Weight gain in second pregnancy, shortly after first

Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

To complicate matters, I have to watch my carbs because of my
Gestational Diabetes.

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)

I started at 165 I went down to 161 at week 12, at week 20 I weighed
167 and at week 34 I weight 178. I'm 5'11" so at 165 I was wearing
between an 8 - 10 clothes and within my BMI so it wasn't that I was
over weight. The baby is measuring a week large. From what the
midwife told me as long as you steadily gain weight the baby is fine.
The reason some need to gain upwards to 35 lbs is so they have an ample
fat storage to produce breast milk. For those of us that are of normal
weight to start with 20-25 lbs is ample weight gain. That is what my
midwives have told me.


Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

To complicate matters, I have to watch my carbs because of my
Gestational Diabetes.

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

That is correct, if you're going to bother measureing weight, you start from
what it is at the beginning of that pregnancy, otherwise, you'd have an
argument with every women for having the base weight at whatever they would
like to weigh!

It's fairly normal to lose weight in the first trimester.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

no need!

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)

The baby is not going to be suffering, the baby is nourished via the
placenta, which is essentially a parasytic organ, as long as it has formed
correctly, the baby is going to get it's nutrients fairly much regardless,
the reason you want to eat well is to keep you well, whilst the baby nabs
what is already there.

My opinion is you eat well, balanced etc. don't let yourself get hunry
unnecessarily, don't restrict calorie intake, but continue watching the
carbs because of the GD. Early in pregnancy weight is irrelevant, at 14
weeks the baby is tiny, can't recall the exact weight, but you're talking
less than half a pound. Later on a lack of weight gain can be a warning sign
of IUGR, but again it's the pattern, rather then the overall amount.

Myself, I lost weight in the first trimester both times, not much, similar
to you, 2-3 pounds, then put on weight at around 1lb a week, though more
slowly until abour 22ish weeks. Towards the end, in the first pregnancy I
then stopped gaining weight, it wasn't being monitored, that's not standard
in the UK anymore, but along with other things it was a warning sign for
IUGR, which the baby did have, 2nd time the weight gain just carried on
smoothly. If he's saying you should be in the 140s by now, he's basically
saying you should put on 40lb in a pregnancy, which is quite a lot, I put on
17lb and 20lb, which is just fine, my 2nd baby was 3lb bigger than my first
and that was the difference in weight gain!

Go chat to your midwife, she sounds fab, she'll reassure you that you're
doing just fine!

Anne

"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

To complicate matters, I have to watch my carbs because of my
Gestational Diabetes.

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)
The baby's not suffering. Both my pregnancies I was nearly back to normal
weight at 20 weeks. I was told loosing in the first tremestre was fairly
common.
Where do you get the figure of "in the 140s"? I thought the ideal weight
gain over the entire pregnancy was about 28 pounds, so to be in the 140s you
would have put on more than half that. I could be wrong, but at about 1/3
the way through, that sounds too much. I'd expect you to put on less weight
at first than you do at the end.
Debbie

Welches wrote:
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

To complicate matters, I have to watch my carbs because of my
Gestational Diabetes.

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)
The baby's not suffering. Both my pregnancies I was nearly back to normal
weight at 20 weeks. I was told loosing in the first tremestre was fairly
common.
Where do you get the figure of "in the 140s"? I thought the ideal weight
gain over the entire pregnancy was about 28 pounds, so to be in the 140s you
would have put on more than half that. I could be wrong, but at about 1/3
the way through, that sounds too much. I'd expect you to put on less weight
at first than you do at the end.
Debbie

You know, I wondered about that 140s figure myself. I got it he

"http://www.thebabycorner.com/tools/pregnancy/calculators/weightcalculator.php"

I entered my starting weight as 126, pregnancy is at 14 weeks, and the
current weight as 124. The result is I should weigh between 141 and
147.

Also, I have not had any nausea whatsoever in the first trimester, so I
don't know to what I might attribute normal weight loss during that
period.

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?

To complicate matters, I have to watch my carbs because of my
Gestational Diabetes.

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)

Oh, please. Why, oh why do they get all hot and bothered
about this!? Weight isn't all that critical as long as the baby
is growing well. It is important that you are eating healthy
and that you are getting enough calories and nutrients despite
watching your carbs. (A good book to figure out what is important
for you to be getting is Bridget Swinney's _Eating Expectantly_.)
If you are doing that, it is not a big deal if you're not gaining
a lot of weight, especially in the first trimester.
I gained about 30 pounds in my first pregnancy,
and about 25 in my second. For the third, I started out
a bit overweight and ended up gaining only 8 pounds relative
to where I was when I started the pregnancy. I had nasty
"morning" sickness the first half of the pregnancy, which
didn't help, and for some reason I was very anti-sweets
the whole pregnancy (they made me even more nauseated).
I ate plenty of healthy foods and the baby was growing
fine the whole time and I never got a word of worry from
my midwives. DD was born happy and healthy at 8lbs 2oz,
so clearly she wasn't too deprived in there.
Concentrate on eating a variety of healthy foods
to meet your nutritional needs. After that, stop worrying
about the weight. Tell your OB to back off and that you
are eating plenty of healthy foods and not dieting. He
may just be worried that you're dieting and not telling
him about it, or that you are taking the low carb thing
too far and not getting enough calories or nutrition.
If you reassure him that you are eating well (maybe
keep a food diary for a few representative days) then
he ought to get off your case. It is not important for
you to be following some textbook weight gain curve.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message
oups.com...


You know, I wondered about that 140s figure myself. I got it he

"http://www.thebabycorner.com/tools/pregnancy/calculators/weightcalculator.php"

I entered my starting weight as 126, pregnancy is at 14 weeks, and the
current weight as 124. The result is I should weigh between 141 and
147.

Also, I have not had any nausea whatsoever in the first trimester, so I
don't know to what I might attribute normal weight loss during that
period.

Well that is a complete waste of time. If you enter your week as anything up
to and including 27 weeks it gives you the same suggestion of weight. At 28
weeks it tells you that your weight should be in the "estimated total weight
gain" range. I suspect it's just done as 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimester.
Debbie

Welches wrote:
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message
oups.com...


You know, I wondered about that 140s figure myself. I got it he

"http://www.thebabycorner.com/tools/pregnancy/calculators/weightcalculator.php"

I entered my starting weight as 126, pregnancy is at 14 weeks, and the
current weight as 124. The result is I should weigh between 141 and
147.

Also, I have not had any nausea whatsoever in the first trimester, so I
don't know to what I might attribute normal weight loss during that
period.

Well that is a complete waste of time. If you enter your week as anything up
to and including 27 weeks it gives you the same suggestion of weight. At 28
weeks it tells you that your weight should be in the "estimated total weight
gain" range. I suspect it's just done as 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimester.
Debbie

Ah, that explains a lot!

My OB was not the one who indicated I should be in the 140s - that
website did. The OB was just concerned that I seemed to have lost 2
pounds since the time I had been to see her last, and said I should try
to consume more calories.

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Hi everyone,

At the start of my first pregnancy I weighed 118 pounds. I put on 35
pounds during that pregnancy, and was slowly starting to lose the
excess weight after I had the baby. At month four post-partum I was at
126 pounds, when I became pregnant again.

At 14 weeks into the second pregnancy I'm now at 124 pounds.

My OB/GYN says I should be gaining weight as if the starting number was
126 pounds, not 118, which I believe means I should be in the 140s by
now.

Now, if my natural weight outside of pregnancy is 118 pounds (and it
really is quite stable normally), how can I maintain the new higher
number short of eating a lot more?


As you've already figured out, the 140 number is bogus for someone
who's only 14 weeks along. I think my collection of pregnancy books
together think you should have gained 0-5 pounds over your
pre-pregnancy weight (126, not your previous one) on average. If you'd
already put on 15 pounds by week 14, you'll probably be in for a much
greater than desired weight gain.

I'm at 12 weeks right now, and am also down 2lbs from my pre-pregnancy
weight--I was down 5-7 for a while, but I had the stomach flu (courtesy
of my 2-yo) on top of morning sickness for a week or so (yuck!). My
morning sickness seems to be mostly gone (a miracle, since it never
went away for #1), so I'm sure that will change soon.

It's difficult not to obsess about your weight, even when you know that
it really shouldn't matter. I actually gained 50-60lbs with #1
(depending on what you count as my pre-pregnancy weight--i.e. before or
after the 7lbs of holiday weight I gained before conception....), but
it all came off with very little effort after she was born (Hooray for
breastfeeding!). I didn't test positive for GD with #1 either. I'm
only somewhat prepared for the fact that I may repeat my weight gain
this time, and even though I lost it easily before, it still worries
me.

Darned societal pressures about women and weight!

--Elit.
#1 8/24/04
#2 due late March

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:

My question is: is my OB/GYN correct on this, and is the baby suffering
from my supposed low weight? (I should mention that I'm 5ft 4 and
certainly have flesh on my bones!)

Just as gaining a lot of weight doesn't necessarily result in a large
baby, gaining little doesn't necessarily mean a small one. The baby
will take what it needs from you. You might end up depleted though.
Maybe cutting back on the carbs is what's keeping your weight down? I
lost my apetite completely with my first pregnancy and had quite bad
morning sickness. I only gained 12 lbs with that pregnancy and the baby
was 8 lbs 6 oz.

I am pregnant with #2 and I won't even be weighed by my OB until just
past 10 weeks. He was never concerned about my low weight gain (or my
weight at all), just concerned about controlling the nausea so I felt
better and could get some nutrients/energy. Your OB might be a little
extra concerned because your pregnancies are so close together.

Maybe you'll catch up a bit in the next trimester.

Elle