Is this crazy advice?

[dulcemariamar]

I am 33 weeks pregnant and I am hungry all the time. I have been like this since the first trimester. I never had M/S so unlike most of the girls on my BMB, I did not start off by losing weight.

I eat healthy 90% of the time. I never eat fast food or fried food. When I splurge, it is on a homemade baked good so I eat very little processed food.

I am almost at the limit of reaching the recommended weight gain. I think I have gained about 28-30 pounds by now. I started off with a normal BMI (and I was actually on the low side of normal)

Well, the doctors here are freaking out. Every time I go to the doctor or to the midwife, they keep on giving me a hard time about my weight. I was told that I should gain 25 pounds max. during my pregnancy and they keep on implying that I snacking on junk food all day. They actually told me that I should control my food intake and it is okay not to eat even if I am really hungry.



Is this crazy advice? I usually snack on fruit, yogurt, a granola bar but it is not like that is going to make the hunger go away for a long time.

Sorry, everyone is making me feel guilty about my weight gain and I have never been a big eater before so I find it strange to be hungry all the time.

[ijack]

No, that's horrible advice. Some people gain more than the recommended average regardless of their habits. You're eating healthy, they can shove it.
Are you eating enough protein though?

[karinothing]

Umm. That sounds like crazy advice to me. Some people just gain more weight. I ate healthy my entire pregnancy. I never even had fast food or ice cream! I craved freaken vegtables how depressing is that? I worked out every single day and did pre-natal yoga on Sundays. Anyway, I still gained 40lbs. Sometimes your body does what it does, you can't control it.

I think you should not listen to your doctors advice. If you are hungry eat. Just make sure you are makign healthy choices, which it sounds like you are.

ETA: Just want to ditto ijack on protein.

[mrssandro]

Man I would throat punch someone if they told me what I could or could not gain during pregnancy. Totally bad advice. Just keep eating healthy and don't limit your calories if you are still hungry.

[Ashley&Scott]

At my first prenatal appt (8ish weeks) my OB said I should aim for 20lb gain. (I asked, she wasn't pushy or judgey about it)

I gained 40 & no one EVER said anything.

I agree try with pps, try to eat more protien & fiber.

[Deleted]

It seems like doctors are getting really strict about weight gain nowadays. Mine were too, especially with my third pregnancy. They did mention to me that you can start maintaining your weight past 30 weeks (as opposed to working on gaining).

Anyway, I would eat if you're hungry but obviously make healthy choices, which it sounds like you are. One thing I used to do was drink a big glass of water when I felt like snacking. Then if I was still hungry I knew I actually was hungry and in need of food.

Good luck, I know it's hard to hear criticisms from your doctor wrt weight.

[CloudBee]

I've been starving off and on in my 2nd tri. Here are some items that have been really filling.

-raisin bran or just basic bran flakes
-Greek yogurt (has to be Greek, regular just isn't heavy enough)
-string cheese and a fruit with skin like an apple
-nuts
-banana (really filling)
-drinking a TON of water when I have my snacks fills me up even more/longer
-sometimes I do a scoop of peanut butter with my apple or banana
-if you drink OJ, start buying it with full pulp
-if you drink milk, I find 2% to be more filling than skim

You sound like you're eating pretty healthy as is. The only thing I might cut back on are granola bars. I eat one in the car on my way to work a few days a week, and that's it. Even the healthy ones tend to be loaded with sugar of some sort to hold them together. They don't keep me full for very long.

[Saudade]

That's crazy. and I wonder if part is cultural too? Every single time I would send my BFF in Spain a picture of me she would comment on how fat I was and how I needed to lay off the food. FTR, I only gained 30 total. (ETA: She wasn't joking, she was 100% serious)

Obviously you are eating healthy and your body is doing what it needs to do to grow a healthy baby. I wouldn't worry about it.

[dulcemariamar]

Thanks! I was starting to doubt myself.

I am in Spain so I feel there is just a big difference on what is considered normal. I guess since I am American, they actually asked me if I was eating hamburgers or french fries all the time 8-D

I drink more than 2 liters of water a day and I walk everywhere here so I feel like I am getting exercise.

Thanks for the snack ideas. There are only so much fruit you can eat in on day. I drink a lot of skim milk too.

[Deleted]

You're in Spain, right? One of the girls on my bmb is in Spain and she told her OB she lost a few pounds and he was like "alright, keep it up." WTH?

[water*drop]

I think that's crazy advice. I started at a normal BMI, ate virtually no processed food, and worked out until 37 weeks (and then I walked 5+ miles/day until the day my water broke). I gained 33 (I think? maybe 35?) lbs total, and almost all of that was before 35 weeks. My doctor never even mentioned my weight gain.

Eat if you are hungry - just continue making healthy choices - and ditto everybody else about protein.

[dulcemariamar]

Nov 15, 2012 11:03:42 GMT -5 Saudade said:

That's crazy. and I wonder if part is cultural too? Every single time I would send my BFF in Spain a picture of me she would comment on how fat I was and how I needed to lay off the food. FTR, I only gained 30 total. (ETA: She wasn't joking, she was 100% serious)

Obviously you are eating healthy and your body is doing what it needs to do to grow a healthy baby. I wouldn't worry about it.

haha..That sounds about right. They have no filter. My MIL loves to point out every time I have a zit on my face and my GMIL is always the first the point out if you gain a pound.

[hocus]

I think that is pretty odd advice. You're not gaining an extreme amount, just higher than average. Do you have other complications?

If you do want to eat less you might try to add more protein though -- I found it really helped me eat less overall. I ate pretty much bagels for the first 7 months of my first pregnancy since they were the only thing that I had any interest in.

[dulcemariamar]

Nov 15, 2012 11:09:34 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

You're in Spain, right? One of the girls on my bmb is in Spain and she told her OB she lost a few pounds and he was like "alright, keep it up." WTH?

:-( This makes me so sad and well scared.

I had a hospital tour this week and the midwives were all shocked when I told them that I wanted to tear instead of having an episiotomy (unless medically necessary, of course).

Safe to say, I am a bit nervous for L&D.

[jenny1223]

I was similar to you when I was pregnant - no m/s, always hungry, ate healthy. I gained 55 pounds total (DS weighed 10 lbs at birth). My midwife would give recommendations on my diet but she never told me to restrict my calories even if I was hungry. I think some people just gain more. FWIW, I lost all the weight by 9 months pp.

[schrodinger]

Crazy advice. I could have written your post word for word. 32w4d, gain of 28 lb, no m/s. My OB also mentioned something to me about being high on the charts, but I figure I'm eating good food, I wait until I'm hungry to eat, and I try and drink a glass of water before eating (to see if I'm confusing hunger with thirst). I've finally gotten to a place where I'm mentally okay with my weight.

[sewpinkgal]

I'm sorry they are harping on you about the weight. My OB did mention at one appt that I had gained a bit more than she would usually like to see at that point, but she said that her concern is due to 1) having a larger weight baby and 2) that it's just that much more for mom to lose post-partum. She was very kind about it and never mentioned restricting calories, but I did feel like crap.

FWIW, I ultimately gained 42lbs and had lost it all by 9 months pp. My son was far from a big kid, too (6lbs5oz at birth and still bitty today). I think if you're eating healthy, then your body is going to do what it needs to do. Hang in there and I hope L&D is better than you're expecting, too.

[birdmom]

My OB never gave me a hard time about weight gain. They said that my target gain was between 25 and 35 pounds (I started at 120), but if I gained more than that, they probably wouldn't say anything, but to keep in mind that I'd have to lose it all later. I ended up gaining 45 pounds, and no one ever said a word.

[pugz]

I vote eff that noise

[Deleted]

At my 30 week appt last week, I had gained 22 and my (american) doctor said that this was in range. Based on my gain, I'm assuming I'll be at 28 by 33-34 weeks.

I'm hungry all the time too and try to eat healthy. Most of my meals are but I do have a sweet tooth. I've tried to bump up protein with each of my snacks, so whenever I have fruit (usually morning and afternoon snack), I add some peanut butter or nuts.

[anna7602]

Yes, it's crazy advice. Don't you have UC or Crohn's? I vaguely remember that you weighed in on a UC-related question I had a while back.

I gained 40 lbs. when I was pregnant. All of my UC symptoms just completely disappeared and my body processed food in a totally different way. My GI assured me I should just listen to my body, as long as I was eating healthy foods, but my OB/Gyn practice was also on my case about gaining too much weight. In the end, I had a perfectly normal, vaginal birth at 38 weeks and lost 50 lbs in the first year after I had DD.

[badtzmaru22]

Sounds crazy/culturally annoying to me too. Were you a normal weight to start with? Do you look and feel ok? I would ignore them. I was the same as you- hungry all the time, eating well, and I gained 33lbs. It was all in my belly too. Sorry they are giving you a hard time. You're doing fine, and it sounds like your body is just doing its thing. Hang in there!

[dulcemariamar]

Nov 15, 2012 15:01:08 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Yes, it's crazy advice. Don't you have UC or Crohn's? I vaguely remember that you weighed in on a UC-related question I had a while back.

I gained 40 lbs. when I was pregnant. All of my UC symptoms just completely disappeared and my body processed food in a totally different way. My GI assured me I should just listen to my body, as long as I was eating healthy foods, but my OB/Gyn practice was also on my case about gaining too much weight. In the end, I had a perfectly normal, vaginal birth at 38 weeks and lost 50 lbs in the first year after I had DD.

Yes, I have UC but I havent had any flare ups in the last three years.

I think I am going to get to be around 40lbs when all is said and done. It is just strange that people here think 25 should be the absolute max. amount of weight gain.

[badtzmaru22]

Sounds crazy/culturally annoying to me too. Were you a normal weight to start with? Do you look and feel ok? I would ignore them. I was the same as you- hungry all the time, eating well, and I gained 33lbs. It was all in my belly too. Sorry they are giving you a hard time. You're doing fine, and it sounds like your body is just doing its thing. Hang in there!

[MadamePresident]

That is crazy advice. You are being healthy and I believe that your body is going to do what it wants when you are pregnant. I would focus more on being healthy than what the scale says. For me towards the end, I didn't gain as much weight as quickly as I did in the middle.

[Deleted]

Ditto PP, that's some crazy advice. Your body does what it does, I wouldn't mess with what your body needs. To show you the flip side, I am petite with a good BMI but only gained 15 lbs with DS (he weighed 9 lbs 4 oz at birth). I ate healthy just like you, and I ate CONSTANTLY. I was shocked I gained so little, and was worried I hadn't gained enough. DS was healthy and my midwives were unconcerned, my body clearly knew what it was doing. I don't normally ignore doctors, but I would ignore yours on this, they sound like dicks.

[grosnl19]

I think it is a culture thing and I took it with a grain of salt. At my first prenatal appointment when we were living in Barcelona the doctor said I need to lose weight by cutting out all sugar (bread/pasta/sweets/rice/etc)and that I just needed to get use to being hungry. :@

No wonder why the Spanish women are so thin...their doctors tell them not to eat and just live with being hungry all the time. ^o)

[gibbinator]

That's terrible advice. Normal weight gain is up to 35lbs I believe. I gained 40lbs and also had a great BMI pre-pregnancy. And it was all baby - not like I was getting pudgy everywhere. If your blood pressure is fine, don't stress and go ahead and fuel yourself. Plus your weight will probably plateau in the next couple weeks

[Deleted]

Just take up smoking--that'll curb your appetite & you'll fit in culturally.