Pregnancy: the perfect time to put on a bikini for the first time in years
I’ve given birth four times and all four times I’ve gained a a lot of weight during the pregnancies preceding those births – usually around 50 lbs each time. And I’ve never really worried too much about it. I mean, I joke about how big I get, and by the end of the last trimester, I’m kind of sick of being the size of a small Latvian village, but I haven’t really worried about it. And each time, the weight has come off relatively easily, if not quickly; I’m usually back in my regular clothing by the time the baby is 2.5 or three years old.. I was a little worried that in my last pregnancy, when I was 39 years old, that it would be harder to lose the weight than it had been in my 20s, but strangely enough, it really wasn’t. I was so busy with the baby and the bigger kids and the full time job (when my other babies were babies, I was working from home) that it really wasn’t too difficult. Of course, my “normal” weight at age 40 is about 10 lbs more than my “normal” weight at 25, but that’s okay. At this new normal weight, I’m healthy. I feel good. I can shop for cute clothes that I like. My husband seems to like how I look. So it’s all good.
Baby # 4 was just past 2 years old when I got pregnant this time – in late 2009. And as far as weight goes, I had lost back down to pretty close to my new normal at that point. I had just started wearing my skinny jeans again. I was also thinking that since we had decided not to have any more children, this would be the year that I would really get into shape, with the goal of actually feeling good in a bikini at the beach during summer 2010 – something I haven’t worn in public since H was a toddler in 1995. I was going to find a way to start riding horses regularly again. Maybe give yoga a real go. 2010 was going to be the year of buff Kate.
Instead, however, 2010 turned out to be the year (okay, yet another year) of the knocked up Kate. The VERY, VERY large knocked up Kate. How large? Well, by my calculations, I am currently running approximately 28% ahead of my normal weight gain schedule at this point in my pregnancy. I am 26 weeks pregnant and I’ve already gained – wait for it….wait for it…thirty six pounds. I’m trying not to stress about it, but I’ll admit that I kind of am. I mean, I am okay with gaining fifty pounds but at this rate, I’m headed somewhere well north of 60. ..SIXTY POUNDS (have I mentioned that I am 5 foot 3 inches tall on a good day?). And this time it’s not all packing on to my belly and hips. I see it in my arms and my face – even my feet look substantially larger already. I am so big already that I am starting to outgrow the maternity dresses I bought only six weeks ago. One of them barely fits over my tummy at this point.
Speaking of my tummy, at my last appointment, the nurse figured out that I am currently measuring 3 weeks ahead of my dates – 29 weeks instead of 26 weeks. I know my dates are correct, and ultrasound has determined that we are indeed having only one baby and that she is floating around in the appropriate amount of amniotic fluid. Thus, I am assuming that this time, I’ll be having a big baby. Maybe. Or maybe I just need to lay off the obscene amounts of food that I can’t seem to stop myself from consuming lately. I have NEVER been this hungry in pregnancy …or at any other time in my life. Earlier this week, I had Jon bring me not one but TWO quarter pounders with cheese in one day…plus an oreo mcflurry. And the only thing that stopped me from sending him out for a third one was sheer embarrassment.
So our annual, big family beach trip is coming up in only 6 weeks or so. We’re going to our beloved Edisto Beach – back to the fabulous house we stayed in last time. I figure I’ll be up at least 50 pounds by that time. And you know what? I’ve made a decision. Even though this is the year of VERY LARGE KNOCKED UP KATE instead of super buff Kate, I’ve decided that I am still going to rock a bikini at the beach in 2010. I’m just gonna go for it. In fact, I plan to start shopping for my supersized, belly-baring bikini this week. But for the moment – right now – I’m going to go hit the nearest drive thru window and order up that third quarter pounder, the one I should have had the other day…
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Go for it… rock that bikini!!! Just make sure you apply sunscreen to that bump – my mom sunbathed in a bikini while pregnant with me. Then after I arrived, and the skin shrank back, she had a distinctive oval on her belly.
When I was pregnant with my daughter I was SO hungry!!! I actually told the guy at the drive through to “hurry!” It’s not one of my proudest moments, but it is one of the funniest.
The first time around, I threw caution to the wind after a lifetime of dieting and gained 60 lbs. Two years later, I had lost 40 of those pounds in time for pregnancy #2. But this pregnancy I’m on track to gain only 30 or 35 lbs (I’m up 26 lbs at 33 weeks). And yet I’m still eating whatever I want — the current obsession is two donuts a day … and once I had FOUR. Definately a sweet tooth, but not so much with the hamburgers. And now I’m at the point where my belly is so big I feel TERRIBLE after eating, so I figure it will regulate itself. Why will I gain 30 lbs this time but gained 60 lbs last time? I have no idea. I figure it simply must be what I needed to do, each time. I don’t worry about it, either. When I’m hungry, I eat. Sometimes three pints of strawberries at a sitting, sometimes four donuts. But I aint going anywhere near a bikini.
So out of curiosity (and the fact that at 24 weeks, I am measuring “at 27 weeks” but the U/S has shown that the babe is an appropriate 24 weeks and yada yada), is measuring big a new thing for you with this particular pregnancy? My doctor told me not too worry as I measure consistently “big” for weeks gestation and that they only worry when its all of a sudden when you’ve been tracking at “normal”. And that I carry “not to textbook” due to an old injury to my hip – everything sits up about three inches higher than anyone would expect to find!
I say rock that bikini. And if your travels, you find a maternity suit that looks like it can support some serious rackage through swim aerobics and isn’t a cutsie two piece, please please please please post a source here or on your blog!!!! (The lifeguard got quite a show last night. Spaghetti straps + DDs + running in water = wardrobe malfunction)
I rocked the bikini last pregnancy, and I fully intend to rock it this time. Hot mama in a bikini!!!
Will J forgive you for this?
You know, im living in spain and my matrona (obgyn-ish) told me that at 5´4¨ and 121 lbs that i am ´a little fat´ and that i can just eat what i want because im pregnant (9 weeks). She also said that I should gain NO MORE than 26 lbs throughout the entire pregnancy. This was all in spanish, centimeters, and kilos so after doing conversions at home i was pretty outraged… i want to come home to the u.s. where i won´t have to feel guilty if i want mc d´s chicken nuggets! (which i do.. all of the time by the way)
Have your health care providers not spoken to you about the course you’re on?
There are major health issues associated with that kind of weight gain for both you and your baby, particularly at your age. You are at risk for gestational diabetes and eclampsia, both of which cause decreased placental blood flow, with the potential for fetal impact. And the eclampsia can kill you.
Stop eating the crap you’re eating—McFlurries???
(Do you feed that stuff to your kids??)
Lean protein and vegetables and fruit, with some whole grains, and two servings of dairy for you. You don’t need to gain another ounce.
Goodness, how can you be a mother of four and be so cavalier with your health?
If this is really news to you –our health care system is a total farce.
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I’m 20 and pregnant and I rock the bikini and I don’t even use a maternity size I use the on from when I was 15. I got a lot of looks from a lot of hot guys and we had sex in the bathroom at the beach once.