All the curvy ladies

[LuluGray]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I are now officially TTC (which means CBE ovulation tests, but no charting, etc.). I'm about 100 pounds heavier than the high end of my ideal weight, according to BMI charts. I've been trying to lose weight for years and have put off TTC for years in order to try to get down to a particular weight where I think I'll feel comfortable carrying a baby. It's not working. I'm not getting any bigger, but I am yo-yo-ing some and I'm now over 35 and worried about putting off pregnancy any longer. I'm going to keep eating healthy and working out while we're TTC, so it's not an either/or proposition.

I've heard that women shouldn't wait because of their weight (barring any extreme circumstances, of course), and that it's even possible to lose a little weight in a healthy way while pregnant.

Wondering how your pregnancies were if you were heavy to begin with? Did your doctor harass you about your weight? Did you have complications because of your weight (pregnancy or labor)? How was exercising once you reached the second/third trimester? Did anyone actually lose weight? Any input would be greatly appreciated-- interested in the good, the bad, and the ugly (although, I can definitely live without judge-y comments about how I got here, everyone struggles with something). Thanks

 

[msbene]

Hey mama! With my first I was 31 and 300lbs. I tracked my cycles for 4 months (28 days; ovulation on CD16 or CD17). I conceived on the third try. Throughout my prgnancy my ob team kept forcasting doom gloom and terror BUT I had zero complications, zero gestational diabetes, zero high blood pressure. I swam 4 times a week starting in my second trimester. Had an uneventful csection and healed within 4 weeks.

Now am pregnant with my second (at age 36). Conceived on first try. Still in the high 200s weight-wise. So far so good. So YES it is very possible to have a healthy pregnancy while heavy. Have you had any problems with your cycles or ovulation? The losing weight before TTC I've only seen with women who've been unsuccessful conceiving so far. Well good luck to you. Am here for any questions or just for encouragement 😊😊😊

 

[LuluGray]

Hey msbene!

Congrats on the healthy pregnancy! So nice to hear that you didn't have problems with GD or BP. So much of the information I read makes it seem as though those are nearly guaranteed when you're heavy, which of course isn't the case, and it's great to hear from someone who has been through it. Sorry you had your doctors predicting doom and gloom. I'm all about hearing the potential risks, but once they've told me I really don't want to keep hearing about things I can't change once I'm pregnant. Know what I mean? Congrats on baby #2 on the way!

I don't think I've had any trouble with ovulation. Temping didn't go very well for me, so I don't have a few months of temps to look at to see whether I seem to be ovulating as I'm supposed to.

But, my cycles are like clockwork (mostly, with a handful of exceptions) and I always have good ECM for a few days mid-cycle, and sometimes get ovulation spotting and cramping. So, I feel like the signs point to me ovulating without problems. I'm on CD13 right now and haven't gotten the CBE smiley yet, but our plan is to have sex every other day until the smileys and then throw in an extra time on the first smiley.

We're both so excited to even be trying, but it's also a little scary! I've always felt like it was going to be difficult to get pregnant--just one of those gut feelings that's based on absolutely zero evidence!--and, now we'll see. Ahhh!

 

[LuluGray]

Bumped in the hopes that there might be others who want to share their experiences with this...

 

[Palladium]

Hi there! You can definitely get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy while overweight, there are plenty of stories here about it. That said, you should also be prepared for the possibility of weight-related problems as well. This is what happened with me...

I was about 32 when my DH and I started trying, I think I was somewhere around 95kg when we started (sorry not sure how much that is in pounds, but technically I was obese). We tried for around 8 months with no luck, I had started tracking my cycles and figured out that I ovulated late (anywhere from Cd 18-25). I went to my gp and got referred to a fertility specialist and got tested for everything you could imagine over the next year. Blood tests, ultrasounds, HSG, and cycle tracking. Over time we figured out I wasn't ovulating very well on my own. So we tried clomid for a few months which helped a little, but still no luck. I finally had a glucose tolerance test which showed I was insulin resistant (which explained my difficulty losing weight). This is known to mess up or even prevent ovulation, so they put me on metformin. By this stage I was about 105kg, but once I started the metformin I started losing weight like magic, and my cycles suddenly became textbook perfect. After 5 months of that I had lost 11kg and finally became pregnant with my little girl. This took over 2 years total.

My baby was always very healthy through the whole pregnancy but I did have some complications. At the end of the first trimester I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg, which meant I had to go on blood thinners for the rest of the pregnancy and for 6 weeks afterwards (2 injections per day which I had to give to myself). I also had to stay on the metformin to keep my blood sugars under control, but I was lucky and didn't have to go on insulin which would have been more injections. But the metformin meant my baby was born with low blood sugar and had to be given complementary feeds for the first few days. And I had to have a planned induction so we could stop the blood thinners 24 hours before for my safety. Since I ended up needing a c section this was very important, although the c section wasn't due to my weight.

I was able to keep exercising up until 34 weeks with my trainer, we just kept my heart rate below 130 and avoided certain movements. And because of the metformin I didn't gain any weight, I actually weight a little less when she was born than I had before (gained it all back plus more since though). My blood pressure was also perfectly fine through the whole pregnancy.

I never had any negative comments about my weight while trying/pregnant from doctors or anyone else, but I guess that will vary a lot. Just don't let anyone get to you, if you want to have a baby now then go for it, but be prepared for the fact that it might not be easy and could take a while.

So I hope this is helpful to you, good luck!

 

[Dazed125]

I was a "normal" weight with my first and huge problems conceiving, overweight with my second, took 18 months to conceive, obese with my 3rd and conceived the 2nd time we dtd.

It terms of the pregnancy no gd or complications either but i'll be honest and say it is much harder on my body bigger and pregnant and I did have knee hip and pelvis problems towards the end of my second pregnancy (im only 8 weeks pregnant with this one so too early to know!)

Good luck on your journey

 

[TTC74]

I got pregnant about 100 pounds over my ideal weight. It took 2.5 years to conceive and I suffered two losses but I'm also 42. So, that was probably a factor. No harassment from the Dr. The Dr told me to limit weight gain to 15 pounds if possible. So far, so good. I did not get GD or any other complications so far. I do have pretty severe pelvic girdle pain, though. That was not an issue when I was younger and thinner. Good luck to you!