Gaining Weight...and a World Record!

So.

Gaining weight while pregnant.  It's kind of a bum deal.  It's very hard to step on the scale each day after eating well and knowing the the number is going to go up rather than down.  While the very logical side of me says "Duh, Becky, you are freaking growing a human being and your body has to gain weight in order for the baby to be healthy!" the vain side that worked so hard to lose those 25 lbs that I'm supposed to gain back says "But it was so hard to get off of your body in the first place!!!"

It's a good thing I'm a logical person and I care much more about this baby than I do about my weight.  Plus, I know that a lot of the weight that I will gain over the course of this pregnancy will disappear once the baby arrives.  If all goes well, I will have about ten pounds of extra weight to work off which is more manageable to me.

But now's where I confess that I actually haven't gained weight during pregnancy; I've lost weight.

Starting weight: 162.2
Current weight: 156.0

As of today, I'm down a little over 6 lbs from the start of my pregnancy.  I've actually gained a pound back over the last month, but other than that I've been losing.  I'm not sure why as I never threw up during the morning sickness phase, but my doctor is not concerned and says that so far I am quite healthy.  I think it helps that I started the pregnancy with a BMI of 26.2 which is in the "overweight" category which means my pregnancy weight gain should only be 15-25 lbs compared to the 25-35 lbs for normal weight people.  Since I've lost weight, I like to think that I'm almost in the normal weight category!  My ultrasound tech thanked me for being "skinny" since it makes it easier for her to see the baby.  I love her now.  She's my new best friend and I can't imagine why.  ;)

My current BMI is 25.2 which is just .3 pts over the healthy range.  I feel really good about this.  One of the things that was really stressing me out was that I was starting this pregnancy out at an unhealthy weight and I didn't want it to affect my wee little one.  Now I'm feeling much better about that.  However, please note that I did NOT try to lose weight while pregnant.  I've actually been actively trying to gain weight according to what I'm supposed to be doing; my body just isn't responding.

So that's where I'm at.  Trying to stay active and trying to eat as healthy as I can.  It's hard.  I don't have any energy when I get home from work so my desire to cook healthy meals is pretty much gone.  But I'm trying! And I think that's the important thing.  I'm actively involved in the healthiness of this pregnancy and I think that will pay off after the baby is here and the time comes to drop the weight.  Fingers crossed, anyway!

Oh, and about me dropping off the radar last week....sorry about that!  I had a good excuse though--I was in the Netherlands!

I went there for work, but while there I did manage to sneak in some personal time for some fun events.  I lucked out enough that I was there during the Redhead Days Festival which is an annual gathering of redheads in the Netherlands.  It just so happened that there were so many redheads there that we set a world record for most natural redheads in one place at one time!

Red hair everywhere!

Very odd to see in real life...

I'm not gonna lie--it was a combination of awesome, creepy, nerdy, and surreal to be a part of that many redheads in one place.  It just felt....odd.  And unnatural.  That just doesn't happen normally!  But it was fun and I'd definitely go again if I was in the area.

I also got the chance to sneak over to Antwerp, Belgium.  It's a beautiful city with some awesome architecture.

And a very funny statue...

This place is gorgeous!

It's good to be back in the states, but I'll only be here for a couple of days.  On Friday I fly to Sydney, Australia for some more work.  I'll post pictures when I return!  Perhaps I will finally have a baby bump by then!