Eating During the "Home Stretch"

Hi Ladies--

I'm looking for some inspiration here...I'm in the home-stretch of my long-awaited pregnancy and I'm loosing control! Probably from the stress of feeling unprepared and "fear of the unknown" as I enter the uncharted territory of parenting.

For this entire pregnancy, I've been doing very well on the eating front. Luckily, I never experienced morning sickness, food aversions, or any super-intense cravings. Overall, I've been eating very mindfully and I'd say my nutritionist would approve of about 80% of my intake. I get plenty of protein and fiber from my food sources and try to eat at least two diuretic foods a day. (Asparagus, oats, etc.) I've had no swelling or water retention to speak of. Just tonight I noticed my engagement ring seemed loose! Lately I've been eating a lot of protein and iron to up my stores before my c-section surgery.

At my 36 week check up last week, I gained a total of 25 lbs. Friends and relatives tell me how "small" I look for being this far along. I really don't believe them...as my larger frame (5' 5" and a solid size 14) easily hides weight, pregnant or not. A twenty-five pound gain is in the normal range for pregnancy weight gain at this point...it is the equivalent of five 5-lb. bags of flour. It's not a small amount, but not a huge amount either.

Over the past week or so, I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to eating. I'm still eating the healthy things (protein, fiber, iron, etc.). However, it is the additional things like a quart (not a pint, but a QUART) of Ben & Jerry's in 3 days that worry me. I've allowed more take-out than my usual once-per-week. I've begun giving into food impulses with a shrug of the shoulders and "Well, I'm pregnant....why the hell not..." This totally goes against all that I've worked towards all these months.

Is this normal?

--Paula, the Glutton

You should feel very proud....I did not do as well...I only gained 27 pounds too but was not as good at turning things down....I say just be careful on the sweets but enjoy :) You only have a few weeks left....woooo hooooo.....

I say if you have been good for this long a little ( or alot) of reward isn't gonna kill you. I have so been eating things I shouldn't with the understanding that as soon as he gets here I go back strictly using my tool. So that leaves me about 6 more weeks to "pig" out. And don't worry about peoples comments. Everytime I see people family or friends they comments on how small I am and I have actually gained more weight than I should have( lol) But I have one of those bodies that carry my weight well. I'm 5'10 so even before WLS I carried those extra 100lbs pretty good. I think that people ( b/c I used to be fat) just assume that I would fatten back up when preggo so it shocks them that I'm not huge...oh well. And to make matters worse I have a cousin who is like 10 weeks behind me and she is bigger than me..but it is her 3rd baby and she shows VERY fast. As long as the baby is fine I could care less how big I get it just means less to get rid of afterwards. Just enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, you won't have that excuse soon...so enjoy that ice cream...for now, lol. P&PT's.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You did wonderful with weight gain and even if you gained another 5lbs or even 10lbs (which is unlikely) you'd still be in a healthy weight gain range for pregnancy ..especially because you are so tall.

I applaud what you've done so far! 

I started pregnancy with the mindset of "gain gain gain" and to do that I had to eat eat eat.  And with morning sickness a lot of what I was craving was waaaayy off my normal "low carb" lifestyle. 

So around the 3-4 month I gave in and just ate what I wanted.  I t was a great freedom to eat bread , rice and pasta again... (making sure  I go in all my protein, etc)   I still only gained 25-30 lbs ****pt going up and down that last 5 lbs my third trimester). 

I think i was never on the bandwagon to fall off it (during pregnancy).  I say enjoy it.... you (hopefully) have a few more weeks -- eat your icecream !  :-)

Take Care,

Cindy