Race pic (and the post-baby body analysis that follows...)

(Warning: This post gets a little real. It's not bragging, it's not any serious issues, it's just me honestly babbling about me on my blog so I remember this time in my life. You can skip down to the cute baby pictures if you want.)

Here's the one decent pic from the Leprechaun Chase race. Scrolling through them all was a hoot. Some people took the costume assignment very serious.
Overall, I think it looks pretty cute. The horizontal socks were not kind to my giant calves, but I've taken much worse. It's better than when I wore this shirt five months pregnant last year. As I started combing over all the parts of my body that I liked and didn't like in the picture (you do it too, don't lie), I realize I'm coming up on nine months post-babies. They say "nine months on and nine months off" for baby weight, so I figured I'd report on my journey since I scoured the internet before and during pregnancy to get an idea of what would happen.

I've been active and thin my whole life, so "getting fat" was a major concern about pregnancy. It was okay since I had visions of being one of those tiny basketball-belly women who gain 20lbs, wear their regular clothes most of the way, never get a stretch mark, and lose it all right away. Finding out you're having twins is a mix of emotions. I cried one overwhelmed night early on that I didn't want to be a gigantic blimp.

I posted about my pregnancy journey from January to July last year including my "running pregnant philosophy". It was strange watching my weight go up and not be able to make it go back down. I was surprised how okay I was with it though. I was running as much as I could and eating as well as I could, so there was nothing more I could do about it. The bottom line is I ran until 33 weeks, started running 2.5 weeks post c/s, gained 34 pounds, never got a single stretch mark, and lost my goal before returning to work at 12 weeks. I intentionally held onto about 3-4 pounds while I was still nursing through the end of the year. My normal weight is on the low end of BMI normal, and I had enough supply issues as it was. They easily fell off once I stopped.

Would I wear a bikini today? Yes. Well, give me an hour to get a wax, shave my legs, and find a spray tan, but THEN, yes. I'm not as strong as I was before, but I will be this summer. I'm about the same size and shape though. Flat stomach, strong(ish) legs, and killer baby carrying arms. There's a number of factors that led to this.

Dumb luck

1. Time of year- I was pregnant and gave birth the perfect season for being active. No clue what I would have done had I had them in December.

 2. Retired mom- My mom would happily watch the boys while I ran in the middle of the day.

3. Genetics- I'm tall, fast metabolism, with stretchy skin, apparently.

4. Extremely easy babies- Well, I'm taking partial credit for this. I believe baby personalities are somewhat reflective of their parents. They never had colic or reflux or anything like that though.

 "Luck"... but not really

1. I only carried to 34.5 weeks before a false alarm IUGR c-section- Bad for my NICU babies, but it meant I didn't gain as much weight as full term.

2. Minimal chest growth- My small B's grew to small C's. I know some women get really big and painful while nursing. I struggled with production for two, but at least nothing leaked or hurt. (They've also shrunk back down to A's now. Not that I mind.)

 Things I earned

 1. I was extremely conscious what I ate before, during, and after pregnancy. Aside from the occasional cake craving, I'm very healthy. I don't do fast food. Ever.

2. I ran- It's my break. I don't need a glass of wine or a pedicure or a new pair of shoes as a treat. Running is my me time. All moms need something for themselves and that's mine. I'm still not running as much as I'd like, but I'm going enough. What I'm not running is because I "won't", not because I "can't".

3. I had a very easy pregnancy. Some of this was dumb luck, but I know a large part was because of 1 and 2 above.

I'm at my natural weight right now. Minus four pounds is my in-training weight. Minus five pounds is my marathon weight. Marathon weight was the skinniest I've ever been. Per everyone (including medical professionals), I was too skinny. But had I not been trying to get pregnant, I'd have stayed that size. I loved fitting into size 0 pants.

Baby weight and a post baby body is a very real struggle for many women. It was a huge source of anxiety for me. But every story is different. Maybe I was just really lucky or maybe I earned it. Probably a combination of both. We aren't having any more kids, so my pregnancy story has come to an end. A happy end.

 A large part of that is because of the motivation, support, and encouragement from blog land. Thank you all. And even if I wasn't the size I am today, these little peanuts would make very single ounce worth it.  
They're so much fun these days. Both are crawling and climbing on everything right now. It's wonderful to see them growing, but we had to get a new play yard. Apparently our house is a death trap. We call it baby jail. They are clearly not fans of baby jail.