Weight Gain during Pregnancy with Type 1

Are there any other type 1’s out there who find they are gaining alot of weight towards the end of their pregnancy? I am 30 weeks now and astounded at how easy I am gaining weight lately (despite eating the same as I was the entire pregnancy, if not better! and going to the gym 4-5 times a week!)…My insulin to carb ratio is about 1 to 5 now (3x higher than pre-pregnancy) and I am concerned with the weight gain. I have gained 39 pounds already! I also found I am swelling ALOT. Blood sugars are good, A1c still around 5.6. Could the weight gain/swelling be from all the extra insulin? Did anyone else experience more weight gain than the doctor suggested? I am frustrated becuase I’ve been trying to be as responsible as possible with eating/exercise and keeping blood sugar in check the whole pregnancy! Plus side- baby is doing very well!!

Hi–I gained about 40 pounds with my first pregnancy and expect to gain about that, if not more, the second time around. Honestly, my endo and OB weren’t at all concerned about weight gain as long as it wasn’t correlated with other issues like pre-ecclampsia (and both times I began the pregnancy overweight). I had very swollen ankles the last third of my pregnancy, but was checked regularly for blood pressure issues and never had a problem with pre-e. How are your blood pressure readings? Are your doctors concerned about your weight gain? If not, just count it as part of pregnancy, particularly if both you and the baby are doing well. Most likely, if you don’t have pre-e and your doctors aren’t concerned, you’ll lose a lot of the weight after you deliver without much effort.

Thanks for your response! I have alot to be thankful about, my blood pressure has been very good and the doctors are not concerned about pre-e at this point. Also the baby seems to be doing perfectly and developing right on track! I know it seems a little selfish to be concerned about my weight, but it’s so hard not to be! The doctor’s do not seem overly concerned. They have mentioned that I have already exceeded the recommended 35 pound mark, but have not harped on it. I just get nervous as I still have 7 more weeks before they plan to induce me, and the thought of that much time and the scale is a bit daunting!

I really do appreciate the feedback! There seems to be such little info out there on type 1 diabetes and pregnancy! I try to cut myself a little slack since I know I can’t compare myself to other non-diabetics (or anyone for that matter, all pregnancies are different!), but hearing other peoples stories who are in the same boat as me really help!

Thanks again!!

I ended up gaining about 27 lbs. total but I got a HUGE amount of swelling in the last 2 months. My feet and and my legs were like tree trunks. My blood pressure readings were good. My insulin needs became quite intense and my A1c about 15 days post birth came back as a 6.7 - which I was surprised. After giving birth and coming home from the hospital, the weight MELTED off of me. It was scary. I lost about 23 lbs. within 2 weeks of giving birth!!! My insulin needs were all over the place and I was having low blood sugars like crazy. I am finally “back to normal” and my daughter is 26 days old today. I went back to normal about 4/5 days ago, I think.

I do think that my initial weight gain (beginning of pregnancy I beefed up quickly and it slowed down 2nd trimester for me) was due to extra insulin needs. Not 100% sure, but that was my hunch.

Hi–I didn’t start writing in this thread to promote my book, but since you mention there’s not a lot of info out there, you may want to check out the book I wrote. It’s “Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby” and I interviewed more than 50 women with type 1 and type 2 about their experiences before, during and immediately after pregnancy, as well as with loss and infertility.

The book is sold on Amazon and other online and in-store retailers like Barnes & Noble and Borders and other smaller local bookstores, and I’m selling autographed copies via Paypal. Email me directly if you’d like more information: Lyrehca AT gmail DOT com

Im gonna get that book@Lyrecha!!

Im only 24 weeks (tomorrow) now and so far my weight gain has been sloooooow…Judging from what you all say I guess I can expect to blow up more in the last couple of months. Not looking forward to that as I am already an overweight person to begn with. I’ll have to modify my diet.

Wow!!! What a great accomplishment! I will have to check it out :slight_smile: I am VERY interested!!

Thanks Donna!! 27 pounds is great! I was just popping in google searches and came across an article that linked using alot of insulin with swelling! So I am wondering if that is why so many of us have swelling in the later months??!
Congratulations on your new daughter! And congrats on getting back to your normal weight so quickly!
Thanks for sharing with me :slight_smile:

Good luck :slight_smile: If you have been doing good with weight gain so far, I am sure you will continue to do well! I am going to call my endo to see if I can modify my diet… I was VERY active pre-pregnancy, working out 6x a week and playing volleyball 4 days a week on top of that, so I think the drastic drop in my activity level helped for some of my excessive weight gain. I’m glad to hear you are doing well so far! I am also gonna check that book out, it’s sounds like exactly what I wished I had from the start!

I wouldn’t think that 40 lbs was anything to worry about. I was in the best shape of my life before my pregnancy and gained nearly 60 lbs throughout the pregnancy. The doctors were not concerned. My insulin needs tripled, by BG readings were great and A1C stayed right around 6.0. Everyone is different and every pregnancy is different. I did swell the last few months and delivered at 35.5 weeks. Next time around, I will exercise more and watch what I eat more closely but honestly, the weight melted off after delivery and breastfeeding so it wasn’t a big deal at all. While I am not at the exact weight I was pre-pregnancy, I am within 10 lbs, which has been my normal throughout my adult life and I’m happy with that.

Good luck and try not to stress out about it. Since you have been a very active person, it is understandable to gain extra weight as you take it easier.

Lisa thank you so much for your post!! It is SO good to have a story to so closely relate to! Being so active before pregnancy and being able to control my weight and blood sugars has made pregnancy a little frustrating (I hated when around 26 weeks my sugars started rising despite my best efforts and needed to up my insulin needs!). I feel like I am doing all that I can, but despite my best efforts the weight just keeps coming on! I am glad to hear that you seem to be in about the same range as me as far as weight gain goes (I’m thinking at this rate it will be hard for me to stay under 50lbs) and you are within 10 pounds of your pre-preggo weight. That is very encouraging! I am getting excited the closer and closer I get to having my little guy!

This is all new to me and it’s hard to know what to expect! I also plan on breastfeeding, so I am hoping that helps as well :slight_smile:

I cant thank you enough for your post!

Yes, yes yes, that was me too. I gained around 45 pounds with each pregnancy, despite the fact that I was determined to gain less the second time around. I was taking huge amounts of insulin (I started with a daily range of 25-30, ended up taking more than 150 units a day by the end). It was so frustrating, but honestly, I don’t think that I was able to control my weight gain in the same way I would have had I not been taking insulin. I do think the massive amounts of insulin definitely contributed. I was also really hungry all the time. My A1C’s and bs readings were good, and my babies healthy and not big, so that was good, but that fact that I gained more than 30% of my normal weight was not exciting to me. Sometimes I would go back to the dr and have gained like 5 pounds in a a really short period of time. Like everything else in life, pregnancy is more challenging as a diabetic. Just keep trying to control BS and do the right things.

Cool, thanks! Let me know what you think of the book!

Cool, thanks! Let me know what you think of it!

Yes Cat I totally feel you!! before being pregnant I used to take around 30-40 units a day and now it is over 100 almost always! I think it is so much harder to control your weight when you have so much medication running through you!! I also feel very hungry, which is a struggle because I don’t want to eat to much because seeing the huge amounts of insulin that come with it is just so hard! The baby is the most important thing right now and my mood can change from being mad at the weigh in at the doctor’s to being extremely happy hearing his little heartbeat and knowing he is measuring OK within minutes!! Thank you so much for sharing with me, I truly appreciate it!!

Isn’t it funny how some people struggle to gain weight and others struggle not to! Our bodies have their own minds when it comes to pregnancies. All the matters is that in the end, mom ad baby are healthy.

Okay so I’m really new to this site. However, I can’t help but notice you are EXACTLY like me. Prior to becoming pregnant I was really active. I cycled 60 miles every weekend and was working towards my first tri. Since becoming pregnant ( I am 29 weeks now) I still exercise… spin 4 days a week, eat extreamly healthy and do everything my doctor says… the result… I’ve gained enough that I had to ask to not see the numbers on the scale , and swelled in areas I didn’t even know you could swell…Oh, and my carbs are abour 4x higher then what they had been. The great news is that my a1c is 5.4… the bad news is, is that I live with body that I don’t even recognize… My doctors say that it’s really normal and that insulin causes excessive weight gain and swelling. She says that I am doing great and that the weight should roll right off… However, as exited as I am to meet my little girl… and I am very exited I can’t help but to feel depressed about the weight and swelling that won’t subside…
You are totally not alone.

Lindsay— I feel you completely!!! I am amazed at how I can be doing everything “right”…good a1c, exercising still at 33 weeks, not pigging out and still have managed to swell up like a balloon and gain more weight than my non-diabetic friends who aren’t doing any exercise/eating to their hearts content! I broke down crying at my last appointment when I saw that my weight gain is now up to 44 pounds at week 33! The doctor told me the same thing he/she told you, that the insulin is most likely the route of the weight gain/swelling and to not be so hard on myself! BUT THAT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE! haha… On the bright side, my son is weighing in at exactly 50% percentile for growth and looks healthy! I guess, all of our hard work at least is paying off with healthy babies (the ultimate goal!!). I keep hoping and praying that the doctors are right and the weight comes off after pregnancy as a reward for keeping active, but its so hard to believe!! I am swelling so much these days, I am now ‘pitting’- where I can leave big indents in my legs after pressing a finger against them- I hate it!!! and its starting to slow me down :frowning: The doctor said he is not worried at my sudden swelling since my blood pressure is still low. I just HATE HATE HATE the swellinG!!! But the end is near :slight_smile: Pretty soon we will have our little ones with us and it will all be worth it!!! Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me! Its nice to feel like you are not alone/going crazy!!

Hey Reecie–believe your doctors. A lot of this weight is fluid and will come off quickly after you deliver. If you breastfeed, it helps you to lower your weight as well. I too swelled a ton with my first pregnancy, but took off a lot after delivering and was close to my starting weight at my six week checkup. The key thing is that your kid is healthy and not measuring big, which sounds like the case for you. Good luck these last few weeks!

–Lyrehca

Thanks Lyrehca!! You are right, the baby is the most important thing right now :slight_smile: And I must admit, I’d be lying if I said the weight gain didnt bother me…but the closer we get to our little guys arrival, the less and less important the weight seems. We got a glimpse of his little face the other day and all was at ease! he is beautiful, and that was a quick reminder that all of this is for a truly amazing cause :slight_smile: I appreciate everyones comments and support on here, this site has been a great help through my pregnancy!!