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Weight and scales

436 views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  1blueridgemama 
#1 ·
I have decided not to keep track of my weight this pregnancy. I eat well and I don't over eat so I don't feel like I need to look at a thing until I can be in more control (after delivery). Has anyone else decided not to look at the scale?
 
#2 ·
I've been looking at this point. I have stayed the same weight, which for me is good cause i started much heavier than i was with my previous pregnancy (8 years ago). I totally appreciate not looking and I might stop soon. I think the only worry with pregnancy and weight gain are those who start out pretty thin and do not gain enough!
 
#3 ·
I don't have to look at the scale because I'm neither too heavy nor too thin … So I'm just going to go along with my appetite and common sense as both are quite healthy (when I'm not suffering from morning sickness). I'm a lucky one and I realize that.

OregonMoon … I think being extremely underweight (under 18BMI) and extremely overweight (over 30BMI) are both risky. I don't think it's a good idea to focus on one more than the other - both simply carry risks, yet it's still an extremely individual issue. As long as you're in the normal range or maybe a tiny bit under/overweight, I don't think there's a reason to obsess over weight-gain and weigh yourself all the time - maybe only at prenatal checkups.

I would, however, URGE mommies-to-be that have suffered in the past with eating disorders (even long time ago), to tell their doctor about it. It's super duper important. Many pregnant women have their ED issues come back to haunt them during pregnancies and that is a real risk associated with that ...

I'd personally advocate AGAINST weighing yourself more than once or twice a month if you have a reason to do so at all.
 
#4 ·
I haven't looked. It doesn't matter because I eat healthy and within moderation, for the most part. I don't feel like weight gain has anything to do with growing a healthy baby, at least for me.
 
#6 ·
Pre-pregnancy I weighed myself at least every 3 days and am doing the same now. I want to keep track to graph the weight progress on an iPhone app I downloaded. So far no change and I think I am checking every day to see the numbers go up, hah!

I can speak to what Wilhelmina said about ED. I had a friend who suffered from EDs and then got pregnant, and gained enough weight to have a full term 6lb baby, but immediately after post partum sprialed back into her ED and was so ill she had to be hospitalized and started having organ failure. Thankfully she's doing much better now and is getting counseling (mental and nutritional) so all looks good, but it is a very mentally taxing time for people who have had EDs.
 
#7 ·
I sometimes weigh myself multiple times a day. So no, I guess not. But I'm just an obsessive data-geek, not one who gets their tail tied in a knot over what the numbers are doing. For better or worse, what I see on the scale rarely affects my actual life choices. I am pleased that I'm basically the same weight as when I got pregnant, but I've been making zero effort to not gain weight. That's just the product of still nursing and feeling like garbage all the time, as far as I can tell! I don't think there's anything wrong with weighing yourself frequently, assuming it doesn't cause you undue stress that you're gaining too much or too little on any given day.
 
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#8 ·
I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't think it's super important to watch the scale while pregnant. Although there is nothing wrong with doing it! I consider myself average body type with a normal healthy bmi. I've never had an eating disorder but I do obsess over exercise, dieting, and losing weight when I'm not pregnant. It's not healthy at times... So I would prefer not to watch the scale go up even though I know it's supposed to. It creates unnessicary anxiety in me!
 
#13 ·
I know of a few people who chose to be weighed backward so they didn't see the weight, but their care provider did. That way, if there was anything that was truly concerning, their care provider could let them know, but otherwise, they were free not to worry. Obviously, this hinges on having a good care provider, not one who thinks gaining 1 lb over or under the "recommended" range is cause for a full-scale alert.

I did find it somewhat alarming when I gained 8 lbs in one week (between week 36 and week 37), but it did prove that the water retention wasn't just in my head. (It was very definitely in my ankles!)
 
#14 ·
Anytime my doctor's office weighs me I close my eyes and let her know that I don't want to know what it says. I'm having a home birth but my midwife doesn't weigh me. I have to see a maternal specialist to keep an eye on my thyroid and they weigh me, of course. But I love the idea of standing backwards because I feel very off balance when I close my eyes for some reason.
 
#16 ·
I don't weigh, either. I'm on the brink of 40 years old, pregnant with twins, and needing to eat or I throw up. Even if the scale had bad news, not much I can do differently right now anyway. So, no worries or monitoring here.
 
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