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Pregnancy

BMI Shock

63 replies

RachaelLaurenDaisyStone · 09/07/2016 21:15

Hi, I've suffered with anorexia since preteens and I had got myself to a healthy weight and BMI of 18.5 (8stone 3lbs at 5'5) when I'd conceived. I had panicked about the weight gain obviously throughout pregnancy but my pysc midwife had always reasured me that BMI calculations during pregnancy weren't reliable / used and that for low weight at conception I should expect to gain more weight than most, but that everyone gains what they gain and ya-da-yarda. I have maintained my meal plans and healthy eating throughout. Stayed at the gym, and I'm a waitress/ nursery teacher so I've been very active throughout my pregnancy. My husband kept the scales from me and I have seen a weight gain in my thighs and face and arms but had been coping. ANYWAY there's the back story! So I saw a new midwife as I've moved areas and she had to re-weigh me etc etc. she has classed me on my notes as obese. And a risk for anesthetic! I am so devastated and confused?! The NHS website says mothers with a BMI of 30+ BEFORE pregnancy are counted as obese. Just don't know what to do. But Then it says but even a 1-2 point gain in your BMI can cause complications in birth like the shoulders getting stuck and excess bleeding. But then it says there is no defined weight gain for during pregnancy. Then all the guidelines are about healthy eating and getting 30 mins a week excercise. But like I said I meal plan every meal, I go to the gym at least every other day. Which I have done the whole pregnancy?! I just don't know there doesn't seem to be any consistent answers!!! I had a full on panick attack and I just don't know how I'm going to eat anything?! Please can someone give me some advice?!

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Penfold007 · 09/07/2016 21:47

What's your current bmi? It would help give some perspective

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positivity123 · 09/07/2016 21:52

Hi. No advice but just want to give you a hand hold as you sound really stressed out and that isn't good.
How far along are you?
If you are eating well and excersising then you are being healthy and doing everything right so give yourself a pat on the back. Can you call your pysc midwife to talk it through. Sending you hugs xx

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museumum · 09/07/2016 21:53

How many weeks pregnant are you?

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idontlikealdi · 09/07/2016 21:55

What's your actual bmi now and how pregnant are you?

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museumum · 09/07/2016 21:56

If you're more than 8-10 weeks there's no way your MW should be weighing you and calculating your bmi using pre-pregnancy charts.
It sounds like your new MW doesn't know your anorexia history. Does she? I'd have thought she should.

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H0p3 · 09/07/2016 21:56

I don't want to read and run but don't have any advice re: what the midwife has written or about the advice you've read. I've suffered with anorexia/bulimia since my early teens and had a similar BMI to you when I got pregnant. I too have found this a difficult journey but have learnt to accept the changes I've been going through. You sound like you've done the same and have been doing really really well. I know how hard it is so the fact that you haven't restricted, haven't binged, have done what you can to stay healthy and focused on your baby is excellent. Please try not to worry about what the midwife wrote. I think you should probably speak with her about why she's done that, the implications and your previous history but ultimately you mustn't let it impact what sounds like a really healthy journey for you so far. For some context, and if it helps, my sister has three children all of whom she gained about 4 stone with. In between she has always been a size 8/10 and about 8 stone 7. She just gains a lot during pregnancy, but it has never negatively impacted her or the births of her children and she is always back to her usual size 9 months later. I don't know if that helps, but I've found it a useful reminder of how this journey is just that, a journey and not a final destination. Hope that helps. Flowers for you

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isthistoonosy · 09/07/2016 21:59

Have you spoken to your OH I think given how stressed you are anyway you weigh yourself and see where you are.
As a ref I was a couple of stone heavier than pre preg by the end but back to pre preg weight within a few days (bmi around 27 with dc1)

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Dixiechick17 · 09/07/2016 22:20

I suffered from Bulimia in my late teens through to late 20's. I was pregnant last year, pre pregnancy I my BMI was 19.7, I put on 4 stone in pregnancy and having just calculated my BMI at the end of my pregnancy out of curiosity I was also considered obese. Most of my weight was masses of water retention and then baby, waters, placenta etc. Within 10 days of the birth I had dropped two stone and within four months I had pretty much lost the lot bar half a stone that I wanted to keep on, my midwife was never concerned with my weight during the pregnancy and never weighed me after booking in. Sorry that you have been made to feel like this, I am shocked she has drawn attention to it, seems to me like she hasn't reviewed your notes properly. Please just continue as you have been with the healthy eating and exercise, and if you are struggling request to be referred back to your psych midwife. Sounds like you've been doing brilliantly.

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Hobbes8 · 09/07/2016 22:24

I think there's been at least one mistake made here, if not several, by your midwife. Firstly, I wasn't weighed at midwife appointments in pregnancy as weight gain is so different for everyone - it's not just the weight of the baby, which can differ by several pounds, but there's also huge differences in the amount of amniotic fluid, size of placenta, water retention, you even have extra blood when you're pregnant! Most of this goes after the birth - I peed like a horse for first week as all the fluid goes.

Secondly, your midwife really should be aware of your medical history with regards to anorexia and treat you accordingly. Careless comments / notes are awful in any case, but particularly sensitive in your case so she should have been more careful.

Thirdly I'd be really surprised if her measurements were accurate. It just doesn't sound like it from the description of moderate weight gain you've mentioned.

Perhaps you should ckntact your midwife or GP or whoever you're comfortable with (practice nurse perhaps?) to talk over your worries and set your mind at rest?

For what it's worth I was obese at the start of both of my pregnancies with a BMI around 30-31 and had no problems whatsoever. No one was worried at any of my appointments and no one mentioned it to me. It's not exactly uncommon these days.

Good luck with the baby.

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sepa · 09/07/2016 22:33

How far along are you OP? You should be weighed at booking and BMI calculated then weighed a few weeks before you have baby in case of needing c-section.

If it makes you feel better, I stopped weighing myself at 3stone heavier. I had lost this within 2 weeks of baby as the amount of water I retained was stupid my DP could literally massage water out of my feet after baby
Remember, average babies are 7-8lbs and your placenta will also be this so that's 1 stones before you add in the boobs (3lbs ish), extra blood, water retention etc

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RachaelLaurenDaisyStone · 10/07/2016 00:14

Thanks everyone. I'm due on the 26th. She put my BMI as 33 and said I was weighing 14 stone! That's nearly double my body weight! My maternity jeans only went up from a 6 to a 10. My bump measures small and I don't look 'obese' which is saying something for me to say as even as a size 6 pre pregnancy I struggle with self image. I told her when she weighed me that I didn't want to know what I'd been weighed, if I absouletly needed to be as I was healthy, and that I suffered with anorexia. 😩 Just can't get over how much!

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PreAdvent13610 · 10/07/2016 00:27

Can you get DH to look at you honestly and judge your size, if necessary he could weigh you (whilst blindfolded), sounds like the midwife has messed up. Babies do come with an unreasonably large quantity of heavy, watery packaging.
DON'T PANIC
Trust your DH

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FuzzyOwl · 10/07/2016 00:34

This sounds silly but did you look at the scales and did you really weigh 14 stone? I weighed a pound more than you when I got pregnant, but am a little taller so similar BMI and size. My size 10 maternity jeans were absolutely fine when I gave birth to DD and I put on exactly 2 stone, 7 lbs but I do not believe I could possibly have fitted in them if I weighed more than two stone more.

I think you need to weigh yourself to see if what the midwife is telling you is true because I would be so surprised if it is and I think you will have a huge sign of relief in realising you don't weigh 14 stone + at all.

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PreAdvent13610 · 10/07/2016 08:17

You won't bounce back to your post pregnancy weight straight after birth.
Your boobs will swell lumpily with milk and grow another cup size or so. Your tummy will look like you are still 5 months pregnant but with a deflated balloon texture rather than that ripe roundness you had at 5 months. Again, don't panic your body will sort the majority of it out over the space of a few months, but those hormones in the first week will make you want to cry.
Flowers Congrats on the pregnancy.

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Flisspaps · 10/07/2016 08:28

Has she weighed you in lbs and incorrectly thought 140lbs = 14 stone when in fact it's only 10? That would be a much more

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Flisspaps · 10/07/2016 08:29

That would be a much more likely weight based on what you've said?

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Scarydinosaurs · 10/07/2016 08:31

Are you actually 14 stone? Please check- that sounds incorrect. Especially given that you haven't increased dress sizes.

I'm almost exactly the same size as you pre baby, I put on three stone each pregnancy and never went into obese BMI. It's clearly been handled badly, your midwife must have made a mistake.

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seven201 · 10/07/2016 09:20

I personally think bmi in pregnancy is absolute bollocks and should be ignored. I didn't weigh myself towards the end but I looked so fat all over but it literally just dropped off by a couple of weeks after birth. I am convinced it was just excess fluid. Some people just seem to bloat all over. I really would try and forget about what the midwife said. Perhaps if you're still concerned you could ask to be referred to a consultant? Some people put on very little, others lots but it doesn't necessarily mean one person is less healthy than the other.

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museumum · 10/07/2016 10:09

I don't think you can possibly be 14 stone in size 10 mat jeans.

I was in size 12 and only just got to 12 stone at the very end of my pregnancy.

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Roomba · 10/07/2016 10:20

Yes, I was in size 12 mat jeans by the end, and I weighed 10st 4lb at that point. 14st does sound unlikely, but you'll need to weigh yourself to see which could be very triggering for you. I would make an appointment to discuss this again with the midwife as it is clearly distressing you.

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RachaelLaurenDaisyStone · 10/07/2016 13:53

Thanks everyone. She weighed me in KG and put 90 with a BMI of 33. I didn't look as i made it clear I didn't want to be weighed. I'm so devastated I know it shouldn't be important but the fact that it can cause complications to the birth as well really adds to the pressure I'm feeling. I've been suffering antenatal depression throughout also and this just isn't helping. I'm also between pysc midwives atm as I've moved and literally booked in up here last week. So can't even call anyone and discuss this. Just obsessed so much over eating the right things and staying active throughout this pregnancy and now I'm just remembering every 'treat' I've allowed myself and every time I cut a work out short when I was in pain. Just been staring at myself in the mirror crying. Feel like I'm trapped with this baby inside me and trapped inside a body I hate. I need to get it out so I can fix this but now I'm terrified of what I'm going to look like when there's not a baby in there anymore. 😢

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APotterWithAHappyAtmosphere · 10/07/2016 14:01

I weighed 14 stone in pregnancy and wore size 16-18. I really think she has made an error.

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RachaelLaurenDaisyStone · 10/07/2016 14:03

This is 37+5 my arms and my thighs have suffered the most but I still don't feel obese? My stomach has been solid throughout like no excess fat at all all bump. i feel disgusting.

BMI Shock
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GlitteryFluff · 10/07/2016 14:08

You look great.
It's got to be a mistake.
I'd try and get yourself reweighed as pp suggested.

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blue2014 · 10/07/2016 14:12

I think it's a mistake - my Bmi is 33 and I'm now (18 weeks) a size 20. My arms are twice the size of yours

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