Gaining too much weight at 32 weeks?

[Anonymous]

During the first trimester, nausea had me losing weight. In the second trimester, I returned to a relatively normal eating routine (although maybe a little less than I ate pre-pregnancy) and by 28 weeks, I had put on about 12 pounds. But since then my appetite has radically increased and I've been gaining about 1 to 1.5 pounds a week for the past five weeks. For many women, this wouldn't be a problem, but I started out overweight when we conceived (I had been 168 lbs and I'm 5'6") so the doctors don't want me gaining all that much during the pregancy.

One of the three Ob-Gyns in the practice has been giving me a VERY hard time about my recent 1 to 1.5 weekly weight gain, constantly giving me guilt trips that it's not good for the baby or me. I should say that I tested negative for gestational diabetes, my blood pressure is low (100/64 last visit) and I don't have any family history of high birth weight children or anything. But this one Ob-Gyn makes me DREAD getting on the scale at each visit (the other two in the practice don't even mention my weight, but I keep getting scheduled with the weight-obsessed one lately). Anyway, the bottom line question: Do you think I should be putting myself on a little diet for the rest of the pregnancy? And if so, what the heck do I do when these hunger pains start in?

[Anonymous]

I don't think that you should worry about it that much and I don't think that you should put yourself on a diet. Some doctors are more concerned with weight than others, but if you don't have diabetes and your blood pressure is good, then I say just keep on doing the best you can. I have no idea what you are eating, but maybe just watch one or two things that are special weaknesses for you? Like, if you have been finding yourself eating a bowl of ice cream every night, try to cut that down to one night a week or something? For me, when I started to feel like I might be gaining too quickly, I just decided I wouldn't let myself eat french fries anymore -- they are my weakness, I know that carbs put the pounds on me regardless of pregnancy, but I had been letting myself have them because I was pregnant. I just reverted back to my pre-pregnancy style of getting veggies instead, and at my next appointment I had actually lost a pound!

Oh, and drink lots of water -- a lot could be water weight, and counterintuitively, the more water you drink, the less you retain. (For me I also cut out almost all sodas, because the sodium in diet drinks makes me retain water.)

Good luck -- I am sure you are fine!

[Anonymous]

I am also gaining more weight than I should in the 3rd trimester and I was slightly overweight to begin with. My view is that as long as I am eating vegetables, drinking skim milk, eating protein without excessive fat, etc., that's the plan and whatever weight I gain, I gain.

[Anonymous]

First off, you need to set limits with the doctor. Just say thank you, you remind me of this every time I see you but I am eating healthy and exercising and I would appreciate it if you stopped bringing it up. Try to avoid scheduling with the person. Can you book several appts at a time and specifically request not to have him or her?

Second, are you eating healthy? If you are please do not limit your food intake. If you are hungry then eat. Pregnancy is a weird thing where weight gain can happen at inconsistent rates. Also lots of women don't gain much weight in the last couple of weeks.

Third, try not to worry about the overall amount if you are staying healthy. You seemed to have gained maybe 20 lbs at 33 weeks. This is totally fine even if you were a little overweight to begin with. Also you don't say if this is 20lbs from your lowest weight after loss. Please don't be too hard on yourself. You are doing a great job!

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP that you need to set limits with your doctor. There is a line between a doctor expressing a concern, and just making you feel bad. There is nothing wrong with saying, "I appreciate your concern. I'm doing everything I can to lessen my weight gain, but every time I meet with you I am made to feel terrible. Please understand this is a sensitive issue and treat me respectfully."

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for everyone's support and feedback. I will take the suggestion about trying to go back to my pre-pregnancy ways of replacing sweets with veggies and trying to keep ice cream as a once-a-week indulgence. I think that my first-trimester food aversions and nausea made me feel like I had license to eat whatever actually appealed to me during the pregnancy, but now that I'm no longer struggling with the morning sickness, I think I need to resume my pre-pregnancy carefulness.

I also intend to use PP's recommendation to assert myself with the weight-obsessed Ob-Gyn in teh practice. I have always tried to avoid seeing her, but it seems like my schedule and hers are always aligned (fingers crossed that she won't be the one who's on-call when it comes time to deliver the baby!). Tears did well up in my eyes the last time she hammered me about my weight gain (as much as I tried to stay stoic) so she must know it's a sensitive issue, but maybe I need to better communicate with her about this.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

[Anonymous]

By my calculation, you haven't even gained 20 pounds yet and you're 32 weeks! While I have no medical degree, I think your doctor is crazy. 1 pound a week is very, very standard. Even if you continued to gain 1.5 pounds a week (which you probably won't because weight gain usually slows the last couple of weeks), that's only 12 more pounds, which still leaves you well under 35 pounds. I would absolutely not let myself go hungry. Hunger pangs is your body's way of telling you you need food, and your body's taking care of your baby. And this last trimester is when you need protein because this is when the baby's brain is really developing. It's an important time for good nutrition and it seems that you're quite healthy. Here's what I found on where all the weight goes.

Blood 3 pounds
Breasts 2 pounds
Womb 2 pounds
Baby 7.5 pounds
Placenta 1.5 pounds
Amniotic fluid 2 pounds
Fat, protein & other nutrients 7 pounds
Retained water 4 pounds

It sounds like you're doing a great job and need to tell the doc to back off!