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Pregnancy

39, fat and pregnant

11 replies

Moanyoldcow · 19/06/2017 22:09

Hello - this is my first time posting on this board but I'm active elsewhere.

I've just had a positive test today and I was so happy - I have a 4 year old already and am now ready for no. 2.

The problem is I'm obese. I meant to lose more weight before getting pregnant but I didn't and now I'm getting anxious.

I'm about a size 24.

Now I'm not planning on dieting but if I make a real effort now, start some gentle exercise (swimming and walking) will this help the pregnancy be more healthy?

Has anyone got any advice or experiences they can share?

Thanks.

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Moanyoldcow · 19/06/2017 22:10

I meant not dieting as I'm not trying to lose weight. I'm certainly going to keep my diet healthy.

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CrumblingTeeth · 19/06/2017 22:25

Congratulations!

I think swimming and walking are perfect and will make a big difference. I'm obese too and it's what my midwife recommended.

I'm 35w now and feeling good. I have gained almost 3st but I have to be honest, I haven't made the best food choices a lot of the time. My midwife isn't really concerned and I've had a very easy pregnancy so far, no GD or anything.

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Moanyoldcow · 19/06/2017 23:19

Thank you Crumbling - that's great news about your pregnancy!

It's reassuring to hear from someone who's going through it right now - I'm just so nervous but I'm sure I'll be fine.

I gained 3.5 stone with my first and I lost it in 3 weeks with absolutely no effort - it was all baby, placenta and fluid. Don't worry about it if you're feeling good. Good luck!

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SelfObsessionHoney · 20/06/2017 05:39

Hiya, thought I'd add my two pennies.
Started my pregnancy with a BMI of 35 which put me in the obese category, midwife recommended 5mg folic acid and 75mg aspirin due to my weight and the increased risk of neural tube abnormalities and blood clots.

I'm not sure if it's recommended to have the increased folic acid dose whilst TTC, might be worth your looking into, maybe speak to your GP what with neural tube abnormalities developing in the first few weeks of pregnancy and you might not know your pregnant by then.

Pregnancy wise I've chosen to try and not gain too much weight, I'm currently 37+4 and have gained 17lbs, my midwife recommended a max weight gain of 20lbs so I'm happy with that. I've been low carving pre pregnancy as a way of losing weight (lost 4stone) so have maintained that to a certain extent but if I've wanted pizza I've had pizza.

I've not taken up any additional exercise, I know me and I know I wouldn't keep it up! I have a moderately active job and that's good enough for me. I'm glad I didn't gain too much weight as I have developed PGP and any more additional weight would have really exacerbated it and made the pain worse.
My midwife recommended aquanatal glasses and yoga and Pilates, they're good for gentle exercise but also for increasing core strength.

The midwife offered to refer me to the healthy living midwife, which I declined, I'm a HCP and know how to eat right (I just don't!) and as I was on the cusp of midwife led care/consultant led care the midwifes wrote to the consultant to say they would like to keep me on their books.

They were pretty honest from the start that my weight may well rule out a water birth, essentially if something happens in the pool they wouldn't be able to be dragging my fat arse out of it, which is fine by me, a water birth wasn't something I wanted.

IVe had additional growth scans due to my weight, three of them, in the later stages of pregnancy to ensure that baby was growing safely and that the placenta and cord flow was fine and I've also had a glucose tolerance test to rule out diabetes. I've actually had the test twice now as my growth scans have picked up that baby is enormous but both my tests have been well within normal parameters and my massive baby is just down to genes on both sides of the families. Lucky me and my pelvic floor 😂

I can honestly say that not one midwife or doctor has made me feel bad about my weight but they obviously had to make me aware of the additional risks of my weight and the pregnancy. They didn't even weigh me from my booking in appointment until my 36 week appointment.

Good luck x

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Emma2803 · 20/06/2017 08:10

Congratulations on your pregnancy op! Definitely contact your gp as soon as to get the higher strength folic acid (5mg) which should be taken until 12 weeks.
My bmi was almost 32 on booking in, I've gained about 8-10lbs already and am only 12 weeks so planning on joining slimming world this week just to try and keep things in check

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Thingymaboob · 20/06/2017 10:10

You never know - you might lose weight! My BMI was 32 pre pregnancy but that dropped to 29 for booking in. This was due to lack of appetite and vomiting!

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Moanyoldcow · 20/06/2017 12:57

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm scared about having another giant baby (last one was 11lb) but I can't do anything about that...

I'm going to try to eat more healthily and do gentle exercise and really appreciate all the positive replies.

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