Maintaining/losing small bits of weight while pregnant

My situation was VERY similar to yours when I was pregnant with my son, down to the active retail job. The advice I received from my doctor, and that I think is common for women who enter pregnancy with extra weight, is not to try to restrict calories or actively lose weight at this time, but rather to work on limiting the weight gained during pregnancy. In my case, I had no appetite the first 3 months and actually lost 10 lbs during that time, unintentionally, and then gained about 20 during the 2nd & 3rd trimester, which my doctor said was perfect. After delivery, I actually weighed a little less than before the pregnancy.

Clearly, your doctor is the best person to advise you in your particular situation.

I am curious what you mean by "being more aggressive" this time? More aggressive in your weight & fitness goals, or more aggressive in your caution? And BTW, don't worry that the previous pregnancy was accompanied by morning sickness (if that's the sickness you're referring to). Morning sickness is actually a good sign in most cases that your body is doing it's thing

Ask for nutritional counseling would be my suggestion. The general recommendation is to gain a healthy amount of weight, and that typically depends on mom's weight at the start of pregnancy. Pregnant women have special nutritional needs, especially protein, in order to help grow a healthy baby and prevent maternal illness during pregnancy and preterm delivery. Dieting during pregnancy can make it difficult to hit those macro targets and ensure proper nutrition.

You gain weight in the form of 50% more blood throughout your body, your amniotic fluid, the placenta, the baby itself, and your breasts as they grow to feed your baby. After that, the rest is fat stores to help fuel your milk supply after you give birth. If you maintain your weight throughout your pregnancy, you're actually losing weight because all of that extra stuff weighs something and it offsets your weight loss. Your doctor will help you come up with calorie goals that you should be hitting for each trimester.

Your doctor can tell you if there's anything you need to do to keep weight gain to a healthy level

I was very ill in pregnancy, gave birth at 25 weeks and had lost several stone in that short space of time. I looked like death warmed up after giving birth, became unwell and ended up needing surgery 5 weeks post partum (developed an abscess as my body couldn't fight infection from a teeny tiny scratch)

This is what I would advise as someone who was obese during pregnancy (the most I gained was 85 pounds in my second pregnancy, for the other four pregnancies I gained between 33-55lbs). Focus on gaining a healthy amount of weight. Whatever your doctor advises.

Think about it this way. You have your starting weight + all of the extra fluids + baby + placenta + breasts + a little bit of inevitable fat stores. Let's say that's 25 pounds at the end of your pregnancy. In the weeks immediately following birth, that weight drops off almost completely because you're not carrying it around anymore. You can return to your starting weight pretty quickly if you focus on gaining a healthy amount of weight.

If you have extra fat stores, those get burned while you're breastfeeding if you eat at maintenance because your body uses that as fuel while you make milk. That's what nature intended. That is how I've dropped 50 pounds in almost 11 months since I had my last baby. If you're not planning to nurse, make a plan to set a modest deficit through MFP once you're cleared by your doctor and ready to tackle weight loss. Make healthy weight loss a priority after you give birth. Focus on growing a big, healthy baby for now.