Well, I saw my obe yesterday. I am about 6 1/2 weeks pregnant.
She asked me if I’d gained weight. I said no, actually I was losing a bit (due to having to be very careful about blood sugar levels). She got quite concerned and told me I must be careful not to lose weight. Mentioned something about keytones and losing muscle. But I thought that would only be a problem with rapid weight loss. Not slow weight loss… only 1 - 2 lbs a week at the moment…
Is losing weight really a problem? I am overweight now. I would definitely welcome losing some weight early in this pregnancy, a welcome side effect from having to be on a strict diet.
I’m about 28 weeks right now and I haven’t lost any - but I’ve only gained about 3 pounds. I think that they are more concerned about losing (as opposed to staying level) because you are burning about 300 calories more every day now that your body is in overdrive.
I think that is where the whole ‘if you are a healthy weight you gain 25 to 30 pounds and if you are overweight you gain 10 to 15’. Because just the baby + fluid + extra blood + placenta = about 20 pounds. So lets say you have the baby and you only gained 8 pounds over the whole pregnancy, that would mean that you actually lost about 12 pounds while you were pregnant. And if you had actually lost like 5 pounds while you were pregnant, then you would actually be down 25 pounds after it was all done.
ALTHOUGH - I’m a little surprised that your doc is giving you a bad time about it now. Personally I have HORRIBLE morning sickness while pregnant and I usually do end up losing about 5 to 10 pounds the first few months (It comes back though). I was told that wasn’t really a huge deal.
Maybe your doc just though you sounded a little TOO jazzed about losing some weight and was worried that you were going cut your calories even further. I always look at it as just trying to be really happy that I won’t end up like some moms who ended up with a new 70+ pounds to lose after they have the baby!
From what I understand, it’s REALLY common to lose weight during early pregnancy due to the sudden new demand on your body (some people’s appetites don’t immediately catch up to the “eating for two” factor) and MORNING SICKNESS. I’ve had a couple non-diabetic pregnant friends, and they lost weight due to barely being able to keep food down. Both of their doctors told them that a little weight loss isn’t something to worry about that early, though as much maintenance/gain as they could manage despite the throwing up would be most beneficial.
So I gather that weight loss is never desired during pregnancy, but the babies can take a little of it. If you can add in some lower-carb foods to maintain, I’d go ahead and follow your doctor’s advice… but not feel bad over the recent weight loss. We want our babies to have every benefit we can give them, but the truth is that women were having babies under less than ideal circumstances (when we ate based on the luck of the hunt!) for thousands or even millions of years before we came to understand the “ideal” pregnancy circumstances. We’ve surely evolved to be able to make it through a couple weeks of slight weight loss in the womb.
Right now im 33 weeks and still haven’t gained much weight… Doc says its common for some preg women to not feel very hungry or to get full quick because of the pressure baby is putting on stomach… Unless I blow up within the next 4 weeks, Its pretty safe to say i didnt gain any unwanted preggo weight.
I thought it was more common to lose a couple of pounds early on, esp. if you’ve got nausea.
I gained weight with all 3 of my pregnancies, even with tight control. 60 with my first, 30 with my 2nd and 3rd. Not all of the weight came off either, so I’m struggling with losing some now, my youngest is 6. But overweight women seem to run in my family, so I’m not only fighting diabetes, I’m fighting genetics.
Enjoy the pregnancy, it is such an amazing time in your life.
I would say that this would be a better attitude - to keep the weight gain at a minimum (as in try to stay around the same 10 pound range that you started with if you are already are overweight) BUT I would not say that you should try to actually get a number lower than what you started with.
I too have lost a couple of pounds since being pregnant due to bs control. I think I’m starting my 6th week this week. The earliest they could get me in was the 20th to the high risk OB and the Perinatologist. I think we are fine and that you are right that the #'s at this point are top priority! Good luck!
