Calling all Mothers

Ladies, In light    of my pre pregnancy goals, I would like to hear stories from any or all of you who were overweight when you got pregnant, and how your pregnancies went. I would like to know how much you gained, how big or small your babies were, if you had any difficulties, how you changed your eating habits etc.... The more info the better, so let it flow..... I did allot of digging online, and all that I find is discouraging reports about obesity and pregnancy. Please share your happy endings, bumps in the road, and not so happy endings. Thank s you guys,

Hey Snuggle, Well lets see... I blew with my 1st child... I was already heavy and he was 6 weeks early and weight 4 pounds 5 oz.  (he is 12 now.... 5'7 and 170 pounds, wearing a size 13 shoe ) I was 300 pounds when I got pregnant with our second son... a combination of weight, stress, and other things caused me to have an emergency classic c-section at 26 weeks ... he was 1 pound, 2.8 oz.   He was very tiny and later passed away after 52 days in the NICU..... (He is my little angel now... he would be 6 right now) The depression from that I blew up even more.... When I got pregnant with my daughter I was 307.. for some reason... I could not tolerate sugar or really sweet things..  so I lost a pound or two a week with her.... but I developed PIH (pregnancy induced hyertension) and my proteins were all wacked out... another emergency classic c- section, this time I was 29 weeks and my daughter was 2 pounds 5 oz..  She was able to come home after 6 weeks in NICU and weighed 4 pounds 9 oz..  (she will be 4 in October and is 35 pounds and the smartest girl in her PreK3 class) My weight affected my pregnancy significantly... my perinatologist explained to me that sometimes..  excess weight can slow development  and can cause IUGR (Inter uterine growth retardation)  that is what happend with my second son....  Excess abdominal weight restricting blood and nutrients to the baby.... Everyone is different... I am just not built for birthing babies... but I thank God for the three I was blessed with.... Hope not to scare you... but wanted to share my experiences.. Diva

I was 27 when I was pregnant with my son.  I dont know how much I weighed when I got pregnant but I was wearing about a size 22 and I am 5'6

John was full term - actully late by a week and a half.  I had a wonderful pregnancy.  I actually LIKED being pregnant!  I went into labor but did not dialate past 1cm.  John had a BM in utero and went into distress.  none of this was caused by my weight, but I did end up having an emergency c-section. the one thing that was caused by my weight.... they took the staples out of my incision about 24 hrs after I gave birth and sent me home.  A few hours later my incision burst.  It seems no one considered what would happen when the fat girl started to have swelling!  They were not able to stitch me back up so for several weeks I had to have my incision washed and packed  a couple of times a day.   If I could do it all over again I would insist that they actually put in stitches and not just staples and I would ask them to use a drain.  Fat people retain water people!  lol John was born a happy and healthy 7 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long.  He will be thirteen next sunday  :)

I had my first child before I had WLS. I had lost about 40 pounds which I believe aided in my getting pregnant. I was 218 and gained 45 pounds total. I carried for 39 and 1/2 weeks with no complications what so ever the entire pregnancy. I was in labor for about 36 hours.  Chandler was 8 pounds, 2oz. I ate pretty much what ever but walked almost everyday for the first 5 months then it got too cold. I pushed for almost two hours and finally the OB resorted to suction because his hearbeat was a little on the low side. I only required one stitch. I am currently 7 weeks preganant now and I am praying to GOD things go just as smoothly now. If you want to start trying now make sure to take a prenatal vitamin daily to build your blood or at least a 400mg folic acid supplement to prevent neural tube defects. I did this with both pregnancies. Good Luck, Candy

Well, I would first say that being as healthy as you possibly can be before conceiving a child is definitely the way to go.  That being said, being overweight doesn't necessarily make you unhealthy. I remember clearly how big I was with both pregnancies, since I avoided the scale all other times.  But you can't avoid it when you are pregnant!  When I got pregnant with my now 18 year old I was 277 pounds.  After I delivered him I weighed 271 pounds.  Couldn't blame an ounce on him, darn it!!!  He was 10 lbs 8 1/2 ounces.  When I was 8 months pregnant with my now 15 year old I weighed 342 pounds.  I remember at 8 months telling my Ob/gyn that I was NOT stepping on the scale again, period.  He was amused.  My second son was born 2 1/2 weeks early by planned c-section and he weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces. I had no problems at all during my pregnancy.  No diabetes, no pre-eclampsia, no high blood pressure, nothing.   In order to get healthier all around, I quit smoking 11 months before I conceived my first son.  I haven't smoked since then.   I didn' t change my eating habits at all.  I just ate, without regard for what I was eating.  I didn't gorge myself but I had very little sense of nutrition at that point so it was pretty much an anything goes atmosphere.  I would definitely do it differently knowing what I know now.  But you know what they say about hindsight! good luck!!!

I was 160 pounds when I got pregnant with my first daughter. They were going to do a c section but changed their mind. That was my worst delivery of the three. I weighed 220 pounds with my second child. I was only in labor 4 hours and she came out kicking and screaming. she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces. (she is my problem child to this day lol ! ) my third child is 5 and I was 225 when I was pregnant with her. I did not gain any weight with her. In fact two weeks after giving birth I weighed 190 pounds. She weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces.I did not change my eating,for some reason I could not eat pizza and to this day I hate it. My children are are all healthy. I have three daughters one is starting college,one starting high school ,and our suprise package is starting kindergarten this year. When I went to my doctor with my pregnant with my last child I could feel the tension in the room. The doctor said you are 39 years old and overweight. Your baby has a higher chance for birth defects. He scared the hell out of me. He was angery that I was pregnant at least that was the feeling I got. I swiched doctors that day. I told the next doctor if you have a problem with me being a 39 year old fat woman having a baby tell me now so we don't waste our time. He did not have a problem with it and just laughed. Everything went great and our baby is a beautiful little girl. It seems it is never the right time to have a baby. If you want children go for it. I know many overweight women with children who have had no problems. Problems can happen to anyone no matter how much you weigh. The hard part is not being pregnant or giving birth,the had part starts when you bring them home.

Hello there, I was about 279 or so when i first got pregnant and delivered weighing about 299.  I didnt really gain at all my first 6 1/2 months, then my tummy just sort of popped out. I wasnt sick per se, but couldnt stand the sight/smell/touch of hot meats, so i only ate fruit (tons and tons) and lots of ham/swiss and tuna  sandwiches for my protein.  Later on, i could eat a little easier, so added some meats in for more protein.  i had no trouble getting pregnant...back then all you had to do was look at me funny and i was knocked up.  Because she grew so rapidly at the end, they thought i had gestational diabetes, but after that disgusting glucose test, all was well.  9 lbs 5 oz, vaginal...labor for 22 hours and she was a week late.   no complications to speak of, just a few scares when they couldnt hear her heartbeat with the little monitor thing, so i had to have ultrasounds (more pictures for me yay!)...thanks to that insulating thick layer of fat on my belly lol. also make sure you get a lot of calcium in,. babies leech that out of you if you dont ingest it, and i cant tell you of some of the tooth troubles my friends have had during pregnancy. janeen

For my first baby, I was certainly overweight by all weight charts for my height:  5'4" and was 150 ish. Huh, I'd KILL to be there now. But I blew it by gaining 50-55 pounds that did not exactly fall off me after I delivered.  I had a BIG baby girl...9# 2 ounces. Second time around two years later, I was about 170 and only gained 25# that time. That weight came right off. This baby girl was 8# 4 ounces. I then stayed at 170, no lower for the next bunch of years.  After I quit smoking when the girls were about 10-12 years old, I packed on sum pork...ballooned up to 230 highest recorded weight.  I am today at 186, the lowest I have been in at least 15 years! I swear I totally blew it by gaining that much weight with my first pregnancy!

Wow the similarities run across almost everyones stories.  First daughter, age 24, weight ~ 155, I gained 40 lbs. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice so everytime I had a contraction she couldn't get enough oxygen.  They stopped labor and took her by c-section the next day.  She weighed 6'13".  By the time I went home I weighed 170ish.  I took my time about losing the rest, but weighed 135 by the time she was 3. (My lowest known adult weight...for a minute) Doctor said "no more kids, it's a miracle you had this one".  Tadah, PREGNANT......lost weight, lost weight, lost more weight....almost passed out walking from the house to the car.  My sister called the doctor (I was 6 mo. Pregnant)  She saw me that day put me on a 2200 calorie a day diet and said I was not taking in enough calories for both of us (blood sugar drop).  I balloned up to 210 lbs. Eight days after her due date, I went into labor and knew something was wrong, but everyone kept saying, "just labor, you don't realize because they stopped it with Jess".  WRONG!  She had went into fetal distress and was trying to rip me in half.  They tried to put me in a wheel chair when we got to the hospital and I wasn't sitting down, I had practically been on the back of the seat all the way there. MUST of been a funny sight.  I was ready to punch anyone who was gonna force me to sit anywhere. LOL! While in fetal distress, she had a bowel movement so they went to flipping me, cutting clothes off, and rushing me to OR.  They delivered her by emergency c-section, and she was raising total hell when she came into this world, and hasn't stopped yet, LOL!  She just turned 15 in March, had her first (single) date last week, and starts high school next week.  My oldest will be 20 (OMG!) in Novemeber....BUT......none of those things were caused by weight, they could have happenned to a 120 lb. person.  Both girls are highly intelligent, both mentally and emotionally. On the other hand, I had a friend who weighed 270 with first and 305 with second child and had no complications with either child.  They did deliver second son by planned c-section because she had lost some muscle control and they didn't think she could withstand labor...i.e. easier on doctor than to wait for labor. Hope that helps some!  Sorry it's all scary but as I said weight was not really a factor.

I have 2 boys - 17 and 11.  I was 23 when my first was born.  Starting weight was about 210.  Gained 18 pounds during pregancy.  Had Gestational Diabetes and had to take insulin shots starting at 6 months along.  Very uneventful pregnancy.  Zero morning sickness or other problems.  He was 2 weeks late.  Labor took 10 hours - not too bad.  One piece of advice -- GET THE EPIDURAL!!  It made such a huge difference.  I was pretty much a lump on the bed, moaning through the contractions and not able to talk.  Once the epidural was in within 10 minutes I was sitting up, laughing and talking a blue streak.  There had been practically no change in my dialation for 4 hours -  but after getting the epidural I was told I was ready to start pushing within 1/2 hour and he was out after 10 pushes and 1/2 an hour.  They rushed him out of the room for oxygen because the cord was around his neck and he was a little blue.  He was fine and they observed him for 20 minutes and then brought him to us.  Jordan weighed 8.5 pounds and was perfect. 

My second pregnancy was completely different.  I was 29 this time.  I started throwing up at conception!!  And didn't stop until almost delivery!  I was green day and night.  Got GD again and started taking insulin at 12 weeks along.  The doctor was chasing my blood sugars throughout and had to keep upping my insulin shots.  I had mild contractions starting at about 4 months, had to stop work at 5 months and go on bed rest for a month.  Went to the hospital Labor Triage 2 times a week from 5 months to delivery to have non-stress tests because of off and on contractions.  When I was around 36 weeks along, the contractions wouldn't stop and was put in the hospital and given Magnesium to stop them (which was awful).  It made me super nausious and I threw up after just 1 bite of a roll.  They couldn't stop the contractions and did an amniocentesis to check his lungs.  After I was in the hospital and on that sucky Magnesium for 2 days they told me his lungs were mature and it was ok if I went into labor.  Of course, my contractions (that I had been having non-stop for 4 months) chose that exact moment to stop - and didn't start up again.  I went home from the hospital and waited.  About 2 weeks before my due date my water broke.  Delivery was uneventful - but quick.  It was only 4 1/2 hours between my water breaking and cutting the cord.  The hospital actually gave me drugs to start contractions.  Yes, I got the epidural again.  Logan weighed 7.8 pounds and was perfectly healthy.  With this pregnancy I was actually 40 pounds lighter from my pre-pregnancy weight of 260 just 1 week after delivery.  I attribute that to the diabetic diet my doctor had me on during the pregnancy. Overall, both were pretty good pregnancies.  Gestational Diabetes carries the risk of having an overly large baby, but both my boys were pretty normal.  One of my friends that had GD with her first pregnancy delivered a 10.4 pound baby girl.  She looked 3 months old compared to the others in the hospital nursery.  Remember that a pregnancy while obese and/or having GD with pregnancy is a high risk pregnancy and you need a doctor accustomed to these types of pregnancies.  Be careful and best wishes!!