sudden weight-gain in pregnancy

[Brookstone]

i guess i'm looking for reassurance but......
i had an ante-natal check today. i'm 23 weeks and have put on 8lbs(!!!!) in the last 4 weeks. is this normal? i thought it was quite early in the pg to be putting on such a large amount of weight. midwife mentioned that it might be fluid retention having been drinking a lot during the recent hot weather. would such a weight-gain be very bad for the baby? has anyone any suggestions to minimise further weight-gain as obviously a crash diet is now out of the question! BTW haven't been craving anything sweet!

I put on a ton of weight. So did Catherine Zeta Jones, and even a skinny like Kate Moss got pretty round. I honestly think nobody can predict how their body will react to the hormonal and metabolic changes of pregnancy. Some bodies just seem to lay down weight more than others. I ate really healthily (but couldn't take any exercise) and just got huge. I think you just have to eat healthy reasonably low-fat, low-sugar food and try not to worry. Funnily enough, while i was pregnant I was very happy with my body - it's only afterwards that I've been gutted.

The antenatal care in our area now does NOT include recording your weight for the reason that you are demonstrating here. You are really worrying about your weight gain, but really there is nothing to worry about. Everyone is different and like the midwife says.... it'll most probably be water retention.

Recording weight doesn't seem to serve much purpose but to worry the mother.

I may be wrong though, but that's what my Doc told me. Just eat healthily and the weight you put on will be perfectly normal.

HTH.

thanks M2T and aloha for that instant reassurance! aloha, just like you said, i was feeling very happy about my body til i stepped on those scales! thanks again.

I was quite overweight before embarking on this pregnancy so I have been keeping an eye on my diet and I have taken up the hospital's offer of a dietician's appointment, which was helpful and reassuring. I got some good tips about what constitutes an appropriate portion of pasta or rice, for example (only four tablespoons of cooked product! That was less than I usually have, to my shame, so I felt safe to cut down on that). She also pointed out that if you are getting plenty of fruit and veg in your diet, fruit juice is basically empty calories. I felt like a bit of a klutz but have cut that out too.
Given how hot and muggy the weather has been lately the midwife is probably right - we already have an onboard central-heating system so are bound to be drinking more and then retaining it (round our ankles in my case!). Drinking lots reduces the risk of developing urinary tract infections, so don't cut back on water.
Mention it at your next appointment and keep it on the agenda. I find this is the only way to keep getting reassurance that all is well from a busy community team. If you think your bump is very big for dates, get them to measure it. I think you'd only need to be concerned if the bump was much larger for dates than it should be.
I'd agree with Aloha that some people are genetically predisposed to pack it on during pregnancy, and with M2T that this causes so much stress to mothers that many care providers don't bother with weighing any more.

Oh, yes, I NEVER weighed myself when pg and neither did my midwives. I think it was self preservation! I would have been sad had I known how ginormous I was and instead I was happy.

Oh, and if nothing else fits, invest in some funky sunglasses, that's my tip

Don't worry, you're not alone but be warned the weight gain could continue at this rate. Once I reached 12 weeks, I put on 2 lbs a week until the third trimester, 4 stoner altogether, I lost two stone by the time my baby was a month old though

I have to agree with all. This pregnancy is marked by the fact that I'm not eating a lot. Instead I'm trying hard to ensure that what I eat is good (along with helpful cravings for raspberries and spinach - not together!). I'm still happily piling on the pounds though - a bit frustrating when you don't think you're eating that much. The book I've got says that if you're that worried to look at the top of your legs for guidance however I would agree with others that some of us are simply genetically disposed to put on more and I could have laid money even before dd's pregnancy that I would fall into that category.

Another thing I've noticed is that I DONT put the weight on evenly i.e. I could go a couple of weeks with no weight gain followed by a sudden hit. Not sure why and can't see scientifically what's going on but can say that at almost 30 wks my eating doesn't really reflect gain.

The best approach (and one I've unfortunatley failed at) is not to weigh yourself. After all dieting is really not good so its better to sit back relax and enjoy (but not quite eat for two).

I wouldn't look at the top of my legs, they rub together when I walk, even more depressing!!!!

oh my goodness, windmill,thanks for warning! so i may have another 8lbs added by this time next month- and with 3.5 months to go!!!!!

since i got back from the midwife i've been scrutinising myself in the mirror! thankfully i've no more than usual in terms of the folds of flab on my back and i certainly am all bump. dh thinks any weight increase has gone directly onto bump over the last few weeks. bump is apparently correct for dates, so that's a relief, marina.

i do think that what M2T said is correct. getting on those scales do seem to do nothing but increase unneccessary anxiety (cos i was feeling pretty cool until today). however, knowing that some health authorities are no longer recording weight-gain has certainly reduced my anxiety levels- so much so, in fact, that i'm off out for dinner now!

i can feel the tops of my legs rubbing together but thankfully i can't see the damage-thanks to my bump!

I didn't put on much either time but god it took AGES to go last time, and I'm not anticipating a much quicker return this. I think I'm abnormal in that I don't glory in being bigger - I got very unhappy about my size a while ago, and although I'm better now it's only because I've passed the point of no return!

as a fellow pregnant woman concerned about my wieght gain I have no sensible advice to offer as I have just polished off a tub of Haagen Daz cookies and cream (with dh?s help) after a huge stinking hot curry (with much more than 4 tbs of rice!!) With my first pregnancy i worried non stop about eating too little in the first 3 months and then eating too much for the rest of the time. This time I am trying to eat sensibly most of the time and allowing once a week blow outs if I want them. As long as your mw is happy with your bump size and development my advice is relax and enjoy your food - in moderation. There is enough areas of pregnancy to worry about without allowing food to become another one on the list! Oh, and agree about the scales - chuck them into the attic until the baby has arrived and is at least 6 months old!!

I was weighed at every appointment with dr's and midwives. I didn't worry about it and tried to eat healthily throughout and my weight was fine. But I liked to know just from a curious point of view how much I was gaining. I'm not sure I would have liked to have gone right the way through without once being weighed. But that's just my personal opinion. My cousin gained over 4 stone with both her pregnancies and lost it all very quickly, she also breast fed for 6 months with both her children which of course helps to lose the weight.

I have to say I think breastfeeding works for some women - and very much not for others. I wish it did help with weight, but lots of us (like me) hang on to a fair amount of flab before stopping - the friend from my last antenatal group who is still b/f on demand, over 2 years later, is also still a lot bigger than the other friend who changed to bottle feeding after 3 weeks!

I think it's a myth put about by the b/f lobby...

but motherinferior - how else can you dispose of 600 odd calories a day just by sitting down? Beats exercise classes hands-down.

600 calories is not very much - one piece of cake? all I know is I was fat fat FAT for ages! I'm going to b/f again, I'm just not hopeful about the body beautiful benefits this time.

I think the rate of gain varies through pregnancy - I put on only about 4kg for whole pregnancy but shape changed near the end, ie the baby 'used' most of my calories and she was 8lb 9 1/2 oz at birth. my tum shrunk quickly this time (afterpains during bfeeding much stronger with 2nd pregnancy) but still have 'overhang' bit above c/s scar. I too found breastfeeding helped shed those extra lbs and was actually skinny for a bit around 5mths after dd1's birth
a friend of mine has this theory that women who go back to work don't end up overweight (!) but I'm not so sure..

I'm with you on the b/f side motherinferior! However I think its a bit like normal things as in you either naturally thin or naturally conserving etc etc. I know plenty of people that b/f and lost it all straight away however like you I'm one those people that hung on. It appears that my body really likes the company of fat! 3 weeks after dd was born I was only half a stone heavier. 3 months after she was born I was 2.5 stones heavier. I was eating between 2500 and 3000 calories a day - not brilliantly low but I was gobsmacked at the amount of weight I put on whilst b/f. This time round I'm more concerned about my weight gain post pregnancy than during. It took me over a year to loose that weight!

Bundle - just read yours. Went back to work (cos I had to) when dd was only 3.5 months - so that theory didn't work either!

IKWYM Wills, I read something the other day about how 1 biscuit perday (100 cals) could help add the pounds so that you'd end up obese in no time at all!!! I'm fitting into pre preg clothes now but want to use the breastfeeding as a weight-loss aid and STOP eating quite so much once she's 5 mths or so and the feeding eases off a bit once she's on solids
will report back if it works!

I b/f for a year with DD and ended up 5 stone heavier than before I was pregnant. Of course I didn't get my hypothyroidism diagnosed until 18 months after having DD and I had been ill for that whole time....

I have never lost the weight as my thyroid has never stablilised again. But I'm hoping that as I'm pregnant and the hospital is actually now taking my thyroid levels really seriously (perhaps this is why I have lost 20 kilos since I got pregnant) and I intend to b/f this baby I will actually see some of the that mythic b/f weightloss.