Weight gain

[Cem87]

I am currently 23 weeks and gained 2 stone. I had been dieting before I found out and was completely carb free so feel that returning to normal diet gained me 1/2 stone. But is that a crazy weight gain? I have a really unhealthy relationship with food but am struggling with what to do for the best.

Have you had a lot of morning sickness? I ate loads of carby stuff to stop the sick feeling so put on weight but then it evened out

I had a lot of nausea and yeah ate so much Carby stuff to keep it at bay. I’m so worried about weight gain. I worked so hard to lose before I got pregnant

I was the same but I just had to accept I would gain during pregnancy and it’s okay to do that, it’s normal to do that. Once my babies were born I went back to my before weight

That’s a lot of weight to gain, but I know loads of people who piled on the pounds with no ill effects. If you’re no longer feeling sick, you probably won’t fancy all the carby stuff from here on in. As long as you continue to watch what you eat and keep exercising, you’ll be fine.

I was told you only need extra calories in the last 12 weeks, and even then it’s only 200 a day.

It could be a normal amount of weight gain for your pregnancy (extra blood, fluid, water retention, placenta) etc, or it could be weight gain from gaining fat. It's probably somewhere in the middle of the two.

Going forward if your nausea is at bay, you could try gently monitoring your diet, lowering your carbs again if that what works for you. You can safely lose a bit of weight in pregnancy as long as you are getting sufficient nutrients and calories in.

I have gestational diabetes, so had to overhaul my diet. I'm 36 weeks and only 5lbs heavier than pregnancy booking in weight, baby is healthy and very long. So I'm not saying that to brag about my lack of weight gain as if it wasn't for gestational diabetes I really doubt this would be the case 😂 but just to show babies can still thrive if the mother is losing weight.

But, this is only if it sits comfortably with you, if your current diet feels right, and making changes right now feels like it'll be too tough on your body then you can also just accept you, like majority of women will end pregnancy holding a bit more weight, but, since you've lost weight before, you can do it again once baby and post partum period are over.

I gained about 18kg throughout my most recent pregnancy (think that’s nearly 3 stone?). DD is now nearly 7 months and I’m actually below my pre-pregnancy weight despite not making any effort to lose it, just breastfeeding, walking with the pram and running around after a toddler.

I wouldn’t worry about what you’re eating, the baby tells you what it needs. Just try to eat as good food as you can tolerate and not stress about the quantity.

I wouldn't worry too much. I gained a lot in the first trimester and first half of the second. I'm now 32 weeks and worried I haven't gained enough because it's slowed down so much this past month, I've barely gained anything recently.

You will likely find it goes up and down throughout and if your midwife/ obstetrician isn't worried then it's OK, just go with it.

Also, if you were dieting before then you are going to gain a bit more at first as you are also rebounding from that. I wouldn't even count that first 1/2 stone to be honest because that's just your body readjusting to a normal diet and you would have gained it regardless of being pregnant or not.