Why I'm Not Losing Weight

I've been wracking my brain for a week now, trying to come up with a cute or clever way to say this.

But I got nuthin'. So here goes:

I'm pregnant.

Was there ever a better reason to not lose weight? :)

My husband and I recently decided we were ready for one more (this makes four!), and we're blessed that it happened right away. We wanted to time it so the baby will be born at the beginning of the summer (due July 9th, c-section will be scheduled around the 2nd), so I'll have him at home for two whole months while I recover and adjust. Then when he goes back to work in September, both Princess and Music Man will be in school full-time, so I'll still only have two littles at home for most of the day.

The other kids are over-the-moon excited. Especially Princess, who keeps talking and singing to my non-existent belly (I'm only a little over 6 weeks, after all!), and telling everyone that we have a new baby on the way. (She told the hostess at the restaurant we went to on Wednesday. The poor kid - she was maybe 17 - had no idea what to say.)

So there you have it. We're just going ahead and being counter-cultural again! You don't see many families with four or more kids these days (unless you live in our town), and you certainly don't see many women announcing a pregnancy before they clear the first trimester. So why the early announcement?

Well, two reasons. One is practical - in the past I had horrible, unending "morning" sickness that knocked me off my feet for months. It's hard to hide that, and it's also nice to be able to ask for help when I can't keep up. This time, fortunately, it would appear that a (mostly) Paleo diet has pretty much cured my morning sickness. I still get sick if I wait too long before eating or if I don't rest enough, but it's 100% manageable. (My previous three pregnancies were so rough I lost 10-15lbs in my first trimester each time!)

The second reason is personal/spiritual/philosophical/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. See, this baby is part of our family already. I don't generally like keeping family members secret. S/he isn't much bigger than a sesame seed, but there's already a teeny poppy seed-sized heart beating away in there! We really believe that life is beautiful and sacred and worth celebrating at every stage. And if, God forbid, we lose this baby, then we'll be grateful for the support we know we'd receive. I've been though a miscarriage before, with our first baby. I was just over 5 weeks pregnant, a point when lots of women haven't even figured out they're pregnant. We hadn't told anyone yet, only because I had an upcoming visit to my parents' house, and I was waiting to tell them in person. Because I miscarried before I got there, I had to explain everything in my grief, which was so hard. I really don't think that, for me, it would be any easier to deal with a secret loss than one everyone knows about. (That's just me - every woman has to go with her gut on this one.) So, that being said, we're gratefully accepting all prayers, positive thoughts and good vibes you'd care to send our way!

I'm hoping this time around to gain a little less weight than I did in the past, just by sticking to an 80% Paleo diet. (Yes, 80%. Don't even TRY to tell this pregnant lady she can't have some Baskin Robins once in a while!!) In fact, if I can keep my weight-gain to 20-25lbs, I'll end this pregnancy around the same weight I was when I conceived Princess! Fingers (and toes) crossed.