Tag: 33 weeks

A snippet from one of my pregnancy apps where I’ve been recording my weight at my doctor’s appointments : )

I have gained 17 pounds according to my doctors’ scale last week, but it’s probably closer to 20 if you count those first few weeks before my first appointment at 8 weeks. Since I don’t weigh myself at home, I don’t really have an official starting weight, but if you look at my 8 week photo, I don’t think I put on more than a couple of pounds, so I just subtracted 3 pounds from my 8 week weight to get a good start idea. Up ~20 total with 6 weeks to go. The normal range is 25-35, so I think I will end up right in the middle of that, or perhaps slightly less. [Gosh I should really shoot for a 26 pound gain!! How cool would that be!?]

As you see in the graph, I shot up a lot in the first trimester – above average – probably a combination of bloating and feeling so terrible and eating poorly. As soon as the second trimester hit, my weight gain slowed a lot. In fact, from weeks 16-20 I didn’t gain a single pound! I’m not sure how that happened. More vegetables, less cheese, I’d assume : ) As the baby has grown a lot more in the third trimester, I’ve gained about 3 pounds a month.

I really haven’t done anything differently with my diet. In fact, I’d say aside from a few isolated pockets of days and the temporary need for almonds at bedtime to sleep through the night, I have been LESS hungry than I was before I was pregnant!! I am 99% attributing this to a drastic reduction in exercise intensity. (And this makes me think twice about how much I was doing before too. Although I definitely miss the burn!)

I’ve definitely loosened up my diet a little bit – there is no need to cut back so much after a vacation or few days of overeating to balance it out because I don’t want to deprive the baby or feel hungry. But I’d say for the most part, my meals are only slightly bigger (or really if anything – they are smaller because of my stomach space reduction!) and I’m snacking either the same or less. I really imagined myself being famished throughout pregnancy like I was the days after a long run! But that hasn’t been the case.

I haven’t counted calories or anything to see where I’m ending up, but I would guess around 2,000-2,500 for a daily average. Considering in the third trimester calorie needs are ~450 additional, that makes sense. It’s all still a squiggly line if you listen to your hunger cues.

I’m always fascinated to see how the weight is piling on. I obviously haven’t gained 20 pounds of pure fat over these past 8ish months.

This site breaks it down as the following up delivery:

• 7 – 9 pounds of baby
• 2 pounds of placenta
• 2 pounds of amniotic fluid
• 4 – 5 pounds of increased blood volume
• 2 pounds uterine enlargement
• 3 – 4 pounds of fluid in maternal tissue
• 1 pound of breast enlargement to prepare for breastfeeding
• Any remaining pounds are a general deposit of fat required by the body for breastfeeding and energy stores

That’s 21 – 25 pounds worth of baby stuff with the rest as maternal fat stores (on D-day).

It’s pretty clear to me that I’ve put on some fat stores – in my arms and legs/hips/sides for sure. I’d guess my stomach too but it’s stretched so much it’s hard to tell! But I’m still curious to know what I’ve gained as pregnancy side effects/baby and what I’ve gained as fat. If I’m up about 20 pounds of baby etc. upon delivery, and gain close to 26, that’s about 6 pounds leftover of real fat (or possibly a little more) – and something that sounds totally manageable to take back off. But I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens! I’m in no rush at all to lose the weight, but I am hoping I will be back in most of my winter clothes by the winter (maternity can get me through the fall!) – contingent also on rib and hip structure changes!

Whatever the gain ends up being, it’s been worth the weight : )