Trimesters and Weight Gains/Losses - Page 14 « Back to Group Discussions

[Ninetales]

Originally Posted by youngspiritmom 

Don't worry ladies, just exercise and eat healthy. I really think everybody's body has an amount of weight they gain when they're pregnant. My mom gained like 12-15 lbs with all of her pregnancies, and each of us girls was about 6lbs 6 ounces. She's really petite. With my first I gained 40 pounds, and I ate really healthy, exercised almost every day, and was petite and really young. It was just what my body needed to do to make a baby. He came out 7lbs 7 ounces, which is probably bigger than he really was because I had IV fluids for 27 hours, which means he was born with a lot of water in him. After probably 4-6 months of breastfeeding, I shot back down to my pre-pregnancy weight without any deliberate dieting or exercise.

Just wanted to share so that we don't all get lost in the numbers...

My 65 lb gain got me a 13.5 lb baby and I really do not want that again.  I was still holding onto 20 lbs from my first two years later.  I started pregnancy obese and I have issues with food, so unfortunately I can't just let go and trust, or it will be cookie dough and pop every day.  I wish I could.

[ithappened]

I have issues with food, so unfortunately I can't just let go and trust, or it will be cookie dough and pop every day.  I wish I could.

My sister has similar 'issues' and struggles everyday...  My mom 'let go' during her pregnancy and after gaining 80lbs with me by the end of the 2nd trimester 'stopped weighing herself'.. I came out around 11-12 lbs but I have no idea what PP was like for my mom.. she never remembers well ;) She says she gained around 100lbs when pregnant with me because she just ate ice cream for every meal.

In a way I am scared of gaining way too much and not knowing what 'too much' is until after the birth and I have 40lbs on me I didn't have before. Being active is such a part of my life and a lot of extra weight (even pregnancy) really hinders that-- I find I get depressed like clockwork when I'm in my 3rd trimester because the weight is hard for me physcially, I can't do anything I used too-- even swimming becomes a struggle.. .. its hard, being pregnancy is really a test on so many levels for most women.
 

[LilyTiger]

Ninetales and Ithappened, yep, the weight thing is really a personal decision for a lot of people.  I know people for whom breastfeeding solved everything and then people who hung onto 10 lbs with each pregnancy (adding up over each subsequent pregnancy) and then people who had poor health outcomes and serious trouble recovering because of excess weight gain. 

In my humble opinion, it's all about finding a balance that works with you, your needs, and your personality.  I'm personally glad this thread exists since it has kept me on track and made me feel better about self control issues that I definitely had pre-pregnancy.  For other people, weight is something they can afford to not think about.... lucky them!  For me, I'll be weighing myself every other day just to know what's going on and keeping an eye on what I eat.  But again, that works for me and wouldn't work for lots of other people.

[youngspiritmom]

Sorry mamas and especially ninetales for my nieve comment.... I realize that weight gain for women, in general, is a huge spectrum of differences, and during pregnancy even more so! I think I was just trying to help everybody feel less worried/focused on weight gain (the bad parts) but I totally get managing your weight.

[Ninetales]

No, I think for healthy people with healthy eating patterns you are right.  My doula is a little rail of a thing, and she gained 60+ with all three of her pregnancies, and all three were healthy normal weight babies.  The problem for me is accepting I'm not a healthy person so I can't do what most people do.  It was an unfortunate lesson from my first pregnancy where I was so trusting of everything.  :(
 

[LilyTiger]

youngspiritmom, I don't think there's any need to beat yourself up (that smiley is hilarious).  In our culture, where there's such a focus on weight over health, it makes sense to encourage women to relax and look beyond the scale.  A lot of us have been around this thread for a while though because we had previous issues that we talked about and came to terms with.  I think Ninetales is totally right that your advice wasn't off the wall for the average lady.  So put the hammer down!

AFM, I'm actually doing pretty well so far.  I'm up 14 pounds at 28 weeks and my doctor is happy with that and it puts me on track for my weight gain of 25 lbs or so.  I'm surprised, since I just assumed that I would have the crazy cravings I have even when I'm not pregnant and that my short body would just pack on weight.  Hopefully I'll follow my mom's patterns and just gain about 25 - 30 pounds.  I'm weighing myself less often because I'm not as concerned anymore, so hopefully I don't randomly pack on 50 pounds in the next three months without noticing.  For mommas who gained a lot of weight in the third tri, did a lot of that seem to be water weight?  I've heard from a few friends that they put on a ton of weight at a time in various weeks but that it seemed to be primarily water.  I'm not sure how you would tell, I guess, except that once the baby is born it would come off pretty quickly. 

[Ninetales]

I know there had to be water weight, and evidently I had a ton of fluid.  The midwives said that the reason I felt so good and was still able to move well and not be super uncomfortable (and why the size of the baby wasn't very obvious) was probably because of my massive fluid level.  I guess there was just enough room in there.

[ithappened]

lily - i had water weight with DS1 which I got in the last 4w or so of the pregnancy and I just looked.... swollen. it was in my face, wrist etc...
 

[sallyrae17]

I had a lot of water weight at the end with my son as well, but it was pitting edema, so you could see marks in my legs if I crossed them for a minute or so. I had some water weight in my face and arms as well, but it was the worst in my legs. I put on 40 pounds with that pregnancy and I'm not on the same track this time around. By 28 weeks with my first, I'd gained 24 pounds. I'm at a 15 pound weight gain at 27 1/2 weeks this time. I'm much more active this time around (chasing a toddler). Also, my blood pressure has been consistently lower this time around than it was last time, so I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to worry about pre-e or HELLP again.

[ithappened]

Im up about 26-28lbs at 30w depending on who's measuring...

My doctor suggest/wants me to not gain more then 30-35lbs ..  I am wondering how little or much I will gain these last weeks as suddenly I'm craving way more junk foods and eating a lot of crap/junk/sweets from stress not hunger. With DS1 i gained the most during the second trimester then in the 3rd only gained 5lbs or so.. I'm still active (I walk or hike an hour or so each day, OR, I swim freestyle laps for 30-40mins, or, do an hour to hour and a half on my bike).

I'm also getting nasty acid reflux after eating much of anything and I am feeling full after only a few bites most of the time which may or may not affect my weight, so far, it doesn't seem to have affected it.. we'll see.
 

[ithappened]

Im still at 27lb gain as of this morning.. almost 31 ish weeks..

[LilyTiger]

I'm still at 14 pounds at 30 weeks.  I'm hoping this stays consistent.  My ideal would be to gain 20 lbs with this pregnancy, but even if I gain a full pound a week from here on in, I'll only be up 25 lbs, so I'm happy with that.  And, for what it's worth, I feel HUGE.  I don't know where this baby is going, because my short torso is pretty much out of room as of yesterday.

[ithappened]

that is great lilytiger! I am sure you will stay within 20lbs actually, esp if you're past the 28w growth spurt! With DS1 I only ended up gaining a few pounds my last few weeks at least according to the chart/records from the Doc.. .. but that extra 7-8lbs of pregnancy weight I gained (too much ice cream with him) with DS1 took forever to go away and Id like to be able to wear my normal clothes again sometime this year rather then maternity wear for the next 24 month like I did with DS1..

[NewMumJoy]

At my last checkup (which was @29 wks on the 18th) I was up a total of 24lbs.  I feel like my weight is starting to slow down now (which is good since that's already like a 23% weight gain so far for me), as I simply have less room to eat the quantities I was eating before.  My appts are still every 4 wks, and they haven't been giving me any details as to whether I'm getting enough protein, iron, or whatever in my diet.... so I feel like I'm just winging it from this point on....

[Sol_y_Paz]

My doctor said about 35 lbs. total for me many months ago.  I hoped to fall under that but it looks like that prediction was right on target.  So far have gained about 24 lbs.  About 7 weeks to go and I have been gaining a pound a week on average so that brings me at about 31 lbs.  That is eating pretty healthy too, I can't imagine what my body would do if I had ice cream weekly and ate as many chips/fried food as my heart desires.

Edited by Sol_y_Paz - 5/28/12 at 12:49pm

[sallyrae17]

I'm at an 18 pound gain at 29 weeks. My pre-e/swelling didn't hit until 32-34 weeks last time, so I'm hoping that this trend holds and I can keep it under the 40 I gained last time (most of which was water).

[srtacoche]

I'm at 15lbs at almost 28 weeks.  I was at a healthy BMI before getting pregnant so I'm right on track, according to my midwife.  I've maintained much of the same eating habits I had before and am only a little bit less active (I loathe the summer so don't get out as much.) 

[LeAnn A Doula]

I've gained 10lbs at 28 wks. I actually lost a few over the past couple of weeks while I was traveling. But I'm on track for the 25lb goal my MW suggested initially. Now that summer has arrived, I'm feeling a lot more motivated to be active. My energy level has been way down through most of my pregnancy, so I'm super excited to head into this delivery feeling strong. I have been dreading trying to figure out how I was going to gather enough energy to physically prep for this delivery. So happy for the summer sunshine!

[ericaf]

Am I allowed to say I hate you all for gaining so little? Lol.  I'm up 23 lbs at about 27 weeks. Gahhhhhh. I know I'm not eating bad, but I'm def not active enough. And as of Friday... my feet/hands are started to get a tad puffy disliking this awful humid, stuff NJ heat. Yick. I live on water, and don't eat too much salt... I guess that's one preggo symptom that finally caught up with me. It's not horrible, but noticeable to me since I normally have pretty boney hands/feet. Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend... it was hot as heck, but a nice time off with family!

[sallyrae17]

Ericaf - I was at the same weight gain at 27 weeks when I was pregnant with my first!! I'm much more active this time around - chasing a toddler and all.