I'm feeling sensitive and need to let it out - pregnancy

LittleMoog

Nicki wrote: »

As for not dieting in pregnancy, whilst it is true that you should not embark on a crash diet, it is not true that you should continue with unhealthy eating habits just because you are pregnant. Health professionals can and will offer advice on how many calories you should be eating at each stage of the pregnancy and good and bad food choices. This might well be less than OP is eating now, and may lead to her maintaining her current weight or even losing a small amount during the pregnancy without impacting on the baby in any way.

Sadly this isn't true in all areas. For the 6 months before I fell pregnant I'd been calorie counting and losing weight at a slow and steady pace (0.5-1lb/week). When I got pg I adjusted my calorie intake to maintain my weight, and asked GP, midwife and consultant for guidance on calorie intake and whether I could safely attempt to lost a bit more weight (say 0.5lb/week) as my BMI is still just over 30. None of them could offer any guidance and wouldn't commit to whether it's safe or not. I got a lot of "try not to put on too much weight", without any specific help. I used my own judgement and decided to reduce target again by 250 calories a day to try and burn up a bit more fat, I do have plenty of reserves for the baby after all

None of them have said that my weight is an issue though or made me feel bad about it. The only thing related to it is being booked in for a GTT at 28 weeks. I'm under the consultant for a separate issue as here it's BMI of 35 that puts you onto consultant care. Perhaps the OPs midwife/consultant should be a bit more sensitive in how they speak to her, especially as she's managed not to gain any weight so far so she's obviously not going crazy with eating for 2

Person_one

mildred1978 wrote: »

Interesting, because my sister's did, as did my mother's, her 3 sisters, her cousin, my grandmother, my great aunt and my great grandmother.

We're all clearly genetic freaks.

Or have hormonal issues that are hereditary...

Nicki

What makes me laugh Mildred is that you are asserting that your breasts weigh more than six times as much as other women's breasts which have a larger cup size and band size, and not only that this pushs you from normal weight into morbidly obese territory, but also crucially that because you believe this to be the case in your situation that this is a good reason for the OP to ignore medical advice which has been offered to her in pregnancy, when ignoring such advice could impact on both her and her unborn child.

It is the excessive exaggeration which is the cause of the hilarity, not the fact that you have larger than average breasts, which I am well aware can cause their own issues and difficulties.

mildred1978

Nicki wrote: »

What makes me laugh Mildred is that you are asserting that your breasts weigh more than six times as much as other women's breasts which have a larger cup size and band size, and not only that this pushs you from normal weight into morbidly obese territory, but also crucially that because you believe this to be the case in your situation that this is a good reason for the OP to ignore medical advice which has been offered to her in pregnancy, when ignoring such advice could impact on both her and her unborn child.

It is the excessive exaggeration which is the cause of the hilarity, not the fact that you have larger than average breasts, which I am well aware can cause their own issues and difficulties.

I have not advised the OP to ignore anyone's advice!! And I have said that I don't know exactly how much my boobs weigh, other than "a lot". I do not believe that BMI is a real indicator of anything, nor that it should be used in isolation. Does every human that measures 5' 10" have a skeleton that weighs the same? doubtful because bones can weigh differing amounts. I have a 35" inside leg, and fairly muscles legs, so they probably weigh a bit more than the average 5' 10" woman's legs.

In order to get into "healthy BMI" figures I would need a significant breast reduction and to lose a fair bit of muscle. Neither of which would actually improve my overall health.

You need to look beyond the BMI numbers. That's all I'm saying.

mildred1978

Person_one wrote: »

Or have hormonal issues that are hereditary...

Maybe. But as they haven't caused any other issues, why worry?

mumps

When I was pregnant with my first son I got lots of disapproval as I was only 17, 5'4" and 8 stone. I have big babies, 10lb is normal in my family. I was always being lectured about something and when I got to about 32 weeks Dr told me to be careful and try not to put more weight on. Four weeks later I went for check up and was weighed, I had put on 1 lb I think. I said, "Great." Po faced MW gave me a lecture about my poor deprived baby and how irresponsible I was. When she finished I told her what the doctor said and she just said, "Oh."

j.e.j.

OP if you are upset by the way they have spoken to you, register a comment.

I can't help agreeing that BMI is unhelpful, and btw what actually happens to your BMI during pregnancy? Do they account for the baby bump, or are you still expected to fit in neatly into their grid?

I know my sister was showing as 'morbidly obese' at 9 months, lol. She's actually quite small and slim again now.

I must admit it's a bugbear of mine, because I was told I couldn't have an op under day-care because my bmi showed I was 'too tiny'. I thought !!!!!!..? I am 5ft 5 and a half and I go between 8, and 8 and a half stone. OK that's not big, but it's hardly waif-like and emaciated. I think they just use these figures to beat women over the head with, tbh. Grrrr

mildred1978

Nicki wrote: »

What makes me laugh Mildred is that you are asserting that your breasts weigh more than six times as much as other women's breasts which have a larger cup size and band size,

I'm not the one who thinks J comes after K

misscoupon

I'm not pregnant but thinking about it... and to sympathise with OP, my GP scared the life out of me about even thinking of conceiving (cot death, diabetes and c-sections to mention a few).
It did make me feel pretty !!!!!! but in my case (BMI over 35) I guess it was needed.

Person_one

j.e.j. wrote: »

I can't help agreeing that BMI is unhelpful, and btw what actually happens to your BMI during pregnancy? Do they account for the baby bump, or are you still expected to fit in neatly into their grid?

BMI isn't used in pregnancy, your pre/early pregnancy weight would be recorded and they'd use that for monitoring.

I'd have thought it was obvious that there are situations where BMI isn't used because it isn't appropriate, they don't use it for amputees either, or when people are oedematous after chemo for example.