I am pretty sure you can understand the fear and joy part of gaining weight during pregnancy.  After all, years of trying to prevent weight gain from slowly creeping up is not going to disappear overnight.  I doubt that I am the only or last woman to worry about the amount weight you gain during pregnancy.  The weight gain fear swings both ways — gaining too much or gaining too little.  There is also joy in providing the nutrition my baby needs to grow in the womb.  This extreme emotional swing about weight gain could all be hormonal.  And don’t forget that I am also worry how excess weight gain would increase my hip pain.

The “appropriate amount of weight gain” during pregnancy is confusing to me.  The OB/GYN office is staffed by three women doctors.  When asked, all three of them gave me a different answer on how much weight I should gain during my pregnancy.  One doctor mentioned limiting my weight gain to no more than 15-20 pounds.  Another doctor thinks I should aim for 20-25 pounds.  And the last doctor thinks my body would gain whatever weight it wants to gain to have a healthy baby ( I like this doctor the best ).

Interestingly enough the advice the doctors gave reflect their individual body shapes.  The “skinny doctor” wants me to gain as little weight as possible.  The “average doctor” wants me to gain a reasonable amount of weight.  And the “big boned doctor” (she was not overweight, just that her frame is more sturdy looking than the others) is okay with whatever weight my body wants to put on.

What do books and magazines have to say about pregnancy weight gain?

Here is a breakdown of the average amount of weight gain during pregnancy:

Of course, the average woman in the United States is also taller and heavier than me.  So maybe the advice from the “average doctor” is the amount of weight my body should gain during pregnancy.  However, I think there are more factors at work in nurturing a healthy baby than just reaching some ideal weight requirement.  After all, what happens if you hit this “ideal pregnancy weight” before the end of the 40 weeks?  It is not like you can go on a diet during pregnancy.

Slow and steady weight gain during pregnancy

I’ve talked to plenty of women who gained 40+ pounds during pregnancy with healthy babies.  And a majority of them were able to lose  enough weight to be within 5 pounds of of their pre-pregnancy weight.  I’ve also talked to women who gained the recommended “ideal pregnancy weight” and ended up with complications at the birth.

As many of my regular readers know, slow and steady is the best way to lose weight.  This prevents sagging skin and helps you from re-gaining the weight loss.  This motto is also true for a healthy pregnancy.  When you slowly gain weight, it gives your body a chance to adapt to the extra pounds and allows your skin to stretch gradually (preventing stretch marks).

It is recommended that you gain 1-1.5 pounds a week after the 4th month.  Most women do not gain any weight by the 9th month because there is hardly any room in the womb for the baby to keep growing.

Pregnancy weight gain warning signs

If you start gaining more than 3 pounds a week after the 4th month and it is not due to excessive eating or water retention, then it could be a warning sign of gestational diabetes.  Being part of a high risk group for gestational diabetes (Asian descent), I have cause for some concern.  And if you were overweight pre-pregnancy, there is also a chance you would develop gestational diabetes during the last part of your pregnancy.

Pregnancy weight gain is complicated.