I'm Hungry!

  Nothing like the hunger of later pregnancy!

  I tipped the scales at 153 lbs about a week ago when I went to the OB.  I told that to someone a couple of days and she looked rather horrified.  I wasn't upset about that, as she is of an older generation when doctors were obsessive about expectant moms not gaining much weight during pregnancy.  Now I think there is a clear understanding that while TOO much weight gain is unwise, it is detrimental for a woman to be restricted in calories to the point that she doesn't gain more than 20 lbs.  To be clear, some mamas gain less than 20 lbs and are fine, but it isn't a hard and fast rule that a mama should gain less than 20 lbs.  I usually gain between 30 and 35 lbs.

  All of our babies have been on the small side.  Our 6th child was a tiny 5 lb, 12 oz.  Our 8th child and 3rd boy was our biggest at 7 lb 4 oz.  I gained the most weight with that pregnancy and topped out at 173 lbs.   We'll see how big Baby #9 is.

  I have noticed my increase in appetite the last few weeks.  Since I'm diabetic, I have to prepare and have food that I can safely eat.  If I don't plan ahead and the hunger pangs hit, I am tempted to eat something I shouldn't.  A few days ago, I went nuts with a dessert I had made for the children. It was made of oatmeal, chocolate chips, coconut, coconut oil and peanut butter. It tasted awesome and I waited to taste it until it was almost finished, but once I took one bite, I was a goner.  I ate all the rest of it and sure enough, my blood sugar spiked. That really isn't Ok...I need to be careful for the baby's sake. It only went up to 150 after an hour but still, I don't like seeing it that high.

  I'm not one of those people who can eat "one bite" of something tempting. I'm an all or nothing kind of person.  If I have one bite of something delectable, I want MORE, MORE, MORE. So I avoid foods that make me want to go crazy. Doughnuts, chocolate pretzels, and other high carb foods are no-nos as I don't want the blood sugar spikes.

  Now to change the subject a little...though I'm still talking about food and weight gain.  I'm a fairly normal woman but I am probably rare in one way; in 44 years, I have never, ever, tried to lose weight. I'm guessing that sounds bizarre.  We live in a culture that is obsessed with weight and body image and I am not sure how I missed freaking out about weight and weight gain.  It helps that I'm naturally thin and all, but plenty of thin women still struggle with body image.

  When I was a child, I lived in South America for 3 years while my parents were missionaries.  I remember, even at age 10, being struck by the fact that in Bolivia (where we were), it was considered attractive for a woman to be plump.  That was because in Bolivia, most people were poor to the point that getting a little heavy was difficult.  Therefore, being plump meant your family was rich, and therefore it was prestigious. It may well be true that thin is in now in Bolivia, as many cultures are strongly affected by Western thought on that topic. But still, that realization that weight is partially cultural has helped me a lot.

  I'm all for being a healthy weight, but our culture is truly obsessive about what constitutes being attractive.  My heartfelt hope and prayer is that our children will have a wonderful body image as they grow.  Some of our kids are very thin, others are just thin. They are all healthy weights. We want them to live healthy lives, to exercise sensibly, and to not use food as an escape.  If we can achieve that in our culture, we'll be doing very well in the food arena.