Long story short...I was overweight when I got pregnant. Never gained any weight with all 3 of my pregnancies. I always ended up losing weight because of severe morning sickness. But pregnancy #3 was on another level. I was as sick as a dog almost every day, all day and all night. Throwing up, nauseous, heartburn, acid reflux, it was fucking rough and stressful. My OB said the baby was ok, but it was like my body was starving itself. Low blood sugar, fainting spells, dizziness, 15lb weight loss between months 7-9. Broken blood vessels from throwing up, thirsty all the time. Baby was sitting on a nerve in my diaphragm which made me cough constantly and made me gag and puke. Crushed ice was my best friend. Scheduled a c-section for 01-21-19. On Saturday, 01-19-19, a freak Ohio snowstorm came in. The drop in pressure must have got things going, because I started to feel funny and the need to clean. Uh-oh right? That should’ve tipped me off. Around 9pm, contractions came on. By midnight, I thought I was dying. Also, it was a Level 3 snowstorm by this point. I had to walk through knee deep snow to get to the car while having epic contractions. My husband had to drive 15 mph and I thought we would never get there in time, I thought we would have to pull over and call 911. Finally we made it and I had a c-section a short time later. Baby girl was healthy and chunky. I finally felt like I could breathe normally without coughing. Fast forward to getting released 3 days later. Got home, started puking again. Couldn’t keep anything down, not even water. Trying to breastfeed at the same time. Four ER visits, negative flu test, nothing showed in a cat scan. They kept shoving drugs down my throat which made the puking worse. Another 15lbs lost in 6 days. On the 4th visit, my OB (God bless that man) intervened, contacted the head of gastro and I was scoped within a few hours. Two huge, nasty, duodenal ulcers found at the opening of my small intestine. Probably had them my whole pregnancy. Today, 08-11-19, I’m down 50+ lbs due to a whole new healthy eating and exercise plan. Baby is healthy and happy. The old me would have never worn a bikini let alone pose for a pic in it. But damn that, cuz I’m a new woman. 👊🏻 ♥️