Breastfeed Your Way Thin

Introduction

I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I was 25 years old, and I had always wanted children. My best friend and I were trying to time it so that we would be pregnant together, but it only took me one month to conceive. I was caught off guard, because I had expected it to take longer. The first few weeks were filled with excitement and anticipation, but then the bubble burst. The nausea began, and the only thing that made me feel better was eating. So, I ate.

By the time I was 3 months pregnant, before most women show, I was already wearing maternity clothes. Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream was my favorite afternoon treat, and I easily went through a pint every day. Needless to say, I gained a lot of weight very quickly, so much so that I was constantly being tested for gestational diabetes. I kept growing out of my maternity clothes, from large to extra large to extra-extra large, until there were no more sizes available. And although I was extremely happy by the thought of becoming a mother, I became more and more depressed with each pound I gained.

By the end of my pregnancy I had gained 82 pounds, and weighed 236 pounds in total. I had done absolutely no exercise or any physical activity whatsoever for my entire pregnancy. I was so out of shape that when my contractions began I found it very difficult to breathe through them. I ended up having an episiotomy, and the doctor had to pull my daughter out with forceps. I had to stay in the hospital for a week to recover, and it was at least 2 weeks before I ventured out of the house.

When I finally made my first trip out alone to the grocery store, a few weeks after my daughter was born, the most embarrassing moment of my life happened. I was standing at the grocery checkout stand when I saw my dentist in the next isle. It was 5:30 pm, the busiest time of the day for the store - it was packed with people - when my dentist yelled, "When is your baby due?"

I could feel my face turn the shade of a beet. My thoughts were, "should I lie and say ’in a week’, or should I pretend I didn’t hear him?" Instead, I whispered, "she was born 2 weeks ago". I could feel the stares, and I imagined everyone saying, "oh, you poor thing". I gathered my groceries and rushed to my car as quickly as possible. I buried my face in my hands and wept, like I never had before. I knew I had to get this weight off. I thought, "This is not me - this is not my body. How could I have let myself get to this point?"

Jump ahead 6 years, to my next pregnancy and the beginning of this book. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was determined to educate myself and do everything that I could to not only maintain healthy weight gain through the pregnancy, but to exercise throughout and keep my body fit and strong. I gained a healthy 35 pounds, had a fantastic natural delivery, and felt powerful and totally in control. I was home in less than 8 hours after I gave birth, with a healthy, new baby boy. The differences between this pregnancy and delivery and my first were like night and day.

I lost my pregnancy weight within 4 months of his birth. I felt amazing, I had a tremendous amount of energy, and I felt great about my body. My friends were asking me, 3 months after my delivery, how I got back into shape so quickly; they wanted to know how I did it while continuing to breastfeed my baby. I realized then that many women still had the belief that in order to lose weight, you had to quit breastfeeding. As I discovered, nothing could be farther from the truth: breastfeeding doesn’t prevent or delay weight loss. In fact, breastfeeding actually helps you lose weight.

This inspired me to write this book, to share my research and experience with other mothers who struggle with weight loss as I had with my first pregnancy. I am very excited to share my program with you. I encourage you to follow it and breastfeed your baby for as long as your baby needs, for your baby’s health and well being; and, along the way, breastfeed your way thin.

Shannon Crawford