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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that some pregnancy weight gain is from eating to prevent nausea?

34 replies

Theresa88 · 02/02/2021 01:50

I'm 7w 3 days pregnant and have been horribly nauseous for about two weeks now, I keep eating carbs and cheese etc to keep the nausea at bay. I've gained 2.5kg already!! It seems that pregnancy weight gain might be partly because of this horrible nausea problem...AIBU? any tips to stop gaining so quickly? I'm scared I'm going to go into the second trimester having already gained 10kg...

OP posts:
Crikeycroc · 02/02/2021 02:03

I’ve heard this a lot from friends but not true for me. At 7 weeks pregnant all I could stomach was salt and vinegar chips and very few of them at that so I didn’t gain weight until later on in pregnancy.
Most of the early weight gain is the extra blood your body produces.

timeisnotaline · 02/02/2021 02:18

Or course it’s a combination of factors. If you’re eating all the time that will be extra weight. But there’s not a lot you can do about that. The eating to stop nausea usually doesn’t last the whole time though!

YenneferOfBattenberg · 02/02/2021 02:35

I had this problem! Particularly in my second pregnancy. YANBU IME.

emilyfrost · 02/02/2021 03:07

I didn’t find this; my appetite didn’t increase in pregnancy at all so the only weight I gained was the bump for baby and my boobs got bigger.

MaxThePasta · 02/02/2021 03:13

I had this in the first trimester.

Lots of what I could stomach and what kept me from feeling sick was carby stuff. Particularly potatoes, mashed potato etc... Funnily the thought of anything sweet chocolate and sweets and so on made me feel really sick for a good while. But thick stodgy food was all I could eat for a while. I remember having bowls of plain mash for my tea 🤣

Sometimes id feel like I were going to pass out if I didn't eat there and then but it could only be particular things.

RefuseTheLies · 02/02/2021 03:44

I had this. I had to eat to stop from feeling sick, and yes - carbs all the way!

Now in second trimester, and eating has returned to normal so 1st trimester weight gain (7lbs) has levelled off and I've not put on any more. It's such a joy to be able to eat fruit again without wanting to barf Grin

PeggyHill · 02/02/2021 03:49

When it comes to first trimester morning sickness I think it is just pure survival. If eating cheese means you make it through the day then just do it. Chances are you will stop feeling sick in a few weeks and it will calm down.

Cocogreen · 02/02/2021 03:51

Yes, I put on 2kgs really quickly in the first 12 weeks because I ate water biscuits all day to stop feeling sick. Once the morning sickness went everything evened out.

GaspingGekko · 02/02/2021 04:06

I lost loads of weight in the first trimester because I couldn't eat. But I can totally imagine how this would happen as all I wanted was carbs and stodge.
Two things that helped me, chewing gum and exercise. The exercise was blood pressure related I think, my BP is low normally and pregnancy made it drop lower. Exercise raised it a little temporarily and enough to stop the related nausea.

GaspingGekko · 02/02/2021 04:08

Oh and yeah, don't worry about it. Once the nausea subsides you should be able to eat normally and it will all level off.
Hope you're through it soon.

Symphony830 · 02/02/2021 04:46

Nausea definitely limited my diet. Each day new foods would go on the avoid list. My diet became like a fussy kid’s - bread, potatoes, cheese, fries, plain chicken. Fruit gave me stomach ache which led to heart burn which led to worse nausea. I may have had a few salads but cannot recall. My diet wasn’t healthy but that’s all I could manage.

I had put on a stone by month 5 and felt very lucky to have escaped more. Roll on to the due date - 4.5 stone weight gain. And my diet was very restricted for the last couple of months - dry cereal, bread, tissue paper and ice. I got Pica really bad and I feel this was brought on by 9 months of nausea and being so desperate for it to stop. Yes, I really was that unlucky!

I would point out that the weight gain for me was very deceptive. I lost 2.5 stones just giving birth. Two weeks later I had lost another stone. I just ate normally. The last stone was my food gains and I had to really work hard to shift that.

I always have much sympathy for women suffering nausea .I really did nearly lose my mind over it and the realisation that being sick didn’t make it go away was a huge blow.

I hope your nausea lifts soon. No one I spoke to was concerned about my diet. The weight gain - yes bit not the contents of it. I was always told - it’s fine as long as you’re eating something.

Macake · 02/02/2021 05:12

Yup it was awful- I had to eat constantly otherwise it was intense constant god awful nausea.

PrimeraVez · 02/02/2021 05:25

Coming from a place of bitter experience, I would say it's worth doing what you can to limit weight gain, although I fully understand that hideous kind of nausea that only beige food can help!

Am currently 8-9w with DC3 and determined this time to only gain a healthy amount of weight (rather than the 30kg and 20kg I gained the last two times....)

Things that help me:

  • Fruit tea
  • Chewing gum
  • Popcorn (low cal but fills you up)
  • Keeping a stash of chopped carrots, cucumber, celery etc in the fridge for snacking on
  • Eating regularly to avoid my blood sugar levels dropping
  • Keeping a food diary and being honest - it's fine if breakfast was '10 pringles' but it helps me be more aware of the quantities I'm eating
  • Telling myself that I don't need to eat a lot/shit and in the long run, I will regret it
GettingAwayWithIt · 02/02/2021 06:19

I was about 10kg heavier by the time I had my daughter, I was fortunate and didn’t have any morning sickness or cravings and was able to do a bit of exercise each day to keep fit. I did less physical activity than I usually do. I’m normally very active and probably ate as much as I usually do (ie didn’t eat more) which just proved what I always suspected - I put weight on just like everyone else (I’ve had comments about being ‘lucky’ to be slim)

hammeringinmyhead · 02/02/2021 06:20

Yes, possibly. I didn't have much nausea and I was only sick once - my weight gain in pregnancy was only 12lbs. I was about 15lb overweight to start with though!

user1493413286 · 02/02/2021 06:26

With both mine I gained weight in the first trimester from trying to control my sickness eating all day; with my first that weight came back off in the second trimester. With my second it didn’t but I had a massively sweet tooth which was probably partly to blame.

Dee1975 · 02/02/2021 06:41

I had this problem. I ate to stop the nausea. And yes I ballooned! I did lose it after the first - (but not the second ...!)

Wishing14 · 02/02/2021 06:51

I couldn’t really eat at all for a few months because the sickness was so bad, but am now on meds and at 29 weeks eating constantly to stop the sickness! I don’t weigh myself so no idea what I’ve put on. But honestly I’d take the extra weight over the sickness any day!

SnuggyBuggy · 02/02/2021 07:24

I had this really badly, I couldn't cope with any fruit or vegetables either and just ate crap for 12 weeks.

Sprockerdilerock · 02/02/2021 07:29

Yes! I'm almost 11 weeks and still can only really stomach carbs which make me bloat and gain weight at the best of times. Initially even though I could eat carby food I was being sick after so didnt think I'd gain weight, but now the actual being sick has gone and its just constant nausea I'm not sure!

ChikiTIKI · 02/02/2021 07:30

Yes I think it's true. I ate a lot during the mornings and early afternoons in last pregnancy but then wasn't hungry in the evenings so barely had anything for tea.

Heartburn can make you think youre hungry or make you want to eat to get rid of the feeling (but it comes back a few minutes later). I think on reflection I should have started with heartburn medication earlier in the pregnancy but I just didn't think it was heartburn only because ein previous pregnancy it kicked in much later.

Botherfreedays · 02/02/2021 07:35

Oh gawd yes! I ate biscuits all day long as they just about took the edge off the sickness and unlike most food didn't make me sick. I put on a bit of weight but my goodness it came off quickly with breast feeding.

VashtaNerada · 02/02/2021 07:42

Yes, be careful with this! I started over-eating in my first trimester but then got into unhealthy habits I kept up the whole pregnancy. DD is now a teen and I’m still fat Shock I was slim before I became pregnant Sad

Tiquismiquis · 02/02/2021 08:06

I was ravenous for carbs in both my pregnancies. I found it much harder after baby no.2 to lose weight so I can see how easily weight might creep over pregnancies and never be lost.

User17930472 · 02/02/2021 08:08

Being pregnant is the only time I don’t put weight on! I have zero appetite. The first time round I lost half a stone - over Christmas! I did end up putting on just over a stone in the end. Second time I’d lost half a stone before pregnancy and now at 7 months pregnant I’ve only just surpassed that.

However, if I had nausea I would eat whatever to get through the day. It only lasts a few months and after that you can revert to your normal diet and weight gain will slow down. No eating for two or whatever, it’s not a thing. Do what gets you through for now.

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