If you were overweight while pregnant...

[Lori]

did you get a lot of attitude or lectures from your health care providers?

This is a huge concern of mine this time. I'm about 10 lbs. over where I was when I was pregnant with Thomas. Nobody gave me a hard time, at all, about my weight then, even though I was over my "ideal" weight, and I never get any lectures or attitude from my doctor because I exercise and am in good health, but it just seems like the hysteria over obesity has increased about 20-fold since then, and I'm really concerned about getting a really hard time about wanting to get pregnant before I get to some mythical "ideal" weight that I can assure you I will never, ever achieve. I just cannot imagine having to deal with lectures at every single prenatal visit.

So how did it go for you? Did you have an understanding provider? If you were overweight while TTC, did they try to discourage you from it before you got to an "ideal" weight or just generally lecture you about not doing it?

[Beka]

I've been between 140-170lbs when i've conceived each of my pregnancies, i'm 5'4 and they've never raised my weight as being an issue even though it's above the "ideal" BMI for my height, they've never really bothered tracking my weight gain in any of the pregnancy as long as i "look" ok- they might do if i appeared to be gaining alot i'm not really sure.

[Val]

With Cailin they were b!tching at me every chance they got and really blew things out of proportion. With Brayden I had a new dr and the only time she raised concern was when I gained 6 pounds in a week from preeclampsia. Obviously the concern there was toxemia, not the weight itself. I was a bit overweight but not obese with both pregnancies.

[Erika]

Well I was still quite a bit overweight when I got pregnant, although I had lost 45 pounds. I honestly never had any hassle because of it, even when I had issues with the GTT. Due to the PCOS, I was advised to eat as low-sugar a diet as I could.

But no, never had any issues with it.

Now, I intend getting to goal weight and getting as fit as possible before we start trying again. We won't be trying for another baby for at least another year, but more likely longer than that. So I am on a health and fitness kick :D

[Kristen]

I can understand your concerns, Lori, because even in my case, I've had some raised eyebrows when I've gained a bunch in a month or a week.

Like, at the end of my pregnancy with Joshua, it was August, it was a horribly hot summer, and I was hugely pregnant. I put on something like 5 pounds in a week, and the midwife said to make sure I wasn't pigging out on french fries. :whatever I was very puffy, and I'm sure it was just water weight. and I wasn't even overweight to begin with.

I just don't understand what is the point in worrying about the weight, unless it's way under or way over, or there are concerns like preeclampsia. Esp. once a person is already pregnant, what's the point? You're not supposed to work hard at losing weight while you're pregnant.

I hope you find an understanding provider!

[Heather]

I was considered obese(and still am ;)) during both of my last 2 pregnancies. My doc never even uttered a word about my weight. In fact, we only discussed my weight 2 times during my last 2 pregnancies. Once with each. With Trevor it was because I gained 5 lbs in a week the last appt I went to see him and I was the one that brought it up because I Needed him to tell me it was all water weight and not me just being a pig LOL.

With Virg, my doc brought it up because I was so sick throughout my pregnancy. I basically stopped gaining altogether the last couple of months and then actually Lost a pound and he wasn't happy with that, but the weirdest thing was that by the point I stopped gaining and lost a pound.. that was when I could finally eat again! Go figure. I was throwing up constantly for months, yet still managed to gain a pound here and there(I don't think I even gained a whole 10 lbs with her.. I can't even remember now), but yet when I was finally able to EAT again.. I stopped gaining and then lost. Yeah.. doc wasn't pleased with that, but he got over it after he saw that the baby was still growing nicely.

[Kami]

I was overweight when I got pregnant with Brock. My doctore never said a word about it!

[Sam]

I weighed 140 pounds when I fell pregnant with Jaz and I am 5ft tall so I was over the BMI. However,I refused to let them weigh me and as all my extra weight is stored around my middle and can hide it up I doubt they noticed. I would not let them weigh me because I was scared they would say something. I know I am not obese or even really overweight but it worried me none the less.

The only time I let them weigh me was when I knew I had lost it all due to the HG and I was getting concerned about my weight loss.

I am now 130 pounds 4 mths PP and I STILL get scared that a DR may tell me I need to lose weight.

Just today the lollipop lady told me that I was slowing looking less fat! I came home and cried my eyes out. I am too paranoid I guess.

[Lori]

I'm actually not that concerned about gaining weight, and just about getting a "Why don't you wait until you get to 'Ideal Weight X' before you TTC?" We've just reached the point where, I've lost almost all of my baby and nursing weight, and am not getting any younger. If I put off having a baby until I reach some ideal weight, there's a very good chance that it will either never happen, or I'll be so old that I'll start getting lectures about being too old to TTC! ;)

[elin]

The only time it was clear tat my weight was an issue was when my GTT came back super high. I didn't believe the results, and finally figured out the nurse had given me TWO extra ounces of that vile drink...no wonder is was sky-high! But even when I convinced the doc of this, she still made me take the five hour GTT. The vibe I got, though it wasn't said out loud, was that if I had been thinner, they would not have made me take the test again.

Actually, the worst experience I had was at the ped. My daughter was there for her kindergarten check-up, and the ped calculated her BMI and said, out loud in front of Olivia, "she's at risk of being overweight." She was definitely looking at me, not at Olivia, who does have a high BMI yet you can see the gentle outlines of her ribs, cause she is on the skinny side. Just a little research revealed that kids' BMIs are bad measures, especially for heavily muscled kids like mine.

[Mary]

I was overweight all three times (I was fattest the first time around, skinniest the second and in between the two this last time). My ob/gyn never said a word about it. You know "they" say that overweight women should only gain like ten pounds but she didn't make that recommendation. She was fine with whatever. It did help that the first two times I lost weight for the first 12 weeks and then gained slowly till close to the end. I ended up gaining about 33 lbs. both times, though, and she didn't have a problem with it.

This last time I had a midwife and she doesn't even weigh people at all so no pressure there, either.

[giana]

I always got pregnant at a healthy weight but Ive put at least 80 pounds each pregnancy so the the docs always tormented me hardcore...but no high blood pressure or sugar levels so there wasnt much to worry about...just now...

[Casey]

Oh heck yeah! It was funny when I was pregnant with Kayla I kept hearing I had to gain weight!! I had just had my 1st weight loss surgery a few months earlier and they were more concerned over that then my weight at the time!

[Amy J]

not when I was preggo but when I went to get birth control pills once before I had either of the kids, the woman told me that she wanted me to lose some weight. I understood that until she said, "No, I want you to sweat when you lose weight!"

I never went back there again as I was very offended to know that someone had the guts to tell me that to my face.

[giana]

either Im dumb or its the language barrier but I dont get why its bad to sweat thing...what difference does it make losing weight by dieting or by going to the gym?

[lynn3780]

Yep, with both my kids I was overweight and didnt have a problem with the doctor either times because for one, both of my pregnancies I was pretty sick and lost quite a bit of weight.
The last time, I did get some discrimination based on my weight from an US tech who did one of my U/S's. It was really not alot of fun and something that will always stick with me.
But other than that, no problems and no problems with any of my other U/S's or doctors or anything.

[Amy J]

Basically she was telling that that I was so fat that I had to sweat it out like a dog. People around here are not that blunt and I wasn't expecting someone to come out and say it like that.

[LinMarie]

I was overweight when I was pg with Deklan, but they never said a word about it. I'd been going through fert treatments for months, so I guess if they had a problem with it they should have said something before helping us to get pregnant! I ended up only gaining 4 pounds for the entire pregnancy and after giving birth was waaaay below where I was when I had gotten pg.

I was at my "goal weight" for a whole 6 weeks before getting pregnant with Corbin. I gained about 30 pounds with him...and even though he's 4 years old I STILL haven't lost it.

This time around I'm right inbetween where I was when pg with each of the kids. Back into the fert treatments again and the dr hasn't said a word to me about my weight.