Pregnancy Weight Gain Struggles

First – I want to acknowledge that I am so grateful to be able to have a baby, so I do not want to belittle that in anyway. I wish I were able to say that I was not affected by my weight gain during pregnancy, but I really struggled with my new size.  I was pregnant – it was one time I am supposed to gain weight – so why would I start having body image issues?  I would wake up each morning, go to my closet and cry that "nothing fit". It was pathetic. Obviously my clothes wouldn't fit - I was pregnant! 

So what did I do? After several months of crying each morning... I realized I was being ridiculous. I focused on what I was grateful for – my healthy growing baby, my husband, my family, and my friends. Fortunately, my mom came to visit and took me shopping for maternity clothes. My husband and I packed up all of my clothes that no longer fit and put them in bins in the attic. Keeping my clothes that didn’t fit out of sight helped me get dressed each morning. I was able to go into my closet and see only clothes that fit.

I also found that finding well fitting maternity clothes helped me feel more comfortable in my new size. I am petite so most maternity tops did not correctly fit and came down to my knees (which was discouraging in itself). I found that buying stretchy tops 1-2 sizes larger fit much better. I basically lived in tank tops and cardigans. I also discovered the two greatest maternity pants - J Brand maternity jeans (which you can find on Ebay for $30!) and ASOS maternity pants. These pants are great because they look and feel like non-maternity pants. They are also great for post-partum wear because they don't have the belly band but are still really comfortable around your waist. Oh and it also helps to treat yourself... I bought the Burberry jacket that I've always wanted even though it didn't fit around my belly at the time. It looks lovely now. I also bought "pregnancy make up, pregnancy shoes, pregnancy coffee table"... whoops.. :).

ASOS Waterfall Cardigan | ASOS Kick Flare Pant | Motherhood Side Ruched Tank | J Brand Jean Legging

I ended up gaining 43 lbs., which is outside the recommended 25-35lbs that my doctor said was normal. I think this was due to several factors including having severe sciatic nerve pain and thus not being able to work out, extreme swelling because I had pre-eclampsia, and maybe because I ate everything in site.  I lost 26 lbs. within a week after delivery and I currently have about 10 more pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. For my next pregnancy I am going to focus on eating healthy, taking lots of walks, and staying positive.

I know that size doesn’t really matter – but it does affect a lot of women, including myself. What I needed to do was focus on what really mattered – loving myself and those around me. How did you handle pregnancy weight gain?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin