Tuesday 4 December 2012

Jane, but still not the Land Army

I'm slightly perturbed by the fact that I'm ticking off meetings but building up follow-up work, and not sure why the latter doesn't bother me.  Still, all work will get done soon, I'm not behind schedule yet.  And tomorrow afternoon we're going to see Al and co's new house, which the present owners have already left so it's empty waiting for them to move in.

I was fairly lucky regarding morning sickness.  I felt pretty rough for the first few months when I was expecting Weeza and lost half a stone, so my final weight of 10 stone was actually only a gain of about 20 pounds.  I ended up at the same weight when I was pregnant with Al, but gained an extra half stone in my 'practice makes perfect' pregnancy with Ro.  However, it shifted quickly enough, I never had any difficulty in snapping right back to a slim waistline.

My mother had a different experience, and would have a great deal of sympathy with Katie Kambridge.  She was dreadfully sick through much of her pregnancies.  If she'd had babies a few years later, she'd certainly have been offered thalidomide - but she'd not have taken it.  Like me, she was ultra-cautious regarding any drugs.

Remarkably, few people knew she was even pregnant.  She and my father ran a hotel in Weymouth at the time Wink and I were born, so of course sales reps used to call regularly.  She told us of one, who called every three months and was surprised to see a baby in a pram.  "Looking after it for a friend?" "No, she's mine."  "Oh, you've adopted, congratulations."  "Thank you, but she's really my own baby!"  She was worst affected by her first pregnancy and hardly put on any weight at all, remarkable as Wink weighed 9 lbs 8 oz.  She did need to go up a size, from 12 to 14 when I was on the way, but then I was a hulking 10-pounder.  Re-markable.  Everyone thought I'd be a six-footer.

I've been distinctly ashamed of having weighed more during my mid-forties to mid-fifties than when I was 9 months pregnant with Ro.  But it's gone.  It mustn't come back.  Nag me, loves, if necessary, won't you?  Thanks.

7 comments:

Roses said...

Ugh. Morning sickness. I had it mildly and that was bad enough.

I gained weight after my pregnancy and have hung on to it for dear life. I was 6 stone 8lbs, like a board with the wood shaved off. I loved the curves I sprouted.

I'd love to be slightly less and occasionally drop a stone, but I like my food too much (and drink).

I think you're lovely the size you are.

luckyzmom said...

Just wondering why are people stones and babies lbs and ozs in England?

When I stepped on the scale the morning after my first was born I had lost a pound more than I weighed before I became pregnant and I was quite proud to be the only one in a ward of 40 new mothers to not have to go home in maternity clothes. My son however was a difficult pregnancy, birth and it was decades before I lost the extra weight. I have been working towards a healthy weight again since early spring.

Z said...

I wore my loosest pre-maternity dress and was astonished that I could hardly do it up!

My lowest weight was 7 stone 7 lbs when Al was about 6 months old, which was the lowest in the MBI chart before I became underweight. I liked being 8 stone 4 lbs best.

LZM, when Ro was born the midwife gave his weight in kilos and it's a matter of mild pride that I translated it into pounds and ounces for the Sage before she was able to look it up on her charge (I'd given birth 10 minutes earlier). But actually, we never related to kilos for personal weight, even those who use them for everything else. Nor pounds. We like the divisions of stones/pounds and pounds/ounces, we can relate to them. And we say height in feet and inches too. A six-footer is meaningless in metric.

Z said...

Oh, and thank you, Roses. Just the last few pounds, too close to 9 stone as yet, easy to slip over it after a convivial weekend! But I think I've got to choose between being an 8 and a 10, I'm in between at present.

Z said...

Charge? *chart. Can't blame auto-correct, just bad typing

mig said...

Morning sickness sounds like a secret benefit. I had very little of it that I remember and put on enough weight by the end of three children to make two of the original me. I've never got back to the weight I was before them.

Z said...

Breastfeeding did it for me, Mig, I ate like a horse and couldn't keep weight on. Unfortunately that's an option that I didn't want to take a fourth time!