Babyweight

Perhaps I am alone in this (I don't think so), but ever since I became a mama, I've started paying WAY more attention to media coverage of Hollywood procreation. Mostly, it is infuriating.
Occasionally I read stories that are positive and inspiring about celebrities having natural births and gaining weight and getting stretch marks and breastfeeding etc, but a lot of it is staying skinny, wearing high heels, having elective C-sections, and losing the weight as fast as possible. I think the way the media treats pregnancy and childbirth is pretty deplorable in general, but I really hate the way it's contributed to our society's super skewed perspective of totally natural events.
In an effort to put more positive attitudes out into the world for others to find and draw strength from, I thought I'd share my own experience of baby weight gain and loss.

literally DAYS before I got pregnant

When I got pregnant, I was 28 years old and had 10 or 15 extra pounds on me. I had some very uncomfortable morning sickness for the first 4 months, so didn't gain more than a few pounds at first. After that passed, I just tried to listen to my body and eat what it was asking for. I started eating both dairy and wheat again (I had been off them for a few years) and I will not lie- my body asked for a lot of ice cream. But also sweet potatoes and pancakes and broccoli. I ate a balanced diet with plenty of veggies and fiber and good stuff, but I didn't deny myself anything in an effort to not gain weight. I also drank a lot a lot of water.

at 20 weeks

at 33 weeks

At the end of 42 weeks, I had gained just under 30 pounds. I would totally show you pictures of this too, but apparently I did not enjoy having my picture taken then....

For the first 2 months, I was tired. I didn't exercise (unless you count walking up the stairs) and I took a lot of naps. I did not worry about losing weight, partly because I could see my stomach slowly un-distend each week. I wore my pajamas and if I needed to not wear pajamas I wore maternity jeans, with no shame.

After 2 months, I did some type of exercise once a week, but mostly I carried my baby around, ate whatever I wanted, drank tons of water, and breastfed like it was an olympic sport. This continued until between 6 and 9 months postpartum when I had nearly lost all the babyweight and I decided I wanted to do a little something to help it along.
I gave up ice cream.
Not anything else, not candy, not cake, not sugar or desserts of any kind. Just ice cream.

Now, 14 months and change postpartum, I weigh between 5 and 10 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant (which is still 5-10 pounds extra for those of you counting along at home). I go cross country skiing once or twice a week, but mostly I carry my 24 pound baby around, eat mostly what I want, and breastfeed.

I think my main point is that we should all be a little bit gentler with ourselves. When Posh Spice loses her baby weight in 5 weeks (or something else equally ridiculous), we should not feel bad that we still have soft, wiggly bellies, maybe we should feel sad for Posh that she spends so much time doing pilates or whatever and not getting to snuggle her sweet new baby.
Also, it is my genuine opinion that in order to raise children that do not have skewed ideas about food and weight and bodies, we have to do our super very best to be easy and gentle and balanced about our own food and weight and bodies.

Did you feel pressured to lose baby weight?
How did you handle it?