Pregnancy Archives - Page 6 of 12

A Not-So Picture Perfect Baby Bump

I’m currently pregnant with my fourth child. I see these maternity photos of these perfect baby bumps all pristine and perfectly round, and then I look down at my own belly. It’s stretch marked. You can see the fine lines of soft-blue veins showing through my pale skin. There’s bulges at my sides where once there were not. It’s sort of bullet shaped with some dimples where I suppose, a baby body is not. It’s the sort of tummy you never take photos of with bare skin. It is not picture perfect, but you know, I think it is a better representation of what a baby bump really looks like, so I’m going to take that picture anyway. I’m going to show it, unaltered with filters or lighting, because no matter how many stretch marks it has, how misshapen it is, or how many veins you can see, it’s still a price I had to pay for motherhood—and I pay it with pride.

I remember my first labor. All I could smell was oranges, and not the fresh let’s-have-some-juice scent of oranges. No, the I’m trying-to-cover-a-smell-with-generic-orange fragrance that medical offices and hospitals seem to just love that makes me want to vomit scent of oranges. The room was muggy and overly hot, and the nurse kept telling me I couldn’t open the window, as if opening a window was somehow going to endanger my coming baby that was taking forever to come—god, it seems like babies always take forever to come. Everything was set alive in a perfect scene of discomfort as the fluorescent lights hummed to the beep, beep, beep of the monitor the nurse also never shut off even though I wasn’t hooked up to it. I would have measured the time by those beeps if the contractions weren’t less ignorable.

Why was it, I wondered, people thought this was beautiful? How is sweat, blood, pain, and occasionally poop all in a nice sterile orange-scented room beautiful? Those are the sorts of things you notice when you’re in pre-labor. When you’re still pretty sure labor doesn’t hurt so bad and can think coherently about petty things and contradictions. It’s when the true labor starts that you see the animal hiding inside the “evolved” human. You see the way pain makes you stupid, vulgar, and loud– desperate and maybe even just a bit dangerous until it peaks, and something fantastic happens.

The world stops for you. The buzzing stops. The pain stops. The smells stop. The room isn’t so hot, and maybe not even really there. It’s just you and this slimy screaming child that you created—and it’s beautiful. Beautiful isn’t even a sufficient word to describe it, but it’ll have to do, because that’s the only word we have. It’s in that little bubble of ejected reality where nothing else but you and your baby exist that a bond is born. A second entity to carry a new mother though the all-night fits, spit-covered shoulders, and scream-induced migraines that accompany the miracle that is life. And once the rest of the universe comes raining back in suddenly it’s all so much less important. You catch yourself wondering if the pain, waiting, and annoyance are somehow critical to the creation of what you’ve just experienced. The way to be a tree a seed has to rip itself apart, break open, and face the harshness of the world outside to survive or die, a mother has to pay the price of life, watch her body stretch and reshape before breaking open her emotional center to love a child only the way a parent can.

It’s a price I pay with pride.

Pregnancy Weight Gain: Normal, Not Normal, and What to Do

I can’t count how many times during my pregnancies people commented how cute and “small” I was, and then in the same day, had someone ask me if I was having twins because I was so “huge.” Obviously, perspectives on how big or small a pregnant woman should be are rather relative, but is there an ideal number for weight gain during pregnancy? Let’s explore the ins and outs of pregnancy weight gain a bit more.

How much weight gain during pregnancy is generally considered normal?

Notice the word, “generally” there, I want to begin by adding that the number on your scale is by no means an accurate judge of the health of your baby. Some women experience very little pregnancy weight gain while others gain a ton—not literally hopefully—and most of those women go on to have happy, healthy babies. It’s important that if your weight gain during pregnancy is below or above the estimates presented here, that you don’t go freaking out. It simply means you might want to stop and evaluate your individual situation to ensure that your baby is getting the best possible environment to grow in.

Average healthy pregnancy weight gain estimates are based on your pre-pregnancy BMI (body mass index calculator).

For a BMI below 18.5: Pregnancy weight gain should be roughly 28 to 40 lbs. in a singleton pregnancy
BMI between 18.5 and 24.9: 25 to 35 lbs.
BMI between 25 and 29.9: 15 to 25 lbs.
BMI above 30: 11 to 20 lbs.

On average, with a twin pregnancy you can add around 10 lbs. to these pregnancy weight gain estimates.

Most women gain between 1 and 5 lbs. during the first trimester, followed by a pound or two a week during the second and third trimesters. By full term, you can expect a 7.5 to 8 lb. baby, a 1.5 lb. placenta, 2 lbs. in amniotic fluid, 4 lbs. in increase blood flow, 2 lbs. in uterine weight, 2 lbs. in breast mass increase, 4 lbs. in other fluids, and 7 lbs. in fat and nutrient stores for an average of about 30 lbs. Naturally, as even baby weight varies greatly, it then makes sense that weight gain during pregnancy also varies.

Why does my pregnancy weight gain matter?

While you might think the major concern with too much weight gain during pregnancy is you’re going to have to lose it later, under and over pregnancy weight gain can actually have an impact on your baby and the ease of your pregnancy.

If you are not gaining sufficient weight, this could lead to poor fetal growth resulting in low birth weight. It’s also possible you’ll be not only neglecting your baby proper nutrition if your caloric intake is too low, but hurt your own health in the process. For example, if you aren’t getting sufficient calcium during pregnancy, your body begins to “steal” it from your bones and teeth. This can lead to dental problems and a weakened skeletal structure. Any nutritional deficiency can have a negative impact on your health and your child’s.

If you are gaining too much weight, you put yourself at a higher risk for preterm labor as they baby may become too large for your womb before he/she has fully developed as well as increase your chance of certain pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. The additional pregnancy weight gain also places additional strain on your body, which may exasperate pregnancy symptoms.

What should I do if my pregnancy weight gain is out of normal range?

As I mentioned in the very beginning of this page, please don’t assume if you are gaining more or less than you should according to the “experts” that there is something wrong with you, your baby, or your pregnancy.

First, have a look at your diet. How well are you eating? Is your diet balanced with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins? How often do you eat out or processed foods? It can help to track your caloric intake for a little while to get an idea how much you are eating and make yourself more aware of what you are eating. I highly recommend MyFitnessPal for this. It’s also great for dieting after your pregnancy. If your caloric intake is more or less than about 300 to 400 calories in addition to your pre-pregnancy needs, that could be your pregnancy weight gain issue. If your caloric intake is great, but full of empty calories or heavily processed and/or fatty foods, that could be the issue.

Second, consider your activity level. The main thing here is to consider two factors: your activity level pre-pregnancy vs now and your activity level vs your caloric intake. For instance, if you were super active prior to pregnancy then went all couch potato, that could explain over gaining or if you were kind of low activity and got on a healthy kick when you became pregnant and started exercising, that could explain under gaining.

If everything is peachy and your weight gain during pregnancy is still under or over the average significantly, chances are nothing is wrong and you’re just one of those folks that gains more or less, but you can bring it up with your care provider to be sure. You may be given an ultrasound to measure the baby and fluid levels or blood testing to check your iron levels and blood sugar, but again, in many cases, it’s just one of those common instances where someone falls outside the range known as “normal.”

Pregnancy Diet: Is Dieting While Pregnant Safe?

New research has revealed what should be a no-brainer during pregnancy and any other time– eating healthy improves your health. Studies have found women who exercised regularly and watched their caloric intake while pregnant gained less weight and suffered from fewer pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure during pregnancy, and pre-mature birth. This brings up one solid question for the pickles-and-ice-cream-shovelers of the pregnancy world: Should you diet during pregnancy? (I know I never considered dieting during my pregnancies) and what is a healthy pregnancy diet?

Dieting while pregnant: Good Idea?

In reality, one does not necessarily, and probably should not, diet while pregnant in the traditionally accepted sense to lose weight. Rather pregnant women should make or maintain a balanced pregnancy diet free of excessive caloric intake coupled with appropriate exercise. Many women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever they want, which likely has contributed to the statistic that around 40 percent of pregnant women gain more weight than recommended.

How many calories should a pregnancy diet include?

In the first trimester, for a singleton pregnancy, you can generally add about 300 calories to your healthy caloric need prior to becoming pregnant. After the first trimester, add 350-500. Keep in mind that those who are under or overweight before pregnancy may not fit this rough estimate. Your prenatal health care provider can help you decide how your weight gain is during pregnancy. Generally, actual weight gained, lost, or not gained at all is a better indication of the adequacy of your pregnancy diet than counting calories.

What sorts of foods should a pregnancy diet include?

The food list you include in your pregnancy diet is less important than making sure that food list is balanced. There’s nothing wrong with indulging in your cravings as long as you are including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein in your diet. There are a few vitamins and minerals that are great for pregnancy, however, and foods that are high in calcium, folic acid, iron, and vitamin D are great choices. Some ideas include spinach, peanuts, oranges, cheese, yogurt, salmon, eggs, poultry, and beans. There is also a very short list of foods that should be avoided during pregnancy.

How can you avoid over eating while pregnant?

You can avoid overeating by choosing, and remembering to take, a good multivitamin. It’s suggested that pregnancy cravings may spur from nutritional holes. As a mother of four, I support this suggestion. Also, avoid the I’m-already-going-to-get-fat mindset when it comes to eating. If it’s not something you’d feel healthy to eat while not pregnant, don’t use your pregnancy as an excuse to include it in your pregnancy diet. The old eating for two adage is also false as you can see from the caloric estimate above. You do not need to double your food intake. Perception goes a long way in controlling weight gain during pregnancy.

What exercise is safe during pregnancy?

The majority of exercise is fine to couple with your pregnancy diet. The key is to keep in line with your previous exercise habits or to start slow if you are new to exercising. For instance, if you swam 2 hours a day prior to pregnancy, this level of activity would be fine during, but if you never swam prior to pregnancy and attempted a 2-hour work-out, you may have a problem. Avoid exercise that requires great balance, offers a high chance of falling on your abdomen, involves lots of jumping or bouncing, deep squats, abdominal twisting, contact sports, and high heat. If you experience any off feelings, maybe your chest hurting or abdominal pain, disorientation, dizziness, swelling, or especially vaginal bleeding, stop and consult your prenatal care provider.

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