Should I worry about my weight?

Ok, I'm probably anxious over nothing. However, I'm starting to
wonder at my weight and am starting to worry that I'm gaining too
fast. I'm hoping that ya'll will be able to either ease my worries or
help me get on track

Here's the deal: I'm 27 years old, 5'5" and 19w pg with my first. My
normal pre-pg weight is around 145, though due to holiday eating I was
really at 150 at conception (right after eating lots of nuts and cake
and chocolate over Christmas....). My normal weight puts me at the
border line of overweight, though I've maintained it pretty steadily
for 5 or 6 years now, and I do exercise regularly. I have never
truely attempted to diet in order to lose weight, but do try to eat
well.

As of this morning I am weighing in at 165, so a total weight gain of
15 pounds in 19 weeks. I *think* this might be normal, but on the
high end of the "recommended"? The recommendations I've seen say
25-35 pounds of total weight gain is normal, but here I'm not quite
halfway through the pg and am at half the recommended weight. I didn't
really put on any weight till around my 10 week appointment, so that's
15 pounds in about 10 weeks. I am exercising (1-2 days a week at the
gym, plus long walks or yard work almost every other day).

I don't feel like I'm eating too much--I snack all day long, but it's
mostly healthy stuff: carrots, fruit, crackers, sometimes a half pb&j
sandwich if I'm decently hungry and it's quite a while before the next
meal. If I don't eat something for a long time, then I start feeling
ill (I still have bouts of ms 2-3 times a week, usually when my
stomach is empty). When I do sit down to a meal, I don't eat more
than I usually would (non-pg), and always feel like stopping way
before my stomach registers as full (I've not felt "stuffed" at all
since being pg...). So far, I have tended to just eat when I'm
hungry, and what I'm hungry for, assuming that, for example, if cheese
sounds good then my body wants calcium or protein.

For some reason, most junk food that I used to overindulge in doesn't
sound good (like chocolate...since Easter I've only eaten 1 reese's
peanut butter egg and 1 cadbury cream egg, leaving a chocolate bunny
and other sweets in the fridge untouched....). This kid must have
DH's taste in food....he prefers seconds of a main course over dessert
:P. I think the worst food that I do tend to eat a bit much of is
potatoes--I'm trying to stay away from fries, but mashed potatoes and
scalloped potatoes are just as tempting all the time.

So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

--Elit.
#1 due 9/20/2004

"Elitsirk" wrote in message
om...
Ok, I'm probably anxious over nothing. However, I'm starting to
wonder at my weight and am starting to worry that I'm gaining too
fast. I'm hoping that ya'll will be able to either ease my worries or
help me get on track

Here's the deal: I'm 27 years old, 5'5" and 19w pg with my first. My
normal pre-pg weight is around 145, though due to holiday eating I was
really at 150 at conception (right after eating lots of nuts and cake
and chocolate over Christmas....). My normal weight puts me at the
border line of overweight, though I've maintained it pretty steadily
for 5 or 6 years now, and I do exercise regularly. I have never
truely attempted to diet in order to lose weight, but do try to eat
well.

As of this morning I am weighing in at 165, so a total weight gain of
15 pounds in 19 weeks. I *think* this might be normal, but on the
high end of the "recommended"? The recommendations I've seen say
25-35 pounds of total weight gain is normal, but here I'm not quite
halfway through the pg and am at half the recommended weight. I didn't
really put on any weight till around my 10 week appointment, so that's
15 pounds in about 10 weeks. I am exercising (1-2 days a week at the
gym, plus long walks or yard work almost every other day).

I don't feel like I'm eating too much--I snack all day long, but it's
mostly healthy stuff: carrots, fruit, crackers, sometimes a half pb&j
sandwich if I'm decently hungry and it's quite a while before the next
meal. If I don't eat something for a long time, then I start feeling
ill (I still have bouts of ms 2-3 times a week, usually when my
stomach is empty). When I do sit down to a meal, I don't eat more
than I usually would (non-pg), and always feel like stopping way
before my stomach registers as full (I've not felt "stuffed" at all
since being pg...). So far, I have tended to just eat when I'm
hungry, and what I'm hungry for, assuming that, for example, if cheese
sounds good then my body wants calcium or protein.

For some reason, most junk food that I used to overindulge in doesn't
sound good (like chocolate...since Easter I've only eaten 1 reese's
peanut butter egg and 1 cadbury cream egg, leaving a chocolate bunny
and other sweets in the fridge untouched....). This kid must have
DH's taste in food....he prefers seconds of a main course over dessert
:P. I think the worst food that I do tend to eat a bit much of is
potatoes--I'm trying to stay away from fries, but mashed potatoes and
scalloped potatoes are just as tempting all the time.

So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

--Elit.
#1 due 9/20/2004

Here's my anecdotal story that I've told to other weight worriers.

5'9", prepreg weight was 165. Normal weight is more like 150-155, but went
up with thyroid disease and didn't ever go back to normal.

I was up about 20 pounds at 20 weeks. Specifically my ass got huge right
away. We're talking like a 50" ass eventually. I stopped measuring at 7
mos pregnant and 48" so it might have been bigger. I also just got big all
over.

I was up 45 pounds at 41 weeks. Yes I was 210#. Perfectly healthy, perfect
blood pressure, edema and weight both came on very gradually, still walking
some for exercise (like a moderate mile). No OB or midwife I saw made any
weight comments.

Three weeks postpartum I was 165#. Yup, it was water. Water water water
water water. And I was not restricting calories during the pregnancy. I
ate like crazy during the pregnancy. I ate like there was no tomorrow.
Salted to taste too. It kept me from feeling so tired/nauseated. If the
heartburn wasn't stopping me, I was eating. Everything.

So -- now six months postpartum, I am 145-150#. Baby is 19#. Nurse nurse
nurse nurse nurse.

I do not ever think you should watch your calories or fat intake in
pregnancy. I think you should follow the Brewer diet or something similar,
pile on the protein, eat eggs daily, take fish oil. I do think maybe things
like pasta, bread, and such could be moderated. Babies and placentas are
made of fat and protein, not processed carbs. But you know, enjoy in
moderation.

HTH

-- Dagny

"Elitsirk" wrote
So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

15 pounds at 19-20 weeks sounds perfectly normal to me. If this makes you
feel any better I know someone who did not watch her weight at all during
pregnancy, is 5'1 or so and was tiny, and gained about 70 pounds in her
pregnancy. !! She lost it all in a reasonable time frame.

One of my midwives is a big advocate of "proper" weight gain and says
"normal" is subjective but she likes to see gains of 20-40 or so. She'd
rather see someone gain 45, than gain too little. She also thinks most
people will gain what their body holds as most healthy for them, if they
just eat how they should be- I'm not the expert of pregnancy eating so I
don't know how many calories you'd need etc and I am sure it also had to do
with your body type and weight and height etc. But the midwife (and my OBs
actually) described it to me as eating what I feel like- make sure you eat
enough but don't go crazy and overindulge all the time, but don't diet and
restrict, and if you are hungry, eat.

So I don't really have any advice but I think your weight gain sounds good.
I personally would not worry as long as I felt ok, and didn't develop
diabetes or high blood pressure or any reason to watch the diet more
carefully.... I have had a problem with nausea and was borderline overweight
before-- if I didn't have an extra 30 pounds on me I would be fretting over
NOT gaining weight. Even with an extra 30 pounds to start my midwife wanted
to see me gain at least 20-25, in baby, fluid, placenta, etc.

Another thing I have learned from talking to people is that some people gain
faster at first and some don't gain until the end. So gaining 15 pounds
relatively quickly at first doesn't mean you will keep going up and up etc.
I gained 8 pounds in a week and it turned out to be all water weight!! I
lost it that fast when swelling went away. pregnancy is kind of crazy...I
finally just quit worrying about it and am just trying to make sure I eat
enough, and figure my body is going to do what it is going to. This is my
first baby, I have no other experience to compare it to and am FAR from an
expert, I'm clueless!!! My due date is in 3 weeks...everything seems to be
healthy so far...I have a friend who just had her baby, started out quite a
bit overweight, and gained 30 pounds in pregnancy. She swelled really bad
too. I don't even think her doctors thought she gained too much weight and I
don't think she is going to have any problems whatsoever losing it. She sure
feels better now! lol.

Jill, just babbling....

"Elitsirk" wrote in message
om...

So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

--Elit.
#1 due 9/20/2004

Yes, you are worrying over nothing. I don't think any of us can tell you
how much weight you will gain during the pregnancy...it is so individual,
and it doesn't happen linearly at all. When I was pregnant, some weeks I
went in for my doctor's appt and hadn't gained a pound, yet one week I
somehow managed to put on 5 pounds!!! Weight gain is so individual during
pregnancy...as long as you are taking care of yourself and eating healthy
(as you say you are), don't pay attention to the weight!

-Michelle
Mom to Owen 3/17/04

"Elitsirk" wrote in message
om...
Ok, I'm probably anxious over nothing. However, I'm starting to
wonder at my weight and am starting to worry that I'm gaining too
fast. I'm hoping that ya'll will be able to either ease my worries or
help me get on track

snipping for brevity

So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

I am of the opinion that if you are not living on donuts and candy, then
whatever weight gain you have, is what you are probably naturally inclined
to have during pregnancy. Certainly 15 pounds in 19 weeks is nothing.
You need to remember that for the most part, you aren't really in charge of
what you gain when you're pregnant. Case in point - I gained 50 pounds with
my first pregnancy, spent 40 weeks stressing out about it constantly, and
lost 40 of my pregnancy pounds within 2 weeks of delivery. Turned out it
was mostly baby and water weight. But I spent 40 weeks miserable because I
was the size of an imported car, and worried about never getting my figure
back again. This time around, I'm huge as well - but it turns out, I'm
pound-for-pound and week-for-week, as last time.

There really is a limited amount you can do about your pregnancy weight
gain. If you're eating well, and relatively healthily, then I'd recommend
not worrying about it. If you can, don't even look at the scale when you
get weighed - believe me, if your caregiver feels your gain is a problem, he
or she will bring it up. Mine never did. It's a lousy indicator of
problems, anyway.

Donna

"Shelly" wrote in message
...
When I was pregnant, some weeks I
went in for my doctor's appt and hadn't gained a pound, yet one week I
somehow managed to put on 5 pounds!!!


I had the horrifying experience of weighing in at X on Thursday, and X+10 on
the following Monday. My eyes must have just about bugged out of my skull
at the weigh-in, because the nurse smiled and said "That's just fluid.
Don't panic."

Donna

In article ,
Elitsirk wrote:
So, am I worrying over nothing? How much weight can I expect to gain
from here on out? My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids. What is normal, and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

Add me to the "yes" vote column. ;-) From what I've seen (and read on
this newsgroup!), everybody gains a different amount of weight at a
different rate, and loses it afterward the same way.

The only consistent advice I've ever heard about eating during pregnancy
is 1) eat healthily; and 2) don't ever try to lose while pregnant, even
if you're worried you've already gained too much. Sounds like you're
eating really well right now - in your shoes I wouldn't change a thing,
no matter what the scale told me.

Liz
EDD 5/22/04
--

"No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and
spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable - and we believe they
can do it again." -- John F. Kennedy, 6/10/1963

Elitsirk wrote:


So, am I worrying over nothing?

Yep. You sound completely normal to me.

How much weight can I expect to gain from here on out?

No telling ;-)

My ultrasound estimated the baby at 1/2 pound, so
I'm guessing I've got at least 6-7 pounds of pure baby to go, plus
accompanying fluids.

...plus normal fat stores, plus increased breast
weight, plus, plus, plus.

What is normal,

There is a wide range of normal, and it's wider
than the "typical" 25-35 pounds cited.

and at what point should I be
watching my calories or fat intake more carefully?

Never, really. What you should watch is that you
are eating a varied and healthy diet. If you are doing
that, for the most part (sometimes you're lucky to be
able to eat *anything*, much less be picky about the
nutritional value fo it), you will gain a reasonable
amount *for you*. If you feel like you don't have a
handle on what a reasonably healthy diet looks like,
pick up Bridget Swinney's _Eating Expectantly_ which
is a great source of information on what your body
needs while pregnant. I've known women who gained
60-70 pounds eating a reasonably healthy diet during
pregnancy--and then lost it all afterwards with no
problem. You don't want to go by a number on a scale.
You want to go by the quality of food you're eating,
even though that's more difficult to assess.

Best wishes,
Ericka

As of this morning I am weighing in at 165, so a total weight gain of
15 pounds in 19 weeks.

I remember my OBs have mentioned 15 lbs by 20 weeks. Sounds right to me.

So, am I worrying over nothing?

I think so. I personally think, to an extent, you gain what you need. I've
started 3 pregnancies off at the same weight (130 lbs - I'm 5 ft 7) and I
gained 40 lbs , 26 lbs, and 45+ lbs. This time I started at about 140 lbs,
at 28 weeks 6 days I've gained about 26 lbs. I swear as much that's in the
front is in my butt too - lol.

And what you gain has nothing to do with the baby's weight in my experience.
With my biggest baby I gained the least - he cooked the longest.

Sophie
#4 due 7/7/04 - 4th c-section

"Donna" wrote in message
...

"Shelly" wrote in message
...
When I was pregnant, some weeks I
went in for my doctor's appt and hadn't gained a pound, yet one week I
somehow managed to put on 5 pounds!!!


I had the horrifying experience of weighing in at X on Thursday, and X+10
on
the following Monday. My eyes must have just about bugged out of my skull
at the weigh-in, because the nurse smiled and said "That's just fluid.
Don't panic."

Donna


I was shocked at gaining 2 lbs in one week at my last fetal medicine
specialist appointment. The nurse laughed and asked "you didn't realize the
visit before you had gained 9 lbs in one week?" Lol!