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No #2 for me yet but pretty much everyone I know said losing the weight after #2 was much more difficult then #1.

I started both pregnancies at the same weight and gained 33 for LO 1 and 15 for LO 2. I lost the weight faster after LO 2 but I was still following my GD diet for the first 6 six weeks PP. I stopped eating like that after my 6 week appointment and my weight still stayed the same for the rest of my maternity leave (more active than usual) but I gained like 5-8 lbs when I went back to work.

Way way way harder the second time around. It just naturally fell off the first time. I don't remember how long it took but it wasn't long at all. I didn't quite hit my wedding day weight and things looked different so I had to buy a size up, but I felt skinny. Not this time. I don't really have time to work out and things were just not budging. Dieting now and it's coming off slowly. But I didn't get serious until the start of the new year and DS2 is now 9 months old.

Eta: oh and I gained about 10 pounds less the second time and had a smaller baby (7lbs vs 10 lbs). Don't know if it's because I'm older too - 35 when I had baby #2.

You're beautiful, don't fret about your weight!

I've had nearly the same experience both times - the weight came/is coming off pretty easily.

With LO1, I gained 19 lbs, was in pre-preg jeans after about 2 weeks, and lost it all by my 6 week appointment. With LO2, I gained 24 lbs, was in pre-preg jeans after 1 week, and have 2 lbs to go as of my 6 week appointment yesterday.

I have heard it tends to be much harder with #2, but I've mostly cut dairy this time around while BFing because my first had a milk-protein allergy, so I think that's helped. Honestly though, like a tendency toward stretch marks, I think most of it is genetic - my mom didn't put on much weight with any pregnancy, and lost it all quickly without doing anything special too.

Hoping that it's easy for you the second time around!

I'm curious how much age and exercise level before baby makes a difference. Getting older is hard and changes a lot!

I think it's been harder this time around mainly because
I just don't have the time or motivation to work out as often with 2 kids. I. Am. Tired.

I was my pp weight by 2w pp last time and I'm probably 1-2lb over my pp weight still at 4m pp. Strangely, I just don't care as much this time around

@bushelandapeck: yes i agree! I don't care as much for some reason.

It took about the same amount of time but the first time it melted off! The first time I was in pre preg clothes right away and down to 5-7lb above pre preg weight within a couple days (I gained 28lb). The second time i gained 32 total and I lost 10lb right away, another 10 within a month or so but the rest took more effort. But overall it took abt the same Amt of time to get to prepreg weight (5-6 months ish). i didn't try very hard the first time though which is why it took longer. The second time I had to watch what I ate more.

Honestly, i think you sound kind of obsessive about this in an unhealthy way. There's hardcore and there's...possibly veering into another territory. It's pregnancy. The vast majority of women do not have their bodies back at 3 months postpartum unless they are 1) unicorns 2) do it unhealthily. If you have to buy a couple pairs of size up'd pants, so be it. Just cut yourself some slack. You're growing a human being. Eat healthy, rest, and exercise.

I wore a size up and some maternity stuff when I went back to work 3 months PP. Did i love it? No. It is what it is. It isn't the end of the world. Be kind to your body

@PrincessBaby: I returned to week at 5 weeks pp and fit into my pre pregnancy clothes After my second pregnancy. But I think I was a unicorn in that situation. I did not try.

Just be kind to yourself. Seriously. Nobody expects you to look like you did before you got pregnant when you come back to work. Focus on loving your baby. Youre lovely no matter what.

ETA: I think part of the reason I lost so fast is that I cut out gluten, dairy, and soy for my colicky baby. I didn't start working out until 12 weeks pp.

@PrincessBaby: I don't think it is to an extent, either. But 3 months is not a lot of time for the vast majority of moms, particularly second time moms. And you know I say that as someone who eats healthy, puts in a damn lot of work at the gym, and was back in a bikini the following summer. So i am by no means anti being happy with your body. There's caring and putting in the hard work and knowing it'll come and there's a disordered view that comes with being obsessive about it (and you've mentioned that in the past and lord knows pregnancy is a mind fuck in this department). All i'm saying is to be KIND to yourself the second time around because it often IS harder for a myriad of reasons, and while setting goals is fine and dandy, sometimes goals need to be flexible, too. Don't hate on yourself if you aren't 100% where you want to be, just tack on a few more weeks.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: Be kind to yourself. I don't have LO#2 yet, but I gained 60lbs too - I didn't do anything different diet-wise (I'm a vegetarian and cut coffee and alcohol), exercised until bedrest at 36 weeks. It's just what it took for my body to have a baby. I had pre-e, I was so swollen everywhere.
After having J, my body completely changed. I gain in places I never gained before, lose weight in places I used to gain. It's like my whole body chemistry has changed. Perfume smells different on me than it used to. It's weird.

The best thing you can do is put in the effort to be active and eat healthy and say a little prayer. It's kind of a crapshoot how easy/hard it will be.
@PrincessBaby: Setting a goal with a timeline motivates me, too! I was so swollen in my last trimester from the pre-e, it was depressing. I couldn't wait to get back into my work clothes when I went back.

@PrincessBaby: Luckily, I was back to my PP clothes soon after with both. I'm just now back to work at 4m pp and can wear all of my work clothes. I wouldn't have wanted to buy new things either, to be honest. I'm happy with how I feel/look for the most part but would like to be more toned.

@PrincessBaby: yes, I went to my PCP back in December. I suspected a thyroid problem and he referred me to an endocrinologist. I saw the endo a few weeks later, and it felt like a sales pitch. I'm overweight to begin with, and he wanted me to quit BFing and try a replacement shake, and if that didn't work he said I was a candidate for gastric bypass.

I'm about 50-60lbs overweight. To me, that's not gastric bypass surgery worthy. I've got 30lbs of pregnancy weight hanging on and another 20-30lbs to lose.

He didn't even bother looking at my fitness pal & the food I've been tracking. He "trusted me" that I was making the right decisions and for all he knew, I was tracking cake for breakfast.

I went home pissed off and decided i would really focus on weight loss whenever I was do e BFing since I don't want to be too crazy with exercise and food restriction, so I don't affect milk supply right now.

@PrincessBaby: it's funny you wrote that, about having to return to work...I was JUST saying to a coworker that if I had to go back to an office 3 months after the birth of my son, I would have for sure been more motivated to address the weight issue than I had ( I took 2 years off following the birth of my son).

I think age also has something to do with it, I am pushing 40 and it's just not as easy for me to lose weight like I did when I was in my 20s. It all kind of changed for me in my 30s, truth be told.

I bounced back very fast with LO1. I was just a few pounds over pre preg weight at 6 weeks and lighter by 4 months, wearing all my regular clothes and bikini that summer. I did absolutely nothing and ate like a teenage boy.

With LO2, it took a lot longer. I started that pregnancy 10lbs lighter than my first (I was pretty skinny), but probably gained 10lbs more than with LO1. I could button my prepreg jeans by 1 month, but they were definitely tight. I didn't eat nearly as much while BF LO2 as I did while BF LO1, but the weight came off much more slowly. I've been at my normal weight since about 9 months PP, but my stomach is definitely softer than before.