At my last checkup the nurse kindly informed me that I have already gained all the weight I should for the pregnancy, and I should start eating more konbu, nori and wakame, all products from the ocean involving seaweed. I snorted, and said 'Oh well, that's just tough'.
I've gained approximately 17 pounds, depending on the time of day you weigh me, and I have 3 months to go. I'm not sure where I've gained too much weight, perhaps it's my butt, it's really hard to tell these days. I was 49 kilos to begin with, and am now 57 kilos at the beginning of my 7th month.
In Japan they have a certain weight allowance for pregnant women, and if you start to go over it, they get on your case. The result is that many babies are being born today very underweight and unhealthy, as women are so concerned about their weight. As for me, I don't think the Doctor factored in that:
1. I'm a foreigner and tend to carry more fat on my body than the typical Japanese woman.
2. My kids are all around 3.5 kilos, not the normal Japanese 2.5.
3. I seem to have a lot of water in my womb.
4. My breasts have increased, not a lot, but definitely more than the typical Japanese woman's does.
So, I'm not going to stress about it, according to what I've been reading, I've gained at a healthy rate and have room to gain more, and I know for a fact that once this kid starts breastfeeding all that weight is going to be converted into food and energy.
I'm thinking to weigh myself as soon as I go into labor, and right after I deliver, to see how much of it is actually 'my' weight, and how much is the pregnant weight--water, baby, placenta...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
To tell you that a 17 pound weight gain is "enough" is absolutely ridiculous. Twenty-five pounds for our country is considered a good amount and some doctors don't even start getting concerned unless you've topped 35.
I haven't any references at the moment to prove it, but it's been shown that gaining a good amount of weight during pregnancies leads to healthier babies and higher birth weights and only becomes a problem if the weight gain is extreme due to possibilities of gestational diabetes and such.
If I remember correctly, a way to calculate healthy weight gain is 1/2 pound per week average for every week in your first and second trimester and a pound per week in your third. That works out to right about (roughly) 25 pounds.
And those 25 pounds are almost all pure baby weight -- water, blood, placenta, baby, etc.
Lastly, you need a little extra fat on you for the body to use as fuel to produce enough milk once the baby is born. When I delivered Kayla, because I was in Africa where I had little food, I weighed the same the day after delivery as I did the day I got pregnant -- and I had no milk.
With Kirstin, half my pregnancy was in Europe and I put on a KILO PER WEEK four nearly four months. -- and boy did I have a lot of milk. Ouch.
EAT!!
Thanks ladies, I need the support on this one. I should gather some articles and stuff to give him on the subject. He is actually a really good doctor, very highly recommended and has been on TV for some of his more modern practices, but in this area, it's the typical Japanese mentality.
Erinn,
Every time I was pregnant, the doctor told me I was gaining too much. Last time he put a huge "Watch your weight" stamp on my boshitecho. I had only gained 10 kgs & was to have the baby 2 weeks later. I just laugh at them all & keep up with my steady diet of Haagen dazs. (lol)
Even the time I almost gained up to 20 kgs, I lost it all in 2 months from nursing & being a mom & working.
Eat healthy & it doesn't matter what Japanese docs say, they seem to not really advance with the times about medicine here.
Yes, that's totally stupid. Eat what and when your body tells you. It knows best. The doctors in Australia don't even weigh you anymore unless they think there's a possibility of heaqlth problems due to your weight as they don't want you to be worrying about it when you should just be enjoying your pregnancy and staying healthy. From the look of you, you have NOTHING to worry about. And, yes, Japanes are different. They make ME feel big!
Post a Comment