20 weeks 4 days

Hello fellow bloggers!

20 weeks 4 days today! Can feel my little one rolling around inside of me, and it’s the coolest feeling ever! I’ve even had a couple of kicks which I could feel from the outside, although he seems to get a bit shy when my husband tries to feel for it as well. I had my check-up yesterday with my ob, and everything is perfect. I’m supposed to just sit back and enjoy this part of the pregnancy now before I get too fat to move.

I’ve gained 7kg since September 2009. This is a really hard thing for me to deal with as I’ve been losing weight without all that much effort for the past 3 years. Speaking of 3 years, Feb 2nd was my 3 year Bandiversary! Wow! Since then I’ve been Married and now expecting my first child, and lost 30kg in the process! But I digress, seeing the scales move up even though I’m eating normally (for a bandit) has been a real challenge for me to get around. Part of me wants to try and stop putting on any more weight, but the other part of me knows that all of it is fluid, baby and maternal fat weight which is completely normal! I must admit, I didn’t have a great diet during the 1st trimester, but I couldn’t believe how absolutely put off I was food in general. Just eating was an effort, so I didn’t think anything about having a bowl of 2 minute noodles for dinner (yes, not very healthy I know) or having crackers with iSnack Vegemite and cheese just to stop me from feeling nauseous (which, I must remind you, are a slider food, so easy to eat!). I also had a lot of sugary drinks (lemonade, ginger beer, juice) to help with my energy levels and Nausea, but have cut back on that now because I don’t get that nauseous anymore. Sticking to water, coke zero and diet cordial as my drinks of choice. Also, for some reason, the band got looser in the 1st trimester and since bubs has started crowding my organs and growing upwards, my band has tightened again and I’m getting some heartburn now. But I’m managing that with small regular meals/snacks.
So, just to give you an idea – this is what I am eating during the week while at work:

BF (8:00am): 30g Muesli and skim milk (200cal)
MT (10:30am): 4 premium crackers with 1 slice cheese and vegemite spread (300cal)
L (12noon): ½ ham, cheese and salad sandwhich – no mayo or butter, just wholegrain mustard for a spread, with pickles, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, onion ham and cheese (150 cal)
AT (2:30pm): the other ½ of the sandwich I had for lunch (150 cal)
AT (5pm): Small Apple or Frosty Fruit Iceblock – depending on how hungry/tight I am (100cal)
D: Normal “bandit” sized meal with meat, vege and carbs – sometimes, if I’m feeling a bit icky or tired I’ll have more carbs or if I’m feeling tight (300-500 cal)
S: Strawberry flavoured milk (250mL) and a frosty fruit (200 cal)

Total cals: 1300-1500 cal/day and exercising around 2-3 times a week (swimming and walking) I also walk to and from work each day 30 mins.

Does that look like too much food?

VictoriaLee posted a question: I'm considering getting a lapband, but my dad and cousin had the gasteric-bypass weight loss surgery and they vomit all the time. Do you know if this is normal for lapband too?

No, it’s not normal to vomit all the time. It is normal to vomit if you eat too much in one mouthful and don’t chew your food. That’s because the food gets stuck and can’t pass through your smaller stomach. You find out very quickly what you can and cannot tolerate. And it’s not really a proper vomit. I.e. you don’t have any acid with the vomit, it’s more just the food that is stuck surrounded by a whole lot of mucus. Your body makes the mucus in your stomach to try and help the food go through. Some people call it a “productive burp” or a “slime”. The tighter your band, the more food you won’t be able to eat. You don’t want to vomit all the time because there is a chance that your band could move, or your stomach could become swollen and cause more problems trying to get down food. The good thing about the band is that you’re told to gradually introduce solid foods into your diet after surgery so that you get used to the smaller portions, chewing more and smaller mouthfuls.

Banditblossum – I didn’t realise we were so close in timing with our pregnancies! I must admit I have been slack on catching up on other people’s blogs, but I’ve bookmarked yours so I can have a peek to see how you’re doing as we’re only 2 weeks apart! J

OK, that’s all from me for today.

Thanks for reading!

LBG xx