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Coops, my friend, congrats!! You have been altogether too hard on yourself for not reaching a particular scale weight. This is a huge NSV and I hope you're enjoying it! It's not all about the scale and you know that. Three years, no regain and getting fitter every day is nothing to shrug off. So happy for you! ~Cheri

Thank you for posting about this. I've looked into a number of procedures and honestly felt that most of the other methods for tightening the midsection weren't enough for what I need - basically from bra line to pubis - and the anchor cut would have been necessary for me anyway because of how my loose skin is and due to the significant muscle separation I have there. I already have a road map of stretch marks so what's another scar to me? It's not like I'm trotting out in a bikini, ever! Please do share your before and afters and keep posting as you recover (though I'm sure you'll be exhausted for a while!) so we can see the results! ~Cheri

I think it's just the hormonal wackiness messing with me. I can't really control or make any of the other upheaval in our lives "right" so of course I want to control the me aspect of my life and the easiest target is getting back to goal. Well, what should be the easiest, anyway! I was breastfeeding but after two serious rounds of mastitis coupled with UTIs in a three week period (I'm currently on my second round of antibiotics) I decided to rely on my frozen supply (I have a freezer completely full of milk - probably about two months worth) and use formula next. Breastfeeding/pumping does burn about 500 extra calories a day and I had been eating about 1,300-1,500 calories a day while breastfeeding and having no issues with supply or baby's nutrition. And yeah, my upset over the not breastfeeding thing surely contributes more to this feeling I have that I need to control something (anything!) so it doesn't help my mindset or mood right now. But the mastitis knocks you flat - I have two five year olds and a five week old and do not have the luxury to spend two or three days in bed and a week dragging because of repeated infections. Hopefully this decision makes things a little easier around here. I think all I need to do is take a deep breath and just relax for a few weeks. I suppose that it's reasonable to expect that I'll lose weight just as slowly as I did on the way to goal weight. It took me six months to shed the last twenty to goal, so taking another three months or so to shed these last nine pounds isn't too bad. And I know, I know, being only nine pounds from my starting weight at five weeks postpartum is a huge accomplishment. Elisheva is just adorable and sweet and we're enjoying her as much as we can. I think the biggest stress in my life is this insane move and getting into the swing of things in our new home. I'll adjust with time and I see that I'm just not giving myself that time right now. I am thankful for those moments with the baby. I'll be busy unpacking boxes and she'll cry and my first thought is "Oh, I was almost done with this!" but once I'm holding her and feeding her I realize my only breaks and quiet time are when I get to sit and hold or feed her. It's really sweet and it's really a blessing. It's just hard to go from maintaining (and pretty effortlessly) to the other side again. It's more upsetting than I expected. I need to back off on the scale and I probably need to just take it easy on myself for a while. I'm normally a very busy, structured achiever. I like to just make a goal and accomplish it. Feeling like I'm floundering is foreign to me and kind of distressing to my controlling personality. I'm going to hook up with a local WLS support group later this month. That might help focus me a bit more and might make me feel better, too. ~Cheri

Anyone pre-op or in the loss phase in this area, heads up that I'm going to post some size 18/20 clothes (nothing fancy) in the clothing exchange if you're in need or know someone who might need them. ~Cheri

Not sure about you folks but I only get notifications when I'm quoted or liked (otherwise I'd sift through VST emails all day long), so I quoted you all to get the conversation about a social group going, since you'd all expressed some measure of interest. I'm new to this area after four years overseas so I'm not terribly familiar with the area, other than knowing what's immediately around me and how to get where I need to go with a nav system. I do plan to go to the May Inova meeting but it's not for a few more weeks. If any of you do attend, we could easily set up a social gathering in person for a week or so after that meeting. If you guys don't plan to attend or attend other support groups elsewhere, maybe someone more familiar with this region could throw out a couple of ideas on places to meet up? I'm in Alexandria but willing to drive to a monthly meet up if necessary. ~Cheri

The super high protein will last a long time (ideally!) and will help train you to eat differently (ideally!) so it's not a bad thing. It does get boring when your choices are limited and your restriction is very tight. Honestly - you're lucky to get 2-3 oz. of dense protein, is my opinion. It makes eating easier but not so easy you could just fly off the rails. I couldn't eat more than a single egg scrambled with cheese at one time for more than a year. And I definitely felt resentment about what I could eat and because I couldn't eat what I needed to eat, and I think that it's fairly normal to grieve our old food habits in the early months. I checked my old weight loss tracker and at two months post op, I'd shed 34 pounds. The only months I shed pounds in the double digits were months one to four post op. You're on the right track. And being thankful for that restriction is the right attitude, even though there are times that I still get frustrated by how little I can eat! ~Cheri

I'm not great about structured exercise but I do track what I burn and only occasionally eat back just a small portion of those calories. Only if I feel a real, genuine need to eat and have topped out my calorie limit for the day will I do it, and it's only happened a handful of times in more than two years. I never quite trust that I really burned that many calories and I also think the idea of eating more because I exercised odd. I can understand it for serious athletes that need those calories and energy but I simply don't. ~Cheri

I'm glad you're finding ways to work through things. No advice, just a thank you for sharing. The less I feel the need to fix in myself, the more those hidden issues creep out in my life, too. Perhaps now that you're really about to cross that big finish line those last few hurts are working their way out. While painful, stressful and of course, no fun to face, it can't all be bad in the end to talk about these things and work through them. Best to you, and enjoy those horses! ~Cheri

Could be, wonder why that would be? Are you feeling stressed or agitated near meal times? I found after surgery that if my blood pressure rises at all during a meal - if I get annoyed or aggravated in the least - my sleeve constricts and I can't get anything in. I've also found that what I eat the rest of the day seems to impact how my sleeve reacts. If I eat a lot of choices that can slide (not necessarily bad choices, just softer foods) I have more trouble with my dense Protein at the end of the day. ~Cheri

I really, really, REALLY hate being back in the loss phase. Oh, today I only have nine pounds back to goal. Tomorrow it will be twelve. The next day six...and I'm so frustrated playing the up and down game on the scale like I did during initial loss. Those that have experienced regains and recovered, how did you approach it mentally? I know this isn't a "real" regain, whatever the heck that means, because it's pregnancy weight. And no, I'm not in a hurry to see that magic number on the scale again...but I feel frustrated by not really knowing where to start and not feeling like I'm making progress. Because seriously, I feel less prepared to adjust myself back into the swing of things than I did immediately post op. It's crazy. I'm not sure where to put my calories. Okay, I know that I should eat as much as I need to both lose weight and feel sane. But how do I know where that is when my scale won't stay still? Maybe I just need to aim my calories at a set point and weigh weekly. I hate this, I feel like a newbie again. I probably shouldn't even be posting here anymore. I'm back on a Protein coffee daily and thank goodness for that coffee. I'm eating protein first and am amazed by the fluctuation in my restriction. Last night had a dinner of turkey and two salads (one made with chickpeas and one made with lima beans) and I was able to consume more than I expected. It's like I'm back to struggling with what a portion should be because the larger portions during pregnancy skewed my perception. I used to be good at this! I used to be able to just eye my plate and know exactly what would work. Now I've got to break the measuring cups and scale out to know what I've eaten. But then the next day, I'll only be able to eat one very tiny portion of something I expect to be able to eat more of, and it's driving me crazy. I'm frustrated because here I am, the lady always preaching that we should approach food from a good place (a sane place!) and I'm absolutely losing my mind obsessing over what I'm eating, what I'm not eating and how much I should be eating of those things that I may or may not be eating. If anything, this is clear proof that falling off track for an extended period of time (not that I was totally off track for nine months, but I wasn't rigid about my diet at all) can make picking things back up more challenging than simply "making good choices." I'll have to take that into consideration next time I give advice to someone. In the meantime, does anyone have advice for me? ~Cheri

I didn't pay nearly enough attention as a child or have any real interest in learning modern Hebrew when the opportunity was there as a teen, but I do know my prayers and zemirot. Mostly! My other children (b/g twins) are Isaac and Ahava and while my daughter's name seems odd to Israeli people (as calling your child "Love" in English would be, I imagine) it's always met with "oh, how beautiful!" here in America. ~Cheri

I used IVF w/ICSI for my twins (prior to sleeve) and did a frozen embryo transfer to get pregnant this last time with my daughter. I gave birth four weeks ago and I'd say that while my pregnancy wasn't more enjoyable now that I'm smaller, the recovery was fantastic compared to past pregnancies. I developed gestational diabetes with my twin pregnancy that did not resolve afterward until I had my VSG. This time around my blood sugar was better than a non-pregnant lady so that was no concern. I was a big gainer with past pregnancies - 97 pounds with my first single, more than 80 pounds with my twins - but only gained 32 pounds with this pregnancy. Within a week I'd lost 18 pounds and now at 29 days out from delivery I only have 9 pounds left to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm already in my size small and 5/6 clothes again (though I admit they aren't the form-fitting ones yet). If you're diligent about your habits you will remain in control. I was able to eat quite a bit more during pregnancy than I am postpartum, but I still eat very little. Max, about a cup of food in a meal and that's if half the meal is soft enough to slide. I wasn't as strict as I could have been while pregnant but I kept weighing daily like I was in maintenance to stay on top of things and I kept trying to eat right at least 80% of the time. It seems to have worked, even though I really wanted to gain less than 32 pounds. In fairness, though, I think that being on progesterone shots for nearly two months is partly to blame for my weight gain. I put on nearly half of it before five months and then slowly gained the rest through the last months of pregnancy. I am pumping (and still diligently attempting to get this child to nurse) and have had absolutely no problems with supply or getting enough nutrition for the baby. She's gaining very nicely and has already outgrown her newborn clothes. You'll do fine, and in my opinion waiting is the best thing you can do. I feel that it would have been near impossible for me to eat enough to stay healthy if I'd gotten pregnant sooner because I never had a large capacity post op. I also didn't have my lab numbers in a good place until more than a year out. The longer those good habits are ingrained, the less chance you have of falling back and getting sloppy or using pregnancy as an excuse to do all those things you know you shouldn't be doing. Good luck, and many ladies here have increased fertility post op, so perhaps you'll find your PCOS isn't as much an issue this time around as before. ~Cheri

Congrats and let us know how it goes! With my twins the first ultrasound (7 weeks) showed one baby with heartbeat and one sac that appeared empty. Two weeks later we had two babies with good heartbeats measuring within a few days of each other. ~Cheri

I'm more than two years out and while you can see my scars, they're faint and like the others here, not nearly as noticeable as my stretch marks. Which, while mostly white these days, are still far more visible than the faint discoloration where my surgery was performed. I'll take my size six, healthy weight, no diabetes and an active lifestyle and be happy for it, and would still say that even if I were covered in scars under my clothes! Oh wait, I AM scarred under my clothes - those stretch marks are lifelong scars that prove I was obese for more than half my life and carried four beautiful children in my body. What are four tiny little incision scars to that? ~Cheri

I take B12 injections and a prescription Iron supplement. I tried diet and it wasn't enough for me, likely because my iron levels have run borderline my entire life. I just can't eat enough to make up the difference. If you're trying diet, be sure to make your iron-rich meals low in Calcium because calcium is going to interfere with iron absorption. I'd give it a try and see how it goes, but don't be disappointed if you find you need another supplement. In my case, I should have been on these iron pills years ago and regret that I wasn't because I feel much better now that my levels are balanced and healthy. ~Cheri

I LOVE my Rago shapewear. Anytime someone asks me how I hide my loose skin I tell them about my shapewear. This is not for the faint of heart that feel Spanx are too restrictive. This is serious, vintage-styled shapewear that comes in limited colors and is attractive in a "sexy-only-if-you-dig-the-retro-look" way. I dig the retro thing, and I love how well this stuff works. As if I weren't already sold on their products (I've got several of their pieces, but my favorites are the 821 cinchers) my funk about my postpartum body completely disappeared this afternoon when my new order showed up. I just had a baby four weeks ago (okay, four weeks and one day, but who's counting?) and have been ever so distressed by the loose middle I've been carrying around. It's just floppy and yuck and I fear that it will never rebound as much as I'd like, since it was already an issue prior to losing weight and having another baby (thanks twin pregnancy!) and there's just so much of it. Several inches, actually - if I pinch up my loose middle, I'm downright skinny under there. My entire middle is almost ENTIRELY loose skin and adipose fat that ain't leaving without some lipo or a surgery. I made the sorry mistake of measuring myself sans shapewear last week and it ruined my day. Mostly because I'm impatient and really wanted a magical rebound into my pre-pregnancy body. But today I put on my new cincher and man...not only does it pull everything in and support my back, too, but it took a full FIVE inches off my waist at the smallest point. I don't look like I'm wearing shapewear - I have my waspy hourglass figure back and look like I'm in a corset, even though it's easy to move around and bend in this thing. IT'S AWESOME. I just had to rave. If you like the older styling of serious shapewear you might give them a try. I shop herroom because they're super easy about exchanges/returns if something doesn't fit or feel comfortable. I don't work for either company, honestly. I just love my shapewear and how it makes me look under my clothes. And this, my friends, is why I'm nearly three years out from surgery and still haven't had my plastics. I get an instant tummy tuck each time I hook up my shapewear and it's easy to forget I have all that skin until I put my PJs on each evening. Only nine pounds and 1.5" back to my pre-pregnancy weight/size. ~Cheri

I gained 32 pounds while pregnant with my daughter. Within a week of her birth I was already down 18 of those pounds. And while the rest is coming of more slowly than I'd like (I want my body back now, thank you!) I'm losing every day on the scale, even if it's only a fraction of a pound some days. I'm now 25 days out from delivery and while they don't fit as loosely as before, I'm already in my pre-pregnancy 5/6 jeans (okay...they're my "fat" jeans for my TOM but whatever, they fit!) and there is no way on earth I look remotely like I gave birth a few weeks ago. I credit both being healthier overall and having long established good habits (I'm also more than two years post op) and breastfeeding with the super quick recovery and weight loss. I drink Water all day long for my milk supply and of course that helps, and being careful about my diet and focusing on Protein first (and drinking a Protein shake every morning again) is definitely helping, too. I can't wait to hit the gym, honestly. And I'm not a workout type of girl! Most of the excess weight is CLEARLY loose skin in my case. My entire middle is very loose right now and honestly, if plastic surgery were an option tomorrow I think I'd be under goal weight as soon as I recovered. So I wouldn't stress or fret too much. Keep an eye on your weight now but know that gaining anywhere from 20-40 pounds is totally normal and some women gain even more than that. Don't get sloppy with your eating habits because you will be able to eat more postpartum for a while. My restriction is more than while pregnant but still less than prior to pregnancy, so I could easily eat too many calories or indulge in slider foods and stop losing. Before in maintenance I aimed for an average of about 1,100-1,300 calories a day and I'm currently consuming about 1,500 depending on my choices that day and my restriction. The lactation consultant I spoke with was worried I would have supply issues with my milk due to a lower caloric intake but I'm experiencing oversupply so that's not an issue. And I'm losing weight at that number, between the calories burned by breastfeeding and my busy daily life. Don't let things slide and immediately postpartum pick up those good habits that helped you lose before and you shouldn't have any issues. It will take time to shed the final pounds the same way it takes time to lose the final pounds on the way to goal, but in my experience, it seems like it's completely do-able. As for clothes, I outgrew most of my tops pretty quickly though I was able to wear my pants longer with a Blanqi top or belly band. I felt like I looked preggo at the time, but looking back at pictures, I didn't really start to look like I was anything but chunky in the middle until close to five months pregnant, and even then people were very careful about asking if I was pregnant because you couldn't really be sure if I was or not. That all changed and by seven or eight months out when I looked pregnant for sure but people were telling me I was too tiny to be due in a few months. Good luck, and congrats! ~Cheri

It's probably a totally unnecessary post but who cares! Having delivered my little bundle of joy/sleepless nights I found that I no longer have acid reflux or lactose intolerance. I've eaten cheese, cottage cheese and even a piece of toast with REAL BUTTER. I'm so happy I could scream. I also seem to have dropped the meat aversion and enjoyed a really delicious (albeit teeny tiny) portion of turkey chili last night. With SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE!! Oh yeah, I'm living the wild life over here. The fact that my sleeve is once again restricting me to 1/4-1/2 cup portions actually makes me a little sad. I really wanted to eat that entire cup of chili and was disappointed when I couldn't fit more than half. Ah, to be mostly normal again - where food is enjoyable because I can eat what I want, but where my sleeve keeps me from eating too much of it. Which is a good thing, bowls of chili aside. Oh, and totally weird side note: I developed a reaction to sulfites after my twins and so couldn't enjoy much wine or beer, but after Elisheva, I appear to have developed a taste for Peanut Butter. Peanut butter is a food I have loathed my entire life...and now I don't feel right unless I eat half a PB & J sandwich every few days or so. What's up with that? ~Cheri

Check with your OB if you're concerned but I took: Prilosec, B12, Calcium and prenatals in the morning. I then took a prescription Iron supplement in the afternoons and evenings. For the first few months I was also on an additional folic acid supplement but they dropped that somewhere between four and five months out. My daughter is just two weeks old, so while nursing I'm still taking the B12, prenatals and iron supplements. My acid reflux and lactose intolerance disappeared as soon as I delivered, so I'm getting plenty of calcium from food again. Hooray for cottage cheese! I'm so happy I can eat dairy I could do a little dance. Oh, and because I'm exclusively breastfeeding, the pediatrician put her on a liquid Vitamin that I put in her first bottle of the day so she gets enough iron and Vitamin D. I tend to be borderline with my iron levels even with a prescription supplement so for us it's necessary. I'm sure you'll do just fine and your weight seems right on track. Update us after your ultrasound! ~Cheri

I'll be three years out in July. I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves in Mexico, but now live in the D.C. area again. This is the first time I've lived stateside since having my surgery, and I'm curious about the support groups in area and how they operate. Are they open to anyone or just to the patients of a specific surgeon? Are they a good mix of vets and newbies? I live in Alexandria but would consider a drive to a meeting worthwhile. Did anyone ever put together a social group for this area? I think something once every few months could be fun and informative for a lot of us that don't have other sleeved people around in real life. ~Cheri

In the loss phase I ate no more than 900 calories a day. In maintenance I aimed for 1,100-1,300 a day. While pregnant, I aimed for 1,400-1,600 calories a day. I'll be honest, there were times when that was a real challenge due to either restriction or morning sickness. And there were times when the hormones were flooding my body and I felt like I could eat all day long. But overall, that's the window I tried to stick with throughout. I gained 32 pounds, a perfectly normal weight gain that actually worried my OB. This is the same OB that saw me during my twin pregnancy and the fact that I gained so little this time had them worried. However, my daughter was born at a normal weight (for our family) - right in between the weights of my previous children at 6 pounds, 7 ounces. She was born perfectly healthy, at 39 weeks, 3 days so there were no problems with her size or health due to my surgery or my diet. A huge thing to consider is Vitamin supplements, though. I had very real issues with both lactose intolerance (it reared it's ugly head again with my pregnancy) and morning sickness every time I consumed meat. I had to find ways to make up the difference, and I turned to Protein shakes for a while. I also took a number of Vitamins to help ensure the baby was getting enough of what she needed, too. By one week postpartum I had already lost more than half the weight, so try to shelve any concerns about a normal pregnancy gain and focus on the baby. Good luck, and wishes for a healthy pregnancy! ~Cheri

Does the nausea start before or after you eat? Dairy, dehydration, or your Vitamins could all be the cause of persistent nausea. ~Cheri

I'm glad you shared your story. I think that disordered eating, from either end of the spectrum, is just that. You didn't develop a new habit or way of thinking - it just shifted from the bad habits of an obese woman to what might be an unhealthy preoccupation with your weight/diet in a thin person. I think that to some extent, dysmorphia really IS a normal thing for us to experience post op. The weight loss happens quickly (even in slow losers it's faster than without surgery) and we make a lot of drastic changes in our lives. After seeing something that makes us unhappy in the mirror for so long, I think it's difficult to stop nitpicking and trying for perfection. Especially when woman-focused media is constantly selling us the idea that it's never quite enough to be thin - you have to have the perfect figure, a pretty face and be well educated, too. Oh yes, and the perfect mom who balances a high powered career while somehow maintaining her sanity. We also get an almost immediate gratification from seeing our hard work show results in our mental health, our bodies or on the scale. Once we hit goal there can be a sort of void where that preoccupation and dedication resided for however long it took to reach goal. I think the line between fairly normal for a post op and potentially harmful comes when you reach that point where you realize it isn't enough - when you do keep going and when you see that you'd tell a beloved friend to stop losing if it were her, but because it's your reflection and your weight you continue onward in the hopes that ten more pounds will make you happy. I think you're on that line, but you're cognizant of that fact which helps immensely. Weight loss didn't make me happy. I have a number of real-life WLS friends and guess what? WLS didn't make any of them happy, either. We think it will before surgery. We have whatever issues are in our lives that helped make us unhappy, obese, disordered eaters and we're sure that if we just lose the weight we'll love ourselves, forgive ourselves and be happier. And in my experience, at least, that simply did not happen. I had to find the problems that were there BEFORE the weight loss and address/resolve them as best I could to find some peace and yes, eventually some real happiness. I am not by any stretch saying you are anorexic, but I purchased a book for my teenage stepdaughter last year that seems to be helping her a bit. Believe it or not, this book took a different approach to her illness (she is an anorexic) and instead of body affirmations the book is a diet-based approach to adjusting your body and brain so they're in sync. In her case, it has helped - her weight loss has stopped and while we haven't seen much regain, she IS eating and her blood panels show closer to normal nutritional levels. Most importantly, she seems happier with herself and more peaceful about her relationship with food. That's reassuring and it's the first time in three years we've seen anything that's come remotely close to "working" with her. The book simply addressed Vitamin deficiencies and suggested what foods to eat to correct imbalances. I doubt in your case it's worth purchasing, but perhaps visiting a library to see what the book outlines and see if you can apply it to your diet might help? It sounds crazy, but so many times I see these women posting that are unhappy or struggling in some way with food and while I know that a huge part of that is whatever food demons they entered the game with, I also feel that some of it is due to the way a lot of people super restrict their eating for long periods of time. I think diet plays a role in our mental health, too. In any case, the book is called "Answers to Anorexia" by James Greenblatt. It might be a waste of your time, but it might also include a few ways to adjust your nutritional intake so you feel a bit more balanced. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you realize you aren't alone in this. Many people simply don't post about it, much the way we don't see a lot of posts about real struggles in maintenance or while losing. It's easy for this site to be full of cheerleaders when all is well, but break out the negativity or a real struggle and people fall back on telling you how to eat and to exercise more. Good luck, ~Cheri

Hey Vets - I really need to snag some shut-eye while I can but I wanted to drop in and say I posted a birth announcement for our daughter in the pregnancy board. I hope everyone is doing well and once this overseas PCS nonsense is finally over and we can rest a bit I'll be back to post my usual helpful, sarcastic or just plain mean posts. In the meantime, we're enjoying our little one immensely and can't wait for our new normal to finally start. ~Cheri Oh, here's the link to make life even easier. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/75022-shes-here/#entry762158

I've just been far too busy to post an update, so forgive the delay. We didn't just welcome a new baby, we're also still in the midst of an overseas move and life has been both crazy and sleep deprived. We welcomed our newest daughter Elisheva (Shevi) on 21 March. She was 6 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 inches long at birth. Delivery went as planned without complications. She's absolutely adorable, and she's been a lot of fun for our whole family since her arrival. If only we weren't so busy we'd enjoy this time a bit more! Our twins are adjusting well and my daughter, in particular, hovers constantly just thrilled to be a big sister. I have mentioned many times that my post-sleeve pregnancy was actually more challenging in some ways for me. I had more morning sickness, I was more tired, I had a great deal of trouble eating, etc. But I can say without a doubt that delivery and postpartum are totally different post sleeve, and I have never felt quite so good this quickly after a baby. Delivery went very quickly and smoothly and I never needed pain medications afterward. Within two days I felt tired but basically back to normal. Now that I'm twelve days out, the only difference in pre-pregnancy and post is that my body isn't back to normal yet. Recovery was about 1,000 times easier without the excess weight, which I found to be a pleasant surprise. I've also had a better milk supply than ever before. In the past I've struggled to maintain supply (I exclusively pump as every one of my four has had latching issues and pumping was easier for us) but this time around I'm pumping more than twice what I need each day and I already have a refrigerator and freezer full of milk. Again, this is different than before. I think it's mostly due to me just being a healthier person all around - I drink more Water, eat good foods, take my rest seriously (and whenever I can!) than I was in the past. As for weight I gained a total of 32 pounds with my pregnancy. My scale is currently packed in a box and I'm in a hotel room that lacks a scale (darn Army lodging) but as of the 28th I was already down 18 pounds. I'm sure when I'm able to weigh again I'll be down somewhere between 22-25 pounds. I am already able to wear my pre-pregnancy 5/6 jeans...but they would have a bit of unsightly muffin top just now so I'm waiting to actually wear them out. Other than that, I'm back to my usual sizes in everything but bras. Those I'll need to special order, apparently! I'll post some pictures of myself in a few days, but the reality is that even though I feel a bit messy and "loose" around the middle, there is no way I look like I just gave birth less than two weeks ago. If I had some decent shapewear (again, packed in boxes) I think I'd be able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. In any case, we're all doing well we're just really busy. We're enjoying Elisheva as best we can with the stressful move, and we can't wait to be settled in our house so we can relax a bit! Attached are a few pictures of our adorable little princess. ~Cheri