10 Pounds

My sister-in-law, who I love dearly, called me the other day to share some frustrating and disappointing news that she received.  She had a doctor's appointment earlier this week, and shared that she showed up feeling chipper and declared to her doctor that she and my brother were ready to start trying again.  For those who are new (or may have forgotten), she and my brother suffered a loss at 30 weeks in September 2008 when my nephew, Joshua Lynn, passed due to entanglement with the umbilical cord.  She has some other health concerns that they were trying to get in check, but now that those other concerns have been addressed, they feel ready to try again.

But even though she feels ready to try again, her doctor recommended that she lose 10 pounds first.  His argument is that she's at a higher risk of twins since her father was a twin, so if she were to get pregnant, she could gain up to 80 pounds.  While I understand his concern, I shared with her that I thought it was rather ludicrous.  I would say that my sister-in-law is in fairly good shape.  I guess I wouldn't say that she's "skinny", but she's most definitely not "fat" by any means.  I'd say that she's pretty much totally "average".  She eats pretty well and gets a fair amount of exercise--especially now that she walks their golden retriever puppy pretty much on a daily basis.  But she has a goal and she has resources, so she's going to try to please the doctor and lose the 10 pounds.

My sister-in-law has apparently been dubbed "super-fertile".  I don't know who gives out these sorts of titles, but I admit that I'd rather like to have the powers associated with it as well.  And given her super-fertility abilities, I also admit that I was just a little bit relieved to hear that her doctor bought me more time with his recommendations to lose the weight.  I know that it's not a race, but yet in my own selfish way, I still want to be pregnant first.  But for her sake, I hope that the weight falls off quickly so that she can pursue her desire as well.

My husband totally blessed me yesterday by treating me to a wonderful date night.  We went to a movie, and then out to dinner at this amazing restaurant with authentic Mexican recipes where the menu changes twice daily, so you never know what you're going to get.  He made the day so sweet, and was a great reminder of just how kind he is.