About the Baby...

A couple of people have asked me if my weight loss plan is a good idea right now.

"Right now" meaning "being a nursing mom of a 4 month old infant".

And the short answer is: Definitely!

The long answer is this:

I weigh 260 plus pounds (281.5 at the beginning). That is most likely considered morbidly obese. I don't know for sure; I'm too afraid to look at any charts. This body of mine could stand to lose quite a bit of weight to be in a much healthier state as a nursing mother, as a mother period.

My children need me to be healthy. They need me to have energy. They need me to be happy. They just plain NEED me. And if I am morbidly obese...I am not going to be here for them.

As for 4 month old Cee... She will be 5 months on the 20th of June. At her 4 month appointment she weighed a whopping 18 pounds. She is 95% on the growth charts for weight, height, and head size.

When I asked the pediatrician about my plan to lose weight by cutting calories and exercising and that I was concerned about my milk supply being enough for Cee, she laughed in my face.

Literally.

And when I turned to look at my rolly-poly, dimply, pudgy little big baby I felt stupid for even asking. Of course she's getting enough milk.

I mean...Look at her. Look at those dimples and rolls and cheeks and chinS! (And why are they so darn cute on her and not on me???)



When I first started cutting calories I did feel a diminish in my milk supply. It really worried me, thus the reason I asked my pediatrician about my weight loss plans. Her reply, after laughing of course, was not to worry. As long as I was eating healthy and drinking PLENTY of fluids (which I am) then Cee would be just fine. And actually not just fine...Better! She'll reap the benefits of a healthier cow mom too.

I noticed that the longer I have stuck with my new lifestyle change the better my body has adapted to it. My milk supply is fierce. Cee is satisfied and happy and plump as ever. I really have been very careful to make sure I am not doing anything to endanger my child. As much as I want to be thin and gorgeous healthy and in shape I want even more for her to be happy and well-fed and developing normally.

I will always put her before myself, along with my other three children. But at this time in my life, putting my health and well-being above other things (such as Facebook and social blogging) is something I am doing for them as well as me. And hopefully the example I am setting in making healthier choices will be one that they choose to follow too.

I'm grateful for friends who worry about my children's safety as well as my own. But trust me. I am doing this safely. Slowly, but surely, but safely.