Plus size pregnancy

[aek]

Hi all, I am new here

I've been working really hard in the past two years - going to the gym and such - trying to prepare for a pregnancy. I lost 30 pounds, but I am still overweight or even, let's be honest here, classified as obese. My doctor has said to me in the past that it maybe harder to conceive being overweight - but not much beyond that. Now that we have been trying for a few months - I wonder is my weight maybe indeed be the issue or what should I expect here.

I am scared / concerned that my weight will affect both of us (me during PG and the child) in a negative way. The very least I want to talk about it with someone and know what to expect.

Thanks for your input everyone

[Storm Bride]

Go here:

http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/

[aek]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Go here:

http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/

wow, thanks for link, I will check it out

[heathenmom]

I've been through 2 pregnancies morbidly obese (Gods how I HATE that term!). The first one was a textbook pregnancy and hospital birth. The second one I was classified as gestational diabetic AND advanced maternal age AND morbidly obese . We had a beautiful homebirth that go-round (and a gorgeous, healthy baby).

You can have a perfectly normal, healthy pregnancy as an obese woman. Just eat well and take good care of yourself, which it sounds like you're already doing. That being said, I do think that the choice of healthcare provider can go a loooong way. If you have an hcp that takes one look at you and decides -- with nary a diagnostic test -- that you have high blood pressure, GD, and wants to go ahead and schedule your c/s .... RUN to somebody else. LOL

Best to you, and Storm Bride is right, that's a FANTASTIC resource.

[akind1]

that link has a lot of great info on it!

It took us (with me being, morbidly obese, and ITA heathenmom, it is an awful term) about 2 years to conceive our first. BUT I was coming off of depo provera and had really irregular cycles. Losing weight I think was one of the many things that helped us finally conceive. I had lost about 15 lbs right before conceiving (I was 240 at my highest pre-pregnancy weight and dropped to 224).

My pregnancy was textbook - no issues what so ever. I had a couple random high-for-me bp readings, but part of the problem is that the aides used different sized bp cuffs. Now, I did end up with a c-section, but that was due to a failed induction at 41+6 (almost 42 weeks). One of the key things is to not gain a whole lot of weight while pregnant; I gained 25 lbs, and have lost all that + another 5 lbs since giving birth 9 months ago. I didn't diet or restrict what I was eating. I found that while pregnant, I just didn't have room to eat a whole lot

make sure you find a supportive hcp, be it a midwife or an OB, I think that's very important. I think they may have tested me for GD a little early, but since it came back with glucose w/i the normal range, I wasn't complaining.

good luck on your TTC journey!

[sparklett]

First, congratulations on your weight loss!!

I got pregnant on the first try and I was obese. I have three friends who tried for months and months before anything happened.

I developed preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome and nearly died. My son was born via c-section 2 mos. early. My weight was a contributing factor. I will never, ever, ever get pregnant while overweight again. I know there's plenty of people who had different experiences, but I seriously think that too many people tend to blow off the risk factors associated with obesity during pregnancy. In reality, our bodies aren't made to carry 50-100 pounds of extra weight, plus a baby.

Today, instead of pining away over getting pregnant and tempting fate again, I'm training for a marathon and have lost over 50 pounds, with much more on the way. My plan is to get down to a healthy/responsible weight, learn how to take care of myself, and then venture down the pregnancy road. This is what is best for me and future babies.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I had a very bad experience and learned from it. My new mantra is, "before I take on the responsibility of caring for another person, I need to first care for myself."

Really, though, you are better off getting pregnant now than you were 30 pounds ago. Were I you, I'd have a serious discussion with my care provider before getting pregnant.

Again, I'm really sorry for coming off so negative. You've had a lot of positive advice; I just thought you might want to hear from someone who had a different experience.

[AbbieB]

I think the "risks" of being pregnant and overweight are not quite as cut and dry as some would have you believe.

I feel awful for the PP that had such a rough experience and feels like it was her fault for being overweight. Honestly, nothing listed there can be blamed exclusively on having extra body fat. Nutrition and support for good nutrition play a much more important role in pregnancy health than your starting weight in my opinion.

Unfortunately many health care providers just don't have the training or experience with how important good nutrition is. It's more than not eating fast food and watching your weight. Eating enough protein and salt, especially late in your pregnancy, is key to avoiding preeclampsia. That's just not the information a mainstream OB is going to tell you.

Check out the Brewer diet. It is full of healthy foods, in fact way more than I was used to eating on a daily basis. But because they were healthy, I actually lost "bad" body fat during both of my pregnancies (not my goal at all!) and ended up weighing less after giving birth to a 10 pound baby and 8.5 pound baby. I gained 12 pounds and 15 pounds and I was HUGE at the end, so I was not restricting weight gain or risking the baby's health.

The brewer diet was developed specifically to help women avoid preeclampsia, blood pressure issues and gestational diabetes. All conditions that some in the medical field believe to be the result of poor maternal nutrition but most just blame on fat.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by sparklett

Today, instead of pining away over getting pregnant and tempting fate again, I'm training for a marathon and have lost over 50 pounds, with much more on the way. My plan is to get down to a healthy/responsible weight, learn how to take care of myself, and then venture down the pregnancy road. This is what is best for me and future babies.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I had a very bad experience and learned from it. My new mantra is, "before I take on the responsibility of caring for another person, I need to first care for myself."

When I got pregnant with my first baby, I was obese, by medical definitions. If I'd waited to reach a "healthy weight", I'd have never had a baby at all. And, fwiw, I was taking care of myself...long daily walks, aerobics 3-4 times a week, daily yoga workouts, and daily weight lifting...when I conceived. I kept up all of that throughout my pregnancy (except the aerobics - had to drop those at about 5 months or so). I also ate extremely well throughout the pregnancy, dropped the junk food I'd eaten pre-pregnancy almost completely (eg. I had one chocolate bar the entire pregnancy), but I hadn't been eating that much, anyway.

I ended up with a c-section, because ds1 turned breech while in labour. Before that, I had no health problems of any kind. I've never had a health problem during pregnancy - no blood sugar problems, no blood pressure problems, no irregularities in my blood or urine tests. Nothing.

Despite the intensive "education" campaigns to convince us otherwise, carrying excess weight does not necessarily equal "unhealthy" and definitely doesn't have to equal not taking care of ourselves.

[sparklett]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

]
Despite the intensive "education" campaigns to convince us otherwise, carrying excess weight does not necessarily equal "unhealthy" and definitely doesn't have to equal not taking care of ourselves.

The health risks associated with obesity are well documented and obesity during pregnancy DOES impact pregnancy outcomes. I did not say that for you, carrying excess weight meant that you were not taking care of yourself. For me, I see excess weight as a barrier to my optimum health and thought the OP might benefit from a different experience that was, in fact, related to being overweight. There are risks associated with being overweight and pregnant. Some people do fine, some don't. But it is reasonable (and for me, responsible) to try to begin a pregnancy as healthy as possible.

Originally Posted by AbbieB

Eating enough protein and salt, especially late in your pregnancy, is key to avoiding preeclampsia.
The brewer diet was developed specifically to help women avoid preeclampsia, blood pressure issues and gestational diabetes. All conditions that some in the medical field believe to be the result of poor maternal nutrition but most just blame on fat.

I am sorry, but these statements demonstrate a lack of understanding of what preeclampsia is. It is a disease of the placenta that begins at the start of the development of the placenta. The Brewer diet will not prevent or cure it, nor will additional salt and protein late in pregnancy. Preeclampsia can not be avoided in many cases; especially you have an undiagnosed genetic predisposition to the factors that encourage pre-e. A diet won't change that and suggesting that diminishes how serious pre-e is (which is rather insulting to people like me who have actually been through it and all of the resulting visits to midwives and specialists to develop a plan address it the next time around) . I would really suggest that you check out the information and forums over at the Preeclampsia Foundation.

For me (and I put it in italics so that no one thinks I'm attacking them), being obese seriously complicated things for me, from pre-e to c-section recovery and the conditions I experienced afterward. My plan for my next pregnancy is to achieve a healthy weight and then take a series of drugs to combat the clotting disorder that contributed to my pre-e. This plan was developed by a team of people that include my midwife (first and foremost), my maternal-fetal medicine specialist, my endocrinologist, and several other specialists, ALL of whom agree that being a healthy weight would improve my future outcomes. And even if I develop pre-e again, being a lower weight will make recovery easier and I will have the knowledge that I did everything possible to avoid it.

Obesity is a complicating factor in many pregnancies. I know overweight people who had gestational diabetes point to skinny people who had it and say that this proves that weight does not impact whether you'll get GD or pre-e or whatever. But it does. If it is unknown whether obesity might or might not contribute in complications during a pregnancy, and there was a chance that you could potentially avoid or reduce the severity of these diseases by being of a healthy weight, then why not try getting to a healthy weight before TTC?

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by sparklett

The health risks associated with obesity are well documented and obesity during pregnancy DOES impact pregnancy outcomes. I did not say that for you, carrying excess weight meant that you were not taking care of yourself. For me, I see excess weight as a barrier to my optimum health and thought the OP might benefit from a different experience that was, in fact, related to being overweight. There are risks associated with being overweight and pregnant. Some people do fine, some don't. But it is reasonable (and for me, responsible) to try to begin a pregnancy as healthy as possible.

It's reasonable for everybody to try to begin a pregnancy as healthy as possible. I can't imagine anybody trying to argue otherwise. My dispute with what you said it that "over"weight equals unhealthy. It doesn't. And, the health risks associate with obesity are not well documented.

For me (and I put it in italics so that no one thinks I'm attacking them), being obese seriously complicated things for me, from pre-e to c-section recovery and the conditions I experienced afterward. My plan for my next pregnancy is to achieve a healthy weight and then take a series of drugs to combat the clotting disorder that contributed to my pre-e. This plan was developed by a team of people that include my midwife (first and foremost), my maternal-fetal medicine specialist, my endocrinologist, and several other specialists, ALL of whom agree that being a healthy weight would improve my future outcomes. And even if I develop pre-e again, being a lower weight will make recovery easier and I will have the knowledge that I did everything possible to avoid it.

Obesity is a complicating factor in many pregnancies. I know overweight people who had gestational diabetes point to skinny people who had it and say that this proves that weight does not impact whether you'll get GD or pre-e or whatever. But it does. If it is unknown whether obesity might or might not contribute in complications during a pregnancy, and there was a chance that you could potentially avoid or reduce the severity of these diseases by being of a healthy weight, then why not try getting to a healthy weight before TTC?

My point is that "healthy weight" is a meaningless phrase, the way it's usually used. My healthy weight is obese, according to BMI and most standard definitions. I've known other people who are unhealthy when they get to their "healthy" weight, which makes "healthy" completely meaningless, in context.

I have never seen any proof that being overweight is inherently unhealthy - never. I've seen a lot of stuff about it putting people at risk for this and that, and I haven't seen any proof of that, either. When I see stats showing how unhealthy "excess" weight, and those stats account for diet and activity levels among the "over"weight population, I'll pay attention to the propaganda. Until I see such stats, I won't.

Do you have any evidence that simply being over a "healthy weight" causes health problems? I've love to see it, but I don't believe it exists.

I'm very glad you're looking after yourself and taking care of your health prior to ttc. I think every woman should do the same. That doesn't mean that all "over"weight women absolutely have to lose weight, as that's not the same thing as gaining healthy.

[sparklett]

Listen, I'm not going to split hairs over this, nor am I going to post a multitude of studies that correlate obesity with multiple health issues.

But I will ask, how do you explain the increase of obesity and the increase of diseases such as heart disease (just one example)?

And I will add that when I was of a very healthy weight, I FELT great. My HR was low, BP was lower, I was able to do things that I can not do at a heavier weight. Even after losing 50 pounds over the past few months, my HR is noticeably better, my back hurts less... the benefits are numerous. For me, being smaller IS healthier, and I staunchly believe that this is the case for many people.

[AbbieB]

Originally Posted by sparklett

I am sorry, but these statements demonstrate a lack of understanding of what preeclampsia is. It is a disease of the placenta that begins at the start of the development of the placenta. The Brewer diet will not prevent or cure it, nor will additional salt and protein late in pregnancy. Preeclampsia can not be avoided in many cases; especially you have an undiagnosed genetic predisposition to the factors that encourage pre-e. A diet won't change that and suggesting that diminishes how serious pre-e is (which is rather insulting to people like me who have actually been through it and all of the resulting visits to midwives and specialists to develop a plan address it the next time around) . I would really suggest that you check out the information and forums over at the Preeclampsia Foundation.

I'm sorry if my comments have come across as hurtful. I have absolutely no idea what you have been through and your unique medical circumstances. I struggled with how to word my comments to let you personally know that they were not directed at you and your personal history. I ended up posting prematurely I think (kids needed me and I didn't want to lose the draft...it has happened too many times. ) I apologize. I am truly sorry that you and your baby had such a rough experience. I hope you are both doing well now.

Having said that I would like to respectfully disagree with you. I looked at your suggested website and saw nothing that contradicts my understanding of what the cluster of syndromes, diseases and symptoms classed under pre-e are.

I was in the very early stages of pre-e myself during the last month of my last pregnancy and I was able to improve my condition enough to make it to term thanks to the work of Dr. Brewer and my knowledgeable health care team. This was my experience.

Dr. Brewer developed his pregnancy diet specifically to treat and prevent pre e in the population of women he was caring for. He had amazing results. Since he was unwilling to deny any women the benefit of his knowledge and not council them on what a good pregnancy diet is, he did not have a control group so his work has not been excepted as "good scientific research". But you really can not argue with his results. Dramatic drops in pre e numbers in his practice after recommending his diet (which is basically lots of diverse fruits, vegetables and good protein sources everyday) I think is ample reason to pay attention to his work.

I wanted to reassure the OP that being overweight is not something that should be seen as a reason to get panicky about a pregnancy. Are there potentially serious concerns that an overweight person has an increased risk for? Yes. But increased risk does not mean you will have a problem.

I think it is important to note that plenty of non overweight people develop pre e and other conditions that overweight people are thought to have a higher risk for. Body fat is not the cause.

Being overweight happens for many reasons, not all of them signal poor health. I will again suggest that nutrition is very important for overweight (or really, every) women during pregnancy. Nutrition is the key to supporting the body during the process. Even if a person has an underling condition that predestines them to have a rough pregnancy, being well nourished during a time when our bodies are working hard is always a good thing.

[akind1]

I was going to add something similiar to the above. Just in my personal experience, only ONE woman who was overweight developed gestational diabetes (and she managed it with diet alone), but she was already known to be insulin resistant with PCOS. I know of maybe 1/2 dozen others of "healthy" weight that developed pre-e.

My mother expressed great concern about my weight when we were TTC and I was pregnant with DS. I told her that being overweight MAY be a risk factor, however, it does not guarantee any of these complications will occur. being healthy, or even at a healthy weight, does not exclude you from the possiblility of developing GD or Pre-E.

so to the OP, it is great than you are losing weight, and every bit you lose will likely make your TTC journey easier and possibly your pregnancy journey also. However, you can have a healthy pregnancy at what the medical community would call an unhealthy weight.

Sparklett, I want to also express that I am sad that your pregnancy was a difficult one, and I am glad that you are healthier now, and of course you feel better at a lighter weight, that is fantastic!