Hi all! I'm a mostly lurker whose baby just turned 1 last month. To my utter shock, I got a positive test this morning. Last pregnancy I gained 43 lbs, and I don't want to do that again. Has anyone ever gained a ton w/ one pregnancy, and only a little with the following one? I'm still about 8 lbs away from my prebaby weight, so ideally I'd like to gain around 20 lbs, tops.
TIA!

Hmm.. in my case, what was happening in my life at that time made a big difference...

With my 1st, I worked ALOT, I had a job in a very fast pased factory and was very very active. I started that pregnancy at 195 and delivered at 196. I was 163 at my 2 week check up. That pregnancy I craved only healthy foods, which was a huge help.

With my 2nd and my 3rd.. back to back pregnancies I gained and kept a total of about 60 pounds. With number 2, I had just quit smoking and had also just quit working to be a stay at home mom to my oldest and then any others that we had. Both of those factors played a huge roll in my weight gain, I ate a ton of things I shouldn't have, I hadn't lost anything before I got pregnant with my 3rd just 3 months postpartum.

With my last one, number 4, I was careful about what I ate to a point, I made sure to drink plenty of water and tried to limit my junkfood. I gained a total of 8 pounds and at my 2 week check up was 6 pounds below my starting weight... sadly within a few weeks because I was not being careful with my diet I was back up 5 of those 6 pounds... that was when I took total control and have lost almost 30 pounds in 12 weeks.

Every pregnancy is different. I don't know exactly what my real PPW was with my first, but the first recorded weight at the dr's (9wks) was 190. I didn't know I was even that high. I went up to 246 with him, mostly due to preclampsia and not eating well. I did get down to 198 4 years later, but gained 10 lbs due to a new pretty sedentary job and *not eating well* Got pregnant with #2. This time I only went up to 235. Worked really hard this year and got down to 171.6 with WW and exercising a LOT. Now I am a little over 10 weeks and I'm up to 181.6 (actually faced the scale this morning). I have had a terrible urge to eat anything and everything. I have just started tracking my calories yesterday and I actually got on my elliptical for the first time in 2 months. I do not want to get over 200 again. I worked so hard to get under that number. Anyway, it really does just depend on each individual pregnancy and I agree with Sommer that is also depends on what is going on in your life at the time. Congrats on this pregnancy and I hope all goes well! BTW, my younger son just turned 1 on 9/20 so I understand the complete shock!!

Hey, I just realized you both are from PA too!

With DS1 I gained geeze 50ish lbs I think, I started around 160 delivered around 210 and was at 175 at my 6 wk checkup then they put me on b/c and I shot up to over 200 again quickly.

This time I started right around 225lbs and at 32 weeks I'm at 223lbs, but I was suuuuper sick for the first 24 weeks too. I've also craved mostly healthy foods (like salad i could eat a bag of salad in a sitting more than once a week) and I've made sure to keep myself drinking a lot of water and eating small healthy meals during the day.

Hi! I gained about 60lbs with my first pregnancy. I thought I was able to eat whatever since I was pregnant and "eating for two"....that was a mistake I'm still paying for!!

With my 2nd pregnancy I basically ate like I normally would have if I wasn't pregnant...and tried to eat healthier types of food. I only gained about 25lbs or so...and lost it all by my 6-week checkup. Now I'm just trying to finish losing the extra weight I gained with my 1st pregnancy. Boy, if I knew then what I know now....never thought I would have ended up gaining that much weight!! I was hoping for a 50lb baby!! lol

If you want to keep a really close eye on your weight by tracking your calorie consumption, my advice would be to find out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, then add about 500-700 calories to "compensate" for the little peanut in your belly And really make an effort to eat healthy foods. Just try to keep in mind that everything you put in your body is helping your baby grow and develop. Lord knows every pregnant woman needs a bit of ice cream (maybe with some pickles?!? haha), but just try to satisfy your cravings in moderation. I would definitely run all of this by your doctor to make sure what I have said is what you should be doing. But according to "What To Expect When You're Expecting", it should be about right.

Good luck and congratulations!!

Wow, thanks so much for all the great advice! So glad to hear I'm not alone in this. Last time I ate around 1800-2000 calories and actaully watched what I ate and I still gained way too much. Amba, I think I'll try to continue eating the way I am now and at the same level - 1600 cals or so.
Aangel- my baby turned 1 on 9/17!!

I agree that life definatley helps determine the weight gain with each pregnancy.

With babies 1 and 2 - I was 19 and 21, very active and honestly still "vain" about my appearance. I weighed about 135lbs when I got pregnant and I worked hard to make sure a only gained a minimal amount of weight and ended up with a gain of 18 and 15 lbs.

With baby #3 I was 30 years old and working at a very demanding, sit on your butt all day job. I weighed about 220lbs and I was more carefree about what I ate and in turn gained 43 lbs. With baby #4 I had only lost about 20lbs of the 43 when I got pregnant again. I have now gained about 14lbs so far with this baby. I usually gain the most tword the end so I am looking at about another 25 lbs or so.

I am hoping to take a break and let my body rest for a little while after this one.

If you were really careful with your diet with your first and still gained that much weight, then you may be one of the lucky women whose body wants to hoard everything while you are pregnant. But remember too, every single pregnancy is different and what your body did last time isn't necessarily what it will do this time around.

Good luck.. by the way, I love having babies close in age... it makes a big difference in how they get along later... my oldest is 6 years older than my next, the next 2 are Irish Twins.. a year and a day apart and the younger one of them is 3 1/2 years older than the new baby... I really wish they would have been closer in age, but it wasnt something we were in control over

Findingfawn - yeah, I'm "lucky" alright! I also have PCOS, part of the reason this is such a huge surprise. Even when I'm not pregnant, if I'm not actively trying to lose weight I will gain. Before I got pregnant with my first I watched what I ate all the time just to maintain.

BTW, thanks for the encouragement about the babies being close together. Glad to know it gets better.