Weight gain

Hi there,

I am just wanting a little bit of a vent and perhaps some reassurance. I have always eaten really well and made sure during this pregnancy I have eaten especially all the right things and not too much etc, milk, cheese, fruit, nuts etc. I have been continuing exercise too. I was 55kg when I had my first weigh in and now at 38 weeks I have jumped up to 76kg (21kg!). From what I have read the average weight gain should be only 10-15 kg so I am really worried about not being able to shed this baby weight. Especially since on some site I read that excess weight gain in pregnancy can mean continued weight problems afterwards. I know my priorities are definitely to have a healthy happy baby and I am probably being a little hormonal about it, but I have always been quite small (and short) and just wonder what other people's experiences are with the weight gain and loss. Sorry, hope I don't sound vane or anything!
Thanks,

Try not to stress about it. With DS I went from 50kg to 75+kg (I stopped weighing myself after that). I got married at 6 weeks after baby and was only 10kg heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight and by about 3months I was back to my normal weight.
I figured that my body needed the extra weight to feed DS both during the pregnancy and afterwards with breastfeeding.
My SIL put on a lot of weight in her pregnancy too and went back to her pre-pregnancy weight very quickly.
The guidelines are just guidelines and you sound like you are a healthy and active woman, which of course is the main thing

i put on 18kg with my first pregnancy before i stopped weighing myself, lost 14kg in the first week - most of it was fluid! especially being a summer baby, my legs sweated for days afterwards

was only 4kg up on my pre pregnancy weight after the first week

I was just over 70kgs when I got pregnant and stopped weighing myself at about 38 weeks when I got over 90kgs! I was lucky and the weight dropped off pretty quick and was down to 70kgs after about three months.

I'm 55kgs and my MW has told me in no uncertain terms that I should only put on 10kgs. Talk about pressure!

I've put on a heap for me this pregnancy, BUT I did start way lower than what I was with my other pregnancies.

Lucky Red....only 10 kg??? I'm picking that you are really short for her to say that? I've put on 10kg so far & I've still got 10 weeks to go And there is no way I've put on much "fat" either.

I think EllaKereru, that if you're eating well & exercising well, you'll bounce back after bubs is born & if you continue to eat well & exercise when you can the weight will come off. You'll automatically loose a huge amount straight after the birth due to baby (obviously) but also the placenta, fluids & the sheer effort that your body goes through to push a baby out. Depending on how long your labour is, you could equate that to continuous exercise.

I was 51 kg to start - stopped weighing myself at 72 kg with a few weeks to go. Had LOADS of fluid. 2 weeks post partum was only 7 kg heavier and by three months was 1 kg lighter than when I started - I put it down to BF (was only going for walks with the stroller). I worried about it, but next time I'll just not weigh myself! Interesting I still can't fit my wedding ring - I think my finger joints enlarged as there certainly aint any fluid left!

That just sounds... unusual. I mean, I think they say 12kg is a very normal gain, and I'd imagine most ladies of a 'standard' weight gain that or a bit more. If you're smaller, and have a tendancy to gain more anyway, that's basically setting you up to either stress out lots or starve yourself...

Don't worry, I'm not going to stress myself out over it! I'm going to try to eat healthily and exercise once I get past the ms and just see how I go. I doubt I would even monitor my weight gain, I'm not a scales kinda gal.

Yes, she was basically insinuating that women were gaining too much weight which means a bigger baby.

LR I am baffled your midwife would say that to you! I've put on 20kg (give or take) and the only thing my midwife said to me was 'be careful, its you that has to lose it all'. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am that I haven't put on any weight during my pregnancy. Haha... If only they knew!
I know short girls that haven't put on much weight and they have had big babies, over 9lbs. I know tall girls who have stacked on the beef and their babies were only little. So who knows - just eat what you want. I did, was fun