Pregnancy : Weight Gain – Too little or Too much?
I’ve been wondering about this topic, and I thought I should just blog about it and hope to hear stories from fellow moms (ie. How it was for you, etc)
Well. It’s about pregnancy weight gain.
Before I share a little more on my third pregnancy’s situation, here’s how the first two went:
1st Pregnancy – Anya
Baby was born when I was 38 weeks pregnant.
Total weight gain : 12.5 kg
Baby’s weight : 3.97 kg
Note:
– Normal delivery, no epidural
– Pain relief : Injection into thigh – Pethidine, and Entonox – ‘Laughing gas’
– Did not experience any weight loss during pregnancy
…
2nd Pregnancy – Vai
Baby was born when I was 37.5 weeks pregnant.
Total weight gain : 8 kg
Baby’s weight : 3.42 kg
Note:
– Normal delivery, no epidural
– Pain relief : Entonox – ‘Laughing gas’
– Experience slooowwww weight gain during pregnancy, but no weight loss
…
Now you see, some people tell me how we generally gain ‘less’ weight when we’re pregnant the 2nd or 3rd time round, because we’ll be physically more tired from looking after the elder kid(s).
I experienced that when I was pregnant with Vai. I gained less in total, compared to when I was pregnant with Anya.
The thing is, with this 3rd pregnancy, I’m experiencing ‘weight loss’. Something which I did not experience in my first two pregnancies.
Three days ago, when I had my usual check-up, I found out that I lost about 2kg over 2 weeks (ie. Between week 33 and week 35). I lost about 1kg too when I was about 29 weeks pregnant.
From the scan, baby looks to have gained weight steadily and is about 2.5kg now. But, all in all, I’ve only gained a total of 6.5kg so far.
[Click HERE to read Baby no. 3’s week-by-week pregnancy Journal]
…
I asked the Doc if this means the baby is absorbing MY stock of vitamins, iron and etc. He nodded. But then, as to the question of : ‘how much’ was taken away and whether I was ‘unhealthily’ affected by this … no one could really tell.
(Anyway, I’ll continue with my daily multi-vitamin intake etc, for sure).
…
Now I’m just wondering … how was YOUR pregnancy like?
At which week was the baby born? Total weight gain? Baby’s weight at birth? Any weight loss during pregnancy? Any advice given by your Ob/Gyn regarding your condition?
I really hope many of you can share your stories, so I can learn from you and your experiences too.
Thanks, everyone!
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Hello,
I am planning for baby right now and was very worry abt weight gain. =)
is smaller size will gain more weight?
I am 161cm and 41kg now…
thanks
Hi Belle,
Congrats on the coming baby!
Weight gain will always be one of the worries we have, I guess. Some gain so much, and some gain so little. But I was told again and again, that what matters most is that the baby is gaining well inside, and that we’re eating nutritiously everyday. If we gain a little bit, in a way, it all goes to the baby, which is a good thing. So, do check with you doc yeah … and hope you and baby are doing real well throughout the journey!
Hi
Thought I’d share 🙂
I am currently 36 weeks preggers with my first (baby boy).
So far I have gained about 10kgs. I was quite slim before my pregnancy so am chuffed I have only put on 10kgs so far.
I am a big chicken when it comes to pain so am opting for natural birth with epidural. I also don’t have the right “mind set” to cope. Am terrified of birth so the epidural is getting me through.
But barring all that, my hubby and I are very excited about our first child! Can’t wait to meet him!
Take care
Kirst
Hi Yatz,
Hwaa.. you lost quite a lot yeah in the first trimester for both pregnancies … And though you gained a total of just 8kg, your son was relatively big at birth!
(btw, I’m guessing that you typed the number wrongly for your daughter’s delivery week? 🙂 You wrote how she was born at 32 weeks …? )
Anyway .. thanks for sharing! It’s really insightful to read about other people’s pregnancy stories …
Hi Leonny,
My 1st Daughter,
Weight gain: 10kgs
Baby’s weight: 2.72kgs
Loss weight during 1st trimester: 8 kgs
Delivery: at 32 weeks, normal delivery…no laughing gas, no epidural, no injection to thigh….
My 2nd son,
Weight gain: 8kgs (under insulin)
Baby’s weight: 3.72kgs
Loss weight during 1st trimester: 10kgs
Delivery: at 37weeks (induced) as baby was breech but somehow during the day after admitted the baby’s head intact and the doctor decided to induce before he moves again…injection to thigh….no epidhural..no laughing gas…
Hi CT!
Thanks for sharing your 3 pregnancy stats!! 🙂
Giving birth to Vai was MORE painful than when I was delivering Anya (though she was 3,97kg and Vai was 3.4kg only!). And I thought subsequent deliveries are supposed to be ‘easier’ and less painful ? hehe … (old wives’ tale, I guess!)
For my case, I made up my mind way before I was pregnant that I’d deliver my babies without epidural. Want to avoid any potential complications too (at a later age). I wanted to have the thigh injection though when I delivered Vai, BUT I was told that since I was already about 7cm dilated, it’s ‘too late’ …. aiyohhh… I could still remember the pain 🙂
Interesting though how the whole ‘painful’ episode wasn’t even a factor that I considered when we were thinking of whether we should go for no.3 or not …. 🙂 And somehow I don’t think it’s because I’m brave though … 🙂
Hi!
My 3 preg:
1st Delivery
Weight Gain: 16kg ( doc din stop me, which was risky cos I was already Over BMI)
Birth weight: 3.0 ( girl)
Delivery method: normal delivery, induced@39wks, epidural!!!
2nd Delivery
Weight Gain: 10kg ( changed gynae who curbed my weight gain strictly. had gestation diabetes)
Birth weight: 3.10 ( boy)
Delivery: normal, induced@38wks ,epidural!
3rd Delivery
weight gain: 11kg (closely monitored by doc, no gestational diabetes)
Birth weight: 3.5 (boy)
Delivery: normal, induced 37wks. opt for no epidural as I was already 6cm dilated, figured I won’t take long so no epidural…. super painful *salute* you for your guts!
@prince n princess mum
True, that’s what I thought too … ie. as long as baby is healthy and well.
Just the other night though, someone shared with me how she prioritised her baby over her own (after baby was born). She didn’t drink milk at all during her breastfeeding days, … didn’t take any multi vitamins, and she also didn’t quite watch what she ate during those first few months (eg. eating just chicken rice from hawker centres for lunch). What happened was, her body kind of ‘broke down’ …. and she was ‘ill’ when baby was about 4-5mths old (and she still hasn’t recovered till today). Her body immune system was (and is) down, and even the doc says there’s nothing she can do right now to ‘fix’ her situation… (it is a rare situation, but it happens to her)
After hearing what’s happened to her, I was simply reminded again of how important it is to not only look after the baby, but also our own health before and after baby is born …
Doesn’t matter.. as long as baby is growing healthily.. 🙂
Hi Madeline,
Thanks for sharing your pregnancy stats! (and it’s nice to hear from you too for the first time … 🙂 )
Looking at my previous 2 pregnancies, AFTER I gave birth, I’ll be ‘bigger’ than when I was pregnant (read: far from ‘slim’) haha … because during my breastfeeding days, I was constantly hungry and I ate A LOT! hehe.
Hope I get to breastfeed this 3rd one again with no problems, just like the first two …
Anyway … thanks again for sharing …. Hope to hear from you again in future blog posts … 🙂
Have a nice weekend!!
Hi Leonny,
I’ve been following some of your posts but this is the first time I’m commenting =)
My baby girl’s stats are:
Baby born: 40 weeks + 3 days (no induction. waterbag just broke)
Total weight gain: 23 kg! *sigh*
Baby’s weight at birth: 3.4 kg
Weight loss: None. I wished I had some weight loss though. envy you.
Delivery: Normal with epidural (envious that u can do without it!)
So I’m actually envious that you still look so slim! =)
@Imelda,
Thanks for sharing!! 😀
(of course I remember how you’re small-built lah … hehe)
The fact that you only gained 6 and 7kg was amazing! And both were at least 3kg too when they’re born! With my case, I lost my pregnancy weight very fast AFTER I gave birth (left with just 1 kg after I gave birth to Vai), BUT … I ate A LOTTTT when I was breastfeeding haha .. and I always ended up with an extra 5kg during those breastfeeding days. Looked top heavy and much ‘bigger’ than when I was pregnant haha.
Lost the ‘extra’ weight within about 6mths after I weaned the kids off bfeeding 🙂
Now, with the 3rd one … it’ll be interesting to see how things will go. Hope baby says HI to everyone in 10 days or less hehe …
Hi Leonny
1st one
weight gain: 6 kg
baby born at 40 weeks
normal delivery
baby’s weight: 3.15 kg
2nd one
weight gain: 7 kg
baby born at 40 weeks
normal delivery
baby’s weight: 3.07 kg
I did experience weight loss when I was pregnant with my 1st one. Sometime at the beginning of the 3rd trimester. I think I lost around 2 kg. I was gaining too much during the first 2 trimesters. Then my gynae advised me to eat more of wholemeal kind of food, brown rice, etc to increase the nutrition. So even though I didn’t gain much, I can be sure that I ate “effectively” for both the baby and myself.
I was quite happy actually with the fact that I didn’t have to worry with gaining too much during the preggy days. In fact, perhaps partly due to full breastfeeding and partly due to no helper since day one, I was even slimmer than pre-preggy days 🙂 I am small built btw, if you remember me 🙂 My kids are ok, they are of average size and generally healthy. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, and with God’s grace, you’ll have a smooth delivery 🙂
Hi Joz,
Not having any problems with appetite is a good thing too =) I found it hard to enjoy my meals in my first 18 weeks of pregnancy this time round … (morning sickness somehow lasted a little longer the 3rd time round for me).
Not sure if baby will be at least 3kg at birth this time … (since my weight gain is not that much too). I guess, we can only wait and see 🙂
Anyway .. hope you have a great weekend yea … Thanks for sharing your pregnancy stats!! 🙂
wow! really envy ur minimal weight gain yet ur babies are still of normal weight range. for me, my boy was born at 40 weeks, c-section w epidural (coz head was too wide to pass through the pelvic bone). now, wait for this… my total weight gain was…. 24kg! baby’s weight was 3.78kg. guess i really got carried away eating coz my appetite was very good… also i had very severe water retention during the last 10 weeks.
@domesticgoddess
Thanks for sharing your tips on the carbs intake yeah …
Increase the amount of carbohydrates in your diet and continue with your multi-vits. The carbs will help you at least maintain your weight.
@Siska
Wah … you had ‘similar’ pregnancies for BOTH kids yeah!
Dan midwivenya emangnya ‘tipu’ lu ky apa pas lahirin JL ? 🙂
1st one with JL
weight gain 12kgs
born: 39 weeks
Delivery: normal without any pain relief (not because I was brave but cos I was stupid, ditipu sm midwivenya)
Weight: 3.06kg
length: 51cm
2nd one with JH
weight gain 12 kgs
born: 39 weeks
Delivery: c-section (he was breech)
weight: 3.095kg
length: 51cm
@Michelle,
Yep, this 3rd pregnancy, morning sickness lasted the longest (compared to when I was pregnant with Anya and Vai). Your suggestion that this might’ve contributed to my body not having enough ‘reserves’ does make sense 🙂 Thanks for sharing your ‘analysis’ 🙂
And yep, hope baby doesn’t stay in there for too long. Come out and say HI to everyone in 10 days time please … 🙂
Studying from your weekly pregnancy blog (yes, I am studying it, not sth academic or whatsoever, just personal research for exam prep =P) it seems that cici has more pregnancy-related symptoms i.e. morning sicknesses, water retentions, etc. at the first 2 trimesters, as compared to Anya and Vai’s gestation, no? Cos if it is, then it can possibly be one cause of the weight loss. In simple terms: you may not prepare enough nutrient reservoirs when the fetus was still relatively small-sized and had not consumed much of maternal’s existing supply. Now that the fetus has already grown into an antenatal infant, the consumption is almost at the rate of a newborn (which is seemingly little amount when manually fed but if absorbed from mommy’s body supply is quite considerable amount).
Your doctor is right that what you can do now is consume more carbs & proteins, in staggered pattern (little by little but very often over short periods of time, bukan cuma malem aja =P), cos as you would know since the infant approaches 36 weeks it will push the lungs & stomach more so you would feel more ‘mual’ if eat a lot at one go. And supplementary vitamins & minerals will certainly help, at doctor’s prescription (kalau engga ntar overdose and turns dangerous, right? ^^).
Not to worry to much though, since the baby is going to be born soon, so it won’t eat up your supply for too long to cause adverse effects on your body, hehe… Kalau mama punya supply dah ga cukup dianya juga ga mau di dalem terus, bakal mulai push-push pengen keluar sendiri ^^
Hi Crystal,
Thanks for sharing!
When it comes to the actual day, whether it’s caesarean or natural birth, I guess both can be a little ‘scary’ 🙂 I choose to not think about it though and just let it happen on the day (because I’m just not fond of any ‘hospital-related’ matters 😉 )
I do lots of reading to know the stages I’ll be going through but I choose NOT to know (see) the equipments used 🙂
Hi, Leonny.
I have a 6 yrs old son & 2 yrs old daughter.
For both pregnancies, I put on abt 10kg. My boy was weighed 2.6kg while my girl was weighed 3.27kg. I think I had more durians & craved for Macdonald’s french fries during my 2nd pregnancy (hmm.. that may explains why my girl was born heavier) =P
Before reading your article, I have not heard of weight loss during pregnancy.
1st was emergency c-section while 2nd was planned c-section. Both at 38 weeks. Was disappointed that I couldn’t experience natural birth but had to reconcile with that as it was not within my control. I wish to have a 3rd child but the thought of being “cut” the 3rd time really gives me phobia =P Still praying for God’s will, readiness & courage.
Hi Connie,
Thanks for sharing!
So you did lose weight too during your last trimester …
Another thing I find interesting is, it’s somehow quite common for doctors here to ‘induce’ before it’s 41 weeks …
Hi Leonny..
I only have one darling so far and here were my “stats”:
Baby born: 40 weeks exactly though its one day before EDD and baby has to be induced cos gyn said he was too comfortable inside.
Total weight gain: 10 kg
Baby’s weight at birth: 2.81 kg
Weight loss: yes, at first trimester and last trimester so the main weight spurt was mainly during 2nd trimester
Gyn’s advice: watch out for sugar intake cos I had mild BP issue as my original weight is already HIGH (hee hee)
Oh well.. datzy abt all I guess 😀