XP from TTGP: Now or later...

ckk8584

I need some advice.  I'm a 29 yo mom to a 17 mo old boy.  My husband & I would like 2-3 children.  He is 33.  I am still carrying around about 30 lbs of extra weight (I'm 5'4" and 175lbs).  In a perfect world, I would like to lose this weight BEFORE getting pregnant again.  It's been very difficult for me because of my long commute to work, stress, lack of sleep (DS is still up several times a night), etc.  I don't know how long it could take me before I could lose this weight; I don't wanna wait too much longer before TTGP.  Obviously, since I"m posting here, I am hoping for my next birth to be a VBAC.  So in your opinion(s), do you think we should start trying now or wait until I'm thinner?  Sound off please!!  I'd also love to hear from plus-size girls about their pregnancy experiences, especially with VBACs.

MamaP19

I think the recommended wait time, just for healing purposes, is 18 months between births, so you're well beyond that. I got pregnant when my DD was 9 months. I was overweight to begin with and hadn't quite lost all of what I gained with her. My OB is totally supportive though. She told me my weight shouldn't hinder my chance at a VBAC, but that staying active and trying to limit weight gain could definitely help.

Here are some links that were shared on the VBAC Facts facebook group recently. They're all VBAC stories from plus-size mamas.

https://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/CSANDVBAC/VBA2Cstories.htm

https://wellroundedmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/fat-women-can-vbac.html?m=1

https://pacefamilyplace.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-beautiful-birth-of-baby-mars.html

I really recommend joining the facebook group if you can. A lot of mamas on there are overweight and you can read their stories. I saw the perfect link for this question recently and of course, can't find it now  I do remember that it said that VBAC is a better option for overweight women, as a c/s comes with more risks for larger ladies. HTH!

holly321

I wanted to lose some weight before getting pregnant, but realized pregnancy makes you fat.... So why go through all that work. I realize this is probably not a logic my doctor would support, but that's my 2 cents on the subject. I guess if I were in your shoes, I personally would start ttc, but also do as much as possible to get myself healthier while I tried. I also gained a lot less weight with my vbac pregnancy, and while I don't thi k that helped me be able to vbac. (Dd was breach, so I didn't labor) I think it till helped my recovery and I wasn't so exhausted at the end of the pregnancy, because I wasn't so uncomfortable.