[mediumcrunch]

5'9" started pregnancy at 228 ; 20 wks and 233.
I usually lose a good 15 lbs in the first trimester and then pack that on plus another 5-10 by now. This time I lost just a couple, put a bit on over the holidays and am now fluctuating between 231-235 depending on how I eat. All my OB has said is that I don't *need* to gain any weight and I agree with him. He isn't telling me to not gain, or only gain so much or to try and lose-just eat healthy and to not try and gain. No problem, that is what I am shooting for.
Portion control and sweets have always been my down fall. Both are easier for me to control in pregnancy as my appetite declines first due to ms and second due to wicked heartburn. I had my gall bladder out a few years ago and did fine until recently developing dumping syndrome/bile sale diarrhea which really puts a crimp in eating high fat c*ap. I am pretty confident I can stay under 240 through birth (my goal). If I can continue to keep my portions under control and sweets addiction in check throughout the next year or two of nursing then hopefully I'll lose some decent weight. I have fibromyalgia and the extra weight is really killing me. Some mornings I can barely get out of bed the pain is so bad. I am under no illusions that I will see 150 again (a good healthy weight for me-I started looking sickly in the low 140's). I'd be thrilled with 175 and so would my doctor. With both parents proud owners of quadruple bypasses in their early 60's and a mother with breast cancer I feel like a ticking time bomb sometimes.

 

[GreenTeaGinger61]

Yay for this thread. I was going to post something the other day because I was feeling pretty down about my weight! I've been overweight most of my life and have gained a great deal of weight with all my pregnancies (anywhere from 40-60lbs). I have no idea how much I weigh this time as I refuse to get on the scale. I know I started at 160 (I'm 5'4) and am sure I'm over 200 now...and I have three months to go! Ai.

I did lose quite a bit of weight between the last pregnancy and this one but am much to neurotic to diet while pregnant (another reason I don't look at my weight).

I also will openly admit that I am not eating well at all

I try to make sure I get in what I'm supposed to but am eating too much junk. It doesn't help that I totally don't feel like cooking.

I am exercising although not as much lately.

The hardest part for me is that no one acts like they notice I'm pregnant. When I comment that I am there is always this uncomfortable silence...as in "Oh we just thought you were fat." I think I look pregnant but I guess I'm the only one

So far my midwife has been okay. I think she was a little horrified when she weighed me in January. I don't know what it was but she said "Wow that was a big jump!"

What's funny is that I feel really great physically this pregnancy. I'm tired but I don't have nearly as many aches and pains as I did with the others but I'm pretty sure I'm bigger! Go figure!

 

[2sweetboysmom]

Hi, I am Joy. I am prayerfully/hopefully expecting #4 but this is pregnancy #11 for me. I have been overweight for about 12 years now (started with the infertility drugs I took to conceive ds1, coupled with a really crummy 1st marriage)
Anyhow I am 5'8" and started this pregnancy at 225lbs I am 15 weeks now and back up to that same weight. I typically gain 20 or less in a pregnancy without much effort on my part. The conciously eating better, and not allowing the ocasional HFCS laden whatever because of the baby keeps my gain in check.
The midwife I had last time was less than happy with my weight, but the high risk group at the university medical center I am at now, well not one Dr has made a single comment, other than to put me on Zofran to stop the weight loss.

As for an early poster's experience with Pre-e, I have experience with it myself, and my dr's have passed on the latest research on the subject for me to read...It seems that they are finding that what we consider Pre-e, the symptoms in mom is just that, a symptom, of something not quite right with placental function. It is not a problem caused by mom's weight or lack of it. It is really more a matter of predisposition and/or mom's nutritional status at the point of conception.

 

[Monarchgrrl]

Bumping this thread up so I can join you! I'm fluffy (5'3" about 210 lbs) and newly pregnant. We're interviewing a homebirth midwife on Monday. It'll be our first interview, but she seemed pretty great on the phone. I asked if she had issues with my weight and she laughed and said "What's the issue? You wouldn't be the first fat girl to give birth! If so, then the race would have died out."

I think the only emotional-type issue or concern I'm having so far is the fact that in the future, even when I think I'm showing, I'll just look fatter to most people, instead of obviously pregnant.

Anyway, I'm glad this thread is here!

 

[*Jade*]

Yeah, I'm having issues with showing vs looking fat as well. My upper stomach is bigger now, and the baby is not even there! (But a kind midwife friend suggested my organs might have been pushed up, so that would account for it).

I need to start eating better as well, I've been vomiting every day a few times since 6 weeks, and now it's decreasing to once a day. Once it leaves I'll have to be much more careful with what goes in!

 

[MadiMamacita]

Are any of you still around??? bumping because I need some input!

I am possibly pregnant, which would be a surprise baby.. I had grand plans to lose a bunch of weight before having another baby. I didn't lose much after DS was born, and then after he stopped nursing I really gained a lot of weight. I thought while I was nursing that all those people who nurse and lose all their baby weight are so lucky- turned out nursing was keeping me at a steady weight.. So I'm much heavier than i had hoped to be.

My good friend was my midwife for our last birth, and I would love to have her again. Have any of you ever been told that being overweight is a high risk condition and been denied midwifery care? I think it would be a very awkward position for my friend to have to deny me care for that reason.. I have no other known health concerns. I don't know what I weigh, but well over 200. maybe around 250? I'm about 5'7".

 

[NishaG]

I'm very fluffy, and am currently seeing a midwife for a homebirth. Weight alone will not risk you out.

 

[cappuccinosmom]

Very fluffy here. 265 last time I checked (just before I found out I was preggers). That's the highest I've ever started a pregnancy at. The mw's are not going to be happy about it when I see them, but I can honestly say that I have worked soooo hard to lose weight (down 25 lb from my peak non-pregnant weight, and maintaining), so I'm trying not to feel badly.

Right now I am not doing so great. The heat is keeping me unable to do anything. Combined with nausea, I'm barely getting the basics done. Exercise is entirly out of my ability at this point. But of course, the nausea that I'm having is also the type that has me eating constantly, trying to soothe my stomach and up my blood sugar. I don't see a big weight loss in this trimester, like I had with my previous children. Not that I like barfing all day, but it at least was temporary relief, whereas this type is constant and miserable.

 

[Mommel]

I guess I'm "fluffy" too... I'm 260 (or thereabouts) and 5'8" at 34 weeks. I've actually lost weight everywhere except my belly, by looking at me, despite gaining 25 lbs or so in these last 7/8-ish months. I don't worry about it. My midwife doesn't worry about it. I eat well and mostly healthy, my bp is great and my gd tests are all negative. I've spent too much of my life worrying about weight when I could have been enjoying my life.

Now that I'm older and going to be a mama... I really don't give a hoot, as long as I'm healthy. My midwife doesn't even require me to get on the scale when I visit... she says, "Do you want top weigh in today or shall we skip it?" Most of the time I do, but it's nice to know it's not a big deal to her either.

And I think it's RIDICULOUS that people automatically assume that you'll have gd or hbp or pre-e JUST BECAUSE you're not whatever some idiot doctor considers heavier than the accepted norm. I'm relatively proportional... I am obviously attractive enough to have sex with (duh) and in general people like me, so what someone else thinks about my weight is really none of my business, and as far as I'm concerned they can keep that crap to themselves because it has more to with how they feel about THEIR bodies than it does with mine...IMHO, that's what eating disorders are born from.

And did I mention that when my mother moved in with me last month she brought a scale with her, along with a handful of diet books? And she's the teeny one of the family at 5'0" and 115lbs. or so!! OMG - I haven't had a scale in my house for over 10 years. No wonder I had so many issues about it when I was in my teens and twenties. Sheesh!

 

[Dov'sMom]

I'm still here! And pregnant again, still above 40 BMI... With my first, my midwives refused to deliver me in the birthing center because they were afraid about delays in transfer if necessary because of my size. Did I mention that the birthing center was one flight (elevator) down from L/D? And that the beds had wheels? And that they told me at first I wouldn't be risked out solely because of weight but at 37 weeks told me no BC despite perfect blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.?

Can you tell I'm still mad about it? It's been almost 5 years and can still feel the outrage.

That said, I don't think it's a valid reason to risk you out.

 

[akind1]

Weight shouldn't risk you out, I think.

I'm at nearly 31 weeks (as of tomorrow!) and have gained all of 5 lbs so far this pregnancy. I just can't eat alot. I started out 225-ish - my weight was on the upswing as we were in the process of weaning and I hadn't adjusted my diet to accomodate that - and I am about 230-ish now (by home scale) since seeing the OB's at 8 weeks, they had my weight as 235 and it hasn't budged from that on their scale at all. I've lost it elsewhere I can tell.

Depending on what I'm wearing, sometimes people can tell I have a bump, sometimes not. I try to wear empire waisted stuff, it helps show the bump off.

In other news, I "failed" my 1 hr GTC and am going for the 3 hr one on Thursday. I am bummed because I ate way more junk and gained more weight with my first pregnancy and passed the 1 hr that time! FX I pass this time also. After all, I haven't gained much, if anything, and baby girl is measuring on the small side.

 

[MadiMamacita]

I feel better thanks to everyone's comments. I am still waiting on my BFP.. If I'm not PG this cycle, I will work a little harder (or at all really..) to get some weight off before TTC. Our gym has a really great H20 workout class- I really should do that, either way..
I gained a lot after weaning, and I'm uncomfortable NOW, I can't imagine 6-9 months pg... I will report back when I get my BFP!

 

[cameragirl]

Another fluffy mama here. I'm 5'7" and weigh 240. I had lost weight before my last pregnancy, but then I miscarried and gained the twenty lbs back. I weighed about the same at the start with DD, but lost 20 lbs vomiting. I gained that back, and a LOT of water weight because it was over 110* most days and we had poor air-conditioning. My only issue was that the doctor made me do the GTT twice - once before GD would have even been detectable or an issue. This time I'm going to ask to skip or do a regular fasting blood sugar. I do have diabetes in the family, but no GD.

 

[emmaegbert]

re "fluffy" would-be homebirthers: I started my second pregnancy around 200lbs (I'm 5'6"), interviewed several HB midwives and none of them said anything about my weight being a problem. I did develop GD but was able to manage it with diet and monitoring, and I only ended up gaining 17lbs.

This January I was down to about 168 (not sure, wasn't regularly weighing myself, and while that is by BMI still considered overweight, I was delighted at that size and felt very good and healthy) and then I got pregnant with my third despite using birth control (and bfing my then 21mo). I am currently 27 weeks and 192, which is bumming me out, BUT, I keep reminding myself I am still smaller than when I began with #2 so I just need to relax. Current MWs are totally relaxed about weight, don't even require me to weigh myself. We didn't do any gtt this time, I just monitor my own blood sugar (fasting daily, and one one-hour post-meal per day, rotating it around). I eat a no-sugar, no-grain, moderately low-carb diet and I eat 6x per day. Blood sugar and blood pressure have been AOK.

I have had a hard time with weight gain in the PP period. I am going to stick with what I now know "works" for me, which is a fairly low carb diet. I ate that way for my third trimester w/ #2 and then went back to it when she was 8m old, and have pretty much stayed on it since (less strict once I'd lost about 35/40lbs).

 

[Dov'sMom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameragirl

Another fluffy mama here. I'm 5'7" and weigh 240. I had lost weight before my last pregnancy, but then I miscarried and gained the twenty lbs back. I weighed about the same at the start with DD, but lost 20 lbs vomiting. I gained that back, and a LOT of water weight because it was over 110* most days and we had poor air-conditioning. My only issue was that the doctor made me do the GTT twice - once before GD would have even been detectable or an issue. This time I'm going to ask to skip or do a regular fasting blood sugar. I do have diabetes in the family, but no GD.

I've always been asked to do the GTT early in pregnancy as well as at 28 weeks. I understand that GD is mediated by five different hormones that spike at different times in the pregnancy. 28 weeks is when you have the maximum "bad" hormones, but women who are more susceptible to diabetes are more likely to be pushed over the edge earlier in the pregnancy. And if you had it, wouldn't you want to know?

My only issue with the GTT is when the lab requires me to sit there throughout the test. In prior pregnancies with an ob/gyn office, they did the test at a routine appt, and would give me the drink to drink at home before my appt so I didn't have to waste time. Now I'm with midwives who don't draw blood themselves, so I have to do it in a lab, which was a pain in the neck for the first test. I'm thinking about asking them to accept a blood sugar diary with a home testing kit instead for the second time -- my mother sent me her spare home kit when I was trying to figure out why I was so tired all the time.

 

[cameragirl]

You're right - I would want to know. I'd rather have an AC1 instead of a GTT, though. Not only do you avoid the hour of sitting there and drinking that solution, but it is a more accurate picture of your blood sugar levels over a few months. The recommended amount of sugar per day for most women is under 30 grams. Taking 50 grams at once doesn't give the clearest picture.

 

[Monarchgrrl]

Hi all, just jumping back in here for a second. I reread and realized that the last time I posted I was just barely, newly pregnant. My baby is now 9 months old today. I also had a homebirth. Everything went perfectly (except that darn back labor! OUCH!) Here's a pic on her birth day...and her now.



I started the pregnancy at 215lbs and ended it at 240lbs and I'm 5'3". I never took the GTT. My midwife had me check my sugars at home before and after meals for a day. Or I could have easily refused to do that, but in case of hospital transfer I didn't want them to treat my baby as if I had GD. My #'s were on the high side of normal, but my midwife has somewhat lax guidelines about what sugar "normals" are.

Madi, I'd love to hear an update on if you are pregnant now. But, regardless, when it happens if you have a care provider that has any issues with your weight, you need to find a different care provider! I would think that your friend, as your midwife, would tell you if she has any issues with your weight. But then, for me, that's a reason to use a different midwife, anyway. Fat women are perfectly capable of growing and birthing a baby. Fat has nothing to do with childbirth.

Dov'sMom- I'm outraged for you!!!!!!!!!!!! That's unbelievable!!!!!!!!

 

[equilibrium]

Hi all. I'm a fluffy mama and just found out I am pregnant with #3. My stats are 5'2 and about 175. To put in perspective ds#1- I was about 130lbs and went up to 195 day before I gave birth. ds#2 I was 142lbs (3 years later) and went to 194. Ya a pound less. Now, my ds2 is 16 months old. I haven't lost anything really except for that overnight eight loss of about twenty pounds when I gave birth. I've had a very isolated non-active last year with some struggles with diet, exercise, depression.

So, I can fully expect to gain another 60 lbs. I am only 5'2 and I was always thin. My frame size is really small. I look huge now. I am on Effexor that hasn't helped weight at all and now I am scared about going up so much. Not totally enough to remember not to eat junk food here and there...lol. What are you other mama's focusing on? I'd like to gain a healthy amount this time. I have huge food issues I am now realizing. Self-soothing .

 

[akind1]

Hey and welcome Equilibrium! This pregnancy has been for me, like having lap-band surgery (I've not had it, just comparing) - as my appetite and the amount of food I'm capable of eating at one time is seriously small. Even my mother (who feels a little chubby at 130 lbs) wonders if I'm eating enough sometimes! so therefore, I've only gained like 5 lbs, but even that I don't know I can fully attribute to pregnancy, as DS was weaning when I got pregnant and I was gaining weight as I hadn't adjusted my eating habits accordingly (I had to eat a good amount while breastfeeding to lose or maintain weight). I haven't gained anything since 8 wks pregnant, and I'm now 32 weeks.

It helps that I don't like to share my food (with DS, who is 20 months) especially if it's junk, so I eat a lot less of it, because I don't want him having junk. Having him around has made me a lot more concious of my food choices. Most important I think, is not to stress about the weight gain too much, some women, no matter what or how much they are eating, just seem to gain a certain amount while pregnant. And walk! it is good excersise and is supposed to be good for your labor too.

FWIW: I started both pregnancies at or close to 225, and I am only 4'11". I got up to 250 with DS and I am sitting at 230ish with this baby. I am really hoping to leave the hospital weighing less than I did before getting pregnant! (but if not, it shouldn't take long to get there)

My self-soothing food is ice cream . . .I love ice cream! as long as I limit it to once a day, I think I will be ok (and I don't even get to have some everyday)

 

[Dov'sMom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monarchgrrl
Dov'sMom- I'm outraged for you!!!!!!!!!!!! That's unbelievable!!!!!!!!

Thanks I was seeing red for a while there, as I had other midwife options back when I first hired them and they said it wouldn't be a problem, but how do you switch at 37 weeks pregnant? Truth is, if I'd known I was going to be stuck in the hospital anyway, I'd have gone with an ob/gyn practice that was fully covered by my (bad) insurance policy instead of paying 20%+ out of pocket. Grrr.

But in the meantime I've had three wonderfully uncomplicated pregnancies and hospital births (no similar birth center option where I've lived for the subsequent pregnancies) and I guess I'm just grateful that nothing worse came out of the experience than a feeling of betrayal and helplessness.