to wonder why some expectant mums gain around 80 pounds?

[eliza456]

This isn't meant to cause offence. But if a baby weighs 7-10 pounds (full term) then why do some women gain over 80 pounds in total?

i understand there are fluids etc that contribute, but, 70 pounds worth??

purely curious to see if anyone has any insight into this

Lost 35lbs in firat trimester then gained slowly as the baby grew. DS was 7lbs 13oz and after everything my waters and placenta etc only weighed another 2 or 3 lbs in total.
I've put more weight on since breastfeeding than i did during the pregnancy. I wish it had been the other way round

Well said zee boo!

First baby, I was between 10.7 and 11stone, (I’m around 5ft5). Put on around a stone and was wearing size 12 low rise jeans for my entire pregnancy. Baby was 6lb 7. Lost a bit after birth, gained to 12.5 stone, then dieted back to pre-pregnancy weight within 3.5 years.

2nd baby: I was around 11stone and gained over 2 stone. Baby was 6lb12.5. Ive still not lost all the weight. I’d say im at least 10lbs over prepregnancy weight. No real difference in diet and I worked on physically demanding jobs throughout both. I was nearly 7 years older with the 2nd so perhaps age was a contributing factor in my case.

I lost around 50lb when my dc was born I was exceptionally large. I probably gained another 12lb as I had reduced mobility for the last few months. I think we are built differently and baby weight can often come post birth.

I lost mine but my metabolism changed post birth

I was the same weight full term both pregnancies, with DD1 I was BMI 19/20 pre-pregnancy, I put four stone on, with DD2 I put two stone on, from being BMI 24/25.

I went from 9st 2 to 8st 7 to 13st. I started with horrendous nausea that killed my appetite and could barely put anything in my mouth without gagging until about 18 weeks. Meanwhile I started buying maternity clothes at 8 weeks to accommodate my growing bump and breasts despite the weight loss.

I was too exhausted to move in the first trimester and by the time that wore off, SPD set in. I'm normally quite active but by 6 months pg my movement was getting quite restricted. By 7 months sustained exertion such as getting round the supermarket was too much and my last month I couldn't get out of the house unless someone else drove me door to door due to my immobility, not fitting behind the steering wheel and being 8n effect snowed in. I also developed carpal tunnel syndrome from the water retention which destroyed my sleep so I was waking hourly with a dead arm/pins and needles then having to painfully heave my pain ridden body over. I was too exhausted to read. I had no sensation for things like crafts. All I could do to pass a very long, lonley, painful month (with no effective pain relief) was sit at the computer playing computer games. By the last week I didn't have the strength to get off the sofa on my own. There was some comfort eating as a little highlight in the day, and an attempt to feel some kind of energy level.

I had a large amount of fluid in a huge bump and a big-for-me baby. Not huge, long and lean but over 2lb bigger than my petite birth weight. At 6 months I ended up having arguments with idiot strangers about my due date and it not being twins as I looked full term... yet still had my waist from behind. Until the last couple of months it was mainly bump and little fat gain on me (other than the breasts which grew 5 cup sizes by the end)

2 stones had gone by a couple of weeks after the birth despite the birth and complications causing additional water retention. The additional 2 stones came off gently over the next 9 months and I ended up lower than my original weight. No "dieting", just returning to my normal balanced diet, breastfeeding and rebuilding my fitness and lost muscle.

The next pregnancy was better. I knew that it wasn't "pregnancy aches and pains" as my GP called it, got some crutches bypassing the NHS's pointlessly slow protocol and kept up some kind of movement keeping off a stone of water retention. Baby only marginally smaller, but less fluid. Being a mere 3 stones above usual was a bit easier and kept the carpal tunnel at bay. Still the same "me" weight after and lost it again in the same way. 18 months later I ran my first half marathon.

My body just relatively gains a lot in pregnancy, partly because I'm small to begin with, then the immobility of SPD lowers my metabolism and wastes my muscles.

I don't know anyone who gained that much weight. I put on about 25lb with DC1 and 35-40lbs with DC2 even though they were the same birth weight. I believe it was hormonal for DC2, the weight stuck to me for months and then around 8 months postpartum 10lbs came off in a month. I was active and a healthy eater throughout pregnancy and afterwards.

80lbs is so much I would think there's a health issue, so I wouldn't judge someone in that situation at all. If you committed to eating like a pig for 8 months it would be tough to gain 80lbs.

I didn't gain that much but I definitely put on weight in the first few months as I was so sick and the only thing to keep the sickness away was to eat every half an hour. And the only types of things I could keep down was carbs and meat, things like bacon sandwich. I'm usually pretty healthy so this was quite a change. Also you do retain more fat, particularly around your stomach. Isn't it a survival thigh so your body can support your baby? I'm back to pre peegnancy weight now despite eating a lot but definitely not toned any more.

I was the healthiest, skinniest and fittest I’d ever been before I fell pregnant. I followed a low carb diet and did an intensive circuit class 5 times a week with running thrown in too. I felt constantly nauseous from the minute I fell pregnant and the only thing that helped was a beige carb filled diet and halloumi cheese. I wasn’t allowed to exercise as I was a high risk pregnancy. I had SPD in third trimester. I threw up vegetables and fruit.
I wasn’t worried as I thought I’d just lose it afterwards like I did with my first. However, the SPD continued after pregnancy and I’ve had to continue with physio. Breastfeeding for first 4 months and baby just wanted to feed on me constantly so just grabbed unhealthy convenient options. I’ve tried to exercise since but ended up damaging my back and now I can’t even carry my baby without a back brace. MIL passed away suddenly and FIL diagnosed with cancer - comfort eating and again convenience foods. Baby is almost 11 months and I go back to work next month and can’t fit into my uniform and panicking as I won’t pass my fitness test.

I gained about 30 on my first and 28 on my 2nd, I was sick on both but I was very active on my 2nd as you don't get the luxury to relax on the 2nd though it was not healthy the baby was 8lb I was vomiting 3 times daily all the way with DC2 and I was underweight a week after the birth.

I gained 14lbs with each of my 3. I lost 10-16lbs in the first trimesters then slowly gained it back. As soon as I gave birth I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight or just below. Breastfeeding caused me to slowly gain 7lbs as made me so hungry but during pregnancy I found it difficult to eat much at all. Ds is now 3.5 and I'm down to 1-2 feeds a day. Once he stops completely I'm hoping those extra 7lbs sod off

I'd think it's fairly unusual to out that much weight in tbh, unless there are other factors (GD, bedrest, eating issues). My friend put on almost 6st during her first pregnancy, but she had issues with food that predated this. She was very slim when she got pregnant but years before had been very overweight before losing over 10st with Weight Watchers. As soon as she got pregnant she says it was like permission had been given to ignore all the years of watching what she ate, and she basically gorged herself constantly on the food she missed. She put another few stone on after birth before going back to weight watchers and losing it all again. Second time round, she only put 2st on. She says it was torture not allowing herself to eat non stop though.

I was 8 stone 5lbs pre pregnancy, gained 21lbs, delivered an 8lb 5oz baby and was back to 8 stone 5lbs by the fifth day post delivery.
It’s completely unnecessary to eat excessive calories when pregnant. You just need the equivalent of 2 extra slices of toast a day during the last trimester only. Plus, you need so much green veg for the folate and lean meat for the iron, you’re much too full to stuff in carbs on top!
There is also beginning to be some evidence that obese mothers cause metabolic damage to their fetuses, predisposing their babies to diabetes and heart disease in adult life. It’s therefore important not just for your own health, but possibly your baby’s too, to avoid overeating in pregnancy.

babdoc that might be your experience but it’s certainly not mine. I threw up whenever I tried to eat any vegetables - it literally hit my stomach and came straight back up. I was severely anaemic but it just wouldn’t stay down. The only thing that had a chance of staying down was carbs. I’ve always wanted 3 children but pregnancy is such an ordeal for me (other factors too) and my body is still so fucked - can’t exercise at all due to bad hips and back - that I’ve swore I’ll never have another. I have a physical job and was very fit beforehand and am panicking about going back to work as there is no way I will pass my fitness test. Smug attitudes like yours are why I’m in tears most days about why I’ve not bounced back like some of my friends.

The problem is Babdoc that all meat, all fruit and all veg made me instantly vomit in the first 20 weeks of this pregnancy. So I wasn’t gaining any nutrients from them. Carbs were the only thing that stayed in my stomach.
I actually lost weight in those 20 weeks but it’s not so simple as saying ‘fill up on lean meat and green veg’. I’d have starved. If you haven’t experienced sickness to that extent then you won’t understand.

And yes I was anaemic by 16 weeks but there wasn’t much I could do about it; I even threw it vitamin tablets.

And the award for the worlds perfect mum goes to babdoc. Congratulations, your medal's in the post.

It’s completely unnecessary to eat excessive calories when pregnant.

While that may be physiologically true, I couldn't get through my day without fairly constant eating. Otherwise I would have spent all my time with my head down the toilet. And as I had a job to hold down and a preschooler to look after, that wasn't an option.

Plus, you need so much green veg for the folate and lean meat for the iron, you’re much too full to stuff in carbs on top!

I died laughing at this. I couldn't think of green veg or meat without retching. It was carbs, carbs, carbs all the way. And not the good, unrefined ones.

Some mums to be feel well enough to do everything right and that's wonderful. Some mums to be just do all they can to get through the day. Try not to be a judgey fucker dear.

No idea.
I’ve lost two nearly 3 dress sizes being pregnant with my two. They just seemed to suck the life out of me. Top that off with breastfeeding and well! I loose around 1.5 stone being pregnant and breastfeeding to natural term.
Neither of my babies are particularly big either - one was 7lb 6oz, the other 6lb 4oz. Both full term too.

Saying that all my friends hate me for it, and the hg was very unpleasant to deal with. I think I’d rather have put it on!

And just to mention that in my first 2 pregnancies I was able to continue eating healthily throughout despite nausea, this one completely knocked me for 6. I still had enough empathy to realise my experience in pregnancies 1 and 2 wasn’t the same as everyone else’s, and that I was fairly lucky.

Agree. Half the time if you’re suffering bad sickness it’s a challenge to get anything down. I lived on white egg sarnies and haribo in the 1st tri of my 1st pregnancy . As we’ve evolved perfectly well with pregnancy sickness being common place I think it’s ridiculous to expect women to be trying to stuff down 5 a day, lean meat and veg as standard.

What annoys me about this is that people seem to think it’s about laziness or lack of discipline. When I fell pregnant I was on a temporary promotion, leading a team of men who were older than me and had more experience than me. I didn’t want to lose face, so despite my GP and consultant wanting to sign me off, I took two types of anti sickness meds and turned into work. I couldn’t sit up as the room would spin, so I had a tablet and used to lie on my back in the toilet and do my work from there. I had to run out of so many meetings to throw up that my superiors didn’t even bat an eyelid anymore. I worked hard and gained a full promotion while pregnant. So yes, I gained 3 stone which I’m finding it extremely difficult to get rid of, but it was not through laziness or lack of discipline. The people I worked with through my pregnancy know that. However, my promotion means that I go back after 13 months off next month to a whole new place of work where no one knows me. I’m so worried about being judged for my weight gain that I’m not sleeping.

primarily because they eat so much fat & sugar.

as a phenomenon this was vanishingly rare in the UK as recently as say 50 years ago, and remains so in most countries.

I totally agree 10storey.

There are no concessions for morning sickness in the workplace. Most of the time no one even knows you're pregnant at the point at which ms is at its worst. You have to punch through, even though you feel like shit. If all the carbs help that, well, shrug.

After pregnancy, I was doing quite well losing weight and exercising until I went back to work. If I wasn't sleep deprived from DD1/DD2 waking me up then I was suffering from insomnia from work stress. I've really struggled to be near normal BMI since. Lifestyle stuff but also my hormones were all over the place. Persistent stress and lack of sleep fucks up your adrenal gland, for one thing.