Preggie Pals
Pregnancy Weight Gain: What To Expect
Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
[00:00:00]
Dr. Damon Cobb: Like it or not, gaining weight during pregnancy is inevitable. Your baby’s growth and development depends on it. But the amount of weight you gain, could make a difference between a healthy pregnancy and one that’s more complicated for both mother and baby. I’m Dr. Damon Cobb, OBGYN, and today, we’ll answer the questions most pregnant women have when it comes to weight gain and pregnancy. This is Preggie Pals, Episode 4.
[Theme Song/Intro]
Sunny Gault: Welcome to Preggie Pals broadcasting from the Birth Education Center of San Diego. I am your host Sunny Gault. Preggie Pals is all about to educating Moms-to-be about their choices during pregnancy and childbirth so they can make decisions that are best for their family. And this show is all about the listeners. You can visit our website at https://www.PreggiePals.com, for more information on how you can become a part of our show. You can send us comments or suggestions through the contact link on our website or you can call the Preggie Pals Hotline at 619-8664-775. Okay, let’s start with our introductions. Like I said, I’m Sunny. I am 34 years old, and my due date is April 28th. The gender, we are having another little boy. This is our second son and we are having a C-Section.
Rachele DeMeo: Hi. My name is Rachele DeMeo and I teach college part-time. My due date is June 23rd and we are having boy. It’s our second little boy and we are planning for a Vaginal Birth.
Cherri Christiansen: Hi. I’m Cherri Christiansen. I work in Consumer Research and I am due on the 23rd of June. This is my first child and we are not going to find out if it’s a girl or a boy until the “Great Reveal”, and we are hoping to have an Un-medicated Home-birth.
Sunny Gault : So can you tell us would you prefer a boy or a girl?
[Laughter]
Cherri Christiansen: You know what? I really don’t. I really don’t. But I will tell you, I had a dream the other night. It was a super, super vivid dream. It was my husband and I, we were playing in the park with two little kids. They were the same gender, and they were both little girls.
Sunny Gault : Really!
Cherri Christiansen: So we’ll see.
Sunny Gault : I think that’s in the near future then maybe!
Cherri Christiansen: The little girl, the image that I had of the little girl, was like the spitting image of me at like age three, so yeah. They were older in this dream too. We weren’t holding a baby or anything.
Rachele DeMeo: Right.
Cherri Christiansen: But it was kind of strange. So.
Sunny Gault : Well, it could be mother’s intuition. You know what they say.
Cherri Christiansen: I haven’t had any feeling one way or the other, at all. So.
Sunny Gault : Well, my intuitions were wrong both times.
[Laughter]
Sunny Gault : I didn’t work for me, maybe it will work for you. Ok, we’ll be right back.
[Music]
[Featured Segment: News Headlines]
Sunny Gault : Alright. Let’s kick off today’s episode with some unbelievable pregnancy stories making headlines around the internet. Now all of these stories are posted on our Preggie Pals Pintrest Board, if you want to check them out.
Sunny Gault : So you guys have probably heard of this before. I don’t know if you guys watch the show “Mad Men”. I’ve actually never seen the show, but I am very familiar with January Jones who is one of the main actresses from the show. She is getting so much flak right now, for encapsulating her placenta. And obviously taking these pills to make her feel better after having a baby. And I wanted to get your, you guys’s take on this. I’m really mad that people are just being so mean to her. I mean, they are saying stuff like “It’s cannibalism”, and “How can you possibly do this?” and you know, “How can this be good for you? And if this were good, then everybody would recommend it”. Anyways, what are you guys’s thoughts?
Rachele DeMeo: I mean, with my first, I didn’t. We had heard shows about it and everything, but I thought it was a little pricey and I remember the benefits of encapsulating our placenta, and I actually wanted to do it, but I thought, it’s a little pricey. I’m not really sure how it’s going to be. But I had actually had asked to save my placenta, but then we forgot it!
Sunny Gault : Forgot it at the hospital...... [Laughter], but were they okay with that? Were they okay with.....
Rachele DeMeo: Yeah, they were fine with it. And they actually kept it and like a week later, I was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s right!” Because we wanted to go back and bring the nurse like some flowers and stuff. Because we had a great...., we had a really good nurse. And they were like, “Oh, after...., we waited a few days, and after a few days we had to, you know, discard it”.
Cherri Christiansen: I’m surprised they even kept it a few days for you!
Sunny Gault : I’m surprised too. That’s amazing!
Rachele DeMeo: They kept for, I guess around two or three days, but I contacted them a week later, so it was kind of two late, but I didn’t really have bad post partum, up until my son was nine months, which is weird, because, when he was first born, it was so, just easy and my hormones were just....., I was on a high, kind of, being a new mom, and then at around 9 months, now, I don’t know if it’s because I got pregnant again,
[Laughter]
Rachele DeMeo: ......, because it was around the same time....,
Cherri Christiansen: Yes.
Rachele DeMeo: So I don’t know if it was because of that or if it was just Post? Because I was reading also, that you can get Post Partum up until the first year and it’s not necessarily right away. So, I don’t know. But I know, for about two weeks, I did have the “baby blues”, and I was like “Crap, I should have, you know, encapsulated my placenta, maybe it would have been better”. So this time round, we are actually looking to doing it.
Sunny Gault : Yeah, because that is what they say. They say..., and I haven’t done this yet. We are actually going to do this, this time around with my son, but they do say that it’s supposed to help with Postpartum and then also, to bring in your milk supply. Those are the two things that I hear are......
Cherri Christiansen: I’ve heard both of those. And it’s funny because I’ve gone from one extreme to the other. I probably, three or four months ago, had never even heard of this. And I remember someone post on a page on Face book, you know. “Does anybody have any recommendations for placenta encapsulation?” And I was like “What is that?!” And then, you know, now, if you ask me about this thing on January Jones, I’m like “Oh, it just seems so normal.” Because the second I researched it and read what it was and read what the benefits were, to me, it just seemed like, well, why wouldn’t I want to do this. Other than the cost aside, and believe it or not, my husband and I have talked about him actually doing it himself. We have everything we need and you know......
Sunny Gault : Wow! You have a husband who would actually do that?!
[Laughter]
Cherri Christiansen: Well, that’s funny you say that, because I met someone actually about a week ago. We were chatting about it and I, you know, we were talking about the cost implications and I said, “Well, I think we might just do it, you know, might just do it ourselves. And even if I have to buy a new dehydrator, the cost is the same and I get the dehydrator for the rest of my life!” And she was like, “Oh my God, my husband is so grossed-out by the idea that I even want to do this, that he would never! You are so lucky your husband would want to do this for you. I’m just thinking things are going to be a little hectic in that first 24 hours, and I might need my husband to be doing something else, other than steaming my placenta in my kitchen!
Sunny Gault : You think?? Like uum, caring for a kid??
[Laughter]
Cherri Christiansen: But you know what amazes me, actually though, often times, when I read these articles, I don’t know if you guys ever actually scroll down and read the comments, because it’s not so much the articles. The articles are usually written and if, you know, they may have one way, one sway or another, but it’s the comments from sort of, you know, main stream America that people are writing back that are saying, you know...., people, people who are pro it, say, well you know, we are the only mammals that don’t eat our placenta....
Sunny Gault : And that’s what January Jones said, in this article.
Cherri Christiansen: ...., yeah. And then, and then you have all other people, you know, talking about, well other things that, you know, monkeys and mammals do that we don’t do, that we shouldn’t be doing.....
Sunny Gault : Like eat our faeces or something like that?
Cherri Christiansen: Exactly! You know, they’ll make stupid analogies like that, and I’m just like, you know, if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it.
Rachele DeMeo: Exactly!
Sunny Gault : The big argument is, there haven’t been a lot of scientific studies to prove if it really does help. And here’s my take on it: If it makes you feel better, whether it’s a placebo effect or not, why not do it? Who cares why you feel better? The whole point is to feel better! Right?
[Music]
Sunny Gault : Today on Preggie Pals, we are discussing a topic that most women wonder during pregnancy. How much weight should I gain and how quickly should I gain it? Our expert today is Dr. Damon Cobb and OBGYN here in San Diego. Dr. Cobb, welcome to the show and thanks for joining us.
Dr. Damon Cobb: Thank you. It’s an honour to be here.
Sunny Gault : Okay, so let’s get right to it. Generally speaking, how much weight should women gain during pregnancy?
Dr. Damon Cobb: That’s a great question, it’s a question I hear every day in the office. The Institute of Medicine in 1990 recommended a maternal weight gain of between 25 to 35 pounds. But the studies that were done at that point, they were generally not high quality studies. So they revised these recommendations in 2009 and they changed their guidelines to include biological factors, psychosocial and behavioural characteristics. They revised their recommendations to include an upper limit of weight gain for different body types. More specifically with greater than ideal body weight or an increased BMI, obese women, again like I mentioned, over-weight, normal-weight and under-weight women as well.
Sunny Gault : So if we were to break this down, do they have specific numbers like can we say, okay, if you are under-weight, the current recommendation is this...., if you are normal-weight, it is this....? How can we break that down?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Definitely, when we look at the BMI or just your pre-pregnancy weight, for obese women, total pregnancy weight gain should be between 11 or 12 pounds. Normal or over-weight women whose BMI is between 25 and 29, their total weight gain should be 15 to 25 pounds. Normal weight women, their total pregnancy weight gain should be 25 to 35 pounds. And under-weight, 28 to 40 pounds, total.
Sunny Gault : What about guidelines for women with Gestational Diabetes? I’m actually falling into that category with this pregnancy. So are those numbers different or is it still based on how much weight, you know, was I under-weight? Was I overweight before I got pregnant?
Cherri Christiansen: And that’s a great question because most women don’t even find out that they have Gestational Diabetes until they are two-thirds into their pregnancy anyway, and who knows how much weight they’d gained up until that point.
Sunny Gault : Right. Sure.
Dr. Damon Cobb: That is a great question. From a stand point of Gestational Diabetes, I think that choosing your calories correctly and the type of food you are eating is the most the important. I would still base the guidelines on the numbers we’d talked about before. However, choosing what you eat a little bit differently from a stand point of controlling your blood sugars overall, for your health and baby’s health.
Sunny Gault : Okay. And then what about twins and multiples? I wanted to touch on that too. Because it’s not necessarily just adding twice as many pounds or three times as many pounds to the equation. Right?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure. And we still base it on those recommendations, however, we alter them a little bit, just because, you know, you are carrying a couple of little ones. Again as we mentioned, I’ll just go over the obese down to the under-weight women. Obesity, we would say, 25 to 42 pounds total for twins. Over-weight would be 31 to 50 pounds, normal-weight 37 to 54 pounds and under-weight, there’s really not any sufficient data based on that.
Sunny Gault : Okay. And obviously, you need to listen to whatever your doctor’s telling you, right? I mean, they’ll recommend, you know, everything based on your own weight and kind of get you through it.
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure, exactly. I mean, if there are any concerns that you may have as you progress your pregnancy, I think it’s always a good idea to talk to your provider to see what their recommendations may be.
Rachele DeMeo: How reliable is the BMI to determine those factors? Like if you are under-weight or over-weight? Or....
Dr. Damon Cobb: It’s a calculation, so it’s accurate.
Rachele DeMeo: I mean does it take into consideration if you are small-boned? Or...., you know what I mean?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure, that’s a great question. No, it does not. And that’s a limitation of the BMI is that it doesn’t factor in muscle mass versus, like you mentioned, slighter frame....
Rachele DeMeo: Like the bone structure. But with both pregnancies, my OBGYN said “You need to gain at least 35 pounds because you are under-weight.” And I actually gained I think 35 with my first and it’s like I was trying to put on a bunch of weight or trying not to. I just kind of, I don’t know, I just did. And I’m on the same track for this one which is..., I’m at 25 right now and about the same track for..., which I am pleased about because I had such a healthy baby. But, you know, at the beginning of my pregnancy she made such a big deal about like, “You are under-weight, you’re under-weight.” And I was like, “But, I’m really small boned”. Like if you look at my bone structure, you know, I’m not anorexic, I eat.
[Laughter]
Rachele DeMeo: And you know....
Cherri Christiansen: That’s really interesting, though...
Rachele DeMeo: It’s like, and my bones are just small. And somebody who has big bones and weighs more, isn’t necessarily overweight, I mean, you know what I mean?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Right. That’s the limitation to the BMI is that, it’s not absolutely accurate based like you said, muscle-mass or a smaller, slighter framed person. Its mainly just general guidelines that we have to have somewhere to start, somewhere to go from.
Cherri Christiansen: I have a question. You know, where do you count the weight gain from, because, that’s something that oftentimes you know, I’m trying to figure out, well how much weight have I gained? And the reason I asked this is I had a pretty rough first trimester, so I was actually down anywhere from 8 to 10 pounds by the time I actually started eating again and gaining weight. So my nutrition during the first trimester was horrible but, if I was even eating. But so I wondered, do I still count my weight gain from my pre-pregnancy weight? Or is it from where I was at, you know, at my lowest point, probably 13 weeks or 14 weeks into the pregnancy.
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure. I would base weight gain on your initial visit, your pre-pregnancy weight....
Cherri Christiansen: Nice!
[Laughter]
Dr. Damon Cobb: Unfortunately, we do have patients who have a lot of issues with nausea and vomiting and not able to get the good calories in. In those patients, we want to encourage several different methods to kind of help get you back to the ability to put on those pounds again.
Cherri Christiansen: I don’t seem to have any problem now.
[Laughter]
Rachele DeMeo: Problem solved.
Cherri Christiansen: But it is quite a mess, because for a while there, I had sort of lost almost 10 pounds and then I gained 10 pounds. And to me, I was like, well I was exactly where I was the day before I found out that I was pregnant, or the month before I found out that I was pregnant. But I was like, but technically I haven’t gained any weight, but then all of a sudden, I had this stomach. So I feel like, during that, maybe I lucked out, because during those weeks, I lost weight everywhere and only gained it back and I barely had my boobs, so, it worked out okay, but I was a bit curious about that.
Sunny Gault : Right
Dr. Damon Cobb: I look at the bigger picture rather than just staunch numbers and I always talk about that with my patients; is that, overall, if little one’s growing well, you are feeling good and everything is progressing like we would imagine it should, then that’s the most important thing to me.
Sunny Gault : Yeah. Let’s break down where this weight actually goes? Because a lot of women want to know: “Why do I have to gain so much weight?” You know, so let’s talk about that a little bit. How many pounds usually go to let’s say, the baby?
Dr. Damon Cobb: The average foetus is between 7 and 8 pounds. There are a lot of different factors when it comes to weight gain as far as: it’s not all just in our fat stores. You know fat stores makes up about 6 to 8 pounds total, in a pregnancy. There is a vast increase in blood volume in pregnancy and that increase equates to about 3 to 4 pounds total.
Sunny Gault : Okay.
Dr. Damon Cobb: As you can imagine, a lot of pregnant women would tell you that, would feel like their fluid volume is a little bit greater as well. And that can equate to about 2 to 3 pounds total.
Rachele DeMeo: And is that Amniotic Fluid that we are talking about or?
Dr. Damon Cobb: No, just basically tissue, tissue swelling and things like that.
Rachele DeMeo: Okay.
Dr. Damon Cobb: Amniotic Fluid is about 2 pounds total.
Rachele DeMeo: Okay. What about the uterus, you know, I can feel my uterus expanding. I’m going, “Okay how big is this thing getting?”
[Laughter]
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure. As the uterus gets bigger, the hyper-properties, generally, that’s around 2 pounds as well.
Rachele DeMeo: Okay.
Dr. Damon Cobb: We also have to account for breast enlargement. As milk comes in, engorgement: that’s about 1 to 3 pounds. And the placenta is about a pound and a half. So all those factor in to total amount of weight gain.
Sunny Gault : Okay. Now, I have to ask a question because this comes up with every pregnancy, my mother and I discuss, weight gain, because she, you know how mom’s are, they want to make sure that you are looking good and I feel like my mom’s always been on my weight, throughout life, but especially during pregnancy. She..., when she was pregnant with me, she gained like 12 or 13 pounds...,
Rachele DeMeo: Oh my gosh!
Sunny Gault : And it always comes back to that! And I have told her, “Mom, I’m literally one of these women that gains 35 to 40 pounds. And at pregnancy. And it’s not that I’m totally, well with this pregnancy, I do have Gestational Diabetes, so my diet has changed and I haven’t gained quite as much weight. But, you know, I was pretty much eating the same stuff that I ate before pregnancy. It wasn’t like I was just like mud pies and Twinkies and cheeseburgers! Have these recommendations changed over the year for how much weight we should gain? Because my mom looks at 35 or 40 pounds and thinks that that’s way, way, way too much. And I look at 12 pounds, going, you know, based on what we just talked about with where, you know, all these, the pounds go, whether it’s amniotic fluid, the baby, the placenta, that seems a real load to me and we go back and forth, every pregnancy on this. So what’s your take on that?
Dr. Damon Cobb: I think that’s definitely a generational thing. Weight gain and our recommendations on weight gain has changed significantly over time. In the 1930’s there were severe diet restriction and weight restriction. I think that about 15 pounds was what their general recommendation is. And we know now, that for a normal body type person, is too low. Even from 1990 to now, there’s been different recommendations. So as we research more, learn more, just like in anything in medicine, there’s changes that can be made.
Sunny Gault : Well I have some numbers for you guys that might make you feel a little bit better. I got this from the internet, so you know that its 100 percent true!
[Laughter]
Some sort celebrity website, but I thought this might make you guys feel a little bit better, all of you who that are in my position, where you are gaining 35 to 40 pounds. Kate Hudson gained 70 pounds with her first pregnancy. Jessica Alba gained 55 plus pounds, and she actually stopped counting at 8 months, because [laughs], she was just like....
Cherri Christiansen: She didn’t want to know the last.....
Sunny Gault : .....”I’m done counting!” Kourtney Kardashian gained 40 pounds, Milla Jovovich gained 70 pounds. Heidi Klum always gains 40 to 45 pounds, she says. Giselle, which you know, super model, gained 30 pounds..., we are not going to count her, I’m just going to cross her off my list! Mariah Carey wouldn’t say, but she had twins, you know and she just said that she gained an enormous amount and she lost 70 pounds 3 months later, so...
Cherri Christiansen: We know she gained at least 70 pounds.
Sunny Gault : She gained at least 70 pounds.... and then Kendra Wilkinson gained 60 pounds. So, when I read that online, I was like “Okay!”. [Laughs]
Cherri Christiansen: I feel like they are all so tiny to begin with. They don’t have an ounce of fat stored anywhere on their bodies, so they need to like, make up for it. That’s why we could get away with only, you know, gaining 6 to 8 pounds of fat. They probably at 20 is just extra fat store!
Sunny Gault : And it’s one of things you don’t really talk about too much with people because, you know, speaking of celebrities, just because Simpson is getting slammed right now with, you know, saying what she’s eating and then, you know how, you know, celebrities because they are just in the media and people just want to hound them all the time. They are constantly taking photos of them and comparing them to their pre-pregnancy weight and it’s so unfair, but you know, I mean, if I have to hear one more time about, you know, her eating pop-tarts with butter on them, you know, I’m going to go crazy! It’s like people obsess about it. So, it’s you know, if you are gaining weight, or when you are going through this whole thing, sometimes you don’t want to tell people too much because there’s so much judgement out there.
Rachele DeMeo: My paediatrician told us this week, that his wife, who is like, petite like me, her first pregnancy she only gained 12 pounds, because that’s what they were told back in the day and they were making her feel really bad for gaining weight...,
Sunny Gault : Really?
Rachele DeMeo: And actually she had a lot of health problems after, because it was taking away from her bones, like the calcium and she became, you know, she had some problems. And her second pregnancy, she gained 50, which was good I guess, but he said that, for a while, the first like three years, she was going back to the doctors over and over because, she actually just hadn’t gained enough
Sunny Gault : Right.
Rachele DeMeo: And overall, it was making..., it was really doing a toll on her body.
Sunny Gault : Right. Yeah, so that would be my next question Dr. Cobb, is what is the problem with gaining either too little or too much weight? Like how does that affect mom and how does that affect the baby?
Dr. Damon Cobb: The biggest thing we think about with too much weight gain would be big babies. Big babies can lead to a little bit more difficult delivery, a little bit more difficult labors. From a stand point of too little weight gain, we worry about growth restriction. Baby is not getting enough calories. And also there can be some developmental issues as well, when there aren’t enough calories and not enough weight gain.
Sunny Gault : Well now we know how much weight gain is healthy for our bodies during pregnancy, but how do we achieve that goal? Especially when food cravings and aversions take over. We’ll be right back.
[Music]
Sunny Gault : Alright, welcome back. We are talking to Dr. Cobb about pregnancy and weight gain and what we should expect. So Dr. Cobb, what are the simple tips to help mother s gain the right amount of weight during pregnancy?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Well I think that calories are the single most important nutritional factor in determining birth weight. When we think about how much extra calorie intake do we need in pregnancy, it’s really not an exorbitant amount in addition to your regular diet. It’s only about 300 calories per day. Some tips to kind of help with that. I usually encourage my patients to continue with their, generally what they are eating at this point. We all know that 300 calories in addition, is not a whole lot of extra food, you know, an extra String Cheese or something like that. So, being cognisant of what you are eating, making smart choices, overall, a healthy diet are some of the things I emphasise in pregnancy.
Cherri Christiansen: And I would imagine it’s also where you get that 300 calories from. Like you gave an example. But it’s a Venti Frapraccino at Starbucks is an extra 300 plus calories. I’m sure that’s certainly not going to be providing the right of nutrition and so I think it’s also about eating the right types of food and not just finding a way to fatten up your an extra 300 calories. Now is that 300 calories throughout the whole pregnancy? Or does it change as you are in different trimesters? I know the baby is growing more in the third trimester versus the second, so do we want to make any adjustments at that point?
Dr. Damon Cobb: Sure, it’s just slightly above the 300, probably another 100 to 150 calories as we move further into the trimesters. In the first trimester, we are going to gain 2 to 5 pounds. From that point on, second, third trimester, usually about a pound a week.
Cherri Christiansen: I’m curious. My weight gain has been very strange and I’m obviously a little bit hypersensitive to it because I lost a lot of weight last year and so it’s always difficult even though I know I’m pregnant, to jump on the scale and see the scale go up, but one of the things I have noticed is, I would be at the exact same weight, week after week, after week, after week. Three or four weeks at the exact same weight, and then, all of a sudden, one day I’m up 3, 4, 5 pounds. And then, I would stay at that weight for a couple of weeks and then a couple of weeks later, it’s the exact same thing, versus this one pound per week that steady. So if you average it out, I’m doing okay, it just seems kind of alarming that a month would go by, I wouldn’t gain anything and then all of a sudden, almost overnight, I’m 5 pounds heavier.
Dr. Damon Cobb: And that can happen. Everyone’s body make-up is a little bit different. Eating habits are a little bit different. That’s why we look overall, through-out pregnancy and weight gain. Most important thing as well is when we talk about weight gain, we are talking about growth of little one as well and how your health is overall. Like I mentioned before. I’m not staunch, absolutely staunch on, okay, a pound a week, things like ...., It’s just the overall health of you and the little one and growth that’s the most important.
Sunny Gault : How about food cravings and aversions, like I know with my first..., I eat chocolate everyday at four. That’s just a routine I’ve had since I’ve been a child. And with my first pregnancy, I couldn’t stand chocolate. It was just...., I don’t know. My husband was like in awe, he couldn’t believe it. But I would crave a lot of like potatoes and strawberries and pretty much overall, like, healthy things and now of course those are things he likes. Spicy food I couldn’t stand and he does like spicy food. This pregnancy round, the only thing I could have is chocolate, which is so different because your making up with my first, yeah, probably but, with my first, like I didn’t have that and it’s like, I had a lot of different cravings with my first, but with this one, it’s like the only thing that I crave. And I’m wondering how cravings come into play? Or aversions , you know like spicy foods with my first, come into play with the baby? Or if it’s nothing to do with it, it’s just hormones!
Dr. Damon Cobb: I think, you know what I always tell my patient is listen to your body. I think the female body as an innate ability to take care of itself. And not only is that important in nutrition, but I always recommend that in labor and birth as well. You know, listening to your body. When we talk about nutrition, I think your body has an innate ability to tell you what it needs, or what its missing. Cravings in moderation, I think are, or anything in moderation is not a bad thing. When I talk to patients about specific cravings, I usually try to focus in on more natural ways to kind of curb those cravings in general. Whether it would be green teas which not only is a great of source of anti-oxidants but decreases food cravings as well. And also to cut back on sugars, you know simple sugars and things like that, that aren’t going to satisfy you, only increase those cravings.
Sunny Gault : So what do you do though, if you are gaining too much weight during pregnancy? I know, you know some women want to put the reins on or even, I don’t want to say diet.
Cherri Christiansen: It’s not the time to diet.
Sunny Gault : Yeah, it’s not the time to diet, you don’t want to do that, but you know just kind of cut back, really start watching your calorie intake? Is that what you would recommend?
Dr. Damon Cobb: I never recommend losing weight in pregnancy. I think that it’s important to continue with those calories for the growth of little ones. However, I think making smart choices, really analysing what you are putting in and the calories that you are burning. You know, one way is to increase the exercise that you are doing. You know, whether that would be walking an extra 15 minutes. But also making smarter choices. You know, maybe pass up on a fast food and work to more of a fruit or vegetable. Altering in that aspect is much more beneficial than trying to really restrict your calories.
Sunny Gault : Yeah, because sometimes, you are just so hungry! And you are like, “Come on, if I’m supposed to be listing to my body, my body is saying, ‘You better eat some more girl!’”. You know? And what advice do you have for mothers out there who are constantly stressing about their weight during pregnancy? What would you say to them?
Dr. Damon Cobb: I would say to maybe look at the big picture. You know, I usually encourage them to...., well weight gain is important. It’s not the only focus. And I think when you get so focussed in on that, I would not want you to miss out on the other great aspects of pregnancy in general. You know, growing your little one. And that bond that only you and that little one you are going to have.
Sunny Gault : Alright, good advice! Thanks Dr. Cobb for joining us today. This has been great information!
Dr. Damon Cobb: Thank you. I...., it’s been a pleasure being here.
Sunny Gault : Well if you want to learn more about Dr. Cobb and his services, simply check out the episodes page on our website and look for today’s topic which is “Pregnancy Weight Gain: What to Expect.”
[Music]
[Featured Segment: Prenatal Fitness Tips]
Sunny Gault : Before we wrap up today’s show, here are some great prenatal fitness tips.
Lisa Druxman: Hello Preggie Pals. I am Lisa Druxman, fitness expert and Chief Founding Mom at Stroller Strides. A fitness program for moms and for babies. I’m here to answer some of your most common questions when it comes to exercise and pregnancy. Today, I’m going to answer about some of the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. You might think, okay, this is obvious. I know that it’s good for me to exercise. But it’s not only good for you to exercise during pregnancy, it’s good for your baby to exercise. What are some of the things you think about in terms of aches and pains and some of the discomforts of pregnancy? What if I told you that exercise can alleviate almost every single discomfort of pregnancy? The potential benefits of a well-designed pre-natal exercise program are numerous. And I know you know that. I don’t know if you know that pregnant women who exercise, can maintain but even increase their cardiovascular fitness, their muscular strength and their flexibility, during pregnancy! Research has shown that women who exercise during pregnancy experience fewer common pre-natal discomforts such as: Alright let’s talk about them. Constipation, swollen extremities, leg cramps, nausea, varicose veins, insomnia, fatigue...., you guys, this list goes on and on. It also can assist in controlling Gestational Diabetes and prevent urinal incontinence. So if you have any doubt as to whether or not you should be exercising, check with your doctor, make sure that its safe. But I’m here to tell you, that yes, you should be exercising during your pregnancy. The benefits: You will be feeling better, you will have a better labor and you will recuperate faster and it will be so much easier to get back into your new fitness routine. So I look forward to see you exercising every single trimester of your pregnancy. Visit https://www.strollerstrides.com for more great information on how to stay fit throughout pregnancy and parenthood. And be sure to listen to Preggie Pals for more great pre-natal fitness tips.
Sunny Gault : Alright, that wraps up our show for today. If you have a pregnancy topic you’d like to suggest, we would love to hear it. Visit our website https://www.preggiepals.com and send us an email through the contact link. If you have any questions about today’s show or the topics we discussed, you can call the Preggie Pals hotline. That number is 619-866-4775 and we’ll answer your question on an up-coming episode. Coming up next week, we are leaning all about Baby Names. The Co-founder of https://www.nameberry.com and the author of several baby name books is our special guest expert. Thanks for listening to Preggie Pals. Your pregnancy, your way.
[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and Material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Suggestions and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. Both information and materials are related to be accurate. It is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical and advisor care. And it should not be used for diagnosing or treating house care problems or disease or prescribing any medication. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please receive assistance from a qualified health care provider.
[ 00:29:55] End of Audio
