Hi vicki, just wanted to add my own two-penneth. I'm a size 26 too, bmi of 53 and had my baby three months ago. Some health professionals were nice and positive about it, some were shitty and awkward about it. They shovelled me off to see a consultant, who expected me to have high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, a 15lb baby and an inevitable caesarean. He mentioned my weight about five times in the first minute.
As it was my blood pressure was perfect throughout (better than my midwife's in fact!) my GTT test came back normal, all urine and blood tests normal- and GOD did they like testing me- seemed like they were determined to find SOMETHING wrong with me so they could say "aha, that's because you're FAT!"
I also had several growth scans throughout the pregnancy as they expected him to be the size of a small rhino- and even despite all scans showing he was spot on normal size, my midwife still took pleasure in patting my (enormous, mainly due to fat!) bump and saying "ooh you have a whopper there"
My "whopper" was born at a petite 7lb 2oz.
They carted me off to see the anaesthetist who said "come in at the first twinge for an epidural. You'll need it early as it's so difficult to place when you have fat on your back" and he also implied that it'd be better to have one put in early anyway because of the high likelihood I would need intervention or a section.
The midwives however seemed to think I'd be fine... and I was! I didn't go in early to have the epidural (I didn't want doctors sharpening knives behind me when I suspected I'd be ok with a normal vaginal birth) I had my baby just with gas n air after an 11 hour labour, though they did insist on me being on my back on the bed with an internal fetal monitor because external monitors don't work very well through a fat tummy, and especially not when you're having contractions as you move about.
The only problems I had with being fat during pregnancy were:
- SPD (Symphysis pubis disfunction) this is absolutely not restricted to ladies of size, but my weight, and the weight of the baby and extra fluid etc put extra pressure on my poor afflicted pelvis and at the very end I could barely walk. But there's no guarantee anyone will get this!
- The scans were blurry and on occasion the sonographers were a bit nasty about my weight as if I had gained the weight just to make their job more difficult BUT to look on the positive side, on the consultants orders I had about 5 or 6 scans rather than the usual 2, and it's always nice seeing your baby!
-Depending on your shape, people may not notice you're pregnant (so you won't get offered a seat on the bus or have people spontaneously congratulate you) I went to get my hair cut on my due date and nobody knew.
But there are other positives too. From start to finish I gained 7lbs because on finding out I was pregnant I ate healthily, and I was back in my "skinny jeans" (hohoho) within a week! Plus you can use your regular clothes as maternity clothes (smock type tops are particularly good) as they're usually roomy and stretchy anyway.
Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS!! Don't expect the worst and don't let the medical professions attitudes get you down, you aren't stupid or wrong to get pregnant, you deserve to be a mother as much as anyone else, and a you'll be fine.