
Well, in case you missed the memo, I'M PREGNANT! : ) Yup, we happily found out on New Year's Day that we are now expecting the fourth (and final!) installment in our precious little family! Baby Shiloh is due on September 8, and we are all so excited that we can barely stand it!
My main goal in life at this point is to nap whenever I can and throw up as little as possible (Thank you, Zofran, for the help in that department!), and I'm also trying to get little bits of exercise in wherever I can! I do pushups after I get out of the shower, squats while I'm in the shower, take the stairs whenever I can and park as far away as is humanly possible from every destination. I am becoming very good friends with the Wal-Mart parking spaces back by the Murphy Express! Ha!
Starting in the second trimester, once this first trimester yuck-fog lifts, I'll jump back into a gentle, low-impact, baby friendly workout routine at FAC. All of this is in an effort to do my very best to NOT GET FAT JUST BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT! This sounds like it would be a simple goal, but having managed to accomplish this 3 times previously, I can tell you, it's not as easy as you might think! Now, don't get me wrong, I plan to put on the recommended 20 pounds or so, it's just that I want to do my best to avoid setting myself up for failure by gaining way more weight that necessary.
Here I am at 25 weeks pregnant with Norah:

And here I am 2 weeks before she was born:

It's so much easier to try to STAY healthy than it is to try to GET healthy if you get behind the 8 ball! Even with staying active and eating as healthfully as I could bear to, it was still hard to get rid of those last few pounds with Norah... Speaking of which, I never did post after pictures! Here are a couple that Jason took on New Year's Eve:



It was hard work losing that last 10 pounds or so, but it's totally worth it! I'm especially glad to have gotten back to a happy size before starting all over again! It seems to get just a little harder with each passing baby, but I refuse to give up. I am a firm believer that just because you are a mommy does not mean that you can't be have a body that makes you feel happy, healthy and sexy!
I am also taking comfort in the fact that since this will be the final addition to our family, this will be the last time I have to have morning sickness, the last time I have to give birth, and the last time I have to lose the baby weight. Surely I can survive this all one more time, right? (Right??????) In an effort to keep tabs on my progress, I have started back with the same website I used to stay in shape when I was pregnant with Norah:
babyfit.com.

It's part of
Spark People, a great weight loss site that I have used in the past that was once featured in
People Magazine. I also read an article about the site in some magazine when we were on the ski trip, but I can't seem to remember which one... Anyway, I love the daily exercise tips, and it has great charts that show you where your weight is versus where it should be in order to gain the recommended amount of weight during your pregnancy!

It also has great options to interact with other members for added accountability. I love it! And if you live in NWA and want to get together for a stroll, a swim, a hike, or any other activity that will keep me on track, please shoot me an
e mail! I need all the help I can get! Wish me luck... My skinny jeans are already threatening to revolt, so I may need it! : )