Really stressed over how big I am.

[Rocklover]

I'm 25 weeks pg and I detest the way I look, I am HUGE. I mean I have a real complex over it and I am going to speak to the mw about it next week at my appt on Friday.

I just wondered if anyone else was stressing as much me. I spend far too much time in front of the mirror despairing at how awful I look. I was around 11st 2lb when I got pg and a size 14-16 (i'm 5 ft 4ish), but I am scared I have got much bigger, I don't have any scales in the house so cannot weigh myself.

But when I look at myself side on I can see that horrible flabby overhang from my previous CS and it makes my bump look really yucky (it's soft and squidgy at the bottom). If I look at myself from the front I don't look too hideous, but I seem to have put weight on my thighs as well.

My dp thinks I'm insane, but I cannot stop worrying. I have cut my eating down by alot today and I'm hoping to continue doing that, I currently don't feel well enough to exercise (nausea, low iron etc). Please tell me I'm not going mad feeling like this.

i'm sure you look fine. it's hard to see your body changing so much isn't it?

i went from a size 6 to a size 14 when i had my ds. i felt hideous.

please be careful with cutting down what you eat. please make sure your eating enough of the right things. especially to help with the iron levels.

with dd1 and this pg i have been lucky and not gained much weight, but i have lots of other hang ups about the way i look. i have shocking skin and my hair is a right state!

your body is going through so much it's natural to get freaked out. did you feel like this last time?

No I didn't feel like this with my 1st pregnancy, mainly because I was too ill to worry and ended up in hospital to be rehydrated. I lost 2 1/2 stone in the first trimester and only just started to show at 20 weeks.

This time round I learned my lesson, so made myself carry on eating despite my awful nausea and upset tummy. Eating usually helps my nausea, but only rubbish stuff like crisps, carbs and biscuits etc. I find it really difficult to eat healthily.

Today I ate well, I had 2 weetabix for breakfast, a few Ritz crackers mid morning, a tuna mayo and tomato sandwich for lunch then homemade pasta bolongnaise for dinner. Been drinking water and sugar free squash mostly today, so way better than I usually do.

I cOuld have written op. I'm 37+4 and feel revolting. It's not just my huge bump.... I am enormous everywhere. My legs have never been fat but are massive. My maternity trousers are now getting too tight round my legs and bum and as for the swelling I have in my hands and feet.... I look ridiculous and embarrassed for anyone to see me. My face is so fat or swollen... I don't know which. I feel dreadful and am terrified I'm going to still be massive after the birth. I felt ok up until about 30 weeks when I feel i've just ballooned. :(

I would ask to see a dietician if you're really stressed so they can help you work out how to eat so that you are healthy but don't put on extra weight.

Or try tracking your calorie intake yourself - remembering that you could need 200-300 cals extra for being pregnant. It's hard to get enough nutrients for pregnancy on a restricted diet though, which is why I'd recommend getting a dietician's help.

I am going to mention it to the midwife, maybe she will recommend that I get the dr to refer me to a dietician. Although, I am not the greatest cook (and I often don't feel well enough to make loads of effort), so I hope they have tips to make easy food.

I don't really eat a huge amount, just often the wrong things in order to cope with my nausea. I guess I will just have to wait until the baby is born then get back on the diet and exercise train big time.

Excitedmummy, I know how horrible it is to be swollen, I was huge just before and after I had dd, but it did go down within a week of giving birth (probably would have been quicker if I'd not had an epidural and then emcs). After dd was born I lost my weight (and more) slowly. I was my pre preg weight pretty much straight away, then I put on a few stone , which took a few years to shift. I am hoping I can do the same after this baby, without putting on the extra weight obv.

rocklover do you have water retention? I've got the fattest ankles/hands/wrists/face which make my weight gain (which you might remember I'm stressing about too) appear worse than it probably is. If it makes you feel better, I weighed myself the other day (pre pg weight of about 12.5 - 13 stone and size 16) and had put on over 1.5 stone already since getting pg. I look in the mirror and want to cry. Don't hold back on food too much as it makes nausea worse, just eat little often what you can manage, and if you feel up to fruit, then great, if all you can eat is chips, then better that than nothing. The thing that made me most depressed is buying a maternity coat last week and getting size 20 in mat. I keep making mysel feel better as it's way too big for me and looks silly, I only got it so big so I could fit a big jumper under and to accomodate any massive bump/boob growth (I'm not forking out for 2 maternity coats so not risking outgrowing it!). Still makes me depressed though :(

WHere I am you have to see GP to be referred to dietician, but if they think it would be useful then could be a good idea, although I don't think an appointment with a dietician will solve all your issues/anxieties tbh. They wil probably only tell you what you already know about which foods are good etc, but might be reassuring as they'd look at a food diary of what you eat and show you areas to improve, but it's so hard to improve when you['re only staying afloat with the nausea by eating what you can when you can.

Must dash - off to make some lunch - lol. Btw - my sausage roll lesson yesterday rocklover (if you recall) we had a fire in the oven - complete panic and VERY smelly - I had to leave the room as i couldn't cope. Luckily I wasn't in charge and there was someone else there to cope with it!

I can sympathise because I too feel like I look hideous and have ruined my body - I am 29 weeks. You cant change what has happened now just try not to brood over it. You can always shape up after you have had the baby. I would only say try to at healthily because low iron levels make you feel like crap. Mine have recovered after I changed my diet to include iron rich food, didnt drink tea with meals and upped my vit c intake. I feel like a different woman.

Oh no angels, just what you didn't need a fire in the kitchen. Still it'll be a funny story to tell in the future when you are not suffering from the nausea!

You're right about the dietician not being able to solve all my other anxieties, I think I have to admit that my anxiety is back big time now. I feel like crying half the time as I am so frustrated that I am finding day to day life so difficult.

Right now I am psyching myself up to take my dd swimming, I hardly ever go out at the weekend anymore and she never asks me to. But today she has asked to go swimming and I feel I must make the effort for her. Dp can't go as he has a heavy cold/chest infection, so it will be just dd and I going. She is just eating a sandwich before we set off.

I get very anxious every time I have to leave the house so today will be challenging.

Hope you are having a good day today.

rocky, you could be me. I'm 26 weeks and hate hate hate my body. I ate far too much initially to combat the sickness & now I'm regretting it. I also have the flabby nasty overhang you talk about. I hate it.

I have no solutions I'm afraid, except to say that what keeps me a bit saner is thinking about my local gym that has a creche and how I lost the weight last time & I'll do it again.

Keep your chin up my love xx

Aww thanks MrsFC. that's what i'm doing at the moment, thinking about how I will make an effort to lose weight when this little boy is born.

It will have to be cheap and cheerful exercise though as I am not working so haven't got the spare cash for a gym membership. I think the solution will be walking and swimming. :)

I put on 5 stone!!! I looked unrecognisably hideous..the good news is that the weight gain is temporary. I am now almost back to my pre-pregnancy size.

And workout DVD's at home rocky, you can do those too. They also have a free fitness channel on sky that gives hour long programmes too.

I reckon that while exercise will seem like lots of hard work, it will be SO nice not to have a big hard bump in the way!

I took my dd out swimming yesterday and felt pretty good for most of the day, still didn't eat great, but didn't over eat.

Today I feel vile again, so my eating has taken a turn for the worse, so far I have managed biscuits and Ritz crackers. But I feel so sick I cannot contemplate "real" food. I cannot worry about calories today, I feel too ill to care.

Why is it that I can feel pretty good one day, then absolutely awful the next? I have a feeling this nausea is going to be with me until the bitter end of this pregnancy and if it is, I am definitely going to be the size of a blue whale. :(

Ahh Rocklover I do sympthathise. When I was at the peak of my sickness with this DC2 (coming up for 17 weeks now) I was eating nothing but beige, junky food. Crisps, pizza, white bread with jam etc...I felt guilty as I was poking it in but everything else made me feel awful and beige food seems to be quicker and less nausea inducing to prepare

The sickness has eased considerably now, but I do have my green moments and if I am tired, I feel 10 times worse. I too do not like the way my pg body looks - my tummy is post c section and soft at the bottom, harder at the top with an overhang -very different to the neat little bump I was getting with DS at the same stage - in fact, I don't even look pg atm - just fat! My bum has got bigger as well. My saving grace is that I'm now doing the school run with DS and so I'm walking 4 times a day and I think this is helping

I was very swollen near the end with DS and had carpal tunnel syndrome so I am hoping staying more active this time will help

I do sympathise though - its awful when you feel so out of control with your body

Rocklover No you are not mad!! I blame our celeb obsessed media for raming famous mums down our throats I e every time Posh gives birth she is praised for gtting her figure back - Yes I would too if my husband had squillions of £s and I could get lipo and a few lil tucks after my caesarian!!! Or if a model has a baby - yes they probably virtually starved and only put on 1/2 a stone throughout!! I'm sure you are gorgeous!! My bump is huge and I detested it for a while as I was not as big with my first DD. My DH still loves me I was a 10-12 before pregnancy now i just grab what fits i e larger or maternity and dont care what the label says!!

I am going to get my figure back as I'm a determined person but right now I'm growing a lovely, healthy 2nd daughter - Due on 18th December.

x x

I put on 4 1/2 stone when I was pg with DS. I was absolutely huge, plus my face and legs were really swollen as well. I remember having to wear a pair of flip flops bought from Evans that were size 9 (I'm normally an 8) as nothing else would go over my feet. It was also early spring time so I had my winter coat on at the same time. Not a great look!

He was born weighing 9lb 7oz and within 10 days I was only half a stone heavier than what I had been before I was pregnant.