Trusting Tuesday: Weight Gain

Every time you step on the scale at your provider's office you have some sort of thought.

Have I gained enough weight? Did I gain too much weight? Why did I eat that extra _____? Have I been drinking enough water? Do my shoes really weigh 3lbs? I think my shoes weigh at least 3lbs. WHAT HAPPENED?

Then we go to our appointment and our provider looks at us and tells us we are doing great on our weight gain, or that we need to change some habits in order to gain more/less weight for our next visit.

Is there ever a time where this doesn't happen? Not usually. We often find that we are comforted that our body is doing the right thing if we gain the recommended amount of pounds. When we stay in our recommended weight range we feel better and we learn that we can trust our bodies. Some of us never feel comforted by weight gain, but please, please know that there are reasons you are gaining weight- trust that your body will gain the weight it needs to support a beautiful and healthy baby.

If we are comforted and we trust our body when we gain the right amount of weight- then do we believe our body isn't doing the right thing if we gain an amount of weight that isn't recommended? I am not sure- what do you think?

Sometimes when women loose a lot of weight in the beginning of pregnancy they become very fearful and anxious that something is wrong with their body. There can be concerns when someone doesn't gain very much weight in a pregnancy, but if you start out overweight you may not need to gain as much weight as someone who is underweight when they get pregnant. Also, if you gain more weight than recommended there are fears associated with that as well.

Then why should we trust our bodies and our weight gain if everyone gains different amounts of weight?

Here is a breakdown of the approximate amount of weight that is typical for a normal, healthy pregnant woman.

Baby: 8 lbs

Placenta: 2-3 lbs

Amniotic Fluid: 2-3 lbs

Breast Tisue: 2-3 lbs

Blood Supply: 4 lbs

Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9lbs

Uterus increase: 2-5 lbs

Total: 25-35 lbs

Basically there are reasons we are supposed to gain weight in our pregnancy. Our changing bodies and the growth of a baby require it!

Now on to a quick tidbit- my first baby I gained 35 lbs. On the dot. I worked hard and watched what I ate in order to only gain the recommended amount. My baby was born and she was 7lbs 5 oz. My second pregnancy I watched what I ate but then I ate some more. I didn't cut out the candy and sugar like I should have. I gained 55 lbs! That is 20 lbs more than the first pregnancy. My sweet second daughter was born and she was 7lbs 8 oz. That is 3 ounces more- for 20lbs! Needless to say that 20lbs didn't go to my daughter and I had to work out a LOT in order to get that baby weight off.

Bottom line- trust your body and trust the weight gain.