The route

I had originally hoped not to gain so much weight this time around, as I gained 65+lbs with both prior pregnancies. At 26 weeks, I have gained 45 lbs so it's not going swimmingly. I'd like to stop gaining so much, and just keep it to a minimum from this point forward. If I gain .5 lb a week starting now, I will still be at 52lbs gained, which is still quite high for any pregnancy, much less one for someone like me who started off significantly (about 50lbs) overweight. I've been eating pretty healthy overall, but my portions are too large and the whole first 4.5 months of my pregnancy were spent eating large amounts of white carbs (which I don't even normally like or eat) and soda because they were the only thing that did not make me overwhelmingly nauseous. And I ate them constantly because going without eating something for an hour also made the nausea stronger. It was very demoralizing and I just kind of stopped caring. I've been dealing with a sort of depression and that has not helped my motivation. My babies are gigantic. My son was 9lbs 11oz and my daughter (who looked tiny to me) was 8lbs 13oz. It would be nice for this baby to be smaller. As much as I really don't put stock in the fact that a "big" baby is a problem per se (as in, impossible to deliver vaginally or something), maybe juuuust maybe, it would be easier. Another issue with my previous labor was that I truly believe she was slightly misaligned. I think maybe proper positioning might help it go faster/easier this time around. So I started this blog for a few reasons. 1) to help me just kind of sort out and organize my thoughts 2) to have a place to track what I'm doing. My plan right now is to eat healthily and loosely base my diet on similar principles to what you would eat if you were diabetic. I do not choose to take the Glucose Tolerance Test as I don't feel it is supported by research, but I do think that eating in a way that keeps blood sugar stable is good for ANYONE. I am trying to keep calories under 2200 per day. I am watching my carb/protein/fat balance and tracking my food on babyfit.com most days. I'm also trying to increase my water intake, but it's quite difficult as water still makes me kind of sick and gives me heartburn. I'm staying away from sugar for the most part but if I do have a treat, it will only be .5 C of lowfat ice cream (and this only very occasionally) or a couple dark chocolate covered almonds. The only exception to these rules are Sunday dinners. My mom cooks something special for the family on Sundays. I will eat what she makes but will keep my portions reasonable....which will be hard enough! I have made an appointment with a Registered Dietitian this week, so I will be updating this plan after we talk. I'm also considering monitoring my blood sugar with a glucometer just to be sure, since I feel that is more accurate than the GTT. I will weigh myself weekly at least. I will walk daily. THIS is the hardest thing for me by far. I'm just tired and busy, but I have to learn to make it a priority somehow. I will do the techniques on spinningbabies.com as much as possible. I've been doing inversions and pelvic rocks daily and will continue that. There are a couple of other things under "the daily do" that I plan to incorporate as well. I am considering getting an exercise ball for my office instead of a chair. I'm also going to buy a pelvic support belt as soon as possible which I hope will help with my severe pelvic pain as well as possibly fetal positioning. I will take a prenatal vitamin in addition to a calcium supplement and magnesium asporotate. I also will drink red raspberry leaf tea daily. I am also planning on taking a formula called "Gentle Birth" which contains various herbs and claims to shorten labors and make them easier...I figure it's worth a try! I would like to take an omega-3 supplement but they are sooo expensive. I'm gonna try to get it but money is really tight so we will see. I'm also planning on getting acupuncture and chiropractic care as much as possible in this last trimester. I have an acupuncturist lined up that takes my insurance, my first appointment is next week and I'm scheduled for 4 weeks so far. I found a chiropractor that takes my insurance but have not been able to get set up for an appointment yet. In a perfect world I would also get prenatal massage but I won't have money for another month or two. I might be able to get it in my last month or so. Blog regularly and post how I did. Be consistent for once in my life. Here I go...