What is a Normal Weight Gain During Pregnancy?
Healthy pregnancy weight gain depends on a variety of factors, including your weight at the time you became pregnant and how many babies you are carrying. Note that healthy pregnancy weight gain is not necessarily the same as the normal weight gain during pregnancy.
Many women do not follow the proper diet and exercise program for a healthy pregnancy, so they tend to gain more than they should according to medical professionals.
If you learn the amount of weight that medical professionals consider healthy pregnancy weight gain and feel the numbers are quite low, you are not alone. You are likely thinking about what you would consider the normal weight gain during pregnancy according to your experiences in the past or the experiences of women you know.
Remember that what many women think is normal weight gain is quite high when compared to what is medically necessary.
The only way to know how much weight is healthy for your body during any given pregnancy is to ask your doctor. Never substitute the advice given here for the advice given by your doctor.
The Breakdown – Trimester by Trimester
Healthy pregnancy weight gain naturally increases with each trimester, since the growing baby increases in weight the further along your pregnancy progresses. If you are maintaining a healthy weight prior to getting pregnant, you should expect a healthy pregnancy weight gain to be no more than four or five pounds in the first trimester. In the second and third trimester, you should expect to gain about a pound a week.
Overall, normal weight gain during pregnancy for a woman of average weight prior to pregnancy should be no more than thirty-five pounds. This is all assuming that only one baby is being carried. When carrying multiples, which is common in surrogacy, you can estimate about an extra half pound per week after the initial month of pregnancy.
If you are underweight or overweight at the time you become pregnant, then these numbers will likely change when talking to your doctor. An overweight woman may not need to gain as much weight, while someone underweight may need to put on a bit more weight in order to deliver a healthy baby.
How Much Is Too Much?
Pregnancy weight gain is made up of all of the following:
- Baby
- Placenta
- Amniotic Fluid
- Breast Tissue
- Blood
- Uterus Expansion
- Healthy Fat Storage
Yes, you read that right: healthy fat storage. The majority of the weight you will gain during pregnancy will come from the growing baby’s body and the fat your body stores. You need to store some extra fat away during pregnancy to get through the delivery.
The catch is that you don’t want to store so much fat that your health decreases. That not only negatively affects you after the birth, but it affects your baby negatively as well. If you are gaining more than a pound or two per week after the first trimester, then you may be gaining too much.
Controlling Pregnancy Weight Gain
While it is not healthy to restrict calories, workout excessively, or do other things in attempt to lose weight or stall weight gain during pregnancy, you can follow a well-balanced diet and do some moderate exercise in order to keep weight gain in check. If you do this right from the beginning of the surrogacy, you shouldn’t gain an excessive amount of weight.
If you do find that you are gaining weight too quickly, you should ask your doctor to help you develop a more appropriate diet or to approve more effective exercise. If you were not exercising prior to getting pregnant, then you should clear your choice of activities with your doctor. The type and amount of exercise you are able to do should change as you move through your pregnancy.
Are You Losing Weight?
Some surrogate mothers actually find themselves losing weight while pregnant, even though they may be doing everything necessary to maintain a healthy pregnancy weight gain. If you find yourself in this situation, the first thing you should do is check with your doctor to make sure the baby is growing at a healthy pace. You want to make sure that the weight loss is not coming from the loss of fluid or improper fetal growth.
The next step will likely be to increase your consumption of healthy foods. You don’t want to pig out on junk food just to get up to a healthy pregnancy weight gain. You should discuss the normal weight gain during pregnancy for your body, and then get recommendations for monitoring food intake, drinks and exercise to ensure you are not harming the baby with continued weight loss.
If you were substantially overweight at the start of the surrogacy and started eating healthier and exercising more after getting pregnant, then your weight loss may be perfectly safe. You just have to clear that with a doctor and make sure you are not strictly dieting or excessively exercising to a point you could harm the growing baby.
Staying Healthy Throughout Pregnancy
If you are worried about maintaining normal weight gain during pregnancy, there is an eBook titled Pregnancy Without Pounds that can help you follow healthy eating guidelines and stay within healthy exercise boundaries in all phases of the surrogacy.
In general, you should be able to continue with any exercise you were already performing regularly prior to your surrogate pregnancy. That includes running! If you were not exercising prior to pregnancy, then you will want to consult with a doctor and read Pregnancy Without Pounds to develop and effective and safe pregnancy exercise routine.
What tips would you give to a first time mother?
