The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[lifelovinaries]

hey nicks, just stopped in to check in on baby and family. Hope everyone is fine and i hope you drop in to update us soon!

[Diana]

((hug))) >smooch< (((hug)))

can't wait to see pics of that little one bakin' away in the oven!

[nickieluv]

Hey all - just back for a little check-in - nothing much to report.

I am ENORMOUS and tired all the time. I can't wait for this baby to come out and give me some energy back! I remember well how much better I felt after my daughter was born - it was almost immediate, having my body back and all those aches and pains gone.

I have gained almost 40 pounds so far, with 7 weeks to go - so, not fabulous, but we'll just have to wait and see how much comes off on it's own. I am hopeful that it's mostly baby, and not mostly me - certainly I've not been eating carrots and lettuce the whole time, but I'm also not pigging out. It took me a long time to stop worrying about it, but I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant and I'm going to gain weight, and as long as I know I'm not being a pig then I'm not going to worry about it until I'm in a position to do something about it. Right now I'm gaining right on target - a pound a week - so I will probably be at around 45-50 pounds gained by the time I go into the hospital.

Everyone is healthy around here - both in utero and out - still no second ultrasound so I am no closer to really knowing the gender of the baby. I am so not good with surprises but it looks like I'm going to have to deal with it. Unless (and this is a strange thing to hope) I'm too fat for the OB to be able to tell whether the baby is head-down or not, so he'll order another ultrasound to find out. So here I am, actually hoping I'm fat. But not doing anything to make myself fatter!

Well, that's the news. I will try to pop in after the birth, but to be honest it could be months and months - I don't really know how busy I'll be with two little ones to care for. That's new for me, of course. I'm going to see how the breastfeeding goes, and if I'm able to do better than last time now that my thyroid problem has been treated with medication, I won't be coming back to the plan until the baby is 6 months old and no longer getting all his/her nutrition from breast milk alone. I am thinking I will do 4 and 2 as long as I am breastfeeding even a little, see what it does to my milk supply, and then when the baby is completely weaned I'll be back on 5 and 1 and raring to go! My hope is that taking care of two kids will not leave me much time to think about overeating.

Talk to you all later - congratulations to the goal-makers and all those who are going to make it while I'm away - I am happy for you and can't wait to join your ranks!

[Mike]

Great to hear from you Nickie. Glad to hear that all is well with the pregnancy. Keep healthy.

We all miss you.

[summergirl]

It was enjoyable to read your update! I only joined the forum since March, but became pregnant before I hit my 20 lb. mark, which totally bummed me out! But, I am hoping to do the good ol' breastfeeding for as long as I can, then get back on MF, as well. I think the 4 and 2 may be a good idea for me, as well. On the upside-having some MF meals in my life with 3 wee ones around the house and working full time, will certainly help with the amount of time I spend on "food prep"! haha

I'd love to hear more about your pregnancy update. It goes so fast, except while you're "living it", especially during morning sickness and the last month, it seems painfully slow! Good luck with all, and I hope to hear more from you, soon-

PS-When I had my most recent one (she is 10 months, now) I was "superwoman" the first few weeks-she slept so well and I was baking cakes, cleaning house, dusting, etc.. I'm sure my husband got way too comfortable with it. Let's just say, it didn't last long!

[Sojourner]

Hola Nicks!!

Thanks for the update ~ it's good
to hear that y'all are doing well.
Good luck with, well, everything!

Floating some Sojo's Mojo your way, girl...

((((((((((((((((:hug:))))))))))))))))

[Tawanda]

I was thinking that Nickie's due date was soon.....according to her ticker, the baby is due in 4 days. I hope all is going well for her.

[Diana]

Me, too, Tawanda. If you hear anything, will you please post it? We will, too, of course.

[Mike]

According to her little ticker (see her post above for May 26) due date is Tuesday, July 15??

How are ya Nicks?

[Mike]

Still wanting to hear???

[nickieluv]

I'm back, I'm back.... Sorry to keep you all waiting in suspense.

The baby was born on July 11th - another little girl - 8 pounds 4 ounces, 20.5 inches. It was a very calm experience compared to the birth of my first child, everyone was right about the second baby being way easier. Except, of course, a newborn is still a newborn and not easy at all! That's why it's taken so long to get here again with an update. She is amazing but very often will not let you lay her down - so between my toddler and a baby in my arms every second it's hard to do much of anything. I had great hopes of being supermom but no such luck!

I am probably restarting MF on Friday. Breastfeeding has not gone well, at first it was really painful and then I didn't have a good supply and had to supplement, and for the last two days the baby has just had nothing to do with the breast and will only take the bottle. I was pumping but I decided yesterday that enough was enough - it's impossible to pump when I'm here alone with two kids, one of whom as I mentioned will not allow herself to be put down to sleep, and I am too selfish to pump exclusively - I wanted to breastfeed for the emotional bond and physical closeness. It was a big decision - I've been thinking about it for the last week - but I'm going to let my daughter wean herself and go from there. I offer the breast at every feeding, multiple times (before, during, and after the bottle) but she won't take it, so I figure in a few days I just won't have any milk anymore. It still makes me a little sad but I'm trying to tell myself I'm not a bad mother because I can't/won't breastfeed. I don't quite believe it yet but I'm getting there.

I have enough MF food for 6 weeks, which should give me enough time to save up for when I have to place a 'real' order out of our grocery budget. I'm not going to be able to afford those RTDs though, especially with the price increase, and I will miss them!! I am on leave from my job for a full year - I still have income from my church job and piano lessons, but it's a huge drop. I'm trying to get more students. However, we are still managing - we spent a lot of time this past year getting rid of debts and it seems to have worked out well. I was going to start today, but I'm not really ready. The low calories could drop my milk supply even faster and I want my daughter to be the one who weans, not me. Plus I'm just, well, not ready. I've been wanting to be on the diet again practically since I got pregnant but now that I can do it, I'm a bit afraid. Afraid that I'll succeed, I guess - or that I won't. Those are the two options, right?

Well, I've read up a lot today but it's just too much to try to catch up in every single journal and post - so I'll start fresh and try to get here every day if I can. I'm selfishly glad to see Karli back here - it's not the same without you! - and I'm very glad to see so many are still here, much lighter and ready to share your wisdom of the journey to keep me on the straight and narrow this time around. Maybe with a newborn, I'll be too tired to overeat.

[DogMa]

Congrats on your new daughter! What's her name?


If it helps any ... my mom couldn't breast-feed (she was even sick when I was born, so I wasn't around her much for the first few days), and we were definitely bonded. We were extremely close.

[nickieluv]

Thanks, it does help a little. My mom told me that she only breastfed me for two or three weeks - and she never breastfed my brother, and he's ridiculously smart (and you are obviously really smart, too, I can tell by your posts) so maybe it's not true that if you don't breastfeed, your baby is sickly and dumb. That's what all the online stuff would have you believe. That if you don't breastfeed, you're cheating your baby out of a good life - oh, and you yourself will get cancer and osteoporosis and all manner of horrible things will happen. I know, the breastfeeding nazis write all that stuff, and I'm sure it's based in real statistics, but I let it get to me way too much. I did read one thing that had a really good point - who feels guilty for not breastfeeding? Not the person who decided from the start to use formula, but the person who tried to breastfeed and couldn't succeed. I just tried so hard with my first daughter and managed to breastfeed (although always having to supplement with formula) for five months - I was hoping to do at least the same with this one, but she has made the decision that she just doesn't like it, I guess. Doesn't seem to matter when or how I offer, she just won't.

Well, this isn't a breastfeeding forum, sorry. But it's been on my mind for months, really, wondering if I could do it and then dealing with the reality of my situation after the birth. The important thing is that she's healthy and loved and is gaining weight, not losing. I can be a great mom in lots of other ways, and at least she got some breastmilk and that's better than none.

So, I might start the diet tomorrow instead of Friday. It's funny, mentally, I want to do it but when the morning comes, I get freaked out, and then after a few hours (when I've already 'blown it') I decide I can do it after all and should start tomorrow. Maybe I should start in the middle of the day when I'm feeling strong? Then it might be easier to keep it going the next morning, if I've already had a few supplements? There's nothing stopping me from having a shake or some oatmeal right now and calling that the beginning. Starting in the morning is probably along the same lines as starting on a Monday or something, right?

Here's the thing - if I start today, and have a supplement or two but then have a tough time with dinner, I will feel like I threw away money. I did that for almost two months last time I started - good for part of the day, then snack snack snack. Lost virtually nothing and still was spending money every month on the products. Having a stash to start with, it's like free food, sort of, and I don't want to waste it. So for anyone who thought I wouldn't be an over-analytical mess this time around - hah! Boy were we wrong!

Oh, and I didn't forget about the names - I just get weird about posting names online. I know, a first name wouldn't give anything away, but I'm a bit paranoid about it and with all these stories of people stealing babies - not that I think anyone here (who I've interacted with) would steal my baby, but there might be someone who reads and never posts who is some sort of wacko child kidnapper. It's French, I'll say that. With a very Italian last name so the poor kid is going to be way confused. Her sister is in the same predicament, I've got a thing for those French female names I guess.

[DogMa]

Dang, and I was all set to hunt you down and steal her. Since she's not breast-feeding, anyway ... LOL

I understand, though. I'll just think of my own French name for her. I've always liked Cosette, from Les Miserables.

[nickieluv]

Since she's not breast-feeding, anyway ... LOL

A few days ago that would have had me off in a corner with tears streaming down my face. I guess the fact I could laugh at it means my hormones are settling down finally! I like Cosette, too. That's not it, but I sort of wish now that it was.... Guess I'll have to have another one!