Pregnancy weight gain

[Lolarose999]

Probably not the right area to post, but im feeling absolutely crap. I know I'm growing a person, and weight gain come hand in hand. But im struggling with the person I see now when I look in the mirror.

I'm 36 weeks pregnant & currently 18lbs up. Urgh, please tell me this is normal.

I'm not getting on a set of scales. I was very slightly overweight before I got pregnant and god knows where I will be afterwards. But you know, it will come off. Is this your first? This is my third. After the first two, it took over a year but I did go back to a size 10 like pre-pregnancy. I seemed to keep the fat for breastfeeding. This time I started as a 12 but I will get back to a 10, I'm confident in that. This is only temporary. And you will have your baby soon.

I put on 3 stone with mine..... admittedly I carried alot of water and my 2nd baby was nearly 10lb but i felt like a whale.

Don't forget you are carrying another person, plus the fluid and a new organ... when that comes out the weight also comes off.

I have an eating disorder. So my fear of putting on weight is a great source of terror. Plus the morning sickness. I always lost weight. And ended up all bump literally. Just eat as healthily as you can. You are doing an amazing thing growing a baby 🐥.

You have around 4 weeks to go and when you give birth:
if your baby is fairly average at 7.6lbs

placenta weighs around 1.5 lbs

amniotic fluid around 2lbs

so max is around 7lbs

Honestly I have no idea what you are worrying about! You are growing a healthy baby, that is the most important thing

18lbs? Is that it? Really nothing to worry about

I was anorexic when I got pregnant with my daughter. Bmi was 15.

I gained FIVE STONE in that pregnancy. The majority of it in the first trimester (to bring me up to a normal weight).

I lost the majority of the weight within a year, even while breastfeeding.

Had a similar experience with my son, although I wasn't so underweight at the start. Again I lost most of the weight before his first birthday (and the rest when I stopped breastfeeding).

18 pounds is nothing!

18lbs = a bit over 8kg. I put on 9kg with my first and 7kg with my second. They were average sized babies, around 3kg. I was slim when I got pregnant and was on a very controlled diet due to GD. From the back you couldn’t tell I was pregnant - I was all baby.

I know people who put on twice or three times as much weight as I did. So yes YABU to stress over 18lbs. That’s a normal amount of weight to gain.

You’re probably tired, achy and hormonal, it’s normal to feel pretty crap and emotional at this point.

Fwiw I put on about 18 lbs in my recent pregnancy and it was gone within two weeks. I’m several lbs lighter than my conception weight and it’s falling off with breastfeeding despite eating about 8 meals a day.

Be kind to yourself. Not long now.

Thank you all for the kids words and the kick up the backside! It's tough, really tough. I've always struggled with negative body image to a certain extent. I did start out at a healthy weight ( bmi 22) and its absolutely not that now 🤪

It’s a perfectly normal healthy amount of weight to gain. And it’s also perfectly normal to feel it’s making life harder at the moment. I ached like a bastard, walking got much more effort, my leg basically stopped working for 10 days when the baby moved into a weird position. I had insomnia, I was cold, exhausted. I was hungry but filled up within a couple of mouthfuls.

I kept thinking I wasn’t going to cope having a baby to care for and a preschooler. I’d forgotten it’s just pregnancy. Which is hard work!

I’m several weeks on from a c section and I can’t tell you how good I feel. Nothing hurts, I have energy, I sleep the second my head hits the pillow, I eat whatever I fancy, I dash up and down the stairs without a second thought. It’s hard to believe I felt so old, tired and incapable a few weeks ago.

You’ll be okay. You’ve only got a few weeks to go and you’ll have a baby soon!

I put on more than 2 stone and lost all of them plus an extra 1.5 stone in the first six weeks postpartum while stuffing my face with cake! I wish I hadn't worried so much about my weight, it was just baby and retaining fluids. I looked enormous at the end! But it was just my body doing what it needed to do.

I put on 15kg with mypregnancies. I was so bloody hungry and even though I ate healthily I piled it on. Both times it came off within 6 months just by eating how I had before and going walks with the buggy. No dieting or anything.

However I know what you mean OP I absolutely hated it. Not because of the weight in itself - I've been various weights throughout my life and not too bothered about weight gain...it was just the feeling of it being totally outside my control and inevitable that I hated. There wasnt the 'oh well at least u had a great weekend eating out loads and i can just have a few healthy days and get back to normal' feeling. Also everyone told me how I looked so big that I must be carrying twins which didnt help

Oh and unless you're a model or very lucky, most of us don't look that good at the end of the third trimester. We're all hairy yeti's (can't reach with the razor and can't care enough to ask a friend), bloated, maybe acne, tired, heartburn, feel out-of-balance heavy and bloody uncomfortable. And maybe bad complexion due to bad sleep because of waking up every hour to pee. I do miss the kicks though. I was really happy being pregnant but looked awful.

I dont think bmi works as a calculation in pregnancy? I put on more than the 'recommended' weight and spent a lot of time looking at graphs of what I 'should' weigh. It made no difference to anything and I wish I'd just chilled out about it...easy to say in hindsight but what did it matter, it was only a few months. I think in the back of my mind I thought it would be hard to lose and it would always be this way but actually most people I know have gone back to pre baby weight. Less alcohol and meals out etc

Okay firstly BMI - put that one down right now. As long as you are eating healthy please don't beat yourself up over your pregnancy weight gain. You are actually meant to gain weight when you are pregnant. At 36 weeks you are in the seriously this is less fun stage in terms of body image but it will go. When you give both you are probably going to drop approximately half your current weight gain immediately when you consider the baby, the placenta and the amniotic fluid. It's not long now, it really isn't but you also have every right to be fed up and grumpy. Personally with both my children I felt as if my body had been taken over and I wasn't exactly happy about it either.

11-15kg gain by 40th week is considered a healthy weight gain

I'll be honest, I could have eaten tons better.. I've struggled with intense hunger like noones business!! And, perhaps eaten the wrong things. But, I am active and work out 3x a week where possible.

Thanks for the reassurance, it's made me feel less self conscious.

I had a BMI of about 20 when I had my first midwife appointment. He (male midwife!) briefly mentioned the recommended healthy weight gain for a healthy BMI was 25-35 pounds. Some put on less than this, some more. So you have nothing to worry about although late pregnancy doesn’t make everyone feel particularly fabulous so your feelings are valid. I had worries about my baby’s growth and needed growth scans so I actually put on more than the recommended amount above. I really didn’t care about the extra pounds though and just prayed my baby would be healthy. Good luck with your final weeks.