Weight gain - Third Trimester

[YummyDollie]

Hi ladies, how much did you gain in your third trimester? I started out 8st5lbs (117lbs) with a healthy bmi and am now just under 34 weeks and 10st4lbs (143lbs) am 22 years old and 5 foot tal, first baby and my career is as a dance teacher plus an industrial cleaner as well so i do stay active & fit for the most part of the day (or was fit till I had baby crushing my lungs! even find stair walking makes me short of breath now never mind teaching classes!) have ate 1800-200 cals a day with lots of fresh fruit & veg and the odd malteaser bunny and spend 4-5 hours active every day and yet I've still put on 26lbs :( granted it is all bump and I arnt really gaining anywhere than that I.e my face, arms etc look the same as before but still I feel 26lbs sounds a lot (I didn't gain any weight until 24 weeks thats when it started but i hadnt altered my diet/exercise regime!?) but I keep reading some posters on here say they actually loose weight in pregnancy or gain only 6lb throughout!? Seriously how much more am I looking to gain in the final 6 weeks I don't know how I can keep it down im doing all I can and the midwife is still going on and on at me

[HavingALittleFaithBaby]

Hi, I'm Faith. I'm the other end of the spectrum - I was already overweight when I got pregnant so my experience isn't particularly helpful to you! (I've gained 9lb at 32 weeks but was told not to gain more than a stone!).

What might help is looking at this weight gain estimator. I put your details in and according to that its a normal weight gain for your height! You were small and active before you got pregnant. I don't see what else you can do but carry on being active and eating sensibly? I'm not sure your midwife is being very helpful. I'd try not to worth about it too much. It'll come off after you have the baby and resume normal activity :)

[butterflyexperience]

Thanks for the link faith

[YummyDollie]

thanks faith, will check that link out I wish pregnancy wasnt so focused on weight, doesn't help when your inundated witu photos of celebs looking lovley and glowing with a perfect little football bump damn you kate middleton

[CareerGirl01]

yummy it sounds like you've done everything right - some those posters were overweight - so they were probably advised not to put too much on. I am 30 weeks pg and was v slim to start off with 9st 5lbs and I'm 5ft 8 - do lots of exercise etc. I even lost weight in the first 12 weeks - morning sickness. I'm now 11st 5lbs. I've eaten almost the same as before. Remember loads of that weight will be water/blood and baby plus some fat stores for breast feeding. With DD1 I put on four stone and lost it within four months.

[beckie90]

The weight you have gained is a very normal amount don't be worried, by the time you have baby, you loose the weight of the baby, weight if placenta, waters, we carry more blood when pregnant, store some fat for breastfeeding so you have gained a good normal amount, I'm 17wk into my 3rd pregnancy and all my weight gains have been totally different, 1st I started off underweight and gained 4st, itc come off within weeks but kept half a st. Number 2 started at around 8st 6 and 5'6 and went down to 7st 5 in the first 3 month, I went into labour weighing not much more than my pre pregnancy weight a couple of pounds, baby was 9ib so I lost quite a lot after the birth again and looked awful tbh. This time I've not gained so far although I feel like I have. Believe me if you didn't put on weight or not much you would prob end up underweight after you have had baby. So your doing just fine :) xx

[christilass]

I'm due tomorrow and I've put on 1 stone in total during pregnancy , I'm most surprised .

[Zoelda]

5 stone with both pregnancies...

[Splatt34]

There is a reason women are no longer routinely weighed through their pregnancies. It means very little. I gained 10kg last time & was back at booking weight when dd was 3 weeks. This time at 29 weeks have gained 3kg

[CareerGirl01]

Splatt34 has a point, my friend - who was 2.5 stone overweight put on 6lbs during her pregnancy (she's now 3 stone overweight btw) I put on 4 stone and it all went and more - in fact I looked quite gaunt seven months after my DD that my family got worried. Every woman is different.

[TheCokeMachine]

Congratulations!

I am 5'1" and was 8st4lbs at the start of my first pregnancy. By the start of the third trimester I'd gained 28lbs, and gained another 16lbs before I finally had DD at 40+13 (I did comfort eat in the last month as I was bored out of my mind). So that was just over 3 stone in total - 16lbs came off immediately after birth.

This time I was 10st to start with (I knew I wanted to get pregnant again so I didn't bother dieting) and am now 20 weeks. I have gained 1lb.

I think it depends on so many factors, last time I was pretty small when I fell pregnant so my body clung onto any excess calories I gave it. This time I was nice and chubby and my body has not needed to grab the calories. But that is just my own personal theory - I reckon I'm still on the same weight path as last time and will probably end up at about 11st7lbs.

I am aiming to be back to 8st4lbs within 6 months of having this baby, losing half a stone a month - I will work my arse off if I have to.

[RubyrooUK]

Don't worry - was 8 stone when pregnant with DS1 and put on three stone despite walking 1.5 hours to work each day till 38 weeks!

Back to 9 stone after a couple of weeks when swelling went down after birth and the last stone fell off over the next few months. I can't remember exactly when I reached 8 stone again as I wasn't checking weight often, but I didn't have to diet - everything just slowly got back to normal.

Pregnant with DS2 now - 38.5 weeks. Have just started looking like a massive whale but not sure what I weigh. This time I realised that I need to gain a good amount of weight during pregnancy as I'm quite slight and I'm sure it will return to normal at some point.

So don't worry too much. If you think that your baby is putting on around 1/2 pound per week at this point and you have all the associated gain with that, it is pretty standard to pile on a fair few pounds in the third trimester.

[CareerGirl01]

Cokemachine I think you have a point. I was boderline underweight when pregnant with DD1, I was probably more like 9stone - very low for 5ft 8inch person (even though I'm slight build) and it was as if my body clung to every calorie. My tip for losing weight - I got an exercise bike and used it when DD was napping (put my iPod on) just 30 minutes a day - low impact and it kept my baby blues away. warning though, it can be ageing to lose weight too fast - I didn't realise how much I was losing till my family told me how guant I look. Although to be honest I quite enjoyed the challenge of 'getting my body back'. I did do the whole fitness thing after DD1 because I wanted to keep fit in order to have another DC and knew that at that age 37 - I needed to stay as healthy as possible. I have no intention of having any more after this one so I'll do exercise but not going to go for it hammer and tongs this time round.Lots of pilates and yoga - DVDs at home of course!

[HaveIThoughtThisThrough]

I saw this list onm a pregnancy website to give you an idea of where it all comes from:

Fetus 7.5 lbs
Fat, protein & other nutrients 7 lbs
Increased blood 4 lbs
Increased fluid 4 lbs
Uterus 2 lbs
Amniotic fluid 2 lbs
Breast growth 2 lbs
Placenta 1.5 lbs
Total 30 lbs

[CareerGirl01]

And that's only the minimum! Thanks HaveI OP hope you are feeling better about this now

[knittingirl]

Also Kate Middleton can only be 4/5 months pg. I expect she won't have such a neat little bump when she is 34 weeks. Don't compare yourself to others it's not worth it!

[YummyDollie]

Thank you ladies I guess everyone's different an i shouldn't beat myself up about it! Will concentrate on making sure babys getting all the nutrients she needs instead of obsessing about calories in fruit and veg! Thank you all again its lovley to have a website like this full of supportive people!