Critters and Weight Loss

It is a beautiful day here in Texas - I am so blessed to be living in a state with warm weather in early March! Right now, at 2:30pm, at my house it is 73*F. In my hometown of Spokane, WA, it is only 42*F. I love being able to go out and play in the sunshine, and the kids really love it. I love it when they come inside after playing and they just *smell* like sunshine. I'm sure it is only a combination of sunscreen and sweat, but it just reminds me of summer and it makes my heart happy. It is very different than Spokane, where I have seen it snow into June! I guess the only thing I am not liking about the warm weather is the abundance of "critters" that have sprung up recently. Right now my house is plagued by two critters that I could really do without. One is a crane fly, and the other ants.

A crane fly (that's the technical term, I've always called them Skeeter Eaters) look like a Daddy Long Legs with wings. Can you say CREEPY??? I've only had one inside the house, but they cling to my car and flutter around in my garage and outside, they are everywhere. And they fly like they are drunk - bumping into everything and everyone. D is a little terrified of them and yells outs, "Squish it Mom!" when they get too close. Oh, and they don't even EAT mosquitoes so I don't know why they are called Skeeter Eaters...

My other bug nemesis right now is the ant. At least I am plagued with black ants rather than red ants. Anyone ever been bit by one of those things? Ouch!! Since moving into our rental house in late November, I've found ants in the guest bathroom (don't really know why they are visiting that particular room - nothing in there!), my bedroom (had one ON my bed. Barf!), and in the kitchen. In the kitchen, they want to crawl into my recycling bin...which makes me want to stop recycling immediately! I think the better course of action is to just buy a small trash can with a lid to use as my recycling bin, but I hate bugs, and the *thought* of them in my kitchen is just too disgusting for words. Every couple of hours I bleach the crud out of the floor near the recycling can and the window, which is where I am thinking they must be getting in. I've always heard that ants secrete an enzyme that helps them find their way to and from food sources, so I'm hoping the bleach wipes it all out. Ick!

In other, happier, less creepy-crawly, news, I just completed week 3 on weight watchers. I weighed in today and have lost 5.8 pounds total in the three weeks! At the gym on Saturday, I measured my body fat percentage, and had lost 1.5% body fat. Woo-hoo! Go me :) It may not sound like much, but losing body fat is really hard to do, so I am quite pleased with losing that high of a percentage over only a month's time. I have also lost 3.5 inches in the last month from around various parts of my body (measuring arm/bicep, thigh, waist, chest, hips, and calf). I am really trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and body fat %. After I had D, I lost 60 pounds (40 pregnancy pounds, plus 20 additional pounds), and reduced my body fat % by quite a bit. I was at my personal best when I found I was pregnant with P.

I found out I was pregnant with P when I tried to get birth control, and lo and behold, I was already pregnant (breastfeeding is not birth control!). I had some bleeding early on, so my doctor ordered an ultrasound. I had my ultrasound on Halloween 2009, and the following Monday, my doctor called to tell me that it appeared that I was losing the baby. On the ultrasound, they could see an embryonic sac, but they saw no fetal pole or heartbeat. I was told to prepare for the worst, and that it looked like I had a blighted ovum and not a true pregnancy. I remember bursting into tears, and I was driving, and it was just awful. I had to work that night, and I had never been SO glad that no one showed up to one of my events. I was beside myself. Mostly because the husband and I had been so surprised by the news that I was pregnant, and the shock that I had conceived when my son was only 9 months old, that I had some deep regret that I was pregnant. And now, it looked like I was losing my baby, and I wondered if I was being punished for not loving this gift immediately. After blood work to show that my numbers were doubling, and two more ultrasounds, we finally saw a fetal pole and a heartbeat. I cried and felt like a fierce momma bear - wanting to protect my little cub in any way I could. I still do - I always am trying to make sure P knows just how loved she is. Unplanned is NOT unloved!!

During that 3-4 weeks of ultrasounds and the unknown, though, I gained about 15 pounds. I think I have mentioned before that I am a stress eater, and the thought of losing my baby was the most stressful thing I could imagine. My eating habits didn't change much, though, after we found little P in the womb. I gained a total of 50 pounds. And that 50 pounds didn't come off as easily as it had with D. I am still, in fact, holding onto some baby weight. But, I am on the right track now, with running and eating right. I will lose this weight!