UPDATED: worried about Weight gain (My other post :)

[MamaFae]

Well I just realized I never did post on this topic after I referenced a separate thread in the "check in" thread!

so here it goes:

My weight gain has been as follows:

First prenatal Oct 11th 166lbs
November- 163
December- 162
January- 163
Feburary- 163.5
March- out of town no prenatal
April 1st prenatal - 170
April 2nd prenatal - 171.5
May 1st prenatal - 171

I am worried, the midwives are worried, my mom (a nurse) is worried and wanting me to go to an OB. I have lost so much weight it is making me mad. I lost an inch around on my thighs, and that was loss of muscle not fat.
Thankfully baby is growing consistantly and seems to be doing just fine, it is my body that is suffering. I feel scrawny, especially after having been an competitive runner for a better part of my teens and twenties, and having kept my legs in runner shape even though I don't run anymore. :

The main issues are the fact that the 1st 5 months of this pregnancy I threw up so much, had no appetite, and was generally sicker than a dog. Then when the nausea went away in Feb. my appetite didn't come back. I still have to force myself to eat. I am counting calories and protein grams, watching to make sure I get enough iron, and good fats, but nothing is helping. I seem to be getting about 1700 calories and 60 grams of protein a day. This is ok according to a regular diet for a healthy non-pregnant person, but still about a 1000 calories and 10-15 grams of protein shy of what is recommended for pregnancy.

When I try to up my intake, I vomit. Do you realize just how painful it is to vomit when you are 36+ weeks along? My stomach muscles are on fire!
I hate being hungry and nothing even remotely appeals to me. Even worse I hate knowing I need to eat, but not being at all hungry. Add to that insomnia (note the time on this post!) and a feeling of general restlessness, and I am one tired puppy.

Any ideas on how to increase my appetite? Comfort food ideas that are high in protein? (btw meat is just gross right now and I can't stomach beans of any kind!)

What about good sources of iron besides spinach?

All of this has made me pretty depressed and irritable. My boys are paying the price. I feel just terrible about never wanting to play with them right now. And DH is doing so much to keep our household running. I thank the powers that be for him every minute of every day! But he is worried too. He is actually starting to get on my nerves with constantly asking if I want something to eat! At least he will get up and fix me something if I ask.

I am wondering if some of the emotional stuff I am dealing with is effecting my weight gain. I haven't really "wanted" this pregnancy all along. : I have been pretty upset actually (especially as the date comes closer) about the idea of having a daugher and being a mom to 3 kids. I am scared that I am going to screw her up like my mom screwed me up. I am afraid of not having enough of me to go around. I am not ready to have 3, I was just getting the hang of having 2! Do you guys thing all of this could effect my weight?

I need advice, really I do.

Blessings,
N~

[udonandbroth]

Hey-

i know how you feel- the scared part about having three kids. At the moment I am petrified and I am afraid that this mental block is going to make me go late. I don't really know if we can handle/afford three kids but all we can do is try. I suspect it is just a matter of getting used to it, like with two kids. Do you have help set up for after the baby is born? But anyway, I do know how you feel.

I also understand how you feel about the gender isssues... I have the opposite problem: I am nervous that it's going to be a boy and as wild and crazy as my son is/was (as a baby he bit me constantly- while nursing or he'd just come up to you and bit you on the ankles... It's hard to love someone like that. He's settled down a bit but he still gets out of hand often enough. My daughter on the other hand is somewhat of an angel: loving, sweet, quite, gentle, does everything that I ask her to).

How do we get over these mental blocks? I don't really know. Do you ever write in a journal? Mothering.com is nice to write/vent but I still find journaling helpful because it gives me time for quite reflection. If ever I have "issues" about someone or something I write about it and afterwards I always feel better.

As far as food goes, well, I am a macrobiotic person so I can only give advice from a macro perspective. Some people might think that macrobiotics is wacky or strange... we look at food as energy or ki/chi and eat according to how we want our energy to be. If you are interested I could make some suggestions... if not I won't try to weird you out or impose my opinion. But so far I have gained 29 lbs from a mostly grain and vegetable based diet (with your occasional dairy and fish suppliments) and I've felt pretty good for most of the pregnancy... so it's worked for me.

I hope that you find the solution to your weight gain problem. I'm sorry that things have been so difficult for you this time around. Good luck.

[MamaFae]

Suggest away! I am up for trying anything at this point, and like I said it isn't a matter of what I eat it is just that nothing sounds good and I am not hungry. Perhaps if I look toward something like what you do it might help my appetite?

EMail me off list if you want or post here, others might find it interesting!

Blessings,
N~

[WitherB]

s to you momma. I don't have a whole lot of advice, but I wanted to know that you have my empathy. I did want this pregnancy, very much, but I've definitely gone through many doubts since then. Emotionally, I have been fairly unstable this time ~ many bouts of crying ~ and then feeling guilty because it effects the babe. Most of my stress is due to a strained relationship with DH, combined with being miles away from my family. There have been many good moments however, and I find strength in my relationship with God and my friends. All that to say ~ I think it's very important to have a network of friends in your area. I didn't have one when DS was born, or for over a year afterwards, but I know I wouldn't be able to make it now without their support. Being an experienced mom, you've probably already explored your "mom group" options but thought I'd throw it out there anyway . . .

As far as the eating goes, I've gone through periods of non-appetite with this pregnancy, too. I haven't had issues with gaining weight, but I am slightly anemic. I decided to stop looking at the grocery/eat-out budget and just eat whatever appeals to me. If I am having a low-appetite day, I try to eat things that are dense in calories, such as pudding, ice cream, Brie, etc. (basically the opposite of the macrobiotic diet, tee hee ~ not that I don't think the macrobiotics are on to something, undonandbroth ~ I have great respect for your choice of diet . . . ) As you said, the baby seems to be quite healthy, but you do need to keep up your own strength!

Just realized you asked about iron, too. Spinach isn't the best source, because there's something in it that counteracts the iron content. Of course, leafy greens are a great source of other vitamins, so I wouldn't count them out entirely. When I do eat meat (which isn't very often, as you said, it's not so appealing), I try not to eat any dairy products with it, so that the iron is better absorbed. Also, I just cooked with sirloin ground beef last night. It's a bit more expensive, but I found that it's one of the only forms of red meat I find appealing ~ it's not nearly as fatty as the regular stuff. I've also been taking Floradix for iron, so I'm hoping that is helping.

HTH ~ I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

[udonandbroth]

MamaFae-

well what I would suggest is really just adding a few simple things like trying to eat brown rice everyday (do you like it? does it sound totally awful?) or other grains or grain products (udon, pasta, sourdough bread, barley, millet, couscous, etc- whatever sounds good to you) and to eat a vegetable dish with every meal, including breakfast. Esp. important is blanched vegetable salad -bright and cripsy- it will help to open up your energy or ki. I try to eat this dish everyday, along with sauteed, raw, pressed (a kind of lightly pickled salad) and steamed vegetables. I really have to make sure that i get enough veg. otherwise I'll start getting heartburn. Tofu, tempeh, seitan, tahini, peanutbutter, soymilk, fu and natto are all excellent sources of protein... but you know, all food contains protein and I really don't usually think about trying to get protein.

I would just eat whatever else looks good to you and that you can get down but try to incorperate some whole, cracked or grain products and concentrate on the vegetables. I, personally, am not very strict when I am pregnant. I end up eating lots of things not officially on the "Standard Macrobiotic Diet" (mostly sweets and dairy products if I have a craving) but I do try to get brown rice in there everyday, a grain or grain product with every meal, a bowl or miso or other soup before dinner, a veg. dish with every meal and mostly vegetable quality protein sources. These few guidelines seem to keep me balanced and feeling good. Complex carbohydrates are great for stable, long lasting energy. Iron hasn't been a problem for me this time but it was with my first child but I don't think I actually did anything about it (the midwife wanted me to take suppliments but it's not really my thing) I've heard good things about Florodex (? don't know, though).

I hope that you find the answer to the weight gain problem and that you feel better. All the best to you!

[MamaFae]

Those are all great suggestions! It is the veggies I have trouble getting in. I have been eating baby greens salads (mainly spinach) at least twice a day. Breakfast is a hard meal for me, and is usually a whole wheat english muffin with butter and honey and some fruit of some kind.

I am working on it. There are somethings I just can't bring myself to eat. Anything soy based is just disgusting to me right now. Not sure why. Most meats especially if they have a strong odor like fish.

I actually do really well on the whole grains thing, since oatmeals, cereal, and granola are a big part of my diet along with sprouted 7 grain bread (usually coverd in organic crunchy peanut butter!)

It seems to be the quantity not necessarily the quality of foods that I get. I eat the right things just not enough of them. I am trying to figure out how to increase my appetite, but nothing seems to work.

Thanks again for the suggestions and the support!

Blessings
N~

[MamaFae]

Latest weigh in

Well I have good news!! I gained 2 lbs in 5 days! woo hoo!!

up to 174 now and my hemoglobin is at 11.1 up from 10.5.

So things are looking up and my midwives are happy. Now to just keep the weight going up and the iron count steady until she arrives!

Blessings,
Nichol

[udonandbroth]

That's great! keep up the gaining. I am glad that you are feeling better and things are looking up!