[crystal422]

My husband and I have been married for a little over a year and just bought our first house and want to start our family. I am 22 and am afraid of what I will look like if i get pregnant at my size. I keep telling him that we can try when I lose weight but who knows when that will be. I have not tried to loose any lately. I am 220 now and I was wondeing if anyone has gotten pregnant before they lost weight and how the pregnancy went. Just found out my 20 year old sister is 2 weeks pregnant with ther second child. I guess I could really try to loose about 30lbs then try. I am not worried about not being able to get pregant, more about how big i will get and if i will be at high risk. Sorry to go on but if anyone have any thing to share please do.

[mamaplots]

Hi! I have a 15 month old son, and I was 195 when I got pregnant with him. My pregnancy went really well, I did have a borderline blood sugar count, so I really had to watch how much sugar I had. If it went up any higher, I would have to start insulin. I am at 203 now and we are not actively trying, but not preventing another pregnancy, and I worry about gaining weight. I just lost 12 lbs, and I want to lose more before I get preggo again. But I guess that we're leaving that for the hands of fate! Good luck and don't worry about how you'll look. Pregnant women are beautiful!!!

[shelby897]

Don't let the "when I .... I'll try". If you are ready for a baby -- go do it!! I was 206 lbs when I got pregnant for my first and 246 when I got pregnant for my second. I had no health problems with either and really didn't end up gaining that much in the end. Don't let your weight hold you back from the most exciting and enjoyable gift you and your husband could make!!!

[aphil]

Honestly, I wouldn't let the weight be the deciding factor-unless you were morbidly obese where it would run a higher risk during a c-section, etc.

From your post, I would base it more on other things-you are a newlywed and you said you just bought your first house. Those are the things I would think about more than the weight. Were you and your husband dating long before you married? If you have been together for a while before you married, then you have had some time to yourself already...but for those people who met and married 2 months later...you might want to wait a bit.

The same with the house-if it has been a while, go ahead, but if you just closed a month ago, you might want to settle in more.

Getting married, dealing with a close death, buying/selling a house, and having a baby are 4 of the most stressful things you can do as a couple-and you don't want to do them all too close together if at all possible.

[barbygirl43]

Great advice Aphil!.

I was around 300 with all of my pregnancies. I did have gestational diabetes with the last two and pretty much had uncomplicated pregnancies. I did have c-sections with all three though.

[crystal422]

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes my husband and I have been together for 5 years and he is 26 so a little older than I. Acutally we close on our house in a month so we were going to try in a month and then have 9 mo to settle in. But i guess it would be a good idea to wait so we can make sure that we are finically stable after having the house.

[Holdensmom]

I was 270 when I got pregnant and 265 when I gave birth. I actually lost weight. I had absolutley no problems during the pregnancy or the delivery. If you want to get pregnant start taking pre-natal vitamins now. You need to make sure you get all your vitamins, especially folic acid. It prevents birth defects of the spine. Good Luck!

[aphil]

Originally Posted by crystal422

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes my husband and I have been together for 5 years and he is 26 so a little older than I. Acutally we close on our house in a month so we were going to try in a month and then have 9 mo to settle in. But i guess it would be a good idea to wait so we can make sure that we are finically stable after having the house.

I made mention of the closing on the house, because I went through an unexpected pregnancy/relocating with buying one house/selling the other at the same time last year.

Unexpected things happen-meaning that you may try to plan to get pregnant, and think that 9 months in the new house is going to be plenty of time to get settled, but it doesn't always work out that way. That would only happen in a picture perfect, by the books pregnancy.

For instance-you might find yourself with extreme morning sickness, or bedrest, or numerous other things that might interfere with the new house moving/painting/settling in/repairs/etc. The financial issues of both large scale events are definitely one consideration, but there ARE others.

When we moved last year, I was on bedrest for a short period during my first trimester. If you ended up in a similar situation-you wouldn't be able to move/unpack/paint etc. during that time. There are many things to think about besides just the financial part of it.

I also had my son almost a full month early-at 36 weeks instead of 40, and I was in labor for a full week-so it all started at 35 weeks. That left me 7 months and 3 weeks...not 9.

There are all sorts of scenarios that could happen either with your pregnancy, or with the new home-with our first house 6 years ago, we had a water softener leak right after moving in, and we had to replace the entire kitchen/utility room floor-the underlying structural wood as well as the flooring.

Not saying that anything at all is GOING to happen with you, or with the house-but unexpected things do happen, and it can be stressful dealing with a new home and a new pregnancy at the same time. I wouldn't do it again.

I would (and this is just me personally because I have been through it recently) wait until you have lived in the home for at least 6 months before trying. Get all of the financial stuff, the painting/hanging curtains/making the house "yours" and everything out of the way first.

[ennay]

Originally Posted by Holdensmom

If you want to get pregnant start taking pre-natal vitamins now. You need to make sure you get all your vitamins, especially folic acid. It prevents birth defects of the spine. Good Luck!

This is great advice. My doc wishes all women would take either prenatals or a good multivit PLUS a folic acid supplement for 6 months before starting ttc.

There is a lot of iron in prenatals which really isnt needed right away and can be quite constipating so I did the second option.

[jennylou]

My first pregnancy I started out at 278 and ended at 299. No complications with the pregnancy. I did end up with a c/s for failure to progress and heart decals.

My second pregnancy I started out at 268 and ended it at 289. No complications with that pregnancy either. I had a succesful hospital vbac with my DD.

I've always said that GD and pre-e and all those horrible pregnancy complications that they talk about overweight and obese women being at higher risk for doesn't mean that they'll get them. It just means that they are at risk! Plenty of my skinny counterparts suffered through GD and pre-e and I didn't. I ate well, lots of good for you foods, but didn't deny myself if I wanted a sundae. And, I walked as often as possible.

Weight was not a deciding factor for me in having children.

[HoosierHeather]

When I got pregnant with my first child I was 180. Delivered at 220. I had hypertension for the second half of the pregnancy and was on full bed rest from 33 to 39 weeks. I was induced at 39 weeks. She's totally healthy now - and I can't say the weight is why I had hypertension, or possibly because it was my first pregnancy (1 out of 10 women have pregnancy-induced hypertension in their first pregnancy, less likely later on).

My second, I was 212 when I got pregnant, had zero complications, but he was born at 36 weeks. They say being overweight can cause preterm labor. But so can a lot of things... so again, who knows? He is totally fine.

My third, four months later, I was 218 and she is a totally healthy 2 month old. Born a bit early again (37 weeks) but it's typical to have your baby come early when you've delivered before and had a baby born early before.

So anyway... I think if you guys feel ready, go for it. Making positive lifestyle changes to prepare your body for pregnancy may result in weight loss on their own anyway.

Oh, and I got pregnant with #2 and #3 within 2 weeks of starting South Beach.

[Nay75]

crystal422
Thanks for letting me know about this post. I was trying to read through different ones and wasn't sure where to post it. I think after reading some things I think I will stop taking the pill in July and what happens will happen. I'm not getting any younger......I just want to "look" pregnant when I am pregnant. I don't want to look like I'm just a chubby lady. Does that make any sense?

[aphil]

Nay-no matter what size you are, you are going to probably just look "chubby" during the first and second trimesters anyhow.

During the first 4 months, it is hard for strangers to know if you are pregnant, or if you have been hitting up too many buffets...unless you wear a t-shirt that says "Bun In The Oven" or something like that.

[Nay75]

Yeah that is true.

[jennylou]

Here I am during my second pregnancy, to give you an idea of what different women will look like. Istarted this pregnancy at 268 and ended at 289.

14w2d

37w2d