anyone *not* lose weight with breastfeeding??

[♥ms.pacman♥]

<rant on>

OK so by the end of my pregnancy i had only gained 30 lbs. Practically everyone (including random strangers at the mall, etc) told me that i looked great and was "all baby" and looked like i just swallowed a basketball. I had no swelling whatsoever, and several ppl told me that from the back they couldn't even tell i was pregnant. So because of all that I thought I would have an relatively easy time losing the baby weight afterwards..especially since i would be breastfeeding. However, I couldn't be more wrong. It has been 3 weeks since I had my baby, I have been exclusively breastfeeding, and I still am the same exact weight since I came home from the hospital..still only 10 lbs down from my preggo weight! Plus, I still look like i'm about 4-5 months preggo..pre-pregnancy pants do not even begin to zip up, let alone button. I must admit I am a bit shocked at all this, since most of the stories I've heard from friends who said they lost 10-20 lbs just in the first few weeks of BF'ing...now I didn't expect to lose that *much*, but I also didn't expect to not lose ANYTHING!!

anyway, if anyway else has ever experienced lack of weight loss or weight gain with BFing (i didn't know this was physically possible, but i guess it is), i would like to know, and if u have any tips, words of encouragement, etc. when they were discharging me, my hospital told me I need to take in an extra 800 calories per day if i am exclusively nursing. now I am not a person who eats a lot (in fact during pregnancy it was difficult for me since I would get hungry but I would actually get sick & tired from eating so much; i know it sounds weird, but i'm not a really a person who loves food). So i am confused as to how with such a large extra caloric expenditure how I could not be losing any weight. i should add that in the first ~ 2 weeks of life my son gained almost 2 lbs (from 6 lb 8 oz to 8 lb 4 oz) and grew almost 3 inches, and I was exclusively BF'ing him so it's not like my body was not working, KWIM?? and i have several friends who exclusively formula-fed their babies and lost 20 lbs in the first 2 weeks after delivery..so i just don't get it.

and sorry if this all sounds so vain...i am ever so grateful to have my baby boy in my life and i am so glad i am able to breastfeed him, but then when i get the chance to think about myself & my appearance i just get annoyed and worried if i will be stuck this way forever, and if i eventually need to shell out some $$ for an entirely new wardrobe (NONE of my clothes fit now except for maternity clothes).

anyway thanks for reading/listening to my rant..
</rant off>

[lizzywednesday]

One of my BFF's experienced the same thing.

She'd gained 40lbs during her pregnancy, had her DD, and only lost 4lbs.

Poor girl nearly cried.

Then she threw out her scale.

Best decision she could ever have made, BTW.

My advice? Throw out your scale and eat well. You'll lose the weight. (My friend is reaching her pre-pregnancy weight now ... her DD will be 1 in March.)

[kayte]

I did gain weight during breastfeeding and I had trouble getting it off. (I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in about 6 weeks postpartum). At 8 months postpartum, my doctor told me it was because of my PCOS. I had been diagnosed with PCOS earlier but was never one that had a problem with weight from it. My endo told me that pregnancy and breastfeeding can sometimes trigger that in people who had not had that symptom before. I went on a set of drugs for year, to help regulate sugar and hormone levels and between that and getting farther from my pregnancy, it isn't an issue anymore.

ETA--- oops, I read 3 months not three weeks--- in that case I wouldn't worry about it AT ALL!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Some women hold onto weight while bf'ing, usually the last 10lbs. I remember a Baby Center poll with 20,000+ replies and it was pretty 50/50 whether bf'ing made them lose weight or not.

There's a chance that if you aren't eating close to enough calories that your body is going into starvation mode an holding onto every last little bit of weight.

But, more likely is that your baby is only 3 weeks old! Give yourself time! Don't expect anything in these early weeks and please don't compare yourself to other moms. Regardless of breastfeeding or ff'ing, everyone loses weight differently.

I almost got to my pp weight after ds2 then I gained back 5lbs. I was so discouraged. By around 5-6m everything just dropped off almost overnight. I was starting to get discouraged! With ds1 I had lost it all very, very quickly...probably too quickly. Both boys were 100% bf by the way.

Bite the bullet and buy 1-2 pairs of pants that fit you great now. Don't spend a lot but do feel good in them. It will really help. Drink lots of water too. Things will happen.

Beth

[newg]

I had to do more than just the BF.....once I was about three weeks out (I had a c-section) I started taking short walks with DD....once she was about six months I joined a mommy exercise group and that helped me drop below my pp weight...........
My problem was I had to eat more than the extra alloted calories because I was diabetic and nursing would drop my sugars sooooo fast......I was constantly shoveling food in my mouth to keep my blood sugar up.

My doc also said I would have some major swelling for a week or two while my body put itself back together..........once that went away I started to notice more weight loss too.

I wore my maternity pants for about the first month after DD was born (it was just more comfortable)...........then my pre-pregnancy pants with my bella band............I did end up buying some cheap pants/shorts one or two sizes up 'till I lost the weight..........I've saved them and will probably be using them again with this pregnancy.

[elliput]

You're just 3 wks post-partum? Your body is still trying to figure out what the heck just happened, and you and your baby are most likely just settling into a good BF routine- so take it easy on yourself and give it a bit more time.

[firstbaby]

I had a really hard time losing the weight after DS1. In fact, I maybe came home from the hospital down 10 lbs and DS was 9 lbs at birth. Ugh. Also, I was induced and felt a lot of fluid retention from all the drugs, epidural, etc. Add that to being sleep deprived with a newborn, trying to consume the right amount of calories to breastfeed and drink enough water to stay hydrated and it was HARD to lose weight. No wonder my body didn't know what to do, LOL.

Your baby is only three weeks old and your body is still very much adjusting. Some have a harder time losing weight while BF'ing, some don't. Be gentle with yourself and don't add this on the list of things to worry about. Also, I think you are VERY brave trying to get into anything pre-baby at three weeks.

[sste]

My body def. clung to some of the weight for the first 6-8 months of breastfeeding -- but after that I did get the weight loss from BF. In my case, 45 pounds of weight loss in a little under a year. I am pretty positive I would not have lost that amount of weight and kept it off with anything but BF. I really think you need to take a long view on this one!

[o_mom]

Three weeks is not nearly enough time to lose the weight. I gained close to 50 with each pregnancy and lost it all breastfeeding. But I was not even close to that in three weeks. More like 6-9 MONTHS.

Since you did not have swelling then you don't have water weight to lose, which is the most common way to lose a bunch of weight immediately PP (like those friends that lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks?...probably 10 lbs at birth, like you, and then 10 lbs of water weight). Really, the saying '9 months on, 9 months off' is really accurate from what I have seen. Yes, there are exceptions, but I would not even worry about it until then.

Buy a couple pair of transitional pants if you don't want to keep wearing maternity stuff. I got some stretchy jeans at Walmart for just that reason. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money and then lose more weight, so they filled that gap.

[kijip]

9 months on, 9 months off. 3 weeks is too early to stress out abut this.

Also, while counterintuitive, when I was meeting with a nutritionist and a personal trainer 3 times a week (when I was nursing, I am still nursing now), I found that I did not start dropping weight until I upped my calorie intake to a much higher level. In layman's terms they explained that with nursing and the increased activity level, my body was working hard to not use up calories and I needed t give myself enough food to increase my metabolism. It was not a little bit of calories, it was a quite a lot.