Pregnant and overweight

Well I wasn't sure wether to put this here or in the general health thread, (obviously decided here would be ok!) but anyway...

I am pg and quite overweight. This is a surprise pg and ideally I would have liked to lose about 20kg before ttc again, though 10 would have taken me to slightly over my pre pg weight which would have been okay.
At the moment I am 88kg and only 165cm tall, and considering I am about 6-7wks pg, that is already a 1kg gain. When pg with DD i gained a kg a month which was great, but I wasn't as heavy as I am now.
My worry is that I will have DD to look after and I have to come up and down 3 flights of stairs to get to my unit. It is already hard with her and me being so overweight, but I can only imagine being 9mths pg having to carry her up the stairs with shopping...OMG what an image...!
So how can I safely not put on too much weight, or any if I can help it? I am really worried about it, as well as my health and that of my growing bub. Who would be best to see about this, my gp, or a nutritionist etc...does anyone know or has anyone been though something similar?

Hi Kellieem,

With my first i started at 79kg's and got to my heavest of 107 kgs... Not a pritty site... I had gotted down to 83kgs when i fell preg now already i am at 90kgs... My Gp said as i am overweight i have to try not to put on anyweight and it was perfectly safe not to... Main thing he said to me was not to give into cravings, only eat when hungy and try to excercise as much as possible... Climbing those stars sounds like a great way to help...

I walk where possible, got myself a bycicle to ride with my DS and take the stairs where i can etc... Main thing is not to over do it and try not to starve yourself as its not healthy... Eat well, be active and you should have minimum weight gain

Good luck and hope you have a H & H Preg

I got diagnosed with GD at 29 weeks and until then I was putting on weight quiet quickly, I was upto 13kgs already making me 71kgs (I'm 152cm tall) I then had to eat as a diabetic and lost 2kgs in the first 2 weeks and have stayed the same (69kg) for 7 weeks. What I'm trying to say is it's perfectly healthy to eat a low fat, low sugar, low GI diet while pregnant although it's not easy it is possible. I would see a gp and a nutritionist aswell if you can just to help you get the support and guidence but I'm sure you can do it :hug:

Kel...

I can relate to your exact situation.
Prior to my first pregnancy, I got down to my lowest weight around 65kg. Then I piled it on over the 9 months... and after giving birth and losing the excess birth weight - I stabalised around 88kg as well. I rejoined Weight Watchers at that point, and got down to 85kg... when I discovered I was pregnant again!

Like you.. I had a 9 mnth old when I got pregnant a 2nd time. I hadn't lost the weight from the 1st pregnancy... so I was terrified how big I would get with no 2 ! I avoided the scales throughout the entire pregnancy. I ate like crap (as I got the same 16 week morning sickness...and spent 9 months eating maccas and HJ's). I did no exercise at all.

But an hour before giving birth the hospital weighed me... and I was 92kg. I was surprised by that... although heaps of people had said that I looked like I had lost weight (bar the humungeous stomach with the baby inside).

The thing is... with a toddler to run after, and a fair bit of stress for me over the last 6 months... I ate like a pig... and barely put on any weight. I've been a bit nervous to weigh myself since giving birth. I'm still shedding some of the post-birth weight (I had a 2nd c/s).

If you are worried... I think seeing a GP initially, or ideally a dietician if you can would be a great idea. The idea is that you should eat three healthy meals a day, and some healthy snacks in between (fruit etc). But the reality is that if we ate healthy - we wouldn't be overweight to start with. So it may take some extra effort to maintain a healthy eating regime... and really try to do some walking and/or swimming throughout your pregnancy.

Don't stress too much you could be like my SIL - once the m/s kicked in she lost 8 kgs so now at I think 31weeks she is only 2 kgs heavier than she was at the start. I'm 12 weeks and also overweight and I am slightly under my starting weight as I have been eating smaller meals and have been a little off my food even though I don't have m/s. You need to do light exercise like walking and don't eat for two and you should be OK. I think that's a mistake a lot of ladies make - eating way too much - but all the books say you don't need many more calories whilst pregnant. Also the healthier you eat then the less chance there is of you putting on excess weight. Good luck.

:hug: Kel. If I fell pg now, I'd probably go see a dietician or get some help. It is hard doing it all by yourself, so someone who can give you healthy advice and nice meal suggestions might be helpful.
Plus, you and I both need to get those husbands into some child-minding in order to get some excersise into our days ;)

Try not to stress about your weight.... I started at 98kgs with both DD and this baby, I lost, put on and lost and put on through out my pg with DD and this time I have slowly gained 5kgs... Try not to think of being 9mths pg and haviong to carry your little one up stairs, by then she'll be walking and will want to go up holding your hand... great for you as it will be nice and slow!!!

I had GD with DD and ate really well to control it and didn't gain too much weight. This time I have my naughty days but try to eat as well as possible... I try to walk a bit too... I push the pram to the shops to get the milk etc... it helps, and makes me feel much better....

Please don;t feel bad, just relax, enjoy as much as you can and make sure you are eating the right foods and doing as much gentle exercise as you can... (BUT dont go overboard!)

Good luck, and Congrats on the pg.

Kellie I decided with this pg that I was desperate not to put on as much weight as I had with m DD because I hadnt lost all the baby weight, or the 20 kgs I needed to loose before that, so I asked at the hospital to see their dietician- as I was going public I got to see her for free. I am now 40+ weeks and I have only put on 7 kgs for my entire pg, and I am as pleased as punch with myself.
So I can really recommend getting the support of your Dr's and a dietician, as for me it helped to keep me honst.

I started out at 88kg before I fell pg and didnt start gaing weight till in the 20 + wk. I got up to about 110, but was back to 88kg 1.5wks after giving birth - probably from trying to be a supermum straight away. So with your lil one already I'm sure will be a task which will have you burning up what you dont need! HTH

Thankyou for all your comments!
I am quite worried for various reasons, but I'm not going to be silly about it. If I end up putting on another 15, 20kg's then so be it and I will deal with it as it happens and then after I give birth. But I want to really prevent that from happening. As I said I only put on 10 or so kg's with my DD, but I was working full time in a childcare centre (ie, I hardly sat down all day!) and I was walking about three or four times a week to and from the bus stop (about 25mins each time.) I actually went back to my pre pg weight after I had DD, but due to being at home and not doing much but eating ( :rolleyes: ) I have put on 10kg... I am now at home full time, though will be working three days a week next yr until about 34wks or so. So I hope that will help.

Jess, I thought the stairs would keep me fit too, but surprisingly they don't. I'm completely puffed going up them now with my DD i can't imagine being heavier and doing it...I walk about twice a week for about 40min with the pram. I also walk every second day down the shops, which is only 5-10mins, but that's better than nothing I guess.

Tiff, GD is something I ma worried about. I also know there are other risk factors to being overweight and pg, like high bp etc...that's why I really wanted to lose weight before falling pg again.

Jodie, that's great that you only put on minimal weight, I hope I can too. I bet if you jumped on the scales you'd be pleasantly surprised! Especially with a newborn and a toddler. I think I will take up swimming a few times a week. I have a gym membership I can't really use at the moment, so swimming will allow me to use it up but not go too overboard.

Satya, I am one of the lucky ones that doesn't really get m/s. I feel a little nausious, but not so bad I can't eat and it doesn't last long. Though I have had lack of appetite lately, only eating breakfast lunch and a small dinner, no snacking when usually I have a snack in between each meal.

Amy, DH and I had a big d&m about me being pg and working, etc...and I think he kind of understands how daunting this is for me. I will go see my gp and ask about seing a nutritionist or dietician.

Mel, I hope I an only put on 5kgs at 30+wks! I'm not exactly stressing about it, but I want to do what I can to stay well and give bubba a good start, iykwim?

Ali, I will ask about the hossy dietician, as money is an issue for us too. Congrats on only gaining 7kg that's great, it really would be all baby! Good luck with your birth, wooo any day now! I bet you can't wait...

Again, thankyou everyone for you advice, I appreciate it :D

Kel,
I started this pregnancy at about 98 kgs and so far have managed to gain a little over 2.5 kilos and at 33 and a bit weeks I'm rather proud of myself. I havent denied myself anything but I do try not to eat huge meals. I just seem to pick all day, mainly on healthy stuff but Crunchie's are my downfall. I ended up buying the snack bag and getting my partner to hide them LOL. I was hoping that the not so big of a weight gain would mean that this bubba would be smaller (the other two have both been over 10 lbs and no I didnt have GD) but I had an ultrasound yesterday and she is already weighing in at about 5 lbs 9. Oh well at least they come out with a head start. ;)

maybe it was this thread that prompted me... but this morning I got on the scales. I was a bit nervous.
I think my pre-pregnancy weight was around 85kg.
I nearly died when I got on the scales this morning and it said 81.5kg !!!
woo hoo !!!

Although I had a c/s less then 4 weeks ago... I'm feeling fantastic. So now i might be tempted to do the new years "eat well & exercise" resolution.
I'm turning 40yo in February. I definately won't be anywhere near my goal weight (62kg)... but if I'm good over the next 8 weeks - I won't be at my absolute heaviest.

My DH has put my boxing bag up in our new house... and I've got a sauna here too! (moved into a 70's house!). I might punch the bag, do some skipping, jog around the little yard, then chill out in the sauna.

I weighed 107kgs when I fell pregnant with Julia and was told to see a dietican, she put me on a low GI diet. i was told I would probably end up with GD as I had high insulin resistance before pregant so had to make sure I ate well and excerised. So I ate low GI and walked every day for 30min to 1hr after work etc and only managed to gain 3kgs the whole pregnancy which was wonderful. A month after the birth I weighed 97kgs (down from 110kgs when giving birth) and then a month after that I weighed 87kgs. managed to keep it off until 3 months ago :( but just got pregnant again! and weigh 95kgs now already eek... so have to try hard this time but its so hard with a 1 year old and being home full time and I just feel I dont have enough time to exercise and eat healthy, I have to make an extra extra effort, so far not going too well.. so I understand your frustrations.

Hi KellieM

I was overweight when I became pregnant and also had a pelvic problem which means I can't exercise. Despite this, four months after the birth, I am 5 kilos less than when I became pregnant.

So it's possible to keep weight gain to a minimum (I only put on 6 kilos in total). Have a look at what you're eating and figure out how you can change it. I was eating fairly healthily but I was eating too much, especially as I didn't need the amount of food I was consuming because I wasn't exercising. Some people don't eat too much but they eat the wrong stuff - lots of fried food, junk etc.

Good luck with it all!

I was already in the three digits when I fell pregnant (having never lost my pg weight from my DD1 9 years ago) and saw a dietician as I feared gaining the same amount again (and never losing it) and also I was worried about being high risk for GD. Basically she put me onto a low-GI diet, taught me about good portion sizes, and off I went. Couldn't do much exercise after the three month mark as I got SPD pretty badly and was in too much pain, but eating well I was able to limit my weight gain to about 10 kg. Three months post baby I've lost all bar 1.5kg and weight is still heading downwards thanks to good habits i learnt in pregnancy & breastfeeding.

I can understand what u r feeling as i weighed about 84kg when i found out i was pregnant a few weeks ago so i was also worried about putting on to much.I'd actually got down to about 72 kg earlier in the year but had put it back on over winter.When i went back to the docs though i weighed 82.4 kg so i'd actually lost weight,i couldn't believe it!
I've just had to tell myself to not worry too much try to eat healthy & do some exercise & if i put on too much,oh well i'll just have to work harder later on.
I'm really trying to eat well & not have too much chocolate or junk food.
I think it helps that sometimes i feel too ill & can only manage some soup & an apple:lol:
Just try ur best,don't obsess over it other wise u will just stress urself out too much.
Walking is good,& maybe u could find some water aerobics classes or something like that as they r low impact.I think they have special classes for pregnant woman too:)