Well, it's early for me to be announcing this, but I'm pretty scared and could use some advice. If any of you happen to know me in the real world, shhhh, it's still a secret for now. So, anyway, hem, haw, DH & I managed to get pregnant faster than a couple of teenagers in the backseat of a car! So much for that biological clock theory--this explains last week's cravings and fatigue at least. So I am no longer a loser, and not even really a maintainer, but my goal now is to gain an appropriate amount of weight to have a healthy baby. Both too much and too little have negative consequences that I'd like to avoid, obviously.

So I've read all the nutritional stuff I could find and I feel like I'm pretty well educated about what and how much I should be eating, but as usual, life is about the doing and not just the knowing. Anybody have any tips or strategies for getting in the healthy food, avoiding (mostly!) cravings for junk, or ideas for dealing the inevitable body image issues that a former fatty is going to have to go through?

FYI: No morning sickness yet, and none of my family seems to have had much problem, so I'm not really expecting it, although I know it is possibility. And yes, I'm taking my pre-natal vitamins.

One final note. I'm going to be keeping some of the details of dates, places, names etc off this site. I think you guys are a great group of people, but there are some scary folks out there, and anybody could be looking. I hope you'll understand if there are certain questions I just don't answer. I think maybe one of my protective maternal instincts may be kicking in.

Anne

Hi Anne,

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!
As a mother of 2 I can give you the stuff that worked for me:
- Don't believe the eating for 2 stuff, its hard to loose afterwards
- Take plenty of rest, don't work to hard
- Please do not forget your folate acid & other vitamins ( the folate acid is associated with prevention of spina bifida)
-No smoking, no drinking is what i did during pregnancy
And the good news:
Breastfeeding is a great way to loose weight as it uses up a lot of calories. Also usually more healthy for the kid if it has allergies and such things. Since i am slightly lactose intolerant, both my kids could not tolerate cows milk but since I was not drinking milk in any form anyway the breastfeeding was no problem for them.
And the last good thing about breastfeeding is that you don't have to get out of bed fotr the night feedings !

Again, CONGRATULATIONS !!! and enjoy the pregnancy. It is a very special time so enjoy as much as you can.

rabbit

Congratulations, Anne!

What wonderful news - you are going to be a fantastic mom!! I wish I had some tips for you but I did everything WRONG when I was pregnant, diet-wise, and gained a ton of weight that never came off either time. But you, my dear, are wise and well-read and I know everything will work out beautifully for you.

Our very best to you and DH and we look forward to hearing whatever you're comfortable sharing with us.

CONGRATS ANNE!! So Happy for you and hubby, it's a great time in a couples life !!

When I was pregnant I tried to do everything right but still gained 40# for the first and 60# for the second , I would just keep gaining ... I weight trained, I walked, I did yoga... For the first one I got right back down to my pre-baby weight but for the second one I'm still struggling with the last few #s and she's 14!! I think age is a factor there too I am older now and the more I waited to loose the weight the slower my metabolism was/is... I didn't nurse back then I just wasn't into that but now at almost 50 I regret not trying it... It's a matter of personal choice ...

If you have it in your head that you will not gain crazy amounts of weight I think you can do anything, remember it's mostly in the mind !!

Just find out about running and cardio when you are pregnant, there is something about that and I can't remember the details, Meg or Mel may be able to better answer that...

Anyways, good luck to you and your baby, I'm extremely happy for you!!

Stay healthy!

CONGRATULATIONS! How exciting!
I'm not much help on how weight gain during pregnancy since I had my two girls when I was 18 and 20 and had one of those metabolisms that just wouldn't quit at the time. (Obviously, it quit not too long after that, or I wouldn't be here maintaining this 44 pound loss )
I'd just like to share that when I first joined curves, there was a VERY pregnant lady who's workout times seemed to often coincide with mine. She worked out at least 3x a week up until a day or so before she delivered I think. And she used to make me feel somewhat ashamed because she often seemed to be working harder than me! Anyhow, apparently her doctor encouraged this and from what I heard later, she had a great labour and delivery probably because she was in such great shape. I wish I had started exercising myself back then!

Congratulations Anne!

My best pregnancy advice is to keep exercising, and remember that while you're eating for two, one of the two is only going to weigh around 8lbs in 9 months time and currently weighs far less than an ounce. Keep healthy snacks around and eat often. Carry water and a snack with you when you go out.

Enjoy your changing body. There's nothing more amazing than a woman's belly in the last trimester, filled with baby, etc. It's not like being fat, it's solid and taut and has a moving thing beneath. After 4 pregnancies in the last 6/7 years (my oldest just turned 6), I almost envy you.

Do ask your doc or midwife about the amount and intensity of exercise that you're doing. But most should be ok since you've been running, swimming, etc for a while.

Good luck with the morning sickness staying away. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

CONGRATULATIONS!

(back later)

Mel

Congratulations, Anne!

I have some advices - since I have 3 kids and I can compare pregnancies - some of them should be publicized.

Watch what you eat - nutrition is important. Eat all the vitamins you need, folic acid, etc. Also, often pregnant women crave certain foods - I tried to disregard and regard those cravings and I personally find that it is easier to pay attention to them. Sometimes we crave things which we never eat in real life (my first pregnancy was very "cravings" oriented - I ate 4 gallons of pikled tomatoes in 30 minutes, I LOVED halva which I never otherwise eat and my usual breakfast was piece of rye bread squished with raw egg - I can not even imagine to try it again - I basically rarely eat eggs never ming raw eggs).

I noticed that the more balanced your diet is while you are pregnant, the easier your children will behave and learn - my first child was born in 1990 in Moscow and I definitely did not eat enough veggies and meat, and I noticed that my daughter often is not able to remember things as easy as my two other kids.

Exercise: I did nothing with my son pregnancy and I ended up gaining about 40 pounds... I did not quite loose it all before I found out I am pregnant again. So I got next pregnancy weight on top of first one. At the end of my last pregnancy I could not walk up the stair - my knees were killing me... With my last pregnancy I did pregnancy yoga till the last day before delivery - I think it was the best thing I could ever done... Amazingly enough, my last baby was the easiest baby and she would calm down as soon as she could hear quiet music.

Also, another thing to remember is that women's bodies come back to normal 2 years after giving birth - so do not worry if you have excess weight a year after - if you have it 2 years after giving birth - this is a bad sign.

Breastfeeding - I personally would be very puffy when breastfeeding - I breastfed my kids till they were 1 year old, unfortunately my last child - DD - had set up her mind when she was 8 month old and stopped taking breast - she was basically biting me. So I started with cow's milk as she would not take formula either. But try to breastfeed as long as you can. Also, in my case after I stop breastfeeding I would loose about 10 pounds of weight - it is quite nicely coming off in about 2 weeks

Anyways, feel free to ask any questions... Using threadmill is OK, doing abs, till you are 4 month pregnant it is fine to do everything if you feel good. I personally hiked a lot till I was 7 month pregnant, and I also downhill skied till I was 6 month pregnant - my rule was - as long I fit into the ski pants.

Cheers,
Sandy.

Anne:

What wonderful news. Best of luck. Advice, enjoy enjoy enjoy it is a special and wonderful experience.

Awesome Anne. I have nothing new to offer. I did nothing different in my 3 pregnancies and gained 40, 18 and 22 lbs. Shrug. 22,21 and 18 years later ... they're fabulous folks and I don't remember the bad stuff at all

Anne,
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you. You will be fine, don't panic, do what you know is right - more of the same - healthy eating, lots of rest and water and check out what seafood to avoid.

I'm not full of advice, I gained 60+ lbs when I was pregnant. I craved all the WRONG foods and let myself eat them - the result was a lot of fat on me and a 10 lb baby boy! He was (and still is) healthy as can be, but I do find it much harder to maintain my weight since he was born. That may or may not be a result of my huge gain.

Congratulations again. You will make the right decisions, just trust yourself.

Anne (lessismore)

Congratulations, Anne!

I'm with lessismore Anne: just trust yourself.

You know yourself and your body. This is just a different phase. Make a bit more room to listen to yourself and your body, and act on it.

You will do the right thing.

Anne, it was so fun to read your exciting news!!! I have no doubt that you're going to do GREAT! Congratulations!!

Anne, That is just such exciting news. My only advise is take the time to enjoy the whole experience. Time goes by so quickly that you want to make sure to slow down and notice all the details of this new phase of your life. You are going to be amazed at how fast children grow and change.

Congratulations!

Congratulations! My advice is not to worry about gaining weight, but worry about eating nutritiously--especially be sure to eat a lot of protein. As far as the body image thing goes, I found the weight I gained during pregnancy was different from regular-old "fat" weight. Your stomach stays hard, so it's not squishy and flabby. I actually found myself proud of my belly! Just remember you're doing the most important work there is: growing a baby! Doing prenatal yoga also helped me a lot with my body image--I remained graceful, even at my highest--278 lbs.!

I second (or third?) the breastfeeding suggestion. I gained 39 pounds during pregnancy, and lost 33 lbs in 6 weeks, without any effort at all. Unfortunately, I later gained some of the weight back, but I was eating a lot of junk food when that happened.