Written by A big concern for many pregnant women is gaining too much weight during their pregnancy. For your first trimester, 0-14 weeks, it’s normal to gain 3-4 pounds. You should continue to gain about one pound per week during the second trimester (months 4-6)and the same (one pound per week) during month 7 and 8 and 0-3 lbs. in the ninth month. Anywhere from 25-35 pounds total weight gain is normal for women. Underweight women should gain weight on the higher end of this range and overweight women should gain weight on the lower end of the range.
Normally I’m not a big proponent of weighing in frequently but I found this to be useful in my first pregnancy in keeping me on track with an appropriate weight gain. If at my doctor’s visits I had gained more than the normal rate, I would watch my food choices more carefully and add in a little more activity.
My pregnancy start weight this time was 123.0 lbs. (my height is 5’2″). I weighed myself this morning (4 weeks later) and am at 123.2 lbs. In spite of all my struggles with eating food and keeping it down, I managed not to lose weight (which can happen during the first trimester for women who are struggling with nausea, heart burn and food aversions). Now that I’m feeling better, I’ve been able to increase my calories slightly to ensure I gain a few pounds by the end of this third month.
Questions about weight gain during pregnancy? Send me a note and I’ll share suggestions.
