Where Does the Extra Weight Go During Pregnancy?
Baby: 8 pounds

Placenta: 2-3 pounds

Amniotic fluid: 2-3 pounds

Breast tissue: 2-3 pounds

Blood supply: 4 pounds

Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9 pounds

Uterus increase: 2-5 pounds

Total: 25 to 35 pounds

And doctors say it isn't safe to lose weight during pregnancy. But if you eat what's good for you, you will gain the appropriate amount. A friend of mine gained 60+lbs when she got pregnant.

Here's some tips to make sure you will only gain that weight:
~ Eat 6 small meals every day.
~ Keep easy snacks on hand, like fruit, nuts, cheese & cracks, and yogurt.
~ Spread peanut butter on toast, crackers, apples, bananas, or celery. One tablespoon of creamy peanut butter will provide about 100 calories and seven grams of protein.
~ Add nonfat powdered milk to foods such as mashed potatoes, scrambled egg,s and hot cereal.
~ Add condiments to your meal, such as butter or margarine, cream cheese, gravy, sour cream, and cheese.

And of course, just eat healthy meals!

No, it is not safe to try to lose weight while pregnant, but do not use pregnancy as an excuse to get fat either... that's what I did -- I gained 90 lbs!!!!! I know that average weight people should gain 25-35 lbs, under weight people need to gain a little more, and people who are overweight pre-pregnancy will gain a little less.
Talk to your doctor about a plan that will work for you. You will still want to continue to exercise throughout your pregnancy. In you third trimester you will have to slow down. And as far as nutrition goes, take your prenatal vitamins, eat nutritious meals, and be smart about it. You aren't REALLY going to be eating for two. You only need to take in a few hundred extra calories.
If I ever get pregnant again, that's my plan anyway... hope this helped somewhat! xoxoxo

I gained 45 pounds during pregnancy. It was really unnecessary to gain so much because I only had a 4.6 pound baby. I wasn't on a diet before. I have lost 59 pounds doing WW. I really don't want to lose anymore so I am going to treat myself to a little more of my old foods again, but keep up my exercising.

Your doctor will give you some guidelines. Mine told me she didn't care how much I gained, as long as I gained slow and consistantly. With #1, I gained 29 lbs. He was 8.14. With #2, I gained 9 lbs. He was 9.4 lbs!! So yeah, I actually lost weight while preggo with #2, but i wasn't trying to or anything. In fact I ate healthier with #1!

Most of all, don't stress too much about it!

I've gained between 17- 25 lbs with the last 3 pregnancies. With this one, I think my weight gain is at already at 30lbs. With this one, I look the smallest as far as body goes but belly is huge. I ate well, no junk except occasionally, and kept drinking my water!! My children range from 7.6--6.9--7.7 respectively. I don't know how big this one will be but will post soon after I deliver!!

Part of it, however, is PERSONAL. I know women who ate junk through their entire pregnancies, and didn't exercise ONCE, who gained 25 pounds during their pregnancy...and I know women who ate healthfully, exercised, and gained 80. You can strive to be as healthy as you can-and you should because it's better for you and the baby-but you can't really control your weight gain as much as people would like to think.

I, for instance, have gestational diabetes. For some women it isn't much of an issue, but for me-it causes big weight gain. I stayed on a particular diet during my pregnancies, and I exercised about 5-6 days a week up until I delivered my baby. I walked on the treadmill, did prenatal yoga, prenatal strength training dvds, AND taught belly dancing classes up until delivery. I gained about 55 pounds...and had a 9 pound 3 ounce preemie. He was a month early, and was my SMALLEST baby.

I did everything right, and still gained a lot of weight...you can't always control it.

I didn't gain much with either of my other pregnancies. I only gained 13 with my son and 11 with my daughter. I will be 22 weeks tomorrow and have only gained 4 lbs so far with this baby too.

I tend to lose weight up until about the 5th month. Strange as it sounds I am also more cautious about what I eat when I am pregnant. Something about knowing this little baby is totally dependant on my for all its nutrients motivates me to eat better. Not saying I don't give into my cravings, but try to eat really clean 85% of the time.

At the very beginning of my pregnancy I was walking a lot plus working 8 hours most days I lost 7 pounds. I'm not exercising much now (like I should) and have put on about 3 pounds. I wasn't trying to lose the weight. I am though trying to eat well, so we'll see how it goes..

my son is 7 months now--- i gained 46 lbs with him --- pushing me way up there to almost 200lbs--- (i started at 155lbs--delivered at 196) --- he weighed 8lbs1oz and left hospital weighing about 182 dropped to 159.6lbs as of now--- so that's like 36lbs maybe--- so i guess i'm down to my last 10lbs--and i did nothing--- i'm just working part time and taking care of him---he's way demanding at this stage ---(the crawling stage) and not letting me do much but care for his needs--
so anyway---whatever you gain you will gain regardless-- just be good to yourself and know that there is hope for everyone --

I gained about 60 lbs. I didn't eat junk food, but I did eat a lot. I had terrible morning/day/night sickness and keeping my stomach full helped me to avoid nausea and throwing up. Plus, I ate a lot of breads which helped my stomach feel better. I lost 40 of it pretty easy with nursing and have been working hard to take off the other 20 plus more. I figure 40 weeks to gain and forty weeks to lose. : )

I'm 27 weeks and have only gained about 7 lbs. so far. I lost weight during the first trimester, although I wasn't trying to.

With my first, I gained 32 but didn't do a thing during my pregnancy.

This time, I'm striving to be healthy. I was on South Beach before I got pg and have continued to eat on the Phase 3 with additional protein, complex carbs and dairy. It helps me remember to eat enough if I have something to keep myself accountable to. I exercise with my husband 5-6 days per week as well, which has really brought some tone to my legs (!!!).

I just had my LO 2 weeks ago. I gained just over 40 lbs with him - started at 157, delivered at 200. However, I'm already down all but 12 lbs. I think I gained so much because I ate too many hoho's and didn't exercise enough. I had just started a weight losss program that was working great when I got pregnant, and sadly I didn't continue it.
Best of luck to you.

I was 40-50lbs overweight when I got pregnant, lost about 20 due to hyperemesis, then gained back the 20 in my second trimester. Then I gained 4more. So I had a net gain of 4 lbs. I was on the gestational diabetes diet from about 24 weeks on, it really helped to control the weight gain. I was already overweight so my body had the reserves it needed to sustain the pregnancy. I gained the 4 lbs all in the last month before delivery. I was an idiot with my first pregnancy and thought being pregnant was an excuse to eat everything and not exercise. I'm glad I got a clue with my second, the daily walks really helped, I think.