Calling all plus-size pregnant ladies! What's it like?

[Questionkid]

I'm pregnant for the first time (18 weeks) and am a size 18. I'm wondering what other people's experience of being pregnant when you're of more generous proportions is like? For example, how did your bump develop? I'm not really showing yet, my already large (!) tummy just looks a bit larger. Did you find that you developed a proper shaped bump? Did you have any complications as a result of being overweight? Did you have a normal labour? etc etc. I'm interested in hearing of other people's experiences so I can get some idea of what I might expect.

[Pheebe]

First isn't sze 16/18 the UK average these days?

I'm a size 18 and wasn't aware of any major differences to anyone of smaller size, or larger for that matter.

Bump became obvious about 5-6 months and was mahoosive and very obvious from then on (is that what yo're worrying about?)

Labour normal - both times

Complications due to weight - no - no gestational diabetes either

Why do you think its going to be different just because you're a size 18?

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

Hi, I was size 24 before getting pg. I'm afraid that I went to get my hair cut on my due date and the hairdresser didn't even know I was pg til I told her! Your bump may be very concealed. Mine didn't particularly change shape til I was about 7 months pg, and I was in normal clothes til about 6 or 7 months, at which point I just started wearing stretchy jogging bottoms etc. The belly fat was mostly at the bottom of the bump iyswim, the rest of it was fairly firm towards the end. I never had a perfectly round pg belly I'm afraid!

No complications, don't let them scare you. Blood pressure etc all fine, normal sized healthy baby (7lb 2oz) despite several growth cans as they assumed he'd be a whopper. Normal vaginal birth, no problems except a tear which has nothing to do with weight.

Only weight related issues: unclear scans, more difficulty finding heartbeat due to excess fat on abdomen, plus they herd you into consultant led care if your bmi is over 30. hth!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

In fact, since I'm feeling brave here is a pic of me at 38 weeks (I went to 41) Once I told people I was pg they were like "Ohhh! god, so you are!" but until then you'd be surprised, nobody knew.

[babylove123]

Dont worry about it - you're a smaller size than me and im 28 weeks........obv they dont like you being "bigger", my midwife makes plenty of comments about it all but i just ignore them. At the end of the day, i cant change it at the moment so i've gotta get on with it! My blood pressure is fine so theres no probs at the moment! The bump sticks out fairly well - it is 57.25" round. Some ppl notice instantly, others just think im fatter! lol, doesnt bother me - i have a happy, healthy baby growing and thats all that matters

[BlueJellie]

hiya! I'm a size 20 & have a noticable bump at 35 weeks. I've been catogorised as high risk which is really really annoying as I've no other health problems & have had no complications throughout my pregnancy. They made me feel guilty about getting pregnant in the first place & didn't enjoy my first few months of pregnancy at all. Have only laid off me a bit since my GD test came back negative & growth scans show I'm NOT having a whopper baby! They said I'd have to have growth scans because of my 'size' & not being able to measure me like a 'normal' woman. But midwife has measured me at every appointment regardless & I'm always bang on. I would like to hear people's experiences in labour as I'm worried I'll be overmonitored due to this 'high risk' nonsense. On the hospital we were show low and high risk rooms, high risk had loads of contraptions in!

[BlueJellie]

oh & I've had no probs with visibilty at scans or finding the heartbeat so I'm sure at a size 18 you should be ok, depends on where u carry ur weight!

[Trebuchet]

I have a ds 22m and am 27 wks pg and I'm naturally a size 18. Last time I was filming at 35 wks playing someone infertile so as you can tell I apparently didn't look that pg....nobody looks further than the boobs if they're big 'uns!!

Birth horrific but not to do with weight, and ds was 9lb 6.

This time pg harder but not particularly coz of weight. Just knackered with toddler.

[BlueJellie]

you will get a bump it'll just show a little later, I'd recommend wearing maternity tops instead of just a size bigger because the cut of the tops will emphasize ur bump

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

yes
no
c section both times, first one emergency, didn't go into labour after induction and baby distressed so not due to being overweight

[BlueJellie]

Oh leonieD I've got bump envy!

[rosieposey]

Questionkid this is my fourth pregancy and im pretty sure with all of them i didn't show until about 5/6 months - right now im nearly 4 months and getting married in 10 weeks so will be 26 weeks then - empire line wedding dress should hopefully hide any wobbly (not firm) lumps or bumps but im a size 24 so i dont mind not showing till later. I know someone who is 29 stone who is pregnant (due in 4 weeks) and as far as i can tell her care has been pretty sporadic visits to he midwife and not consultant led - infact she has literally sailed through so far with no health complications. I am under a consultant but only because i always get insulin dependent gestational diabetes in pregnancy and i find they do bang on about my size being relevant to mortality/easy deliverys/large babies ect ect... My first two births were straightforward and relatively problem free - i was induced in all of them because of the GD and my last would have been straightforward had it not been for the incompetence of the hospital that i delivered at 11 years ago. If you are in fairly good health then there is no reason why you cant expect a good healthy pregnancy or delivery just like any other woman of any size. Oh yeah and dont take any crap with regards to being bullied by the healthcare profession about your size either - just tell them its none of their damn business and if you want a lecture about being overweight you'll ask for one! They are far too quick to make comments and you dont have to put up with it!

[Questionkid]

Thanks so much for all your responses. I know some people might think size 18 isn't anything to worry about, but I seem to carry my weight pretty well and actually have a really high BMI. So I automatically had a big fat sticker on my notes by the hospital saying that my pregnancy is 'complicated'. My community midwife was so confused by that, she couldn't work out why they would've put it on as apart from a tendancy to reasonably high blood pressure I'm very healthy. The hospital have also insisted I come to see a consultant in October so they can assess how easy it'll be to give me an epidural as that will apparently be harder to give me because of my increased weight. Actually I'd rather not have an epidural at all, but no one's asked me about that yet.

LeonieD, your bump is amazing and looks fab, I'd love to have one like that towards the end! I'm at the stage where I'm so fed up of explaining to one friend in particular who insists on constantly asking me where my bump is, that it's not abnormal to not really be showing at 18 weeks, but that being a bit overweight will probably mean that I show later anyway. She's making me feel so paranoid about it!

I think it's easy to get a bit ground down by all the things that people say and what you read in the books about how being overweight makes pregnancy harder and different. It's great to hear that people on here haven't found that.

Rosieposey, you're right, i should just tell them all to get stuffed!!

[cathym]

I'm a 14/16, so not that big but still bigger than I should be. The problem I had is losing the weight afterwards. I found that friends of mine who were thin before they were pg put on 2-3 stone during pregnancy, and then seemed to lose it instantly despite eating loads.

I put on 2 stone, didn't lose any in the first 6 months, and couldn't try because I was breast feeding. Then after 6 months I started to diet and it took me another 6 months to lose the weight.

Pregnant again and determined not to put on too much weight as I know I will struggle to lose it again, but always easier said than done.