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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

How much pregnancy weight gain is too much?

37 replies

WishSpringSummerWasHere · 11/03/2013 16:05

I have gained 10 lbs and I am 5'6 size 12/14 and 16 weeks pregnant with dc2. I had probably put on half of this the first time around. I'm juggling full time work, 22 month old dd and home life. I'm trying to eat healthily (as much as I can) and do walk a lot and go to yoga classes. I am really showing already and I'm worried 10lbs is too much at this stage.. is it?! Am I going to be huge!?!

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monal · 11/03/2013 16:10

I've put on 8 kilos and I'm 25 weeks. So I think a mere ten pounds for 16 weeks sounds svelte and reasonable. I on the other hand am going to be huge.

weeblueberry · 11/03/2013 16:17

I asked the midwife about this at my last appointment.

I was a 14/16 before getting pregnant, 12stone and 5 foot 2. So not a wee lass. . Since getting pregnant (I'm 32 weeks) I've gained 2 stone. I was utterly horrified and disgusted with myself. But I wasn't entirely shocked to be honest... Before I got pregnant I was on WW and had been restricting to about 1600 calories a day, so the sudden ability to 'eat whatever I wanted' just made me go mad.

So I spoke to the midwife and she said anything from nothing to four stone is considered in the range of 'normal' during pregnancy. I definitely look rounder in the face, my bums grown a bit and my thighs look massive (DP says I exaggerate this ) but I'm still in the pregnancy clothes I bought early on so I can't have ballooned that much!

Do try not to worry about it. If you walk and go to yoga you'll probably find that you'll keep doing these things after the birth and will lose the weight quickly.

Creamtea1 · 11/03/2013 16:18

I think it's fine, am same height and a week less and have put on 9lbs so on the same track. In last 2 pregs I put on over a stone by 12 week scan (am sure was even 1.5 stone first time) and got to 3.5 stone up by the end. And that was big. So in my head I am saying am doing better this time.
The trouble with weight threads is that you will have people come along and say they had lost weight at 12 weeks, 3lbs up at 20+ weeks etc - which am sure is not what you want to hear. I know it's a cliche but every pregnancy is different and even people who do put on a lot can drop it all quite quickly, it's just different for every woman.

showtunesgirl · 11/03/2013 16:19

I am 5 foot tall and I gained almost four stone whilst pregnant. It's all gone now so I guess I just gained what I was supposed to!

Kopparbergkate · 11/03/2013 16:20

2.5 stone (16kg) and counting at 36 weeks... do I win :( I am still in the "right size" maternity clothes though (was size 14 before pregnant, wearing size 14 maternity now).

Eat healthy stuff to your appetite and don't stress, that's the approach I'm now following and hoping I have a bizarrely heavy placenta!

Kopparbergkate · 11/03/2013 16:22

Sorry, cross posts, "up to 4 stone" you say....mmm Haribo :)

weeblueberry · 11/03/2013 16:33

"Eat healthy stuff to your appetite and don't stress, that's the approach I'm now following and hoping I have a bizarrely heavy placenta!"

This really made me laugh.

showtunesgirl · 11/03/2013 16:39

And just to add, I didn't even eat all that much whilst pregnant. However, I DID have lochia for about eight weeks afterwards so I think a lot of my weight was fluid / extra blood volume.

Creamtea1 · 11/03/2013 16:41

Am going to use that in real life if anyone tells me I look big/massive/fat etc - 'yes, actually it's due to a very substantial placentay'
:)

LuckyOwl28 · 11/03/2013 16:45

Writing this as I scoff a bag of Tangfastics

I'm 36 weeks and so far have put on 2.5 stone. Saying that everyone keeps telling me how I haven't put on weight elsewhere and am 'all bump'.

I can feel extra weight around me but i'm generally happy and still feel mobile. I've eaten healthy fresh cooked meals throughout and walked to work everyday but have also been HORRENDOUS when it comes to sweets and chocolate, so have been lucky really!

I loved reading that Beyonce put on around 4 stone with her baby!

Everyone's different - my sister in law ate only healthy foods and worked on her feet all day up to 37 weeks and put on 4 stone, so think to a certain extent it's down to genes and luck!

ElliesWellies · 11/03/2013 18:08

Another in the club of 36 weeks and have put on two and a half stone.

purrpurr · 11/03/2013 18:12

Please don't worry about this. And ignore all the posters that will come along to tell you, with faux shock, how they didn't even gain ONE pound in pregnancy, omg, it was a miracle! I hate that.

I'm 32 weeks and have put on THREE STONE so far. OMG. I've tried not eating when I'm hungry but then I just tend to collide with things. The unborn detests chocolate and other tasty things so I'm basically living on cup a soups and beef chilli. And the pounds keep piling on. Me and the scales haven't seen eye to eye since July last year. I have stopped getting on them any more frequently than once a month otherwise I just want to curl up in a ball and cry, and that is physically impossible. I can totally cry standing up, but it's nowhere near as cathartic... :)

Creamtea1 · 11/03/2013 18:14

:) purr well said and like your style

bunnymother · 11/03/2013 18:17

I put on 25kg with each pregnancy. Yes, 25kgs. I am quite small (about 50-55kg normally), and punched in at 75kg with both my first pregnancy (1 average baby) and second pregnancy (2 average sized babies, so there was more justification). It all came off. Nothing like the stress of looking after 3 small children to keep the weight off...

iclaudius · 11/03/2013 18:19

I am struggling to keep a lid on weight gain as I know what it's like to feel CRAP afterwards when all fat and wobbly ..
I am 20 weeks and gained 9 - 10 pounds but its increasingly becoming a battle
I am so jealous of pg women who don't go all backfat and bosoms at the whiff of a spermatozoa !!
I am equally jealous when I hear of overweight women who put NO weight on .
I can eat more when NOT pg than pg and my babies are all huge!

Wommer · 11/03/2013 18:20

I'd put on just over 4 st with mine. By the time DS was 2 weeks has lost 2st of that - am convinced it was mainly water as I could make dents in my legs that would stay there for ages afterwards (was my favourite "freak out DH and friends trick )
DS is now 9m and I'm about 8 lbs off from where I started without a huge amount effort.
I was really really worried at the time - it all ends out alright though

ButteryJam · 11/03/2013 18:35

I just got myself weighed this morning and have put on 5kg at 29 weeks. Hoping that is OK and not too much.

Creamtea1 · 11/03/2013 19:03

buttery - op has said she is worried as has put on 10lb at 16 weeks. So you come along and say you have put on 5kg (which is 11lb) at 29 weeks. Helpful

bunnymother · 11/03/2013 20:09

Buttery might also have weight concerns that are just as valid to her as everyone else's are to them.

I think the OP's weight gain while less than mine at that stage sounds absolutely fine. And not an indicator that she will be "huge" at all. I certainly found that the weight went on far too easily when eating scones with jam and cream every day in spurts, so I gained much of it early on, and then it slowed down. Well, as much as 25kg weight gain can slow down!

And, Buttery, if you are eating healthily, your weight gain will no doubt be OK, too.

CluelessNewbie1 · 11/03/2013 20:26

This has made me feel better, I was feeling like I was the only pregnant person to pile on the weight. Thank you for making me feel human again.

purrpurr · 11/03/2013 20:30

Bunny, the great thing about Mumsnet is that any members can create threads.

In my opinion, the worry over weight gain, particularly in pregnancy, can be such a fraught issue that it is significantly unhelpful for woman A to post 'I have gained x lbs in 16 weeks' and for woman B to respond 'I have also gained x lbs... but in 29 weeks'. If woman B has weight concerns, she can start a thread. I see too many of these threads where women come trotting along to eagerly state how surprised they were that they gained no weight, or actually LOST weight. These are always exclusively on threads started by women that are concerned about what may be excessive weight gain.

It ain't a pissing contest. Or it shouldn't be. I personally don't give a crap if a barrage of women gained far less than me in pregnancy - it's the opposite of supportive.

bunnymother · 11/03/2013 20:52

I know what you are saying, purrpurr, but all I was trying to say was that Buttery's concerns are as valid to her as anyone else's are to them. It may appear to have been competitive to say she has gained less over more time, but it might not have been written that way. Am thinking of friends who crucify themselves over every pound, not that this applies here.

I also think the pregnancy weight gain issue can be fraught, so wanted to share my experiences of significant weight gain (and that it all came off so it ended up being fine) in the hope that it would amuse you all be reassuring. Anyway, not looking to start an argument here, so will wish you all the best.

ButteryJam · 11/03/2013 22:52

Gosh I didn't realise what 5kg was in lbs. I've very sorry if I upset or offended the OP, I didn't mean it in that way, so my apologies. I mentioned it because I wanted OP to know that weight gain has been a worry for me too, and it is perfectly natural to worry about it.

ButteryJam · 11/03/2013 22:54

Bunnymother, thanks for understanding and giving me the benefit of the doubt

beckie90 · 11/03/2013 23:22

I've been on both sides of the weight thing, my belief is that every pregnancy is different and 10ib at 16wk is not bad OP, I gained 4st with ds1. And I don't think people put the opposite to be competative or make people feel bad (unless people are very childish like that) but I believe it can be relevant just to show that Every pregnancy is different and there really is no norm to weight gain or weight loss (which people get through illness) it really isn't fair to jump on people and assume they are trying to make people feel bad cause this is not the case in most circumstances.

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