right before I got pregnant this time. I gained about 30 lbs this time and I came home yesterday & the scale says I've lost 12 so far. I found that last time I did fine when I tried to eat actual meals, and not do a lot of snacking, but with a very high maintenance baby, I ended up eating a lot of one handed foods which tend to not be the healthiest in my house.
I enjoy tracking everything measurable including my weight and baby's weight!
First pregnancy - gained 23lb, birthed a 7lb baby, and was back to my pre-baby weight at 5 weeks (different "shape" but same weight). My eating was insane, and I was EBFing.
Second time - gained 24lb, birthed 7pounder via CS, had a rough recovery, lost NO WEIGHT in the hospital due to major swelling. Took well over 6 months to get close to my normal weight and couldn't seem to lose the last 5 pounds, but I stopped caring. My CS really did a number on me, and limited my physical activity for about 12 weeks.
Third time - gained 21lb, birthed a 6lb baby via VBAC, and I'm down 14lb at 11 days PP. I expect to be at my pre-pregnancy weight within 6 weeks. It might take longer to fit into all my clothes though.
ETA: I am a classic case of diastasis recti - so my belly will stick out for a while until my abs heal back together. So even when I lose the weight I'll have a potbelly for 9 months or a year!
I just wanted to level set myself for what's reasonable. It sounds like 10-15 lbs is the average just home from the hospital.
I'm all about the long road. It took me 3 years to lose the 70lbs originally. Planning to breastfeed, so I know that can help. I'm also a lifter & a runner, so I don't eat super low calories when I'm losing to begin with.
I gained 50 or so pounds with my first and was back to my normal size within 6 months .. this time i somehow gained 60 plus (im normally only around 105 so that may have something to do with it) definitely have more of a love handle thing going on but hopefully with EBF and all the yummy fruits and veggies about to be in season I can still lose it all fast. I will say I like giving birth at this time of the year when healthy eating and exercise is easier unlike later in the year when the holidays are rolling around and it's getting cold
Last pregnancy I put on 22 lbs and lost it in 6 weeks but put it all back on 6 months later
I lost 20 lbs this time around in the first trimester, put on 17 lbs throughout pregnancy (keep in mind I delivered at 35 weeks) 3 weeks PP I am down 25 lbs. I am breastfeeding and I think that is a huge reason for losing so quickly. When I left the hospital I was only down 5 lbs after birthing a 6 lb 11 oz baby!
With my first I gained about 45. Prob lost 15 in the first week. My kid was starving her ass off and had to feed around the clock, so I was back to normal weight by like 5/6 months pp. I kept nursing her until I got pregnant with this one and was probably another 10 below my normal weight. Too skinny prob, but nursing makes it impossible for me to gain no matter what I eat. Up about 45 lbs again this time and hoping for the same outcome!
I enjoy tracking everything measurable including my weight and baby's weight!
First pregnancy - gained 23lb, birthed a 7lb baby, and was back to my pre-baby weight at 5 weeks (different "shape" but same weight). My eating was insane, and I was EBFing.
Second time - gained 24lb, birthed 7pounder via CS, had a rough recovery, lost NO WEIGHT in the hospital due to major swelling. Took well over 6 months to get close to my normal weight and couldn't seem to lose the last 5 pounds, but I stopped caring. My CS really did a number on me, and limited my physical activity for about 12 weeks.
Third time - gained 21lb, birthed a 6lb baby via VBAC, and I'm down 14lb at 11 days PP. I expect to be at my pre-pregnancy weight within 6 weeks. It might take longer to fit into all my clothes though.
ETA: I am a classic case of diastasis recti - so my belly will stick out for a while until my abs heal back together. So even when I lose the weight I'll have a potbelly for 9 months or a year!
Truth here. Even though I weighed twenty pounds less, my hips were so much wider that I went UP in pants sizes!
I gained 45 with my last baby. She was born at 2am, when I weighed myself that afternoon I was down 6lb (she weighed 6lb, plus placenta, fluids, etc...). At one week postpartum I was down 11 pounds. Down 20 pounds by 6 weeks. Down 30 pounds by 4 months. Down 40 pounds by 6 months. At prepregnancy weight at 8 months. Down another six pounds beyond that by 10 months. Gained back up to my normal weight when baby weaned after a year. It was a very similar loss schedule with my first baby too (though I didn't track it as regularly). Took between 6-9 months to get back to "normal" each time. I did not do anything intentional to lose weight besides exclusive breastfeeding.
I stopped counting the amount of pounds gained towards the end with my son when I reached 60lbs. I swelled horribly with him and towards the end I was incredibly puffy. I immediately lost about 20 lbs since a lot of it was fluid and such. I think I ended up losing most of the weight eventually but held on to about 15-20 lbs, although I'm not 100% sure since I'm not a huge fan of the scale. One of my biggest problems with having a hard time with losing the weight was falling into the trap of thinking that the weight was going to melt off just from breastfeeding. This does not happen for everyone and I learned that the hard way. I thought I could shove my face with whatever I wanted and even though I breastfed for 2 years, the weight didn't come off easily. I'm most definitely doing things differently this time around nutrition wise.
@disneybaby84 I've never heard of the water correlation between shortened breastfeeding time and increased intake. Just curious as to where you heard that? Increasing your water intake will help with your supply though.
I gained 40 with DS. Lost 10 immediately. Another 10 with time (couple months max). Then noooothing with diet and exercise.
Then when BFing stopped I started loosing weight pretty fast. I didn't know until then that is another common body type thing. To hold onto weight for breastfeeding. Super lame lol. This is why I have zero plans on paying attention to my scale until I'm done BFing. That way I'll just focus on strength and energy and not get depressed overy the number. ;-)
What are the age gaps between your kids? Do you feel like there is an "ideal" age gap that makes pregnancy/caring for a new baby easier or more difficult? I'm totally jumping the gun and trying to figure out when we should start trying for a second kid even though our first one isn't even out of the womb yet...
What are the age gaps between your kids? Do you feel like there is an "ideal" age gap that makes pregnancy/caring for a new baby easier or more difficult? I'm totally jumping the gun and trying to figure out when we should start trying for a second kid even though our first one isn't even out of the womb yet...
This is super duper every person has a different opinion! Pros and cons no matter how you go about it. my kids are 18mo apart! It's what I wanted, but daily ppl tell me how crazy I am and assume this LO was an oops baby. Cons--it's hard! Expensive! Chose to be Stuck at home till they're school age. Pros--they'll grow up close in age, playmates, and I can get out of the baby stages with all my kids together instead of continually hopping back into them after years of breaks.
@MMaru I agree with @kjd291 that everyone has a different opinion. I wanted to have mine between 18 months and 2.5 years apart...DH was barely convinced that 2.5 years is far enough apart. I will say it worked out well that he took some convincing, because this age gap has been great for us. DD is still young enough so they will be close in age, but old enough that she is independent and has some good self help skills. She can mostly dress herself, get a snack or drink from the fridge, and can entertain herself when I need her to. (Added bonus, we only have one in diapers)
We are already in negotiations about spacing for baby #3. We agreed to 3 children, with the possibility of 4 (because that's what I wanted). I pretty much said that if we only have 3, I want to do a similar age gap. If he will go for 4, we can wait until both our children have gone to school. Our public school starts at age 4, so that would be a 4.5-5 year gap, with another child around 2 years after that.
What are the age gaps between your kids? Do you feel like there is an "ideal" age gap that makes pregnancy/caring for a new baby easier or more difficult? I'm totally jumping the gun and trying to figure out when we should start trying for a second kid even though our first one isn't even out of the womb yet...
Definitely different for everyone, and depends on how many kids you want to have, your age, how long it takes to get pregnant, etc, but for me 18 months - 2 years is the range that is ideal for our family. My first two are 20 months apart, and I loved this gap, especially for the first time around. This time they will be 24 months apart and in some ways it's nice that she's older and more capable (potty trained, talks a lot, getting better at dressing herself, etc) but in other ways I think she's so much more aware now which makes it harder to add another baby. I'm very glad the first two were closer because my first really doesn't remember what it was like to be an only child, she's always had her sister and they are so close and have no jealousy issues or conflicts and the transition was so smooth.
Ideally, we'll have a 20-ish month gap between our third and fourth, but it will depend a lot more this time on my body. I need to take care of myself and get myself back in shape, especially my core. Three pregnancies in under four years has been rough and I want to make sure I'm ready before trying again.
@MMaru I'm a FTM so I don't have an answer for you but I have been giving this a lot of thought lately as well and one of the biggest things that comes to mind is the cost of daycare! At least in my city the average cost of daycare is $600-800/ month (for one child) so we will likely try to space out our children so that we don't have 2 in daycare at the same time for very long because it is so expensive and we can't really afford for me to be a SAHM.
@MMaru this is something DH and I talked about. I wanted closer to 2 years, he wanted 4. It worked out to 3. Just because of cost, I'm not sure if we'll have another, but so far 3 years has been great. Our oldest can entertain himself for awhile, get dressed, and is potty trained. He has his jealousy moments, but also understands he has to be patient sometimes. Also, like @SienaC said, cost is a big thing! Paying for 2 in daycare is going to be a nightmare.
Alex married to M since 6.13.09 T - 3.3.14 A - 2.24.17
@MMaru I think it really also comes down to the child you have. They're all so different and my daughter was no way ready for such big changes and neither was I for a long time. She is going on 3.5 and she wakes up 2-4 times a night still. When she was between 1-2.5 years old we had nearly 15 quick wake ups a night. (Most kids don't wake up that much but mine is a crazy person) so this all came into consideration. This pregnancy was an Ooops pregnancy so I still wasn't fully ready. Everyone I talk to says they love having their little ones close in age but for the sake of my sanity I couldn't have done it. This is way more ideal of an age gap for us. She's potty trained, she's starting school in the fall so I'll have some time to spend with the baby while I'm on maternity leave, she can peel herself an orange and be pretty helpful for a lot of things so I'm feeling pretty confident that this is the perfect age gap. (For us)
All I do know is that 5 years age gap makes for 2 only children in my experience. My sister and I never got along, never played together, never had the same friends and as she got older I was always home by myself without a sibling and then eventually she moved out and I was still young BUT we have the most amazing relationship now that we're both adults. So it's really hard to say but I knew I wanted a smaller age gap than 5 years.
Years ago a psychologist told me the ideal gap for children's well-being was 5 years for the exact reason @Burrberrymum mentioned - they both grow up like only children and have less of the jealousy/resentment/competition. The alternative is to space them only one year apart so they have a sibling before developing total awareness of self, and no memory of being oldest/only.
I wanted Irish twins but I wanted to breastfeed for a year, and that was birth control for me. But it doesn't necessarily work for everyone!
In my early days of coming home with baby, breastfeeding was approximately 40 minutes a session and I was bad about drinking enough fluids. Past couple days been drinking more water, particularly yesterday and he bas been breastfeeding 20-30 minutes.
In my early days of coming home with baby, breastfeeding was approximately 40 minutes a session and I was bad about drinking enough fluids. Past couple days been drinking more water, particularly yesterday and he bas been breastfeeding 20-30 minutes.
Babies go through crazy growth spurts where they cluster feed like there's no manana. Its telling your body to up milk production and sounds normal
@disneybaby84 Increased fluid intake doesn't necessarily mean shorter feed time but can definitely affect supply if you are dehydrated. This can cause baby to nurse longer to get enough calories. Babies are also inherently more sleepy during the first 1-2 weeks which can cause them to be "lazy nursers", sucking and then taking breaks, falling asleep during a session and taking longer. Once they are a bit older they become more efficient.
baby already scratched his cheek, do i try to file his nails?
Sure! If you feel confident you could clip them or file them. Tons of people use those mittens at first but I hate them....I want my baby to be able to touch the world.
@disneybaby84 One of the first things I did when my son was a couple days old was file his nails. Those flimsy things were like little razor blades. I was too nervous to clip them, so filing is a good alternative. I never bothered with the mittens and I waited until he was asleep when filing.
@disneybaby84 As strange as it sounds my daughter's doctor suggested I bite her nails off when she was a new born. Oddly enough she said she sees less little cut fingers with this method. Sounds kind of unsanitary but I did try it and it really was the most simple way of getting the thin little claws off.
disneybaby84
member
Re: Ask a STM week of 3/6
I'm curious about the immediate weight loss postpartum. How much of the weight you gained did you lose right after delivery? Obviously there's baby, but you also lose weight from fluid, placenta, etc. Did you lose a lot more by your 6 week check up?
I know that I'll be able to lose the baby weight, but I'm just trying to size the magnitude...
ETA: I lost 70 lbs before I got pregnant. I'm pretty good at the weight loss thing (including the time and patience part of it).
Samantha - 4/5/2017
1 Samuel 1:27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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With my first, by 6 months postpartum I was at 20 pounds LESS than my starting weight.
Keep in mind limiting calories isn't really a good idea when nursing...it takes something like 500 extra calories per day to nourish a baby! Exercise and healthy diet are the slow but steady way.
First baby--gained 40. Lost 15in hospital, not doing anything but breastfeeding lost all but final 5-10 in a few months. But I really found that it wasn't as much about weight or the number as it was just about feeling "tight" again/fitting into clothes the way I did pre-baby.
I gained 50 this pregnancy. Lost 20 sonfar
No--staying hydrated does help your supply--wouldn't shorten time, but helps you make sure you're making enough milk
First pregnancy - gained 23lb, birthed a 7lb baby, and was back to my pre-baby weight at 5 weeks (different "shape" but same weight). My eating was insane, and I was EBFing.
Second time - gained 24lb, birthed 7pounder via CS, had a rough recovery, lost NO WEIGHT in the hospital due to major swelling. Took well over 6 months to get close to my normal weight and couldn't seem to lose the last 5 pounds, but I stopped caring. My CS really did a number on me, and limited my physical activity for about 12 weeks.
Third time - gained 21lb, birthed a 6lb baby via VBAC, and I'm down 14lb at 11 days PP. I expect to be at my pre-pregnancy weight within 6 weeks. It might take longer to fit into all my clothes though.
ETA: I am a classic case of diastasis recti - so my belly will stick out for a while until my abs heal back together. So even when I lose the weight I'll have a potbelly for 9 months or a year!
I just wanted to level set myself for what's reasonable. It sounds like 10-15 lbs is the average just home from the hospital.
I'm all about the long road. It took me 3 years to lose the 70lbs originally. Planning to breastfeed, so I know that can help. I'm also a lifter & a runner, so I don't eat super low calories when I'm losing to begin with.
Samantha - 4/5/2017
I lost 20 lbs this time around in the first trimester, put on 17 lbs throughout pregnancy (keep in mind I delivered at 35 weeks) 3 weeks PP I am down 25 lbs. I am breastfeeding and I think that is a huge reason for losing so quickly. When I left the hospital I was only down 5 lbs after birthing a 6 lb 11 oz baby!
#2 3/2015
#3 3/2017
#4 10/2019
@disneybaby84 I've never heard of the water correlation between shortened breastfeeding time and increased intake. Just curious as to where you heard that? Increasing your water intake will help with your supply though.
Then when BFing stopped I started loosing weight pretty fast. I didn't know until then that is another common body type thing. To hold onto weight for breastfeeding. Super lame lol. This is why I have zero plans on paying attention to my scale until I'm done BFing. That way I'll just focus on strength and energy and not get depressed overy the number. ;-)
What are the age gaps between your kids? Do you feel like there is an "ideal" age gap that makes pregnancy/caring for a new baby easier or more difficult? I'm totally jumping the gun and trying to figure out when we should start trying for a second kid even though our first one isn't even out of the womb yet...
my kids are 18mo apart! It's what I wanted, but daily ppl tell me how crazy I am and assume this LO was an oops baby. Cons--it's hard! Expensive! Chose to be Stuck at home till they're school age. Pros--they'll grow up close in age, playmates, and I can get out of the baby stages with all my kids together instead of continually hopping back into them after years of breaks.
We are already in negotiations about spacing for baby #3. We agreed to 3 children, with the possibility of 4 (because that's what I wanted). I pretty much said that if we only have 3, I want to do a similar age gap. If he will go for 4, we can wait until both our children have gone to school. Our public school starts at age 4, so that would be a 4.5-5 year gap, with another child around 2 years after that.
Definitely different for everyone, and depends on how many kids you want to have, your age, how long it takes to get pregnant, etc, but for me 18 months - 2 years is the range that is ideal for our family. My first two are 20 months apart, and I loved this gap, especially for the first time around. This time they will be 24 months apart and in some ways it's nice that she's older and more capable (potty trained, talks a lot, getting better at dressing herself, etc) but in other ways I think she's so much more aware now which makes it harder to add another baby. I'm very glad the first two were closer because my first really doesn't remember what it was like to be an only child, she's always had her sister and they are so close and have no jealousy issues or conflicts and the transition was so smooth.
Ideally, we'll have a 20-ish month gap between our third and fourth, but it will depend a lot more this time on my body. I need to take care of myself and get myself back in shape, especially my core. Three pregnancies in under four years has been rough and I want to make sure I'm ready before trying again.
#2 3/2015
#3 3/2017
#4 10/2019
Me: 26 Hubs: 28
Married: 6/6/15
Baby Girl: 3/22/2017
Also, like @SienaC said, cost is a big thing! Paying for 2 in daycare is going to be a nightmare.
married to M since 6.13.09
T - 3.3.14
A - 2.24.17
All I do know is that 5 years age gap makes for 2 only children in my experience. My sister and I never got along, never played together, never had the same friends and as she got older I was always home by myself without a sibling and then eventually she moved out and I was still young BUT we have the most amazing relationship now that we're both adults. So it's really hard to say but I knew I wanted a smaller age gap than 5 years.
I wanted Irish twins but I wanted to breastfeed for a year, and that was birth control for me. But it doesn't necessarily work for everyone!
Me: 26 Hubs: 28
Married: 6/6/15
Baby Girl: 3/22/2017