Nikko88
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I've struggled with my weight all my life. Puberty combined with depression to land me squarely overweight before my 16th birthday. At my peak adult weight, I reached 207 pounds. It took 6 years to lose 60 pounds.
So when I got pregnant for the first time, I really struggled with the weight gain. I did everything in my power (within reason) to accommodate the first trimester nausea without too many excess calories. I exercised as much as I could even running until week 28 and hiking mountains right up through my due date.
I still gained 37 lbs. I was lucky enough to start out at a 'normal' BMI. So I wasn't too far off the mark. Within a month, I lost 20lbs. Within 6 months, I was withing 4 lbs of my per-pregnancy weight.
Then pump weaning and FTM-ness took it's toll and added more pounds to my total.
I started this pregnancy out at 10 lbs over weight. So I should only gain 15-25 lbs total, right? Well, I'm 12 lbs up at 14 weeks and expecting a boy who appears to be growing really well.
I'm terrified of hitting 200lbs again. I'm worried about how hard it will be to struggle back to that normal BMI with two kids. I hate when my husband or midwives try to give me advice about my weight or my eating habits, which while not perfect are carefully considered.
Another post about a woman who wasn't gaining weight despite her normal baby growth really drove home the fact that we are all different and will gain weight - or not - at the pace our body and baby dictate. Shy of gorging or starving, all we can do is listen to out body and try to make the healthiest choices we can.
As a scientist, I wondered where this normal pregnancy weight gain range I've been obsessing over comes from. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine published a brief titled 'Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines' with that weight gain table I see everywhere separated out by BMI categories. Never mind that BMI is a horrible way of measuring health. The findings in this brief that many midwives and doctors hold up are gospel are based on the findings of a panel that decided BMI was a better way of determine weight gain categories than the previously used Metropolitan Life Insurance tables. They also lowered the weight gain recommendations to take into account the baby's and mother's long term health.
My point? I learned wile trying to figure out how many ounces to pump for my daughter that babies aren't robots. They don't have just one ideal consumption target that remains constant. Similarly pregnant woman aren't robots. We are all unique individuals with different genetic and environmental factors affecting our lives.
I'll gain the weight I gain. I need to accept that. I'll still at well and exercise as I can, but I'm not going to mentally berate myself or let anyone else do so because I'm not conforming to a panel of experts' best guess.
So when I got pregnant for the first time, I really struggled with the weight gain. I did everything in my power (within reason) to accommodate the first trimester nausea without too many excess calories. I exercised as much as I could even running until week 28 and hiking mountains right up through my due date.
I still gained 37 lbs. I was lucky enough to start out at a 'normal' BMI. So I wasn't too far off the mark. Within a month, I lost 20lbs. Within 6 months, I was withing 4 lbs of my per-pregnancy weight.
Then pump weaning and FTM-ness took it's toll and added more pounds to my total.
I started this pregnancy out at 10 lbs over weight. So I should only gain 15-25 lbs total, right? Well, I'm 12 lbs up at 14 weeks and expecting a boy who appears to be growing really well.
I'm terrified of hitting 200lbs again. I'm worried about how hard it will be to struggle back to that normal BMI with two kids. I hate when my husband or midwives try to give me advice about my weight or my eating habits, which while not perfect are carefully considered.
Another post about a woman who wasn't gaining weight despite her normal baby growth really drove home the fact that we are all different and will gain weight - or not - at the pace our body and baby dictate. Shy of gorging or starving, all we can do is listen to out body and try to make the healthiest choices we can.
As a scientist, I wondered where this normal pregnancy weight gain range I've been obsessing over comes from. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine published a brief titled 'Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines' with that weight gain table I see everywhere separated out by BMI categories. Never mind that BMI is a horrible way of measuring health. The findings in this brief that many midwives and doctors hold up are gospel are based on the findings of a panel that decided BMI was a better way of determine weight gain categories than the previously used Metropolitan Life Insurance tables. They also lowered the weight gain recommendations to take into account the baby's and mother's long term health.
My point? I learned wile trying to figure out how many ounces to pump for my daughter that babies aren't robots. They don't have just one ideal consumption target that remains constant. Similarly pregnant woman aren't robots. We are all unique individuals with different genetic and environmental factors affecting our lives.
I'll gain the weight I gain. I need to accept that. I'll still at well and exercise as I can, but I'm not going to mentally berate myself or let anyone else do so because I'm not conforming to a panel of experts' best guess.
