Weight gain in pregnancy. What's "normal"?

[SpaaaaceGurl]

Hey everyone,

Just a thought I've been having. I assumed that when you're pregnant you just start gaining weight as your body stores fat.

Since I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks I have actually lost 7lbs, I'm 18 weeks now. My diet has of course been a lot healthier and my bmi is 28 so still technically classed as "overweight" but I just thought i'd be gaining more weight by now.

Does the weight pile on in the 3rd trimester? I'm just not sure if I should be concerned or not..

There is no right or wrong. As long as your baby is growing, there's no worry at all.

I'm 38 weeks and I've gained 2lbs so far.
Baby is currently estimated at 7and a half lbs.

Other people gain a lot. Some people don't at all

As the above no right or wrong.

4 years ago I started off my pregnancy overweight with a BMI of 29. I gained 2 and a half stone in pregnancy, was about a stone heavier than booking in the week after the birth so around 1.5 stone was baby and placenta etc.

Don't stress and just eat and exercise as well as you can. Congrats on your pregnancy!

It's different for everyone I think... I didn't put too much on at first (a couple of pounds in first trimester) by the end I was over 3 stone heavier! x

Don't worry about it. So long as you are not underweight or severely overweight is not so important how much or little you gain. Just ensure you are having lots of nutritious foods. Any excess fat after birth will come off eventually.
Yes weight does tend to come on a lot more in the 3rd trimester though as baby packs on a lot of weight in that trimester.
I gain in the 1st, hold steady (losing slightly in current) in the 2nd then pack on most in the 3rd (last 4 babies were big so a fair bit too).

I was weighed at my 9 and 12 week appointments and weirdly had lost 2kg in between those, so it really does fluctuate. I then wasn't weighed at all until the day before the due date where the highly inaccurate scales in the midwife office said I had put on 20kg, the midwife was initially surprised but managed to regain herself and said she wasn't worried even though the recommendation is about 15kg. Anyway I wasn't happy with their scales so went home and checked on our accurate scales which gave me a result of 6kg lighter than what 30 mins prior I had been at the midwife, I shall be correcting her next week haha! The general weight guidance with the NHS is pretty poor to be honest, the hyper focus on BMI is just quite shocking and potentially damaging so I would say it's one to take with a pinch of salt. As long as you overall are eating a balanced diet and staying as active as you feel able to be I wouldn't worry, the third trimester sees the biggest bump growth (at least for me) so I would say that's where I got heavier quite quickly compared to the first two trimesters but try not to focus on the scales too much and just go by how you feel!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.

Im definitely eating a healthy balanced diet and doing a bit more exercise than I was previously so I guess I need to factor that in aswell.

Definitely agree with you though @Fleetw00d, the BMI system is terrible. I never really took notice of it until my midwife started talking about it, but like you said, I just take it all with a pinch of salt.

So I was curious as I haven't stood on a scale since I got pregnant.... (and for good cause it would appear) as i'm now a whopping 50 lbs heavier than pre-pregnancy (currently 36+3)

• I was huge with my first and it was mainly water retention (i literally shrunk over night when I lost the additional water)
• I've been for additional scans due to baby size and surrounding fluid.

The BMI system is rubbish.
I powerlift so carry a lot more muscle than the average, at my slimmest I was still classed overweight with a BMI of 26. Trying to achieve their "ideal weight" got me really depressed as the scales just stuck then I gave up and regained a lot of what I'd lost after our twins. Never again will I aim for that but just for what feels comfortable and is easy to maintain.

I honestly don't know why they even use the BMI system, it's so outdated and doesn't take into account muscle or fat content which are much better indicators of overall health than just weight alone. I also do not trust the scales at the hospitals or midwife units, the ones I stood on looked about 20 years old and probably not calibrated for years, can't believe they were 6kg out, ridiculous!
Sounds like you're doing everything right @SpaaaaceGurl just keep doing what you're doing and going by how you feel the weight will go on and come off but we're growing an actual human so who really cares what the scales say while we're doing that haha!

My bmi was 26 when I got pregnant and I also lost weight in the first trimester (4-5lbs). I’m now 38 weeks and have put on a stone since then so net weight gain is “only” 9lbs. Midwife isn’t worried unless the growth scans are in the 10th percentile.

I lost a couple of kilos in the first trimester, then stayed the same in the second. Am now at 32 weeks and have put on a total of 4.5kgs. I have been eating so much chocolate recently so I think I need to try and cut down!!

It’s so individual. Some women retain a shit ton of water and so gain loads. Some women lose weight!

I’m 38 weeks tomorrow, BMI was 27 when I fell pregnant so a bit overweight to start with.

I’ve gained 17lbs so far which is pretty ok I think. You’re meant to gain 15-25lbs if you start out overweight so I’ll end up somewhere in the middle.

I weighed less at 9 months than when I fell pregnant. I would lose 5-6kg in the first 20 weeks then just gain some of that back. My BMI was around 27 when I fell pregnant. Born a healthy weight and midwifes never seemed bothered

If you were a little overweight to start with you’re not meant to gain that much weight. You say you’ve been eating healthier and exercising too- remember your body is working SO much harder with any physical activity when pregnant so you’re metabolism has probably really kicked in and you’re burning far more calories than usual.
I’m still running (29 weeks) but unlike you have probably gained a little too much weight... (my BMI pre preg was 24) I found this article about exercising when pregnant and how much more our body is enduring really interesting -
qz.com/1635811/pregnancy-pushes-the-body-nearly-as-much-as-endurance-sports/

I’m 22 weeks and have lost 13lbs since January. As long as your baby is growing normally it’s fine.

I seem to gain a stone during the first trimester - a combination of not moving as much and eating far too many carbs to keep the nausea at bay.

By the end of pregnancy I looked all bump and otherwise slim and was back to pre-pregnancy weight and BMI of 22 by 4 months pp. I’m not sure I’ll be as lucky this time around at 40.

I'm 24 weeks and I've gained around 2-2.5kg in total so far. Lost a little in first trimester, back to pre-pregnancy weight around 18 weeks so that weight gain has been in the last 6 weeks which coincides with my appetite coming back and also consuming way too much chocolate 😳

I've gained 3 stone (I'm 37 weeks)