pregnancy weight gain woes....

Hi everyone...I'm a couple days over my one year mark from surgery, and today I'm almost 17 weeks pregnant. I hit my goal weight and suddenly (and shockingly) found out I was pregnant. This has been a super hard pregnancy so far...I've been nauseated....tired...my breasts feel like they are going to explode...etc. It seems MUCH harder than my first pregnancy five years ago....don't know if it's just age...different pregnancy or partly my surgery.

This baby is a complete blessing as I was ready to scheduale my hysterectomy in 2012. I know I didn't wait the allotted time to get pregnant..but it wasn't a good choice to wait in my case. I have severe endometriosis as well as adenomyosis (like endometriosis in the muscle wall of the uterus) as well as aparently resolved PCOS (since I'm prego). I've had over 13 surgeries for the endo and complications from cysts etc....so it was a now or never situation.

So here it goes....First trimester I was so sick I didn't gain much at all...I in fact lost weight right up until the end...where I put it back on...plus two pounds. Now I'm a couple weeks in to my second trimester and I feel like I'm eating ALL the time...and really much larger portions than I used to eat. This is freaking me out a bit. I don't think I'm gaining TONS of weight, but it's kind of surreal to suddely be thin, then now suddenly putting on baby weight. I hope to only put on "baby" weight, but there's a part of me that worries....is my eating out of control? will I screw up my surgery being pregnant? I'm sure these are worries all of you have gone through or are going through. I try to tell myself that I'm not concerned with a bit of weight gain, and I think mostly I'm eating because baby demands the extra calories...but geeze....this is a lot harder mentally than I though****ching my tummy grow big...even though it's not fat.....it's just kind of rough. I'm a bit afraid to step on the scale.....my "healthy" "goal weight" that I got down to was 170....and I'm nervouse to go past 200 again...it was a huge milestone for me to get under 200....then I think about it further...and have to reason with myself...it's not like my first pregnancy where I was like 275....soo...why am I so concerned? I guess....because I went through all this to be healthy and I want to continue to be healthy.

Do/did you ladies do portion control real strict while you were/are pregnant? I eat when hungery or craving something...but don't really stick to tiny portions...I eat till I feel I'm full and satisfied....wondering if that's a bad thing.

guess some support would be awesome...I'm kind of stressing out a bit....

I'm due June 13 2012 and I found out just before christmas that it's a little girl :)

Thanks all
Jen

Hi clairesmom...

I am in the 13th week of my pregnancy and am 10 months post-op from vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery.  I lost about 10 lbs through the first trimester but in the last 3 weeks stayed the same until this last week when I put on 2 lbs.  I started my journey at 271 and lost to 164 and am now 166.  I don't know which surgery you had so I don't know how similar our situations are but I have great restriction still at meals.  I am able to eat extra by eating more often but honestly have not seen any change in the quantity I am able to eat.  I have slipped a little on what I should be eating b/c sometimes I just want carbs and no meat.  I think we both should stick to what we know is healthy eating for both us and the growing babies in our stomachs which is a well balanced diet including healthy whole grain carbs and lean protein, fruits and veggies.  The processed foods, sweets, candy, chips, etc should be kept to a minimum and then you know the weight you will be putting on is for the pregnancy only.  Also, I have been lazy during the first trimester and stopped doing any exercise so I am starting that back today since it is a new year and I want my healthy new habits to stay for good.  Good luck and let me know if I can help with anything.  Ann

I pay attention, but not close attention;)  I had absolutely no morning sickness or anything.  I put on no weight until around 12  - 14 weeks.  I am now almost 30 weeks and up about 9 lbs total from my starting weight.  The doc is happy with that.  It has been a slow, steady gain and unless I start packing it on in hell-fashion, should not gain a ton more and lose most of it in the hospital or shortly thereafter.

I eat what I want, when I want and stay away from no no foods only.  I trust my body to tell me when I am hungry and what nutrients I need (by cravings).  The baby is 50th % exactly....tracking to the day.  My MFM specialists are uber happy with this.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I've had a bit of a freakout about my weight gain as well. I got down to my goal of 150lbs and had stayed at that weight for 6 months then found out I was pregnant. I'm 32 weeks now and am supposed to be gaining about a pound a week. I haven't stepped on a scale to gage each week what I'm gaining but I'm sure that the pound a week won't be hard to accomplish with all the carbs I've been eating. I stick to having at least 1 shake a day to make sure I get proper nutrition on top of the protein I eat on a regular basis as well. I do try to only eat good carbs, high fiber whole grain cereals without a lot of sugar (Grape Nuts and Cheerios seem to work well), protein pumpkin muffins from a recipe I got from my bariatric coordinator that keep me full for about an hour and add protein to my diet, and then I'll be honest, I have been on a pretzel kick so I know that's not exactly a good carb but sometimes the salt on a little rold gold pretzel really doe**** the spot.  I eat whenever I want which is almost constantly but I have a baby to think about. During the 1st trimester, I wasn't gaining as I should be and my high risk dr thought I was not getting enough nutrition because I was keeping up with my strict surgery diet, low fat, no carbs, no sugar and basically it wasn't well rounded nutrition for my baby. Now he's measuring right on target, all his organs seem to be developing well and he has a strong heartbeat. I'm still stingy when it comes to sugar because dumping is no joke but I use full fat with most of my foods (although not too much because dumping is still no joke) and I added back some carbs. Once my little angel is born, I'll go back to my strict surgery diet and increase my protein shake intake to at least 2 a day, get back to my exercise that I had to stop because it was causing contractions, and I'll breastfeed which helps get you back to the pre-pregnancy weight. I know that it's scary when you see those numbers on the scale go up even a pound, but when you look into the eyes of your healthy baby and know you did everything you could to ensure they got the best start in life you could give them, it will be worth the freak-outs and we'll be here to support you in your weight loss efforts post-baby because we all go through it too. Congrats on your pregnancy! 

Thank you ladies...I know I've not put on a ton of weight because I fit all my pants except in the waist where I have a baby bump...etc...but it's just unnerving to see the scale move up at all..... and worries me  a little...I worked so hard to get here. Yet I also know that baby is important, and baby has to be taking some of all the stuff I'm eating.

basically I've stayed away from the things that make me dump. So sugary things, most fatty things, etc haven't been what I've been wanting anyway. Yet I just feel like I'm eating constantly and often it's a lot more carbs than I would normally eat...more pasta than usual (and my tummy takes it for some reason) more bread...etc....I try to keep my proteine up.....and make sure that most the carbs I eat are whole grain. I often have whole grain cereal in the middle of the night with soy milk. Proteine was a challenge for me before pregnancy (as I ended up completely lactose intolerant for some things (some cheese and yogurt in moderation is still ok for me) from my bypass and even the isolate proteine powders make me sick...and they aren't supposed to have any lactose in them) Sooo....getting my proteine in can be a challenge. I think I might need a visit to my dietician to get some tips.

I do plan to breastfeed, so I know that my weight will go back down from that....but even just the few pounds I've gained are stressing me out a little. I'm so thankful to know that I'm not the only one that feels like they are CONSTANTLY eating. I think I've had two snacks since dinner tonight....a grapefruit and then a few chips with some salsa...and I was just thinking about another snack lol We won't discuss my problem with green pimento stuffed olives right now...my husband thinks I'm INSANE.

I think a lot of my problem is less about what I'm eating and more about just seeing the numbers going up. Though I do beleive my portions have gone up over time....I have a feeling it might just be what happens a year out from surgery....I don't think I necessarily eat gigantic portions...but it's sure gigantic compared to the one egg and half a peice of toast I used to get full on ;)

Thank you ladies for being here! So glad I'm not alone on all this.....I don't really feel like theres anyone I can discuss this all with....I know women who have had a gastric bypass...but none who have been pregnant.

Hugs to all! 

I was normally eating 3 meals and a few protein shakes a day. Now I have to eat more often because I've developed RH so I'm eating something every few hours. I haven't gotten to far off course with eating but have given myself room to eat when I'm hungry.  Eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm satisfied, that's pretty much my plan. I lost in the beginning then leveled out and by 26 weeks I started to gain. Not much but still gain. I was 236 when I got pregnant, dropped to 224, then was 234 for most of the second trimester and I'm now 240.
I didn't want to be overly strict with my diet and my OB and surgeon didn't want me "dieting" while pregnant but making sure I was eating a healthy balance. Some cravings I give into, most I ignore because I dump and it affects me more since being pregnant and it's not worth the cupcake that I'm desperately craving, lol
Seeing myself get bigger had messed with my head big time and though I know the reality it's baby, my mind still takes it as I'm getting big again! 
 When I have him I'll get more focused and go back to my plan's guidelines because I'm not done losing weight!
Congrats on the girl!!