A healthier second pregnancy?

Jonathans_mama
Jonathans_mama Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I've been reading the message boards here for a very long time and lost over 60 lbs by tracking my food and exercise over the past year. It's amazing what a difference accountability (even just to myself!) has made.

This is my first post and first time looking for advice, but I am no stranger to weight issues. Very brief background - I was overweight for most of my life with a genetic predisposition for obesity, as a majority of the women on my mother's side of the family including mom and grandma are obese. I've been on fad diets more times than I remember, starting around 9 years old. Most of them obviously were not successful, and none were successful long term.

I did finally lose 35 lbs in my late 20's after going through a painful breakup, and kept a majority of it off for 4 years. However I did this without any method or logic behind it. I was just too preoccupied to eat for a while and kept going with eating less after I noticed my clothes were loose. Anyway, fast forward a few years and I got married and got pregnant. Somehow I racked on almost 60 lbs before my son was born. I have no words to describe how disgusted I felt with myself. I've never been larger and never felt more invisible and less attractive. At his six month birthday, all but ten of these pounds were still with me. I knew then that I had to do something. Even though I wasn't a stranger to being overweight, I had not been obese until that point. That's when I joined MFP and got in the best shape of my life by tracking my food and exercise. I not only lost the pregnancy weight, I lost 15 lbs more than that. There was a lot of work left to be done on muscle and strength building and I was planning to take that on after the holidays.

Until - surprise - I found out I am pregnant with baby number 2. Which is what brings me here today because instead of being excited about it, I am terrified of gaining another 60 lbs. Losing them was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I swore up and down that I'd never let myself go to that horrible place again. But here I am, and I know at least a 30 lbs gain in pregnancy is unavoidable.

My question for those of you with more than one child, is there a way to limit the weight loss? Does anyone have any tips, tricks, and of course success stories, especially after gaining way too much the first time around? I can use any and all of them. Thank you!!!

Replies

  • lavender_fairie
    lavender_fairie Posts: 76 Member
    *raises hand!*

    I was rail thin until I had my firstborn-I put on at least 60 pounds. At my first post partum appt I had GAINED weight- seriously, after having a baby I still managed to gain weight. I tried unsuccessfully for 3 years to get down to pre-pregnant weight but I was always at least 35-40 pounds over that. Then came another pregnancy. I just KNEW I would be huger forever. I started walking with my daughter while she rode her bike everyday. Mostly just to get her outside and to make the time go by faster (I haaaaate being pregnant). I had a route I walked. I never changed it up. I just did it, mindlessly. I are pretty much what I wanted to but I did do better than my first time around bc I had realized all the tripe about "you are eating for two!" Is toootal BS. I are for one, if I was still hungry I are a little more, but I didn't hide behind the baby. I'm not a nice cream person, but I had chocolate ice cream almost every night. If it weren't for warm baths and Choco ice cream I would have gone insane--pants. But I digress..

    A funny thing happened. I lost all the weight within a couple of months after the baby was born. The reason I'm on MFP is bc of my FIRST pregnancy- not my second. :) having my second child did not help or hinder my long term weight at all. I bet it can happen for you too.

    They said walking was good for baby so I walked. They said getting outside was good so I did that. I tried to reign in my eating better the second time around and that helped too.vi went to a few yoga classes just bc my friend wanted me to but I didn't think it would help- I was preggers (and I don't think it did help. I just think getting out and about was good for me) Bfing did not help, but it didn't hurt my weightless either,

    Long story short, second babies are not a death sentence for weight loss. After finding mfp, I weigh less now, for the first time since my eldest was born, and I'm going to try to get my pre-motherhood weight back, or as close as I can.

    Good luck and don't stress. And congratulations on your happy news!!
  • kimtab
    kimtab Posts: 64 Member
    I wouldn't say a 30# gain is unavoidable. I gained 42# with baby 1. Number 2 wasn't until 10 years later. I wanted to avoid another c section, wanted to have a home birth, wanted to avoid the complications of advanced maternal age. So, I was very motivated to not gain a lot of weight with that pregnancy. I didn't know about MFP then. I'm not sure if there are calculators you can use to calculate maintenanace cals while pregnant and eat at maintenance? All I did was pack healthy portion controlled stuff to eat at work, made sure to graze frequently so I never got ravenous. Made a great effort to up my protein intake and drink enough water. I guess you could say I was "eating clean" I did cut out most if not all junk and processed stuff. That part wasn't really intentional I just tended to gravitate in that direction. Later in pregnancy I got a blood sugar monitor and used it as a tool to figure out how best to eat. I went for hikes every weekend, did prenatal yoga and generally kept active up to the very end though the trails I walked got flatter and flatter as I got bigger ;) ( Side note I have a friend who continues to do Crossfit with her doc's ok through most of her pregnancy) In the end I gained only 13# and had a healthy 8#3oz baby at 37 weeks. I weighed 207# when I conceived. 6 weeks post partum I weighed 198# I subsequently gained 22 pounds back but thats another story and I'm here working on it now but you can do it. Massive weight gain is not inevitable.
  • seattlemama0429
    seattlemama0429 Posts: 5 Member
    Massive weight gain is not inevitable.
    :drinker:

    tl;dr and a little confused on the whole afraid of 60lb weight gain, how to limit weight loss etc. So, here's this fwiw

    One of the best things you can do for yourself right now is find a great health care provider (a midwife or an ob) who you feel comfortable sharing your history with food and weight and how it affected your first pregnancy and postpartum.

    You should feel 200% supported - be weary of anyone (esp dudes) who are fixated on the 30lb number and weigh-ins (so annoying)

    Regardless of what you do or don't gain, the anxiety you feel is going to affect your pregnancy, birth and, arguably most importantly, your postpartum experience.

    Find a great provider and your anxiety about food and weight will be lessened. They will help you! Fight the shame! Feed your bebe and your soul! :)

    ETA: Just to knock out any unrealistic expectations, I had #2 in 2010, and that's right where my weight loss ticker started. Kind of took some time for me ;)
  • hoyalawya2003
    hoyalawya2003 Posts: 631 Member
    I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist. I gained 35 or so lbs my first pregnancy, which was more than I should have. I had gestational diabetes the second time around, so I was sent to consult a nutritionist and put on a pretty strict diet. I only gained 17 lbs with my second pregnancy (which was within the 15-20 lbs my dr wanted), and my son was 9 lbs 13 oz.. I left the hospital 5 lbs lighter than when I got pregnant! The gd diet is very healthy, imo, and very filling, too, since you are supposed to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. It was the carb limit and no sweets that kept me from gaining much.
  • lavender_fairie
    lavender_fairie Posts: 76 Member
    Oh and another thing that helped with me...I don't like to drink a lot of water but in my pregnancy researching I kept reading water, water, water! So I got a huge jug and kept it filled all the time. I knew where every water fountain in town was. I got used to it and after a while I craved ice cold water. I think this helped too. I mostly was concerned about drinking water bc I'd read how often the the water gets flushed out of the sac and I wanted to make sure bean had nice water to float around in and ingest, but now that I think on it I suspect it kept me more hydrated so I didn't eat as often when I wasn't really hungry.

    Instead of trying to count calories, fuss around with eating totally clean, exercising all the time, etc, I just tried to do the things I could easily do and not stress. In the end it would be what it would be. I highly recommend that attitude- try to do what is best for you and little bean and let it work itself out.

    Get out and enjoy life as much as possible.
    Try to keep an upbeat attitude.
    Walking, squats, and scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees were encouraged by my OB, especially in the later stages.
    Love yourself and be kind to yourself.
    Research healthy baby-making. What's good for them will be good for you too.
    Let go and remember this will pass and you want to remember it with a smile.

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