Just got back from vacation! Prior to leaving for vacation (maybe 2 weeks) we had a little incident with a condom so I took Plan B to be safe. While we were away my boobs were sore and that's typically not a PMS symptom I have; the only time I've experienced that was when I was pregnant earlier this year. According to CDC our vacation spot has some Zika cases...so I was freaking out!

Taking a pregnancy test was the first thing I did when I got back home....and whew not pregnant. I'm relieved for now...the idea of being pregnant while potentially being exposed to Zika would have driven me crazy! My cycle has been a little unpredictable since the miscarriage and on top of that Plan B messes up my cycle, so even though based on my normal cycle length I am late it's a little hard to know for sure given the circumstances...so I'll be completely relieved once my cycle starts.

It's at least 2 months before my doctor said it would be safe to try if we wanted, but I really want to reach my goal weight before we start trying so we'll have to see how it goes. Will hop on the scale tomorrow to see the damage, but ready to get back to losing weight.

Oh man, it's been full of crazy emotions in our household this last week.

We've been pursuing a medical malpractice case in regards to our daughter and we finally got the verdict back from the judge that we won our case! We had our trial at the end of last year, so it's been a long six month wait, plus we started the entire thing shortly after she was born. So four years ago!

We still have to wait through the appeals period and it is driving me nearly up the wall swinging between elation and frustration. Having this court case finished is a big step in the direction of having another child. It's a huge burden of stress that I don't want while pregnant. But if they decide to appeal the decision then it'll be another year until we go to trial again, then another 6-12 months waiting for that judge to make a ruling.

I turned 31 last Tuesday and we got the news on Wednesday, so best belated birthday gift ever!

And even though my period started today(and I've had a lot of cake) I've managed to stay under 200lbs!

@motivatedsister I totally get where you're coming from with the freak out though. I'm on some medication for my skin which can cause serious birth defects and every time I'm even a day later then I should be, I start having mini panics. Despite being on the pill and using condoms.

Glad you're ready to get back to it though! I'm always lazy about it after time away, takes me a bit to get back in the groove.

@natashalp2014 That is great news-congratulations!

I have been MIA for the last month, and the scale has shown it. Weighed in at 194.8 this morning, after a low of 183 earlier this year. I'm really irritated with myself about it, but ready to take control back. Back to basics: count calories, drink more water, move more.

We have been doing more take out and celebratory foods lately, and I have not worked out in months. I got a promotion at work that has upped my hours and stress level for now, and I'm letting it take over my eating and exercising.
Lots of dinners out to celebrate...Yay, promotion coming. Yay, promotion official. Yay, new business cards. Yay, bump in paycheck showed up. It. Must. End. My clothes are too tight and I feel so terrible!

The promotion also changed my thinking quite a bit regarding starting a family. Before my hours were not flexible at all, and it was just a job to tide me over. I was planning on quitting after baby, no doubt about it. I was going to be a stay at home mom...that's why we haven't started a family before now.
However....now I see my job as a career, with flexible hours (after I'm more established) potential to work from home once a week, better pay, better benefits package. I'm not sure that I want to quit after baby, and I'm not ready to work a new job (with lots of responsibilities) with a baby at home (or while pregnant.) I have a long commute and am way from the house for about 55 hours a week with commuting times. More if there are special occasions, or issues that come up. 55 hours is just my 8 hours a day, plus lunch and commute times.

I am really surprised at my newfound attitude-my husband is stunned. I have wanted to be a stay at home mom for years... and now maybe I don't? And I might be the one to delay starting a family? I know the job is still new and I might just change my mind again soon, but I am very surprised at this 180 I have done.

I'm probably the only one here with this mentality right now...tell me all your baby planning stories and bring me back to your side, lol!

@verykatie TTC yet?

@Wifiresgettingfit Thanks! I'm pretty excited about the promotion as well. It's a small company, and I'm now the first female manager here. Feels good to be on the top floor, where I can really make a difference.

About the baby, I still want one (of course!) but never considered being a working mom. I was going to stay at home, baby wear, breastfeed, home school, ect. We have worked to pay down debt and save money and WAITED to start a family specifically because this is what we wanted (me to stay home, single income family.)

Hubby has always said if I went back to work after baby, we can start trying whenever. We waited specifically to be financially ready for me to quit my job. So the kicker is...if I decided to keep working....we could TTC now. And I think I might want to delay it another 6 months or a year past our original TTC date (October 2016.)

This is what I am mostly surprised about. I know people change their minds about staying home with baby all the time after they have the baby...but before they even TTC?

My goals are still the same, get healthy for pregnancy-it just might be a little farther off than I thought!

@VeryKatie Welcome back! I hope you had a great trip. So exciting that you're trying and keeping up with your goals.

I'm having a tough time with food at the moment so I've decided to switch my calories to maintenance but concentrate on my exercise goals. I know being more consistent with exercise will help me feel less stressed and keep my mind off everything that is going on. (9 more days, arggghhhh)

On a happier note we've decided to take a short vacation to the West Edmonton Mall this October. Rebecca will adore the water park and it'll be nice to test out how she does on a plane (how her medical equipment is dealt with, her seating and everything else) on a shorter trip before we make any plans for longer trips to visit my family. Ideally I'd like to lose a few more pounds before then as well but I'm trying not to concentrate on that at the moment.

@verykatie Yeah it's been good thanks Nice to have a group of people on here, not joined one before

If you're having a hard time with control it isn't a terrible idea, but remember it won't necessarily lead to 4 pounds of weight loss rapidly. My maintenance is about 2000 calories while sedentary, so 5 days of 2000 and 2 days of 500 only leaves me with a weekly deficit of 3000, less then a pound.

As long as you are not getting dizzy or extremely hangry on those 500 calorie days it won't hurt you. 5:2 worked well for me while Becca was not sleeping properly and I had no control (my doctor was the one to suggest trying that eating plan). Buckling down for 2 days a week I could manage. Once I started exercising more and added more activity I found those 500 calorie days hard to sustain and felt better with the smaller daily deficit.

Lately I've been completely out of control, though I know it's from the stress of this appeals period. My sleep has been terrible, I can't concentrate on anything else but today is the last day and then we can finally start moving forward, I'm thinking of doing a weekly, rather than daily total, cycling through planned lower and higher days.

WifiresGettingFit wrote: »

@NatashaLP2014 Today is the last day? That's good news! I hope things go well and you start feeling better and getting your sleep! *HUGS*

Sadly, nope. On the very last day they appealed the decision. Apparently it is a very common stalling tactic, because from their point of view, why not? They get to make 100's of thousands more in interest on that money which more then pays for the extra legal costs.

So now we are stuck for another 1-2 years while we wait for everything to go through the Appeals court and up to a year after that for the Appeals court to make their judgement. And I've been questioning very seriously whether we should have any more children or if we can financially get to the point where we need to before it is too risky. (While still providing what Rebecca needs.)

I cannot describe the utter frustration I am feeling.