Gaining Weight Too Fast!

proudparent2b · February 2016

Until the start of Week 23, I had gained around 10 pounds- not too shabby. Then, between Weeks 23-26, I gained 14 pounds. I was shocked - yes, I was drinking fruit juice, occasionally having a second portion of dinner, and 2-4 servings of cereal per day, but it didn't seem enough to gain 3 1/2 pounds per week.

At my doctor's appointment, I was instructed to swap fruit for veggies, simple carbs for complex, give up juice, and increase my exercise. She was also a little worried that I would not pass the glucose test.

Well, I passed the glucose test with an excellent number, majorly increased my daily exercise to 10,000+ steps per day, and cut daily calories by around 800 by following her food/drink recommendations.

At this point, I should be losing weight, or maintaining at the very least. Instead, I'm up 6 more pounds in 1 1/2 weeks.

I think my hormones may have changed up because I've had absolutely horrible acne since 25 weeks, but could this make the difference?

Has anyone else gone through this? Was there any way to turn your weight gain around?

mrstmoose · February 2016

I would talk to your doctor about it more at your next appointment. My personal thought is that if you are doing what she says and you passed your glucose test, then there may not be much more you can do other than what you're doing. But I'm most definitely not a doctor.

Some women just gain a lot, intentionally or not. One of my best friends gained 55 pounds with her first son and admittedly, ate for two beginning the day she found out she was pregnant. With her second son, she watched what she ate, exercised frequently and chased a toddler around and still gained 50 pounds.

Lusitano8 · February 2016

How many weeks are you at now? 24 lbs by 26 weeks does not seam that out of range to me if all your other measures are indicating that you and baby are healthy. Everyone gains weight at a different rate. It's high-ish for the magical 25-35 range OB's preach about. But a lot of doulas and mid-wives say that this is not accurate as long as your healthy your body will gain as much as it needs to. Plenty of women gain 50-60 lbs because that's what their body needed. If you're being conscious about what you eat I would not wort about it too much.

TheThornBird · February 2016

Same thing happened to me- I shot up 10 pounds to 140 right after I got pregnant, stayed there forever, and then in the past 3 weeks shot up another 10 pounds. And like you, I've been eating very healthy and walking 10000+ steps per day.

My midwife wasn't concerned, and I believe if you are eating healthy and exercising, your body will naturally gain what it needs. I can tell I haven't gained much fat, and a lot of weight gain isn't actually fat tissue. Here's a breakdown of where all the extra weight goes (from WebMD):

Baby: 8 pounds
Placenta: 2-3 pounds
Amniotic fluid: 2-3 pounds
Breast tissue: 2-3 pounds
Blood supply: 4 pounds
Stored fat for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9 pounds
Larger uterus: 2-5 pounds
Total: 25-35 pounds

That's an interesting point about your hormones; right around when I started gaining quickly, I got bad acne on my face and, uh, hiney, plus my hair both stopped growing and started shedding like crazy. Pregnancy is so weird.

kbrands7 · February 2016

I tend to put on weight like this while pregnant while eating predominately vegetables. It's happened both times...and even more so with my first pregnancy. Last time, the weight gain slowed down again partway through the third trimester amd it seemed that decent portion of the weight gain was retained water.

There are medical considerations like hormones, thyroid, etc., but truly some women just gain more than others.

vinerie · February 2016

I second what PP have said, but I personally would avoid juice. It's like soda with vitamins. Straight up sugar and it will contribute to weight gain in some people.

JessicaB0627 · February 2016

I think rapid weight gain is the most normal at this point in pregnancy. It's supposed to slow down a lot during 3rd tri. As long as you're taking your doctor's advice then this may just be what is normal for you.

wsgjmw1 · February 2016

Lusitano8 said:

How many weeks are you at now? 24 lbs by 26 weeks does not seam that out of range to me if all your other measures are indicating that you and baby are healthy. Everyone gains weight at a different rate. It's high-ish for the magical 25-35 range OB's preach about. But a lot of doulas and mid-wives say that this is not accurate as long as your healthy your body will gain as much as it needs to. Plenty of women gain 50-60 lbs because that's what their body needed. If you're being conscious about what you eat I would not wort about it too much.

I agree with all of this. My midwife and i were discussing the "magical 25-35 range" yesterday, and she said the same thing about it not being accurate but it is my hospital's standard. i had to get that number range out of my head and just focus on being healthy and making good choices for my LO. The stress of worrying about my weight was just bringing me down honestly, especially when my midwife said everything is A-ok and really at the end of the day that is all that should matter.

Merciel · February 2016

I'm up about 20 pounds at 27 weeks and three of those pounds came on within the last two days (seriously), so I'm pretty sure it's water weight and/or baby growth spurt. It is not physically possible for that weight to be fat. Nobody puts on three pounds of fat in two days (plus I've been calorie and exercise tracking from the beginning, and again, it's physically impossible for me to have gained that weight in fat, unless all the laws of thermodynamics get magically suspended during pregnancy).

If you're staying active and eating carefully then that level of sudden weight gain -- 14 pounds in three weeks -- is extremely unlikely to be fat. It's worth discussing with your doctor or midwife just because sudden weight gain can be indicative of a lot of other issues in pregnancy (which is one of the reasons that I've been tracking mine daily), but if your care provider doesn't seem concerned, then I don't think you should be either. Baby growth spurts and water retention are super common (especially around that time of pregnancy; I had a big weight spike at weeks 22-24 too, and my ob-gyn said that lots of women have a spike right then) and there's not a whole lot you can or should do about either.

sapphirerose915 · February 2016

I'm up 43 lbs at 26 weeks... First 4 months I gained between 3-5 lbs per month.. then it went up to 10, then it was 5 again, and 10 last month.. doc doesnt seemed worried about it... he said the baby is large, my mom gained around 60 per pregnancy.. i am not a small girl by any means anyways.. was 5'3 165 pre-pregnancy... but doc said everything is great and not to worry about it until he sees something different!

TXmamatobe · February 2016

From the beginning through week 20, I had gained literally two pounds total. Then between weeks 20 and 24 I gained ten pounds. I was worried but the doctor said that is a common time for a rapid gain due to the baby going through a growth spurt themselves. As other posters have said, it's not all fat. There's a growing baby, extra fluids, extra blood, and in my case, a lot of extra boob

I try to make healthy choices and stay active but it's not uncommon to gain a pound per week in the third trimester.

In my first pregnancy I had a similar gaining pattern. I had one more period of rapid gain and then held steady until delivery. I think it's different for everyone.

jenashawn · February 2016

I've jumped up 29 lbs in 28 weeks, from 164 to 193. However, in the past couple weeks or so I seem to have stalled out at 193.. so perhaps I just gain faster earlier and then plateau a little? My mom gained 70 lbs with me and then immediately lost it all after pregnancy, so I am figuring it's just in my genes to gain a fair amount.

Astraphobic · February 2016

I gained about 5 lbs from 20-24 weeks. My doctor was not worried but said we would need to watch. She also said she usually sees people gain a bunch then level out. Sure enough I've gained a pound and a half since then. Just do what you know is healthy for you and baby. The rest will work itself out.

togmama · February 2016

Me! Me! Me! I didn't gain anything and from weeks 24-28 my belly has grown so much and I've put on close to 20 pounds! My doctor isn't too worried but it is scary, don't increase your workouts too much, that landed me in the hospital! I'd say bulk up on the veggies as much as possible! Best of luck, having no control over weight is a tough feeling (I'm living it)

jessib899 · February 2016

I was overweight to begin with, and was hoping not to gain a whole lot during this pregnancy, FTM. I've gained 15 pounds so far at 27 weeks, and my OB said I've managed it very well. I still feel 15 lbs is a lot for my bmi though, I'm trying to make healthy choices and not eat out of boredom.

proudparent2b · February 2016

Thank you for all your feedback, ladies! To give you a status update, at my appointment on Friday, my doctor was happy that my weight gain had slowed down (2 pounds per week instead of 3.5). She was glad that I had followed her instructions and am eating at maintenance or just below most days. The biggest thing is that she was glad that I easily passed the glucose test- I think that had really concerned her.

I also had a third trimester sonogram on Friday because the tech hadn't been able to get all the images she wanted at the 20 week sonogram, and everyhing's looking great!

Not super excited to have so much to lose afterward, but feeling better to know that baby is doing well and that I'm in good company going through this!

saladflambe · February 2016

This thread seriously relieves me...I thought this entire board was going to gain like 15 pounds and pop out babies while I gained all the weight alone

DEFINITELY different for everyone!!! I'm 28 weeks and have gained 27 pounds, but I've gained it steadily throughout this entire pregnancy. While everyone else was all "I've not gained anything," I was all "I gained 12 pounds 1st trimester..."

tripledaggerWed95976 · February 2016

Unfortunately some of us just gain quite a bit. I'm almost 29 weeks- I eat 2000 calories a day, and I exercise (yoga class AND cardio) 5 days a week yet I've already gained 32lbs which is basically setting me up for a totally weight gain of at least 45lbs.

NB817 · February 2016

Try not to stress about it and keep doing what you're doing with your healthy changes. Remember that the weight you're gaining is not all just fat, it's tissue, fluid for the baby, placenta and all that jazz.

yogahh · February 2016

I'm up almost 40 pounds at 28 weeks. While I try to be active, I'm also addicted to carbs. So while I'll probably tip the scales at close to a 70 pound gain, I'm willing and motivated to loose it after delivery. And tbh each boob has gained atleast 5 pounds, so that's w good chunk of total gain

JoMunson · February 2016

NB817 said:

Try not to stress about it and keep doing what you're doing with your healthy changes. Remember that the weight you're gaining is not all just fat, it's tissue, fluid for the baby, placenta and all that jazz.

Thank you for saying this! I've gained 32 so far and then randomly I heard again that you create 50% more blood and fluid when you're pregnant! It's not just fat it's muscle and tissues and fluids and all kids of things.

Merciel · February 2016

It really is a TON of water weight in there. Every time I have a hard cardio day after not emphasizing that for a while, my weigh-in the next morning is 1 to 2 pounds below where it was charting for the last few days (and this is on top of me drinking a whole lot of water and generally eating more on high cardio days). There's just that much water weight to lose.

GoatSnakeMouse · February 2016

Does anybody else find it really weird that there's just a flat recommendation regardless of the size of the woman? I'm 5'10" and it just seems like I should probably put on more weight than somebody who's 5'1", if we're growing proportionally.

yogahh · February 2016

GoatSnakeMouse said:

Does anybody else find it really weird that there's just a flat recommendation regardless of the size of the woman? I'm 5'10" and it just seems like I should probably put on more weight than somebody who's 5'1", if we're growing proportionally.

Never thought of that but yeah, why isn't it more of a proportionate percentage of current weight/height?

JoMunson · February 2016

yogahh said:

GoatSnakeMouse said:

Does anybody else find it really weird that there's just a flat recommendation regardless of the size of the woman? I'm 5'10" and it just seems like I should probably put on more weight than somebody who's 5'1", if we're growing proportionally.

Never thought of that but yeah, why isn't it more of a proportionate percentage of current weight/height?

I agree, and they don't ask if you've gained/lost in the past and how that went or what your body's natural weight is. I usually weigh a bit more than I look like I do (in my opinion) so I might gain weight but still have an appropriately proportioned pregnant body.

Merciel · February 2016

^ yeah, it's weird to me too. Especially since both the starting weight and recommended gain ranges are pretty wide.

I would guess (underline the "guess") that it's because although women's sizes can vary considerably, babies tend to come out in a much narrower healthy range, so the recommendations are based on what's considered necessary to support the baby's growth and not what the mother's start point is.

But I totally just made that up, I have no idea if it's close to the right answer.

saladflambe · February 2016

GoatSnakeMouse said:

Does anybody else find it really weird that there's just a flat recommendation regardless of the size of the woman? I'm 5'10" and it just seems like I should probably put on more weight than somebody who's 5'1", if we're growing proportionally.

That's why you have to talk to your doctor. My midwives told me that they expect me to be at the high end of weight gain because of where I started weight-wise.

That1didntcount · February 2016

I think fundal height is weird? I mean how can someone with a long torso measure the same as someone with a short torso? Just a miracle of pregnancy I guess, but it still gets me!!

JoMunson · February 2016

The only time I ever heard my midwives mention my body shape was when I mentioned I felt a lot of stretching on either side of my bump and they showed me that it was because LO was sitting horizontal and my short torso made it stretch more. I mean, cool, but maybe mention my short torso and how that might also mean I measure ahead of schedule (which I've done twice now) instead of thinking I'm measuring ahead cuz I'm making a fat baby.

chottomotto · February 2016

The stuff that's supposed to make you gain weight (baby, amniotic fluid, placenta, amount of stored fat, etc.) are usually about the same for a healthy baby of 7-8lbs regardless of your body type.

I'm 5'2, 118lbs pre-pregnancy (healthy BMI is between 100-133lbs.) My kids are 7-8lbs. I gain 40-50lbs, around half of which comes off at delivery (and I have the highest safe amount of amniotic fluid). Some of the leftover 20-25lbs can be attributed to breastfeeding and swelling/water weight. The rest is for me to deal with at the gym, which is the biggest variable I think. I know how hard that weight is to lose so I try to get moving, but that's not always possible. I don't think that last part is included in the recommended weight gain amount at all.

Most of my weight comes at the end for me, because I'm too big to exercise and, because I have painful varicose veins in my vagina and a hernia, just walking around is hard. A picture is worth a thousand words:

JessicaB0627 · February 2016

That1didntcount said:

I think fundal height is weird? I mean how can someone with a long torso measure the same as someone with a short torso? Just a miracle of pregnancy I guess, but it still gets me!!

They're measuring the height of your uterus, which should be pretty compatible with how far along you are no matter how long your torso is. Most doctors, I believe, will measure a baseline height somewhere around 20 weeks and then they just make sure that you're growing "on schedule" from that baseline number. If you go in one week and your fundal height hasn't changed from 2 or 4 weeks ago, then they would be concerned. Same as if the number was significantly higher than what they expected based on the rate of growth for you.

seasalt123 · February 2016

I personally find the weight gain recommendations (which as many have pointed out, are not proportional to height) strange. Sure, as general guidelines they are fine. It's good to know you shouldn't wind up shooting for 100lbs. But as long as you are eating a healthy diet without an obscene amount of calories, I think our bodies just gain what they want to gain. For some women, it's more than 25 - 35 lbs and for others it's actually less than that. If your scans are good and baby is growing normally (and your practitioner has ruled out any other possible concerns), I say don't worry about it and keep the focus on the quality of what you're eating.

wsgjmw1 · February 2016

yogahh said:

GoatSnakeMouse said:

Does anybody else find it really weird that there's just a flat recommendation regardless of the size of the woman? I'm 5'10" and it just seems like I should probably put on more weight than somebody who's 5'1", if we're growing proportionally.

Never thought of that but yeah, why isn't it more of a proportionate percentage of current weight/height?

I also never thought of that but yeah this makes a lot of sense. I am 5'8, why do I have the same standards as a woman who is 5'1. Interesting point.

LadySamLady · February 2016

At this point, I have finally stopped thinking about how much weight I'm gaining. It is what it is. I'm eating healthy and staying as active as I can and my LO is progressing beautifully - that's all that matters.

Pascal86 · February 2016

For anyone stressing about weight too much, try this - we keep our scale tucked under the sink, so I have to pull it out to use it. Unnecessary bending over to get the stupid scale out? No thanks. Problem solved.

I know that doesn't help with doctor concerns about weight gain, etc., but usually I weigh myself fairly regularly and noticed recently that I NEVER do anymore, it's too hard!

KissOfApproval · February 2016

@That1didntcount omg dont even get me started on fundal height!! How is it... that something in nature (a uterus growing a baby!) magically matches up to something as random as the metric system!!! I seriously cant wrap my brain around that!!! When the doctor showed me at 25 weeks the tape measure at exactly 25 cm I just couldnt even fathom how that was possible! lol

seasalt123 · February 2016

Ha ha @KissOfApproval I have pondered the exact same thing. Blows my mind.

That1didntcount · February 2016

Can we talk about the word fundal? It is up there with moist. Hate it. Fundal and Fungal are best friends.

seasalt123 · February 2016

Oh wow @That1didntcount, I so feel you on this one. Every time someone says 'the top of the fundus' or 'fundal', I just die a little inside. Why not just say uterus? It's a perfectly functional word.

Pascal86 · February 2016

That1didntcount said:

Can we talk about the word fundal? It is up there with moist. Hate it. Fundal and Fungal are best friends.

I like it, it reminds me of fondue!

yogahh · February 2016

That1didntcount said:

Can we talk about the word fundal? It is up there with moist. Hate it. Fundal and Fungal are best friends.

It's the "panties" of the medical world

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