Pregnant - Nursing - weight gain

i started this pregnancy at 292 (at least 30 lbs more than i had wanted to!). my doctor said he would like to see me gain 15 total. as off this morning (i'm 22 weeks 1 day) i am up 20lbs! i really don't know why. i have been exercising (i didn't exercise the first trimester due to a previous m/c) the last 3-4 weeks. i've been doing 1-2 miles of a walking dvd and sometimes i do a pregnancy dvd. i haven't always been perfect with my eating, but i have more good days than bad. yesterday was a "perfect" day in the day of someone trying to control their weight and yet the scales are up a pound today! seriously!!

anyhow, i know that i need to be gaining and that is not the issue. i just don't want to hear it from my doctor because i have been doing the right things. i am also hoping to have a vbac and if the baby gets too big (over 10lbs) it isn't going to be an option (my first baby was 10lbs 5oz, please don't say "your babies just get bigger"). i'm just venting. i know my body and my baby are making changes and if the weight didn't need to be there it wouldn't be, but i was really hoping to keep this pregnancy weight under 20lbs! now my goal is to hopefully stay somewhere b/t 25-30 total!

I assume at this point you've been checked for gestational diabetes? I had gestational diabetes & as soon as we got my blood sugars under control (which was quite a struggle in itself) my weight gain completely stopped.

Lifeguard!! Long time no see, how's mommyhood treating you? I hope you're doing well!

Thanks Gale. We are doing well. Struggling to get the weight back off but things have been unusually crazy so I'm really just committing to it now.

Could any of it be water weight? During my pregnancy I gained 12 pounds in a 3 week period towards the end but I was incredibly swollen!

Well...here is what I have learned from my experience.

I have friends who didn't exercise, had Doritos and milkshakes all through their pregnancies...and they gained 15-20 pounds total and had cute little 6 pound babies.

In my case, with my first child (I was much younger-early twenties) I didn't do anything, ate what I wanted to-and gained about 50 pounds. With my second and third, I watched what I ate, tested my blood sugar regularly (gestational diabetic) and I exercised ALL THROUGH MY PREGNANCY. Guess what? I gained right around 40-45 pounds with each of them. All of my babies were in the 9 pound 3 ounces-10 pound 4 ounces range as well.

You can try to do the right things-you can watch your diet, exercise, and sometimes, genetics DOES come into play. Seriously-in my case, the difference between sitting on my butt and eating whatever I wanted...and watching my diet like a hawk and exercising daily (I am a dance instructor) was a measely 5 pounds.

At this point, as long as you are doing the right things-eating healthy and getting regular exercise, I wouldn't worry too much about the gain. It will just stress you out too much.

In my case, I am predispositioned to having larger babies, gaining about 2 cup sizes in my bra during pregnancy and nursing, I have larger than average placentas and more amniotic fluid (making the gain more...) and it is what it is.

Keep on doing what you are doing, though-because my staying fitter, you will have more strength and stamina during labor and delivery and you will bounce back faster afterwards.

I just hate to see people trying to control their gain to the last pound...and then getting upset or feeling like they are failing if they can't.