My Weight Loss Journey Part III

We packed up and moved at the end of August that year and I cried the entire two and a half hour trip back to our hometown, following the Uhaul the whole way.  Until we closed on our house my husband and I lived apart and I was having a hard time finding a job.  We finally got moved in to our house and I took one job that I only lasted one day on, then another job at a car dealership for a couple of months.  Things during this time things really went really downhill.  A couple of months before we moved my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing treatment when we moved back home.  Then the unthinkable happened, my husband was offered his current job on a Tuesday, and two days later on Thursday we got a call that his dad had been in a bad car accident.  We flew two hours down the mountain to the best hospital in the region, where he had been airlifted, to see him.  We thought he was going to be okay, but a few hours later we heard a call over the intercom that there was a code something in his room, and when he was rushed in to emergency surgery he passed away on the operating table.  I will never forget the doctor coming in to the tiny and cold waiting room and telling us, "He passed."  I could not comprehend was he was saying.  Passed what, I kept asking, thinking he was undergoing some tests and they had come back fine.  I had to watch my strong husband go through hell and back for several months while processing all this, on top of the move, starting a new job, selling our old house and buying another one, and all the other stressed we endured.  We got to the  point where I was contemplating either a separation or divorce, because we could not continue living the way we were.  He knew it too, and we agreed to go to counseling together.  I don't know if it was necessarily the counseling session or the counselor, but our commitment to making it work and figuring it out together and putting the time in to it totally transformed our relationship.  This was actually a time in my life where I was actually too stressed to eat, and my weight continued to hold the loss from Weight Watchers.  My husband and I were closer than ever, and the following June we found out we were expecting our first baby.  

Seven Months Pregnant with Baby #1

By this time I was working in the office at an elementary school and was pretty happy with life again.  I had always looked so forward to being pregnant because I wanted to eat whatever I wanted, and I wanted my boobs to grow.  Little did I know that neither of those things would happen.  I was so very sick during my entire pregnancy.  I could not eat anything.  I did not want to eat anything.  I just wanted to make it through the day without puking in public and then go to sleep in my favorite white chair.  All I ever wanted to eat was honey buns and Coke, and the occasional veggie sub from our nearest pizza place.  I only gained 8 lbs through my entire pregnancy due to the sickness, and I delivered a perfect and healthy 8lb 9oz baby girl.  I was able to stay at home with her for 5 months before returning, although not willingly, to work.  During that time I was so happy to have this beautiful baby, but also very lonely as I was going through that adjustment.  My weight also went up during this time, because I would not eat all day and then binge at dinner.  I went back to work and was miserable because I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom, and I gained even more weight due to the unhappiness and the additional eating out we were doing because I was working. 

Back at work - eating at a restaurant, of course

After about 6 weeks of being back at work and with prayerful consideration, I put my notice in and let four weeks later.  Staying at home with my daughter was wonderful, but also very, very lonely.  My husband was working 10-12 hour days and only had every other weekend off, and both my parents were also working full time.  So the majority of the time it was just the two of us.  I cooked at home most of the time, but I was all about cooking some comfort foods and rich desserts.  I continued to gain weight over the next year and rejoined Weight Watchers in September, going while my daughter was at preschool.  I did not enjoy the meetings, as I was the youngest person by at least 40 years, and never really put my heart in it.  I think I lost 4 lbs over the next several months, and really enjoyed myself on a vacation we took to Orlando in February.  The day after we got back from our vacation, I remember feeling weird and took a pregnancy test just to rule it out because we had decided we were not going to try for another baby, but we were going to give it to God to see what happened.  Imagine my surprise when it was positive only two weeks after we gave up control!  I was a little freaked out and needed a little while to process everything, so I didn't even tell my husband until the next evening, which was Valentine's Day, that the next year he would have three Valentines!  

A few days before I found out I was pregnant with baby #2