Weight Gain

'Ten to fifteen pounds.' The doctor looked me straight in the eye and told me I should gain between ten and fifteen pounds. At my second appointment, I was already up five thanks to some Chinese food indiscretion and a heavy coat.

Surely she was joking. I later told my friend that 10 pounds was the equivalent of a 'bad vacation' and that it was likely my baby alone could weigh that much. However, at my next appointment, the doctor reassured me... they were dead serious.

Your pregnancy weight gain goals are determined by your pre-pregnancy body weight via your Body Mass Index. Here is some great information from the Mayo Clinic.

Gone are the days of eating for two. Exercise up to delivery and healthy eating are now expected parts of pregnancy. Know this, your health care provider will hold you accountable.

This is especially true for women with prior heath conditions. Have high cholesterol? Too much weight gain makes it harder to control. The same goes for high blood pressure and for diabetes. Increased body fat will exacerbate the insulin resistance all pregnant diabetic women cope with. Additionally, too much weight gain can lead to more difficult deliveries and make it harder to induce labor.

At 20 weeks, I've been able maintain my weight after the initial gain, I think largely because I continue to exercise regularly and didn't go crazy with dietary changes... by that I mean I have ice cream every OTHER day.

Scientists would say that I had already laid down the maternal fat stores needed during pregnancy (I am ALWAYS planning ahead), and so didn't need to gain fat like moms who start out at a normal weight.

Either way, it's easy to worry about too much or too little pregnancy weight gain. I frankly didn't believe I would gain any weight if I didn't change my eating habits... but the baby had other plans.