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Pregnancy

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

Really hate gaining weight

94 replies

wingingit33 · 27/12/2021 08:22

I'm 30+3 and really struggling mentally with my changing body and seeing the numbers on the scales cranking up, it makes me feel so self conscious and my confidence is shot. I know it's important for the baby but I've still got 8 weeks (elcs) of more weight gain and I'm not coping with that idea. I started at 8st13 and today's weigh in I'm 10st5 so I've gained 20lbs already and feel Sad I weigh every day and that's not going to stop. Im restricting food intake but baby is moving and growing fine. I can't be the only one who hates their changing body?

OP posts:
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drpet49 · 27/12/2021 12:16

1.5 stone, is that all? My sister put on 4 stone and she started off as a size 12. Why have another baby if you hate putting on weight in pregnancy??

Easterndream · 27/12/2021 12:25

Firstly really we'll done for contacting midwife. Bring it up with her, you need help in keeping your way of thinking under control. If this is your third you will know that during pregnancy and while babies are small any mental health challenges can magnify, and easily become out of control.
To be said in the kindest way possible, you have an issue with weight/eating etc. You may be able to disguise it in normal times, but to be restricting your diet during pregnancy means it's a serious problem that will not just go away. Even if you manage to not gain so much in this pregnancy, you will inevitably still damage your children's mental health because you won't be able to hide it from them as they grow up surrounded by someone who thinks this way. Good luck. Everyone has issues to tackle, it's nothing to be ashamed about.

Scirocco · 27/12/2021 12:25

@wingingit33

You're not eating nearly enough to support yourself and baby there, and that diet won't have the nutrients you both need. Without a healthy, balanced diet, your body will go into starvation mode and it'll actually be harder to return to a healthy weight, as well as putting yourself and potentially your baby at risk.

It sounds like your relationship with food and weight has become pretty toxic and is doing you more harm than good now. Well done on contacting your midwife - I really hope she can help you.

wingingit33 · 27/12/2021 12:25

@drpet49 I still have 8 weeks to go so 1.5 stone for my stage of pregnancy is too much. Regarding your comment, does anyone like gaining weight?!

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toomuchlaundry · 27/12/2021 12:27

Concentrate on the health of your baby (and you) not your weight.

Did you have this issue in your previous pregnancies or is this a new anxiety?

howley1 · 27/12/2021 12:36

I think you should learn how people gain weight / fat. it's excess calories to those expended .. unless u think you are somehow magically running your body and growing a baby on 300 calories a day there's absolutely no way you are gaining FAT. you would need to be eating c. 1500 calories plus to a totally be gaining real weight.

thingymaboob · 27/12/2021 12:53

When people don't gain wait (or that much) in pregnancy it's actually because they're losing fat weight in pregnancy (they might have been overweight to begin with or suffering with nausea and vomiting etc) so as a slim person like you (weighing under 9 stone pre pregnancy), you can't compare yourself to women who weigh more than you. As a slim person, your body won't easily lose weight because there isn't much to lose! You've put on a healthy amount of weight for your pre pregnancy weight and gestation.

GinnyBee · 27/12/2021 13:14

you would need to be eating c. 1500 calories plus to a totally be gaining real weight.

No, it's more than that. 1500kcal is roughly maintenance for a small adult woman who has a very sedentary lifestyle, but will be weight loss calories for most. Most women will need closer to 2000kcal to maintain and if they're very active it'll be even more than that. I managed to go from 24 to 22 body fat% and lose an inch from my waist and a couple inches around my hips in 30 days eating almost 2500kcal per day. And I'm pretty petite.

stalkersaga · 27/12/2021 13:17

More importantly...maybe this really, really isn't the thread for a focus on calories and weight loss tips?

Well done for contacting your midwife OP. Please be as honest with them as you feel able and if necessary you can give them your original post to read.

Abouttimemum · 27/12/2021 13:33

I went from 8st 5lbs to 9st 10lbs and baby was born early at 7 months. I went straight back to 8st 5lbs. Baby was 4lb. There’s a lot of other stuff going on in there! If you’re eating healthily for both you and baby then everything will be just fine.

Pitstop1986 · 27/12/2021 14:32

Hi OP,

I totally get where you are coming from. I suffered from an eating disorder for 10 years before becoming pregnant and I found pregnancy a real struggle at first. I was weighing myself every day and watching what I ate for the first few months.

For me, (before pregnancy) my eating disorder was about control and I used it as a coping mechanism. When I felt like things weren't going so well for me, my focus was the number on the scales, the number of calories I consumed. I'd eat too few calories, then end up binging and feeling uncontrollable guilt, often making myself sick afterwards and hitting the gym hard.

At the start of pregnancy, things definitely seemed far beyond anything that I could control. I needed to eat to not feel so nauseous, so from the word go, I had lost control of what I ate, my body was changing, etc. I focussed on that, but in reality, I think that I was finding my whole life changing was the culprit for my feelings. I was about to become a mum. I was growing a new life- one that would be wholly dependant on me. I had to think about others for a change and stop being selfish. Despite being in my 30s, I still had a sort of child-like mentality and I knew that I needed to grow up, but a part of me was wanting to be the carefree person that I was before pregnancy. In addition to the eating disorder, I also used to use alcohol to numb myself, which stopped as soon as I got pregnant, so I had lost another unhealthy coping mechanism. I started weighing every day, tried to restrict my intake, etc. There were many times that I felt guilty. Despite this, I was determined not to make myself sick and try to be healthy for the baby, but it was a daily struggle...

I referred myself to the mental health team as I knew that I needed to change my mindset. Putting on weight was hard, but I knew that if I harmed my baby, I'd never forgive myself.

I can't tell you exactly when the turning point for me was, but I started weighing myself less often and stopped counting calories. I'd get my DH to cook for me or go out to eat, as that way I had no control over how the food was prepared (if I prepared it, there would be no oil, I'd pile my plate with veg to make it look full of volume, but low calorie, etc) once I started letting go of the control and eating intuitively, I started to feel more comfortable in myself. For exercise I'd walk with DH or go to pregnancy yoga, but nothing strenuous and if I was tired, I'd have a day of rest. I also started doing a lot more self care. I booked myself in at the hairdresser's, got weekly/fortnightly massages, did face packs and long baths, etc, plus I did hypnobirthing to help calm my mind and build confidence in myself ready for becoming a mum.

I now consider myself recovered from the eating disorder and I can't believe that after 10 years, I can say that. I may relapse once baby is here, but I'm honestly so much more calm and comfortable within myself. My mental health has never been better and people comment on how much healthier I look.

Wishing you all the best, you've done the first step of recognising that you have a problem and have reached out to the midwife and Mumsnet community for help and advice. Take it one day at a time and try to be kind to yourself. You're growing a human being and that takes it's toll, it's obviously had an impact on your mental health.

RedRobyn2021 · 27/12/2021 14:44

OP I'm so sorry you're going through this, have just been reading your updates

I wish I could help you in some way

Please try to be kind to yourself

shivawn · 27/12/2021 15:05

there's no way 20lbs is baby, placenta and fluid. The baby only weighs about 3lb currently. It's fat.

I went from 61kg to 80kg by 42 weeks pregnant. 5 days after giving birth I was 64kg. It was all baby and other baby related stuff.

closingtime101 · 27/12/2021 15:11

@Pitstop1986 this was very moving to read. I struggle from similar issues and you put this so eloquently - thank you.

AliceS1994 · 27/12/2021 16:54

This is completely normal weight gain at this stage. Overall it really is not a lot of weight (even though it feels like it) and you can loose it in a few months time when it is safer and easier to do so.

As others have suggested, please speak to your midwife about this, you are torturing yourself and setting yourself up for some potentially dangerous mental health issues in the future. They will be able to support you and help you find ways to cope with your last few months until baby is here, whilst still getting an adequate intake for you and baby.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 27/12/2021 17:16

You're going to make yourself and your baby really ill on that level of restriction.

Have you had anorexia/ED in the past? My dd has an ED and everything you've written raises red flags for an ED.

It's normal to gain weight during pregnancy, you're growing a whole new person!!

The obsession with the scales or really unhealthy as well.

Read some of the Tabitha Farrah stuff around fear of weight gain.

wingingit33 · 27/12/2021 17:27

@Girliefriendlikespuppies not an Ed no but I've always weighed myself regularly. If I have a big meal for lunch, I won't for dinner but always been that way, ie one meal can't be more than soup or a sandwich. But think that's pretty normal.

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Notwithittoday · 27/12/2021 17:35

It’s actually hard to know what’s fat and what’s water. I watched in horror as the scales went up and up with my last baby. I wasn’t eating to excess but I went way past the 25 lb mark. Had gained about 3 stone by the end. Baby was measuring smallish, normal amount of amniotic fluid but it must have been in my arms, legs and feet. I lost 2st 7lb 4 days after birth and the rest within the next few months. It was definitely water as I sweated and peed constantly in the week after birth. I would never have believed water weighed that much but it does!

Caspianberg · 27/12/2021 19:37

It’s not fat.

I went from 50kg-70kg. A 20kg (3stone) weight gain.
Ds was born weighing 4kg. Day 2 I went home and weighed 12kg less (aka back down to 58kg). So 8kg worth was baby related stuff that wasn’t actual baby. The other 8kg came off within a few weeks of constantly breastfeeding baby.

wingingit33 · 27/12/2021 19:59

Spoke to midwife and she gave the example of women who have HG and baby still get what it needs. As long as I'm eating little and often then she's happy. Baby is maintaining his growth line and at at 30+3 my fh measurement is 30cm so bang on.

OP posts:
cruffin · 27/12/2021 20:16

bowl of bran flakes for breakfast and two slices of toast and a satsuma for dinner.

That's not exactly little and often is it.

bantuknots73 · 27/12/2021 20:23

I agree with the above post. You're barely eating little and often and it sounds as if you just wanted reassurance that you're not harming the baby (I may be wrong). However there's no indication that the MW has acknowledged the serious obsession with continuously weighing yourself. I hope you actually mentioned how much you're struggling with the reality of putting on weight and you really do need support with that. Justifying to yourself that you're not harming the baby isn't enough at all

NerrSnerr · 27/12/2021 20:26

I don't think the midwife has understood the severity of the situation. Either you haven't told her the whole truth of how little you're eating or she didn't understand. It sounds like you really could do with support from perinatal mental health services.

I would do an e- consult for your GP so it's written down. How often you're weighing yourself, what you eat in a day and how scared you're feeling about gaining weight. I know that it doesn't feel like it's a problem but it could get so much worse when post natal and you need support in place so you can then support your children adequately.

wingingit33 · 27/12/2021 21:06

The weighing myself thing isn't a pregnancy thing. Always done that. I am due to see my GP on Thursday (unrelated) so will discuss then. It is a face to face fortunately.

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Tomlettegregg · 27/12/2021 21:27

You can't lie to the midwife and then say well she's happy and therefore I don't need to change what I'm doing.

Did you tell her you were just eating bran flakes, satsuma and toast? There's also so little nutritional value in there. Be honest with your gp.

I do understand. I had an ED as a teenager and when I fell pregnant I was terrified of gaining weight I couldn't lose. This is your third child so you know that thinking isn't accurate as you've gained and lost weight before.

Like pp I gained 8kg and lost 10kg within 10 days of giving birth (I had hyperthyroidism). Baby was only 3kg. Everything else was placenta and fluid. I wish I had spent less time worrying about my weight.

What helped - husband did the cooking and served proper meals. I ate what I could but he would encourage one more bite each. He'd also bring me snacks like a cut up apple or peanut butter on toast.