Losing Weight Before Next Pregnancy

Hi Andrea,
I glanced over a lot of the responses, at from what I could tell, they all looked pretty good. Sometimes we're more concerned about weight than what we're eating. Weight is not the issue, but diet (what you're eating, NOT trying to lose). I highly, highly, highly recommend looking up the Brewer Diet. The fact that you had placenta previa the first time tells me that you did not have an adequate diet during your first pregnancy. (Some doctors may debate this, but from experience, poor diet is the leading cause of the majority of health problems in pregnancy--and the Brewer Diet has a long-term, proven track record). You especially need adequate protein (80-120 grams/day), whole grains, fruits and veggies plus water during your first trimester especially because you need the amino acids as the building blocks to create a healty, strong placenta (a powerful new organ) and your baby. This is foundational for the rest of the pregnancy. The Brewer Diet can be bought in book form or go to <blueribbonbaby.org> to get diet details and great recipes and food ideas. Also, I add to the advice that you get on a good prenatal vitamin (find one at your local Whole Foods,etc) and folic acid too. Also, with your sciatica, go to spinningbabies.com/org for proper posture during pregnancy. Remember this: knees are always lower than hips and belly is always lower than spine. This will put and keep the baby in proper position. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me.
Best of luck!
J.

Wow! to only weigh 114 again. (sighs wistfully). Alright here's my advice. Every pregnancy is different. Just because you had problems with your first pregnancy doesn't necessarily mean you will have problems with your second.

As far as losing weight. You are at a healthy weight as you are right now. And you were at a healthy weight with your first child. I think if you are going to have the same problems as before it will happen to you whether you weigh 114 or 140. Some women just tend to have more difficult pregnancies than others.

I think that eating right and exercising is a wonderful idea. It never hurts to be healthy and fit. I guess what I'm trying to say is that whether you wait to lose four pounds or you start trying right away it's not going to make too much of a difference. I wish that it could be different and that all you needed was a healthy weight to have risk free and easy pregnancies but sadly that's not always the case.

Good luck in all you do. Just remember that no matter what you have to go through to get them here, they are worth it in the end.

loosing weight has nothing to do with being healthy, unless you are obese or overweight, which you aren't. your body will be healthy if you are eating right and exercising. you might even gain weight if you put on some muscle. which will burn more fat. i think getting healthy is a good idea, not worrying about loosing weight.

I am a birth doula and I have a client now who was told she would have to gain weight before she could get pregnant again. She is a little underweight, but eats very healthly and does not have an eating disorder. She has been having an extremly heathly pregnancy for the last 6 months and I bet will continue to do so. When i got pregnant with my first, I was 5'3 113lbs and ended up gaining 60lbs and had a great pregnany and birth and lost all the weight again within a year. It's not how much you weigh, but how you take care of yourself. If your period is fairly normal and you are eating healthy, you should have no trouble getting pregnant again. Let me know how it turns out for you and if you ever need any more help!

Not that this is much help, but I had 2 friends who were pretty thin and both had a very hard time conceiving. I am quite sure that the weight contributed to the trouble conceiving as their doctors also thought they needed to put some weight on.

Hi, andrea!

Good luck with your future pregnancy; just some advice from a health care professional: remember to focus on your over-all health as opposed to gaining or losing just a few pounds of weight. Those few pounds will probably not affect your fertility, but remember that you may experience morning sickness (and thereby lose weight in the beginning), and you also need a certain amt of body fat (stores) in order to breastfeed sucessfully, if you plan to do so. In this weight conscious society, i believe there may be an unhealty obsession with thinness, although there are definitely more risks involved with being overweight, esp at the start of pregnancy. It would definitely be a good idea to just procede with your pregancy efforts and keep good nutrition and adequate exercise at the top of your list. You will find your body adapts and will serve you well if you treat it well. Most importantly, remember the over-all goal: a healthy baby!

Best wishes to you!!

Have you considered a safe and gentle detox plan before trying to conceive?

Why do you want to lose weight? You're tiny. You shouldn't get healthy just when you want to get pregnant. You should always be healthy. Your lifetime of health affects your pregnancy --- not just when you're pregnant. Anyways... to get healthy --- eat healthy & exercise. Losing weight doesn't make you healthy. Talk to your doctor about what is a healthy weight for you when you get pregnant. Petite women can have difficult pregnancies/labors just due to their small size. But, usually, the second pregnancy/labor is easier than the first. Take care of you. Your health and your unborn child's health is what's important. Not vanity. And think about what you want to teach your daughter. She's watching every thing you do. Our society/culture is so weight/image obsessed. It's a difficult world for girls to grow up in. I'm not being critical, I just want you to think deeply. Try some yoga exercises/breathing and go for walks instead of focussing on the weight. Good luck with conceiving.

I say eat healthy, exercise. I wouldn't worry about losing weight. I was a very small petite woman, 5'2" 100 lbs. When I got pregnant with my son and daughter. With my son I gained 30 and my daughter I gained 31. Because of my natural ability to stay thin, excercising and going back to work, I lost my baby weight in 3 months for both. I would love to be at 117-114. I'm still at 100. I gave birth to two beautiful children despite what my weight was.

114 ibs for someone 5'3 is really thin! Is that in your gene's to be small? Maybe just try to enjoy your daughter and husband and not worry about those #'s! It souds like you are dedicated to staying thin, losing the original weight the first time around so losing it the second time woud be realistic! Maybe go for that low # after baby #2. Good luck to you!

Wow people are brutal. Andrea I don't think that there is anything wrong with wanting to loose weight before your pregancy. The only conern I would have is doing it the healthy way- eat right & exercise. You can check out www.thfonline.com. My husband and I own the Salt Lake city store and we focus on teaching people how to eat right and be healthy. We also teach how to loose fat not weight. It doesn't matter how much you weigh alot of it is your body fat percentage. You can give us a call at ###-###-####. Let them know that I offered you a free initial phone consult and they can hook you up.
Good luck. :)
M.

The best way to lose weight the right way would be excercise such as walking, watch what is in your diet and what could be changed to assist you in your Ideal weight. The most important thing is make sure you getting the right nutrition.

I am a clinical therapist first off. My question is: Do you have a history of an eating disorder? I am not trying to offend you, but I get the impression that you are too worried about your weight. Remember that you need to be in the best health before you conceive. Your body weight needs to be probably even more so that you have enough body fat. When I say fat I don't been FAT. Proper ovulation occurs when your weight is at the right number. Plus, remember that you were able to loose the baby weight right after you had your first one. I would say don't focus on loosing any weight, but begin taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid before you begin to try to have another baby. I understand that it is not fun to gain weight when you have a baby. Look at the wonderful outcome of the weight gain. A beautiful new baby that is a blessing from God. I will be praying for you.

You might have had complications because you were too skinny. I weighed 160 pounds before I got pregnant, had a wonderful healthy pregnancy, gained 35 pounds during it, and my active labor was only 7 hours long and delivery took three pushes, and I was done. If I were you, I would check to see what is healthy for your body size. You are either a really small boned short person or you are underweight.

Well it seems like you have gotten plenty of advice about you being too thin, I can relate I am 5'4" and only weighed 113 when I got pregnant with my first, gained 60lbs with her, lost it all in 4 months and returned to my 113 and got pregnant again.... I agree with those before me that have said you need to be healthy and that you are probably at your
ideal weight now, but I think YOU need to feel good about where you are at so your attitude and your self esteem are good.... don't worry so much about everything being exactly "perfect" enjoy life and your wonderful daughter and Lord willing the rest will take care of itself. We waste way to much energy trying to analize everything in our world to the last details that we start missing out on the good things in life.... our children. Good Luck

If you are wanting to get preggo again I would lose the weight concern. It's 4 lbs, and it seems to be where your body is comfortable or else you would have lost it by now. You should focus on eating healthy and taking your vitamins and preparing your body for making a baby. If you are even considering that you may be too thin to concieve, listen. I happen to know that a *little* extra "junk in the trunk" can help your body not hurt during conception. You may get preggo quicker and feel better because you have some reserves for the new addition to snack on before you start putting on the baby weight. The healthiest pregnancies are thought to be becasue mom was planning well before the bun was in the oven. Take care of yourself. Rest, eat well, and work out in preperation for your wupette, not lose a few pounds.
I say leave the 4 and gain 20+ more (once your preggo of course)

Andrea G.
Why are you so concerned about your weight? Concentrate on your health..........L. W

I got rid of my pregnancy weight that was over 35 pounds with the help of an organic tea called Mummy magic tea that also helped me maintaining my metabolism.

YOur hormones are tied to your weight. Being under or over weight can lead to pregnancy problems. I was told to gain weight to sustain pregnancy as my levels were low and I had miscarried a few times.... 4 lbs is significant when you weigh as little as you do, you already have a history of losing the weight easily after the baby (second one should be the same, it was for me). I would advise against trying to lose weight now.

Actually, you are already thin enough. Your body needs a certain amount of body fat to assist in fertility, and you may already have that or need more. If you're worried about how you look, I would recommend TONING the muscle that you already have. this will be beneficial for several reasons. 1. You'll LOOK smaller, but probably gain a little weight (muscle is good). 2. you won't have as much flab because you're muscles will be leaner, but you won't look like a body builder either. 3. Pilates and yoga are great for toning and focus on the "core" abdominal muscles. Strengthening these now could help you bounce back to a pre-baby body faster after conceiving. But I would recommend not trying to lose more weight. I'm 5'0" and 110 pounds is on the low end for me. You're a good 3" taller. Talk to your doctor...he might want you to gain a little first.

I have to tell you that my weight fluctuates by 4 lbs almost every month due to my period and other things such as water retention, and I'm not big. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT 4 LITTLE LBS. I have many friend who work out way too much and have not body fat and are so imbalanced that they have no period and can't get pregnant. Who knows if it's because of lack of fat of lack of balance. One of my friends just started her period for the first time in years after eating "Super Food" from Sunrider International. She didn't gain weight or "eat ice cream and pizza" like her doc told her. Give me a jingle and I think I can help.

I'm not sure what a healthy weight for your height is, but I would say as as long as 110 is a healthy weight for you then it would be great to get there before you try to get pregnant. Exercising (moderately - don't go running any marathons) and eating healthy will do nothing but make your body more healthy, which should help your body during pregnancy. If you are concerned about how it might affect pprevia, I would consult your doc. Congrats on deciding to grow your family, and taking care of your body is always a good thing to do -- pregnant or not!

Ask your doctor. Could you be to thin? In horses the ones that have good weight on get pregnant easier and have better results in pregnancies and having foals. Be concerned about eating right... not loosing lbs. It's not good to look at weight. You should have your BMI checked and go by that. You might loose 4lbs of muscle and not fat. There is a lot more to loosing the fat then just weight and it's a delicate balance. If your not eating enough when trying to loose weight your body will go after the muscle which is what you don't want.

Go to a gym and talk to a trainer. They should be able to give you good advice on what your body type needs to be at.

Check this site out too
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/forum/diet-nutrition/255... and have your BMI calculated from a trainer. There is also a lot of helpful info about loosing fat... not weight.

My first infertility doctor told me that a large part of my problem was being underweight. I would check with your doctor what they feel is healthy for you, especially since you had difficulties the first time around. My regular doctor told me 10 pounds overweight is healthier than 10 pounds underweight. It is true, since gaining weight, my pregnancies have come easier, been easier to keep, and go longer without complications. GL I hope your next one is without complications.

It sounds like the weight you are shooting for could be a healthy goal depending on your body shape/type. I would say 2 things:
1) Be sure you have a well balanced diet which includes daily recommended servings from the food groups.

2) Be sure your weight loss does not make you thin or unhealthy to the point that you are not menstruating... that will cause issues with getting and staying pregnant. Good luck to you!

I would just like to say that I am 5'3 too and the "normal" weight range for that height is 112-146 lbs anything less than that is considered underweight, and anything over that is considered overweight (that is non pregnant weight of course). When I got pregnant with my first I weighed 100, and when I got pregnant with my second I weighed 97 (yes 97) lbs. I just had my fourth baby and am at about 122 right now, and I have decided that my focus needs to be toning up and not loosing that weight. So I suggest you focus more on eating right, work out to keep your body fit (if you happen to loose weight then it happens but don't stress over it). Good luck

this vidio brings up some very interesting info about the link of excitotoxins and weight gain. Check it out.

excitotoxin article by James South
articles on excitoxins
EXCITOTOXINS: The Taste That Kills DR. Russell Blaylock

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2384105525501310962

Hi Andrea - I agree with the last post - keep in mind your overall health situation and the goal of a pregnancy - a healthy baby and a healthy mom. You don't have to be 160 to have a healthy pregnancy and being 110 won't keep you from getting pregnant. Eat lots of healthy foods keeping in mind the extra protein, calcium , etc. that you need to consume to feed a growing fetus. I found a huge part of getting pregnant was simply lowering my stress levels and just being happy with myself and my life at the time.

best of luck to you!

go to www.heathermcclure.infoseekdirect.com Our products are wonderful for child bearing years and beyond. I would love to send you my personal story, if you'd like. Just send me a private email with your email address and I'll shoot it over to you.

When you go to that website, if it's something you'd like to try, let me know first before you order it, as I can share my wholesale price with you.

I do agree with what the other mom's are saying. However, I have several friends who are thin but their fat percentage is higher than it should be. Basically, if someone is thin, but doesn't have muscle, typically, a person is prone to being over fat. You may want to have that checked.

Also, while on this program, you only lose, if there is weight to be lost, but if you just want to get healthy on the inside, this is a super food. It loads you 60 trillion cells with the nutrients the body and all those cells needs.

Thin, fit, and fluffy people, alike need good food, and it's hard for people to get what the body really needs.

There is a great book out there called Healthy Mom's and Kids. You can find it on www.isasalestools.com Look for it by the title, under books. It talks about the importance of good food for the mom's to be, post-natal, and their children.

How and why many children are diagnosed with eating disorders, add, adhd, diabetes and more. Most, if not all, comes from a lack of sound food.

H.