Weights and Measure... Week 24

Well, here we are at 24 weeks. Who knew we would make it this far without loosing our minds?

Baby Roo is growing fast... and so am I! A lot of people comment about how small I look for being 24 weeks, yet my OBG says I need to lay off the carbs and slow down the weight gain. I guess she knows something I don't.

My original goal was to stay under a certain weight during this pregnancy. After leaving my previous job, I realized I had gained a whole 30 pounds since starting there a year earlier. It was hard not to gain weight with all the homemade goodies and pot lucks we shared to keep morale up. Not to mention I would sit for 8+ hours a day!

Over Excessive Amounts of Food at Work

After I quit, I set out to live a healthier lifestyle. In the 3 months between quitting and the news about Baby Roo, I had successful lost a total of 20lbs., a fact I am very proud of. So my goal was to not gain more than 20 in this pregnancy... FAT CHANCE! (see what I did there? Ha-ha)

So far I've gained 16lbs. in 24 weeks. Because I was so hungry all the time, I assumed filling myself with carbs like rice would be helpful. As a result, most of my meals consisted of rice and something else. WRONG! I'm so thankful my OBG took the time to explain to me what sorts of foods and nutrition I need for the pregnancy. That's when I started the Gestational Diabetes Diet.

If you're going to diet while pregnant, I would immediately tell you not to. You're growing a human for goodness sakes. The only reason I started this "diet" was because I knew I wasn't getting the correct nutrition and needed a more protein calculated diet. Being that I've never really learned how to balance my diet properly, this Gestational Diabetes Diet is safe for pregnancy and gives me proper nutritional information based on my baby's needs.

Now I have a plan! I eat a certain amount of protein at each snack/meal and have replaced some other, not so great, food items with healthier alternatives. Is it easy? NO!! I still fail and eat half a row of cookies in one sitting or demolish the box of chocolates my husband got me for Valentines Day. (PS it's girl scout cookies time... what wonderful timing!)

Here are a few of my goals for my diet

• 3 small meals and 2-3 snacks - same time every day
• foods high in fiber - replacing white flour/rice with Whole Wheat
• 4 servings of Dairy Products - milk, yogurt, etc...
• 8 cups of water each day!

So far it's been a good week! I can tell I'm eating differently and need to adjust accordingly. All in all, it's worth it for my little guy and for the health of our family! Nutrition will be a life long battle in this country, and especially for me.