Eating For Two
Posted on May 29th, 2009 – 11:32 AMBy May Chen
Pregnant women should eat for two, right? Unless you were already eating for two before you got pregnant…
New weight gain guidelines are out for obese women who get pregnant. They were previously advised to gain at least 15 pounds, with no upper limit. Now they’re told to gain 11 to 12 pounds.
Click here for the story. (Sorry about the bizarre transition to the bacteria story…)
Seems these guidelines change all the time. My mother-in-law, who is petite with a tiny waist, and in NO WAY close to obese, was told to gain no more than 20 pounds when she had her babies 40 years ago. When I had my two, it was 25 to 35 pounds for women of normal weight. I came in right bang at 30 pounds with both kids.
(Three years after the second, I still have 3-5 of those pounds sitting around my waist…sigh.)
How much did you gain with each pregnancy? (And have you lost it again?)
22 Responses to "Eating For Two"
I gained around 40 lbs with my first pregnancy when I should have gained closer to 25. At the time the weight gain felt really out of control, like nothing I did would slow it down. Now that 15 pounds of it are still hanging around, I really, really wish I was more careful when I was pregnant.
I gained 48.5 pounds with my son and no one said boo about it…I wasn’t obese to begin with, but I wasn’t at my ideal weight either. I did lose all the weight, but then after about 3 years I gained about 20 back. So, this time around I am 20 pounds heavier at the start and am trying very hard to keep myself under control. I have a hight BMI and still, no one has said anything about my weight. I think a lot of it also has to do with the build of the person, activity level, bp, etc. You can’t just slap a label on everyone based one just one thing.
With my second pregnancy, I was so sick that by the time I delivered, I was still not back up to my pre-pregnancy weight. It’s not a weight-loss plan I’d wish on anyone! With my third pregnancy, I started walking regularly early on, because I was anticipating gestational diabetes again. So with my third pregnancy, I think I officially only gained about 5 lbs. My problem was that after I delivered, I felt so much better and didn’t have to worry about the diabetes any more, so even though after I delivered I dropped 20 - 25 lbs, I gained it back quickly, like my body wanted to be back to normal.
I was obese before my first (and only) and gained too much. (60) Though most of it could have been from the pre-eclampsia at the end. Realistically, it was likely closer to 30 pounds of real weight. Two years later and I’m 10 pounds below pre-preg weight.
I think saying obese women shouldn’t gain as much isn’t looking why they are obsese or overweight. Too often people (including Dr’s) just see someone and assume you over eat, or don’t exerise. In a lot of cases (including mine) it is much more complicated. The guidelines over simplify something that should be part of treating a whole patient better.
I’m a runner, and I continued running 20-25 miles a week throughout my pregnancy. And guess what, I still gained more than the recommended amount (about 40 pounds). I ate when I was hungry, but I also made sure that my diet was well balanced. I had a healthy baby and within 6 months was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.
I think women shouldn’t worry so much about how much they do or don’t gain. Focus on WHAT you’re eating. Fill your tank with REAL food. And stay off the scale.
I was at a healthy weight when I got pregnant the first time and gained 50 lbs. I was terribly nauseous and eating seemed to make me feel better. I think I was eating a little something every two hours, and waking in the middle of the night to eat too! I really don’t know what else I could have done though. I lost all but 5 lbs. of it before getting pregnant with the second one. During that pregnancy I gained 45 lbs, putting me exactly where I was the first time. Now I am back to my normal weight again. I think my body was just doing what it had to do. I’m glad my doctor never made a big deal out of it either.
I gained 42 pounds with both pregnancies. The first time around I kind of used the pregnancy as an excuse to eat things that weren’t as healthy for me. For example the can of Pepsi and snickers bar I had for my afternoon snack every single day of my 3rd trimester.
The second time around I tried not to gain as much and although I ended up gaining the same amount, the foods I was eating were much more nutritious for me and the baby. So I agree with Molly that it is more important WHAT you are eating than how much weight you gain.
This time around I’m trying to get fit and healthy before I get pregnant so that I will have a fitness routine to stick to and will weigh less when I start out.
[…] Cribsheet – […]
Molly sounds like a wise woman.
I *wish* I could blame the extra love around my waist on my pregnancies (gained around 35 for both). Truth is I lost that weight. What I have now is due completely to my mouth (and my sitting).
I hate the attention ‘post-baby’ bodies gets in the pop media these days and love the honesty of some celebs who say they lost the weight because they have a nanny and a personal trainer who comes to their house. And probably a chef.
Amen, Sherry! And Molly too.
I gained at least 50 pounds with both pregnancies. I was very depressed all the way through both, and ate to combat it. I don’t recommend this approach! Of course, I am paying for it now.
But now that the youngest is 2, it is getting much easier to go do something about it! I have dropped two sizes since I started triathlon training four months ago.
You know, many in the birth professions are frustrated when these recommendations come out, just like we Cribsheeters are, too. The focus is on pounds gained, not health. You can eat ice cream all day and gain the weight you need, but that doesn’t make it healthy. Or, you may be eating healthy but gain more than you “should.” That woman then feels pressure to diet. Dieting while pregnant isn’t good.
I believe the focus should be on healthy eating instead of pounds gained.
Before I got pregnant, I was overweight. I weighed 204. I gained 13 lbs with the pregnancy of my son. I had a c-section and within 3 weeks afterwards I had lost 35 lbs. I just chalked it up to crazy pregnancy hormones. I guess I was just lucky. I have been able to maintain 182 for the 8 months since my son was born. I’m hoping to lose even more.
Although, I was lucky and had a good experience with weight gain during pregnancy, I hate the focus that is put on women needing to return to their pre-pregnant body as fast as possible. Everything is so different and having a baby is such a huge life change that I think it takes more time to lose than to gain it all. People should be less critical.
c sections I think lead to greater post baby weight loss because of both new momming and healing at the same time. I gained 18 lbs during pregnancy (I was overweight, but my dr said he didn’t care and told me to have 25. I just never quite managed to gain like they thought I should), and still had all of that weight when I left the hospital 3 days later, thanks to the magic of 72 hours of pitocin once you threw the induction and the csection recovery together. But about a day later I started going to the bathroom , and within about a week I had urinated myself down to 10 lbs under where I was when I got pregnant. That 10 lbs came back slowly over the next 12 months, until I was back where I was when I got pregnant.
Now that we’re trying for #2 I decided to take the time that we’re spending to get healthier for the second. But I am pretty sure where ever I end up if it ever takes, my dr will probably just say do whatever you did last time and don’t get worked up about anything.
Of course, at the rate we’re going, I could be down 40 lbs from where I started last time, it’s taking so long 
Kim, Thank you so much for your comment. I am 11 weeks, and I feel like the only way to not feel nauseous is to be eating, and I feel really pudgy already. I don’t want to blow up, but I’m so tired of feeling like I could lose my meal at any time. I’m hoping in a couple of weeks I will start feeling better and can eat better while controlling my intake.
I was overweight to begin with and gained alot of weight with my first child. I ate whatever I wanted which was not always good food choices. I ended up 2 years later finally losing the baby weight. I am now pregnant with twins and weight is not an issue with my doctor. I have more of an issue with my weight and can not wait to go running after my c section and being on bedrest.
I gained 10-15 pounds with each pregnancy (a singleton of my own and then surrogate twins). I am generally a slender person and eat very healthy. I get frustrated with people who love to find any excuse in the world to eat for 10 people while they’re pregnant and pretend like they were totally healthy yet this weight just magically appeared. The fact is, people gain too much weight because they’re putting too much in their mouths and not being active. I don’t advocate for running marathons while pregnant (well, some people can do it, just not most!), but doing light exercise is still necessary.
Erika-
I don’t know that you can say ALL people that gain a lot of weight is just because they are putting “too much” in their mouths and not being active. I think it’s probably a little different for everyone.
Thankfully my doctor never said a word about my pregnancy weight gains! Like 35-40 for each of them! Being pg was sooo hard as it was, it would have killed me to have to worry about gaining weight too! I had gestational diabetes & was trying so hard to focus on keeping the babies healthy with eating the right combos of things and 4 daily shots of insulin - YUCK! (Not to mention - like Kim & Mandy) I had to be eating all of the time in the first trimester to keep the nausea at bay!) All of us are different and carry weight differently as well - these guideline numbers drive me crazy! As a mother of a 3.5 year old girl who has already inquired if eating ice cream will make her *FAT* I need all of the help I can get to reinforce the facts that there is no ‘right’ # to weigh for any one person - it really should be all about being healthy, active, confident, etc…
I gained about 30 lbs during my pregnancy, now 5 months later I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. The dr. said that was good. But, what I’m struggling with is I am NOT back to my pre-pregnancy body. I feel like the scale is lying because my clothes still don’t fit. I’m thinking some of it has to do with nursing as my chest is much larger than before. But my pants don’t fit either. Maybe it’s the loss of muscle, who knows, but it is frustrating.
I got back down to my prepregnancy weight in between babies 1 and 2, but I never fit back into my old jeans again. I think when you go through pregnancy and childbirth, your hips widen. So it’s better to pay attention to how you feel, rather than what size you are.
I gained 43 pounds with each of my 2 pregnancies, and I was about 15-20 pounds overweight at the start of each. I was amazed that I gained the exact same amount both times, and 2nd time around I tried to eat healthier. It seems our bodies knows what they’re doing. I lost all the weight after both my daughters were born, and last year I finally dropped the other 15-20 pounds through diet and exercise and it feels great!
I gained 50 pounds with each kid. I lost it all after the first. The second is only 6 months old, so I’m not quite there yet, but I’m on my way. I ate healthy and tried to get some exercise, but I put on a LOT of water weight in the last 6 weeks or so each time. That kind of skewed my scale results. But, that weight peeled off so fast each time — like 30 pounds in three weeks. So I figure I gained more like 20 “real” pounds with each one. Not so bad.
