Its definitely scary to watch the weight pack on. ive gained 12 pounds and im at 25 weeks ( im also petite 4'11 and 95 lbs previously so 12 lbs is a lot for someone my size to gain)My doctor wants me to gain 20lbs, which at this rate I doubt will be an issue. Keep your eye on the prize its for the good of the baby he/she is getting the nutrition believe it or not. don't feel bad splurging every once in a while and look at it this way, youre saving calories from not being able to drink.
It's really difficult for me to watch the numbers on the scale rise. I suffered a bad bout of depression about 5 years back and ended up gaining 20 lbs from it. In the years since, I've been struggling to lose that again while unable to really be able to afford to truly eat healthily (my husband is a large man that requires a good amount of food making it even more expensive).
It's especially difficult because I can't go work out too much because in addition to getting short of breath because of the pregnancy, I'm also asthmatic with a ribcage that is just disfigured enough to prevent full lung capacity. Ever since I hit full maturity, I tend to get out of breath before even working up to a good sweat.
@lexievelyn8179 try 2 week meal planning where you buy in bulk. We eat pretty healthy (when we want, we eat junk sometimes too!) and I found meal planning based on sales and using your slow cooker so you're lazy and don't eat out is a real life saver! We live in an area that's really expensive for food (Eastern Canada) and we managed to spend $180 last grocery order for 14 full breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It even included condiments we had run out of! Takes some planning (I copy a recipe to the day of the week using MS word) about 2 hours the first time I did it but it was super easy after that. Now it takes 1 hr Max.
I'm up more pounds than weeks. 25lbs at 24w. And I'm pretty sure that the third trimester has been my biggest weight gain time with all the babies. I'm feeling frustrated with myself. But I like the fat stores for milk thing. I'm gonna keep reminding myself of that!
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
AP, BF, BW, CD, CLW, CS, ERF, Catholic mama
to Evan (7/'10), Clare (8/'11), Dean (3/'14), ^F(12/'15)^, Rose (3/'16)
*no longer a Timelord ~ WibblyWobbly BabyWaby is here!*
but i still feel bigger on the inside Autism mama!
@oceanchild were you underweight to begin with? Because in all of the photos you've posted I seriously can't see how you could weigh 25 lbs less than you do now, even with the bump. Are you tall?
I'm a shorty at 5'2" and I had gained 7 unnecessary pounds before I found out that I was pregnant. I've gained 15 more since then, so basically I'm up 22 lbs from my usual non-pregnant weight. I know I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on it, but this morning I made the dubious choice to bake up some coffee cake and I just Can't. Stop. Nibbling.
What I really ought to do is get outside and go for a long walk. But it's cold and I'm a little sick, and all I want to do is drink my tea and nibble on more coffee cake...
This is my second pregnancy and I haven't gain that much weight. With my son I packed on the pounds but with this one I would gain a pound or two and then lose it. My last appointment I gain 5 pounds. So I will have to see if I have gain anymore weight at the next appointment.
I'm already at 27 pounds for 27 weeks . I was really overweight to begin with so this kinda scares me. But then again, I didn't gain hardly any for DD. Must be a boy thing lol. I don't think the doctor is pressuring me about my weight though because he knows I can lose it like I have before.
February Siggy Challenge- Post pregnancy indulgences
Yep! Pretty cool really, and a good reminder that the weight gain is necessary and has a purpose.
"LACTATION AND BODY FAT DISTRIBUTION Several authors have examined the effect of pregnancy and breast-feeding on body fat distribution. Longitudinal studies of skinfold thickn3ss during pregnancy and lactation consistently show fat accumulation in the supra-iliac and midthigh regions during pregnancy, with mobilization from these areas postpartum.
The authors note that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are concentrated in lower body fat, and they speculate that fat from this region is preferentially mobilized in lactation to support infant brain development."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3006166/#__abstractid342081title
I can't currently find the article, but they've also recently done studies that say that mothers who carry weight in their hips and thighs have children with slightly larger IQs. I almost didn't post this, because it's not a causation situation, but it did make me feel better about the junk in my trunk.
If you're getting the coning like oceanchild demonstrated, you should definitely AVOID doing any sit-ups or any other movements that cause the coning to happen. That will just make the abdominal separation worse!
I've been doing a lot of research about this issue, and it seems that some women can experience mild symptoms of diastasis recti during pregnancy and still recover pretty well after birth without having to do any special exercises, but generally that happens when you're careful not to exacerbate the separation by doing sit ups or other "jackknife" type movements.
I jumped on a Cyber Monday deal for the MUTU System https://mutusystem.com, which is a program that can be followed both during pregnancy and postpartum to heal and restore the abdominal separation. I haven't had the time to really dig into it yet, but I'll let you ladies know how it goes.
I agree, I think the distasis is normal to a certain degree during pregnancy. My belly always does that when I'm pregnant if I do abs or planks but I don't have any severe lasting issues postpartum. I've read that if, after a certain timeframe post partum, your abs are still more than 2 finger widths apart then you may have a problem. But them separating during pregnancy can definitely be normal.
I have read that it's almost never normal to have abdominal separation before the 3rd trimester, though. I dunno. My postpartum separation was never really more than 2 fingers wide, but I still had issues with looking slightly pregnant even after losing all of the baby weight
I wish they'd tell first time moms about this stuff. I mean, I remember being told to roll onto my side and push myself up with my arms instead of using my abdominal muscles to lift my torso up, but I was never told WHY I should avoid it. During my first pregnancy I thought that advice was silly and mostly ignored it, which might be why my abdominal separation got worse.
I started at 135lbs, 5'8. At 20 weeks I was up 25 pounds, then had a 5 week gap between appointments (due to thanksgiving) and at 25 weeks I'm up 34 pounds. My total weight gain was supposed to be 32 for the pregnancy (which my doctor told me, AFTER I hit 25 lbs already at the halfway mark lol) eek! Wonder what I'll weigh at the very end!
I agree, I think the distasis is normal to a certain degree during pregnancy. My belly always does that when I'm pregnant if I do abs or planks but I don't have any severe lasting issues postpartum. I've read that if, after a certain timeframe post partum, your abs are still more than 2 finger widths apart then you may have a problem. But them separating during pregnancy can definitely be normal.
I thought it was completely normal and never even knew what it was actually called until reading this thread. I've had the same looking "coning" as @oceanchild in every pregnancy but after I deliver it goes away and I don't change the way I do any physical activities.
March '16 December Siggy Challenge - Favorite Christmas Movies/Quotes
@kynbar5 does your belly look as pronounced as the photo that oceanchild posted? I'm really surprised that you have no postpartum issues after having so many kids and experiencing it every time.
@kitteh81 Yes, it does if I lean back or if I'm getting up from laying all the way down (like getting out of bed) but I try to do the oh so cute half roll half grunt and wallow to avoid using nothing but my abs to get up
March '16 December Siggy Challenge - Favorite Christmas Movies/Quotes
I was doing really well with eating healthy and working out before I got/knew I was pregnant so I could lose some weight, so we're considering 135 to be my pre-pregnancy weight since I was 8 weeks before I knew. At my last appointment I weighed 162, up 12 lbs from the month before!!! Hoping to not gain too much more since I've probably already gained 30 lbs by now. My mom told me some of it could be muscle since I was lifting so intensely up until the week of Thanksgiving, and people tell me I don't really look like I'm holding "extra" weight. Not looking forward to having to lose it all later, but I'll deal with it since I get a little boy out of all this
I'm also loving this info about fat in the hips and thighs as milk stores. I definitely carry weight in those areas, so I've been telling myself that!
This is my third baby, and I also never knew why you were supposed to push yourself up from the side. I ignored it too because it didn't seem important...I'm glad to know why for his baby at least! Maybe everything won't get as separated this time or will heal faster!
You guys have no idea how much better this thread makes me feel! I finally do not feel alone! For the longest time I've felt like the only person who has gained weight super quickly.
I am 24 weeks and at my 21 week appointment I was already up 24lbs. I have no clue how much more I have gained already, but I wouldn't doubt if I will be well over 30lbs with my next appointment.
Everyone keeps telling me not to worry because it will all come off, but it's so hard to handle right now. Even my OB was telling me that he thought I probably needed to gain that weight because I was at a lower weight before and he wasn't worried about my gain- just said I shouldn't gain 50lbs ("because that's too much.") but that really stresses me out because I feel like I will easily gain 50lbs I also like the idea of my thighs being milk thighs instead of just fat thighs lol I am definitely one of those people who gained my weight everywhere not just my belly.
I just ate an entire thing of oreos in three different sittings in a span of about 18 hours. So. Feeling pretty bad about my life choices right now.
Bad life choices? That you didn't have backup oreo's? You should be! You should always have a backup set of Oreos ready to go. I ate a whole bag of mini powdered hostess donettes. I'm ashamed to say I also did not have a backup ready to go for when I finished my first batch.
ETA: I know I ate them all because I hid them from DH.
I had pecan pie with ice cream for lunch! Followed by my actual lunch. And my daughter was invited to a birthday party tonight so we had pizza and cake for dinner. It will be avoiding the scale this week.
Before DD1 I was normal weight, and some how I gained over 80 pounds. My lifestyle changed, but still 80 pounds!? This time around I started over weight and didn't gain anything until 20 weeks. Between 20 weeks and now (26 weeks) I've gained between 8-10 pounds. Over all I think it's fine as long as I don't gain at this same rate until 40-42 weeks (I go over and planning on it again before intervention). I'd really like to keep it around 20lbs tops, the less the better. Which means I should really get up from my desk right now and walk...
So glad to find this thread! I have gained 25 pounds so far. I'm 23 weeks. Im thinking I'll end up gaining 40 pounds total. Im 5'6 and started out at 130, and its so hard to see the numbers on the scale creep up. I have an appt next week and I hope they don't say anything to me. Despite being paranoid about my weight gain, I refuse to not indulge in Christmas goodies! The only downside is that I usually gain about 5 pounds around the holidays but I'm able to diet and lose it....which I can't do this time, wahhhh!!!!
What's funny is how dumb and naive I was before getting pregnant. I imagined I would gain only 20 pounds max. Like it was something I could so easily control, lol! The weight came on pretty fast in the first trimester, even with all the puking. I just tell myself maybe I was too thin and my body needed the extra weight to support growing a baby!
What's funny is how dumb and naive I was before getting pregnant. I imagined I would gain only 20 pounds max. Like it was something I could so easily control, lol!
This was so me with my first! I figured I'd gain 20 lbs at most. I was really fit pre-pregnancy and have always been athletic, and I guess I thought that would make a big difference. But I ended up gaining 40 lbs!
@oceanchild were you underweight to begin with? Because in all of the photos you've posted I seriously can't see how you could weigh 25 lbs less than you do now, even with the bump. Are you tall?
Not tall, 5'4, but actually was a little underweight to start – I had some (still undiagnosed) health issues between baby #3 and this one, and lost about 65 pounds in the year before getting pregnant. At my appt yesterday, my doc was saying how at first he wasn't really concerned about the weight I was gaining, bc he figured it was just catching back up some of what I lost, but he said at this point I need to try to slow it down, bc 9 pounds in a month is little fast. So I'm supposed to lay off the bagels. Which I *want* to eat 4 of a day. With craploads of cream cheese. Mmmmm.
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
AP, BF, BW, CD, CLW, CS, ERF, Catholic mama
to Evan (7/'10), Clare (8/'11), Dean (3/'14), ^F(12/'15)^, Rose (3/'16)
*no longer a Timelord ~ WibblyWobbly BabyWaby is here!*
but i still feel bigger on the inside Autism mama!
I think that (and this is embarrassing to admit) even though I knew I had lost too much and was thinner than I wanted to be, everyone around me kept saying that I looked so much better, and it really reinforced the image issues that my (otherwise truly awesome mama) passed down to me (as her mother did to her) that I should be "X magic number of pounds" and not what I was. I hadn't lost the weight on purpose by any means; it was a miserable process of being sick and worried, and I'd rather look how I did and feel healthy than be thin and feel ill, but I got used to that body and my old clothes fit and stuff. (Also, I use angles and standing certain ways and clothes to hide where the extra is going haha (can't do that in real life, only pics LOL) but there is extra; it's not all baby)
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
AP, BF, BW, CD, CLW, CS, ERF, Catholic mama
to Evan (7/'10), Clare (8/'11), Dean (3/'14), ^F(12/'15)^, Rose (3/'16)
*no longer a Timelord ~ WibblyWobbly BabyWaby is here!*
but i still feel bigger on the inside Autism mama!
With my first I only gained 12 pounds through the whole thing...they complained the whole time because I wasn't gaining enough and they thought I just wasn't eating!! I ate a lot but if I wasn't hungry I didn't eat....I started at 180 lbs and our daughter weighed 7 lbs 15 oz!
With baby #2 I'm only 25 weeks and have already gained 12 and they are starting to say I'm gaining too much at this rate!! Started at 195 lbs....baby weight TBD lol
Moral of the story....doctor's will always complain about weight! I'm 5'8" and they pick a number amount you should gain based off a BMI chart!! As long as you and baby are healthy it shouldn't matter! Numbers suck but to me it's all about how I look!! I could weigh 300 lbs and be happy with myself!! Don't let the numbers get you down!! plenty of support groups for weight AFTER the baby!! Just remember it took a happy 9-10 months to gain so at least that to lose!!
Re: Having trouble with the pregnancy weight
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality
Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
Autism mama!
I'm a shorty at 5'2" and I had gained 7 unnecessary pounds before I found out that I was pregnant. I've gained 15 more since then, so basically I'm up 22 lbs from my usual non-pregnant weight. I know I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on it, but this morning I made the dubious choice to bake up some coffee cake and I just Can't. Stop. Nibbling.
What I really ought to do is get outside and go for a long walk. But it's cold and I'm a little sick, and all I want to do is drink my tea and nibble on more coffee cake...
I wish they'd tell first time moms about this stuff. I mean, I remember being told to roll onto my side and push myself up with my arms instead of using my abdominal muscles to lift my torso up, but I was never told WHY I should avoid it. During my first pregnancy I thought that advice was silly and mostly ignored it, which might be why my abdominal separation got worse.
DS2 due 12/12/18
This is my third baby, and I also never knew why you were supposed to push yourself up from the side. I ignored it too because it didn't seem important...I'm glad to know why for his baby at least! Maybe everything won't get as separated this time or will heal faster!
You guys have no idea how much better this thread makes me feel! I finally do not feel alone! For the longest time I've felt like the only person who has gained weight super quickly.
I am 24 weeks and at my 21 week appointment I was already up 24lbs. I have no clue how much more I have gained already, but I wouldn't doubt if I will be well over 30lbs with my next appointment.
Everyone keeps telling me not to worry because it will all come off, but it's so hard to handle right now. Even my OB was telling me that he thought I probably needed to gain that weight because I was at a lower weight before and he wasn't worried about my gain- just said I shouldn't gain 50lbs ("because that's too much.") but that really stresses me out because I feel like I will easily gain 50lbs
I also like the idea of my thighs being milk thighs instead of just fat thighs lol I am definitely one of those people who gained my weight everywhere not just my belly.
Me: 29 DH: 31
Married 10/13/12
TTC Since 8/2016
ETA: I know I ate them all because I hid them from DH.
What's funny is how dumb and naive I was before getting pregnant. I imagined I would gain only 20 pounds max. Like it was something I could so easily control, lol! The weight came on pretty fast in the first trimester, even with all the puking. I just tell myself maybe I was too thin and my body needed the extra weight to support growing a baby!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our family of 5 is complete!! Love our boys!
At my appt yesterday, my doc was saying how at first he wasn't really concerned about the weight I was gaining, bc he figured it was just catching back up some of what I lost, but he said at this point I need to try to slow it down, bc 9 pounds in a month is little fast. So I'm supposed to lay off the bagels. Which I *want* to eat 4 of a day. With craploads of cream cheese. Mmmmm.
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality
Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
Autism mama!
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality
Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
Autism mama!
March 2016 siggy: babies - expectation vs reality
Brian's Whovian wife (5/'09)
Autism mama!
With my first I only gained 12 pounds through the whole thing...they complained the whole time because I wasn't gaining enough and they thought I just wasn't eating!! I ate a lot but if I wasn't hungry I didn't eat....I started at 180 lbs and our daughter weighed 7 lbs 15 oz!
With baby #2 I'm only 25 weeks and have already gained 12 and they are starting to say I'm gaining too much at this rate!! Started at 195 lbs....baby weight TBD lol
Moral of the story....doctor's will always complain about weight! I'm 5'8" and they pick a number amount you should gain based off a BMI chart!! As long as you and baby are healthy it shouldn't matter! Numbers suck but to me it's all about how I look!! I could weigh 300 lbs and be happy with myself!! Don't let the numbers get you down!! plenty of support groups for weight AFTER the baby!! Just remember it took a happy 9-10 months to gain so at least that to lose!!