I am 27 weeks and 4 days with a baby boy! He is my rainbow baby and I am extremely excited for him to arrive. In the mean time, I feel like a mess, and I don’t know how to handle it for the next 12ish weeks. The biggest thing that I emotionally cannot deal with is my weight gain. I have gained around 35 pounds. 😳

I was very tall and thin to begin with (5 feet 10 inches, and 130 lbs) and everyone I talk to about this doesn’t believe I have gained that much weight. They blow off an issue that I take to be a big deal. My doctor changed my diet to the gestational diabetes diet around 22 weeks to slow down the weight gain since I was gaining 8 pounds a month. The first month on the diet worked and I only put on 2 pounds, then in two week I put on 3 pounds. I was tested for gestational diabetes, and passed. Now, I don’t know what to do. I stay as active as I can, and I have always been a healthy eater, but the weight gain is non stop. On top of the weight gain, I can’t find a maternity dress that fits. I have shopped at maternity stores, ordered from multiple places online, but have returned everything. It’s either too tight in my chest or it’s way too short for my legs. I don’t like knee length dresses, but I’m too tall for full length dresses. I am trying not to get discouraged, but there are so many events coming up that I need a dress for (multiple weddings, Christmas, New Years, baby showers, and maternity pictures) and I am feeling the stress. I tried to get some pictures taken with my husband this week for a Christmas card and I cannot stand how I look in any of them. The weight gain, the dress hunt, and pictures all just add up and really crush my self confidence. I have had two emotional breakdowns in the last week about all of this, and I cannot continue like this. Any advice is welcome to help me cope and deal with the changes that come with pregnancy or just words of comfort! I cannot be the only one who feels this emotionally distressed about these things.

Below are our Christmas card pictures we attempted. I still don’t know how I feel about them 😔