Overweight and Pregnant?

[~mamaspice~]

Hi Guys, I just wanted to call on the experiences of those who were or are overweight and pregnant.

How did your pregnancy and birth pan out? Was it a breaze or did you have probs.

I was about 20 kgs overweight when I fell pg with DD. Had a trouble free pg until the last 6 weeks where I developed high BP and PE, resulting in a CS at 38 weeks.


Would love to hear your stories.

[Trillian]

I was just over 90kg going into my last pg and it caused no problems for me what so ever. But I'm not inclined to get high BP either so that was never an issue for me. My birth was fine as far as my weight went, no trouble at all. Although it is always in your best interest to try to be as healthy as you can be going into a pg.

[visitor1]

1st and 2nd pregnancy were great. Main issue was m/s....but nothign to do with being over weight

Although in the first i got high BP and swelling but the dr said that was due to me moving interstate late (34 weeks). Both labours were trouble free vaginal births. DD1 did however need vac extraction due to be not being able to walk around and giving birth laying flat on my back.

With Jasmine my GP atacked me every time i seen him about my weight and heaven forbid if i gained weight..even 200gm he would give me the lecture. I was pretty much told to LOOSE weight while i was pregnant to avoid gaining it.

I soon changed doctors and my new one laughed at what i told him. He beleives any woman can be pregnant despite size, but outlined the dangers and increased risks i carried. Done it in a nice way though, not rude and in my face ways. I respected that.

I wont deny im fat and possibly putting my life and bubs at a higher risk...but i always watch carefully for signs of things.

[~mamaspice~]

Hi Girls, thanks for your replies. Trillian I was about 89-90 kilo's too when I fell pg with DD and the top end of my healthy weight range is 69.
Kimbaz, what a nasty GP. I'm glad you found a nicer one.

When I was pg my OB never weighed me, not sure if it was because she was trying to be sensative to the fact that I was overweight. I put on 13.5 kilos' while pg which wasn't too bad. I probably would have put on less if I didn't eat vanilla slices and macadamia chocolate in the last few months of pregnancy.
Not sure if the high BP and PE was actually linked to my weight as they are now saying it could be more of an immune thing where your body rejects your partners dna and causes a defect in the placenta. It wouldn't surprise me, considering I already have an auto-immune disease.

I know it would be best for me to lose 20 kilo's before TTC, but I am really itching to fall Pg again. I've just started a low fat eating plan and I'm walking 4-5 times per week so I guess that will help with my body getting healthier. Also next time, I am going to do my best to resist the vanilla slices and chocolate.

Kimbaz, did you put on much weight with your second pg? When one of my friends was pg with her 3rd she was 89 kilos to start with. This was about 7 years ago and back then Weight Watchers would allow you to go there if you were pregnant - they just allocated extra points (I think 7 extra per day) for you to eat. Anyway, she weighed 89 kilo's when she was about to pop, so she did well and she had a healthy bubba.

Does anyone else out there want to add their bit? I doubt we are the only 3 on BB considering 40% of our population is overweight.

[sweetpea678]

I started all of my pregs between 83-88 kilos, first two had pre e but third i have just over one week to go and now not a sign of pre e and the births were fine. Hoping this one will be two.

so i don't think being overweight makes a huge difference at all.

[Trillian]

Unless you are already unwell, or have a predisposition for certain conditions (BP etc) then I think the majority of women who are overweight would get through a pg with no trouble at all. Sometimes the BP can be linked to you weight, because your body has to work harder to carry you around etc, but I think with BP you either get it or you don't - just as you would when you aren't pg kwim?

I was in a healthy weight range with my first bub, gained 24kg and lost it all before 2nd pg. with that pg I gained 27kg and lost all bar 10kg. I was still 10kg heavier at the start of my 3rd pg, gained 20kg and lost around 12 kg. So I was 20kg overweight heading into my 4th pg too. Being as healthy as you can be doesn't necessarily mean losing weight as such (but that is always a good thing if you can) but eating well and looking after yourself in general. I had plans that I would lose the weight before TTC #4, but thought if I did that, then I would be at a slightly higher risk of putting on more weight than I was meant to for that pg as my body reacted to being pg kwim? Similar to the effect of yo-yo dieting. I have lost all but 3kg of the 16kg I put on with last pg.

[dust]

with DD (2003) i weighed 85kgs and the last recorded weight was 99kgs and that was about half way!
(i was 20 turning 21 that year)altho i had bad all day sickness and couldnt eat or smell anything but toast for those weeks..

i was really embarrassed by my weight, im pretty sure i weighed at home and found i was in the 100s towards the end.. so there was relief that they werent weighing me at docs or midwife (shared care) the midwife one was horrible a old one where they have to move weights and stuff??!! first time id seen one!!no one said a single thing about eating right (pre-natal depression was more the agenda they were pushing at the time. dont know why).. my bp was fine all thru preg.. all went well for the birth only intervention thingy was the synoticin(sp?) to deliver placenta & just a graze, 10hr labour in full, 30mins pushing. DD was 8 pounds 10, height 52cm, 35?? or 37??cm head circumference (from memory)

round two (current) i was preggas at 95kgs and promised myself not to go past 110kg! ive been craving crap, addicted to chocolate.. not eating as well as i should! I walk everywhere but have found that with DD patience, energy it all gets drained much faster than the first time around.. for the last 5 weeks ive been bouncing around 109kgs to 113kgs. All my weight has gone to my butt, thighs!! honestly!!!! ive turned into a complete pear shape!!! Altho i havent been having "normal" prenatal check ups, when ive visited the GP for other stuff(like excema and mole checking) (since the initial preggy ones, he isnt a shared care dr) my BP has been checked and all in the good range. I feel great!!!!! im checking my ankles, hands and face for fluid retention, making sure i get enough sleep and try to walk every day (kinda easy to do when ur without a car)

however, theres a 5 year gap between pregnancies.. initially i did want DD to have a good start and a nice gap (which both DH and me feel we missed out on having siblings so close) and then it was in the mindset that i loose weight and have a baby i did ww (without meetings, support from diff forum) and got back to pre-preggy weight... then piled it back on and off again 10kgs for awhile... then had to wait as moving interstate (everything was uncertain & stressful).. then took 6 months to concieve when we finally settled here in SE melb (which by then id lost faith in the 'boys' diet thing of no chocolate.. seriously didnt last very long pfft!! what was i thinking?!!)

im actually pretty happy with the weight i have put on, as i know it could have been much more.. i honestly did have a complex about not having a 'celebrity' pregnancy where they still can wear bikinnis & still look great in anything.. but for my sake, im glad i accepted my shape and have learned to love my bump!

[visitor1]

Kimbaz, did you put on much weight with your second pg?

With my 2nd i gained 7.8kg compared to 18kg with my first (which all i lived on was lettuce leaves, passionfruit, strawberries, mangoes and tomatoes cos thats what i had cravings for). With 2nd i lived on junk food and the occassional strawberry and mangoe fetish again!

[Doing my best]

Hi,

Can't believe I am writing this, but I was just over 100kgs when I fell pregnant with DD, but I lost weight through much healthier habits and was 98 kgs the day I had DD.

I got high BP at about 28 weeks which I had to take medication for, but was off it at 32 weeks. Otherwise no other health issues.. But OB was always telling me that you are supposed to gain weight, not lose it while PG.. But I always get things mixed up.

[mummy of many]

Hi all, I too was overweight for my pg`s except the very first,i was only 20 years old then,now that iam 35 and had four more bubs,i was considered over weight by my Doctor who said i should be 67 kilos,yeah....Iam a big bone girl, like all my family,got the dinasaurs genes,lol. I also tipped the scales of just over the 100kg mark,but trying hard to get it off.My last two pg`s i ate Subway alot when i had to go out,but lucky for me i had salad cravings. My last pg`s i only gained 8 kg,but had to be strict with myself.I must say i did cop alot of crap from the clinic at the hospital about my weight but i never suffered any medical problems with any of my pg`s,i suppose i was lucky.I had four vaginal births and one c-section for my last baby,all went well. Big girls have feelings too !Not all of us can look like a model,and i don`t intent to try.

[MrsFabuloso]

I had a pretty easy pg with my dd. I was about 75kg's (and 165cm tall). This time it's been more difficult. I have put on weight since being a sahm- about 10kg. So when I fell pg I was about 85kg, and not doing nearly as much exercise as I was when I was pg with DD. I was walking about 30-40mins almost every day then. Now I'm lucky to get in one 40min walk a week, and I'm eating alot more cr@p.
This pg has been harder in terms of doing things like walking up and down my stairs (I live on a 3rd floor unit), and now I'm getting so much bigger than last time I find it hard to do everyday things like sweeping and mopping and running around with DD. But my blood pressure is fine and so is everything else in terms of health, though my back is playing up alot more than last time too, and I have been to see a physio, who has given me a support thing to wear. I have only put on about 5-6kgs though, so it must be the weight I put on between pg's which is causing the difficulties.
I would definately say if you can, lose some weight, though it's not the end of the world if you don't. And doing exercise is a great idea even if you don't lose weight. There's nothing to say that you wouldn't have had the problems you had even if you weren't overweight.