Concerned About Wife’s Pregnancy Weight

[Anonymous]

My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m starting to become concerned with her eating habits and weight gain. She used to be overweight ( about 50lbs) due to a medical issues and lost that weight before we met. She has worked hard with eating healthy and working out to make sure she doesn’t regain that weight. She know she needs to gain 25-30lbs and she is not on track at all. We eat healthy most of the time with 1-2 meals of take out or something less healthy. She has been eating less calories than I think she should be eating and fights her cravings. There have been many times that she had wanted something and said she can’t eat it because it’s “ too unhealthy”. She isn’t at risk or anything but I do worry she is not eating enough and the risk of her potentially passing down these food habits to our child worries me. How can I be supportive while trying to get her help?

[Anonymous]

What trimester? Can you make sure she has more healthy food around? What does she consider healthy? Yogurt, fruit, nuts, vegetables… proteins. It’s a struggle to cook and figure out what sounds appealing when you’re pregnant sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m starting to become concerned with her eating habits and weight gain. She used to be overweight ( about 50lbs) due to a medical issues and lost that weight before we met. She has worked hard with eating healthy and working out to make sure she doesn’t regain that weight. She know she needs to gain 25-30lbs and she is not on track at all. We eat healthy most of the time with 1-2 meals of take out or something less healthy. She has been eating less calories than I think she should be eating and fights her cravings. There have been many times that she had wanted something and said she can’t eat it because it’s “ too unhealthy”. She isn’t at risk or anything but I do worry she is not eating enough and the risk of her potentially passing down these food habits to our child worries me. How can I be supportive while trying to get her help?

Unless she is severely underweight, she does not need to gain 25-30lbs.

[Anonymous]

Is the doctor concerned with what she's eating and how she's gaining?

[Anonymous]

The human body is pretty amazing. I lost a ton of weight (10% of my body weight) during the 1st half of my pregnancy due to severe (very severe) morning sickness. I was panicked - just sure that there was no way I could carry to term, but all was well. As long as you wife is going to the doctor regularly, weighing in and being honest with her doctor about any food issues she is having, she’s probably fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m starting to become concerned with her eating habits and weight gain. She used to be overweight ( about 50lbs) due to a medical issues and lost that weight before we met. She has worked hard with eating healthy and working out to make sure she doesn’t regain that weight. She know she needs to gain 25-30lbs and she is not on track at all. We eat healthy most of the time with 1-2 meals of take out or something less healthy. She has been eating less calories than I think she should be eating and fights her cravings. There have been many times that she had wanted something and said she can’t eat it because it’s “ too unhealthy”. She isn’t at risk or anything but I do worry she is not eating enough and the risk of her potentially passing down these food habits to our child worries me. How can I be supportive while trying to get her help?

Unless she is severely underweight, she does not need to gain 25-30lbs.

??

Both times I was pregnant, starting at a healthy weight, I was told 25-35 lbs was best for weight gain. It’s more if you start under weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m starting to become concerned with her eating habits and weight gain. She used to be overweight ( about 50lbs) due to a medical issues and lost that weight before we met. She has worked hard with eating healthy and working out to make sure she doesn’t regain that weight. She know she needs to gain 25-30lbs and she is not on track at all. We eat healthy most of the time with 1-2 meals of take out or something less healthy. She has been eating less calories than I think she should be eating and fights her cravings. There have been many times that she had wanted something and said she can’t eat it because it’s “ too unhealthy”. She isn’t at risk or anything but I do worry she is not eating enough and the risk of her potentially passing down these food habits to our child worries me. How can I be supportive while trying to get her help?

Unless she is severely underweight, she does not need to gain 25-30lbs.

??

Both times I was pregnant, starting at a healthy weight, I was told 25-35 lbs was best for weight gain. It’s more if you start under weight.

It’s not a “need”. It’s a recommendation so that women don’t gain excessive amounts leading to GD. 25-35lbs isn’t needed to have a healthy pregnancy and baby or all the women who gain much less wouldn’t carry to term or we’d have lot of children with significant health issues.

[Anonymous]

25-35 lbs?!? Every pregnancy I gained 40-50lbs. Lost all but 10 lbs each time.

OP not your business to lecture your wife on weight. Her OB monitors her.

[Anonymous]

How far along is she? How much has she gained? How much did she weigh prior to pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

Much of my weight gain happened at the end of pregnancy. I actually lost about 10 lbs in the first trimester both times. I’d let her doctor monitor this one.

[Anonymous]

My friend who had an eating disorder in college only gained 18 pounds with both of her pregnancies. Healthy babies. I think she still has food issues.

Both pregnancies prompted comments from her OB to eat more/gain more. But she ended up with babies weighing 7-8lbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m starting to become concerned with her eating habits and weight gain. She used to be overweight ( about 50lbs) due to a medical issues and lost that weight before we met. She has worked hard with eating healthy and working out to make sure she doesn’t regain that weight. She know she needs to gain 25-30lbs and she is not on track at all. We eat healthy most of the time with 1-2 meals of take out or something less healthy. She has been eating less calories than I think she should be eating and fights her cravings. There have been many times that she had wanted something and said she can’t eat it because it’s “ too unhealthy”. She isn’t at risk or anything but I do worry she is not eating enough and the risk of her potentially passing down these food habits to our child worries me. How can I be supportive while trying to get her help?

Unless she is severely underweight, she does not need to gain 25-30lbs.

??

Both times I was pregnant, starting at a healthy weight, I was told 25-35 lbs was best for weight gain. It’s more if you start under weight.

It’s not a “need”. It’s a recommendation so that women don’t gain excessive amounts leading to GD. 25-35lbs isn’t needed to have a healthy pregnancy and baby or all the women who gain much less wouldn’t carry to term or we’d have lot of children with significant health issues.

I gained exactly 30 lbs with each pregnancy (not overweight). And developed GD both times. My OB said it was primarily genetic, triggered by the fetus.

[Anonymous]

The baby will take what it needs. You don’t really need to gain weight in your first pregnancy until pretty late.

That said work on improving your family’s relationship with food and weight before you pass fear of food to your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What trimester? Can you make sure she has more healthy food around? What does she consider healthy? Yogurt, fruit, nuts, vegetables… proteins. It’s a struggle to cook and figure out what sounds appealing when you’re pregnant sometimes.

OP here. She is almost in the third trimester. We keep our fridge and pantry well stocked with healthy food. She eats everything you mentioned above. We stick to eating lean proteins, veggies, complex carbs, healthy fats, etc. She doesn’t eat much diary but does eat yogurt regularly. It’s the amount that she is eating that worries me. It doesn’t seem like enough. She also doesn’t eat many foods or won’t treat herself because it’s “ too unhealthy”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What trimester? Can you make sure she has more healthy food around? What does she consider healthy? Yogurt, fruit, nuts, vegetables… proteins. It’s a struggle to cook and figure out what sounds appealing when you’re pregnant sometimes.

OP here. She is almost in the third trimester. We keep our fridge and pantry well stocked with healthy food. She eats everything you mentioned above. We stick to eating lean proteins, veggies, complex carbs, healthy fats, etc. She doesn’t eat much diary but does eat yogurt regularly. It’s the amount that she is eating that worries me. It doesn’t seem like enough. She also doesn’t eat many foods or won’t treat herself because it’s “ too unhealthy”.

If she is that far along then her OB would have made her weight an issue if there was one. Back off.