26 Weeks & Scale Backwards!

26 weeks wahoo!  Just 14 weeks to go and if by chance I’m early like I was with both girls (Brooke about 2 weeks early and Skye about 1 week early) then we are even closer than that.

*Sleeping is getting more rough!  I wake up a ton each night and I have a feeling that will follow me throughout the rest of this pregnancy.

*My heartburn is gone!  It’s a miracle.

*I am very glad to know now that I have an anterior placenta because I do not feel the baby moving nearly as much as I did with the girls.  My OBGYN reassured me that that is completely normal with the anterior placenta and the reassurance is just what I needed.

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*Being outside between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. is just not happening anymore in Utah… we are going through the hottest time of the year right now here so I avoid outside.  I have never looked forward to winter as much as I do now.

*The pancake cravings are back.  This was my strongest craving with Skye’s pregnancy!  Now that Brooke can make pancakes and enjoys making them, I’m set.

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*I normally do not like hummus in the slightest but the other day it was the only thing that sounded good.  Pregnancy does the weirdest things to me.

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*I stopped wearing the belly band.  I forgot it the other day on a run and didn’t notice until I got home and saw it on the counter.  I haven’t needed it since then for some reason, I’m just not needing one while running right now.

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Last week I mentioned that I get on the scale backwards at my doctor’s office and I wanted to talk more about that today!  Why do I do it?  First, I learned the trick from my sister because she has never been a fan of the scale.   Second, I do it because I think knowing the number is absolutely pointless (for me).  My doctor will tell me if I am on track or not gaining enough/too much and that is all I need to think about.  I don’t need to think about how much weight I gained throughout pregnancy so I can lose the same amount afterwards when I am not pregnant.  I don’t need to think about how I’ve gained more/less than I did with my previous pregnancies.  I don’t need to compare it to other’s pregnancies.  I just need to know that I’m doing what I can to grow a healthy baby.  If you’ve read my blog for a while you know I struggled with an eating disorder before I got pregnant with Brooke (and two femoral stress fractures were my rock bottom which motivated me to get help, gain weight and get my period back in order to get pregnant) and I have avoided ED triggers ever since then.  The scale was a very big trigger for me so I just don’t use it.  Although, I DID weigh myself periodically during my heavy marathon training last year to make sure I wasn’t dropping weight while running 80 miles a week so I could keep my health and my period if I was going to train the way I was training.  Other than that, I’m just not into the scale and every nurse/doctor I’ve come across since then has always been AWESOME when I tell them I don’t want to know.

I love everything about this from BEAUTY_ REDEFINED!!!

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Any foods that you did not like before pregnancy but then wanted during pregnancy?

Anybody else get on the scale backwards?  Anybody that doesn’t experience any negativity with a scale? 

If you are pregnant right now, share some things with me about how you are feeling and what you are craving!

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17 comments

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I’ve read your blog for years and remember when you talked about getting on the scale backwards (must have been like 7-8 years ago!). After I read that from you, I started stepping on backwards anytime I go to the doctor because I will just get obsessive about the number. I have luckily never even had to explain it and just step on, eyes away, and the nurse usually just quietly writes down what they need. It removed a lot of anxiety and unnecessary, unhealthy number crunching for me!

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I’ve never been pregnant but every July I start fantasizing about jumping into a snow bank so I feel you on that.

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Ugh, I needed this today. I’ve done well for most of my pregnancy with the weight gain and expanding body but as I progress further into this third trimester, I am struggling more. My baby is doing well but measuring on the larger end of the spectrum and that combined with just putting on more weight now, I find myself so preoccupied by the impact to my body and already stressing about the weight to be lost postpartum while trying to care for a newborn. It’s not healthy or productive and it takes away from the joy and excitement of bringing this little person into our world, something particularly special as it isn’t coming without previous loss. I loved that excerpt from Beauty Redefined and it’s honestly so much more helpful to openly discuss the struggle than to internalize the feelings. So thank you for bringing light to it, you helped this momma today.

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Love your pregnancy updates! I am 28 weeks :). I craved pretzels dipped in hummus during my first trimester-one of the few things that sounded good because I was insanely nauseous. You should try it :). Now I am craving all of the sweets! I had chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight. I too do not like knowing my weight gain. My doctors office has been doing a lot of my visits over the phone in order to reduce Covid exposure so I’ve only had to be weighed a couple of times this pregnancy! I will start going in person more often now that I’m further along but it’s been nice skipping the weigh ins! We are almost there!!!

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This is going to sound nutty and I absolutely don’t recommend it for everyone (especially with an eating disorder)BUT for me taking back power over the scale started with weighing myself every day and thinking about it more as data. So now it’s like…I know I’ll go up 2-3 lbs on certain days of my cycle and down on others. I know eating certain foods will cause me to retain fluid and make the scale go up 1- 2 lbs. I can predict it before I step on. So it’s all data. And I can be like…here’s the overall trend.

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I love your pregnancy updates! I haven’t been pregnant since 1998. I had strong cravings for bacon and peanut butter sandwiches. I normally LOVE bbq chicken pizza, but even the thought of it made me so nauseous while expecting. The scale has way too much power over me. It’s silly. I need to work on that.

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Unfortunately, I have been concerned about the number on the scale ever since I was 10 or 11 years old. I’m really trying to work with myself on this, but it’s so hard. When I am running a lot, my weight remains relatively stable, but recently I took a break because of shin splints, and I gained some weight. It’s really stressing me out now even though I know it shouldn’t. I hate how much diet culture controls me…

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I have been following your blog for years and learned the backward trick from you. Currently 34 weeks pregnant with my 5th baby! I also struggled with an eating/exercise disorder and had to gain weight to get my period back to get pregnant. My weirdest pregnancy craving is radishes! I eat 2-3 bags a week!

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During my second pregnancy I went through a stretch of craving taco pizza which was something I never really ate and haven’t had since!

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The scale works for me as an accountability tool, it keeps me motivated! I can understand why people don’t feel the same though, for sure. I have found my body has changed so much over the years that what was once heavy is now normal, as long as my clothes fits :)

I’m almost 29 weeks along and I’m sooo sleepy. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get at night I still want a nap every day. Working from home luckily allows a quick one! I find it hard to sleep as well at night, I want to sleep on my stomach but I can’t do that anymore at this stage.

I am not finding the heat as bad this time around, I think because I always suffer in the heat so it just feels like a normal Summer to me. However when I was pregnant on my first it was in the Winter, and I live up North where we get a lot of snow. I remember sweat rolling down my body while I was at work (at a desk job, so not from exertion), and walking to my car in -20 Celsius wearing a t-shirt and loving every minute of it :) I caught on that I had a heat problem when I began convinced that the heat was broken because I was so hot in the office. On the third day of melting at work (in the month of March) I asked my secretary what the office manager was saying about the broken heat and when it was expected to be fixed. She looked at me like I had 3 heads – it was just me it turns out!

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For all of your first ultrasounds were you measuring ahead then since you gave birth early or right on schedule? For my first ahead and he came early. For my second 2 days behind and she came 2 days late.

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Hi Janae!

I’m pregnant for the first time (almost 16 weeks) and am so happy you posted about this idea of looking at the scale backwards! I got rid of a scale years ago because it wasn’t good for my mental health. Since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve been struggling a little as I see my body change and hear the number on the scale when I go to the doctor’s appointments. It makes me question how much I’m eating, if I’m on the right track, and I leave feeling guilty (dumb, I know). SO now I’m going to get on it backwards the next time I go! Thanks for all of your posts. I love your blog and read it almost every day!

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Yes! Finally something about refectory.

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