The second time is easier

I’ve discovered that it’s easier to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight & shape the second time around.  (Note to people who have not been through a pregnancy:  Pre-pregnancy weight and shape are NOT the same thing, and one doesn’t necessarily follow the other.)  Anyway, it has been easier to get back to my pre-pregnancy body this time for a few reasons:

1. I’m chasing a 2-year old around all day, which means I never get to sit on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon-bons.
2. I’m too busy and tired to pay attention to things like my weight, which makes it seem a lot easier when I discover that I’ve lost the baby weight in spite of myself (and in spite of the large part cupcakes continue to play in my diet).
3. I don’t have time to cook for myself or eat regular meals (see numbers 1 and 2 above).
4. My “pre-pregnancy” body this time around is also my “post-pregnancy” body from Baby #1, so the bar is quite a bit lower.  I mourned the loss of my abdominal muscles a couple years ago and I’ve accepted that my days of midriff-baring tank tops are over (to be honest, they probably should have been over before I even had Baby #1).  Right now, I’m just happy to have a semblance of a waist and that my ribcage has shrunk back to its original size.  I’m also happy that I no longer have to turn sideways to get my hips in and out of a public bathroom stall.  (Did I ever tell you about the time when I was pregnant with Z and I got stuck in a bathroom stall at work?)

I think #4 is the main reason it’s been easier.  And it also reminds me how weight gain is just one piece of the changes your body experiences during pregnancy.  Everyone focuses on the pounds, but for me, the more uncomfortable changes happened to my skeletal system:  ribs, hips and pelvis expanding, joints loosening.  Those are also the changes that took longer to correct themselves.

Regardless, my bones seem to be back in place.  Yay bones!