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Week Nine
Published 03.18.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (15)
Your Baby:
- Is about the size of a grape, or perhaps a cocktail olive, the kind that's marinated in vermouth and stuffed with blue cheese.
- (Is not marinated in vermouth or stuffed with blue cheese.)
- Has fingers and toes and eyelids and ears.
- External boy and girl-parts are present, but won't be really distinguishable for another couple weeks.
You:
- Have a uterus the size of a flipping grapefruit, lady.
- *BARF* Again. Still.
- With all the extra blood pumping through your system (about 50% more blood volume, actually), your body temperature may be a little jacked up -- if you're constantly complaining about being too hot or too cold, this is why.
You may have gained some weight already (that was me, two weeks ago), or you may have lost some weight (that's me, now). Here's how your weight gain should pan out over the next seven months or so, at least according to your average pregnancy book or website:
12 pounds: Maternal stores (fat, protein, Cheezits, etc.)
4 pounds: Increased fluid volume, aka water weight, aka blooooaaaat
2 pounds: IN YOUR BRA
2 pounds: Uterus
2 pounds: Amniotic fluid
1.5 pounds: Mmmmmplacenta
7.5 pounds: Baby! ("HA!" says the woman who birthed a 10-pounder.)
So that means the average pregnancy book thinks you should gain no more than 31 pounds total. Otherwise, you are a big fat fattie who ate her weight in Cheezits because she thought pregnancy gave her a free pass. YOU FAIL PREGNANCY!
The truth is, weight gain in pregnancy varies WILDLY from woman to woman, just like our "normal" weights and metabolisms vary. Some women can eat and eat and eat and still gain weight in line with the guide above, while others seem to balloon up no matter how healthy and reasonable their diets are. It's all about genetics (ask your mom how much she gained), your pre-pregnancy level of fitness and metabolism, and also just some random streaks of luck. Sometimes weight gain will vary for the same woman over different pregnancies.
Obviously, we all want to eat healthy and make sure our babies are getting all the right nutrients and none of us want to struggle with 20 extra pounds of "baby weight" for the next 20 years. It does feel nice to indulge in that entire pint of ice cream or box of cookies, but blah blah blah moderation.
You know what? Just do your best. It'll be enough, I promise.
Oh Yeah, THIS: The hair on my legs and other...ahem...areas is growing alarmingly fast. That is all.
New This Time Around: Ages and ages ago, before I ever had any babies, I was that girl who was always cold. Always! I took a sweater everywhere in case of air conditioning, and I'd get goose bumps from having the car windows down in 80-degree weather. And then I got pregnant and ACK! HOT! ALWAYS SO HOT! I couldn't sleep under the covers and was always sweaty and OF COURSE I was pregnant during some of the hottest temperatures Washington, DC had seen in years. I've bordered on being "too hot" ever since.
This time I am so freaking cold I cannot stand it. I need more blankets and flannel pyjamas and I can make grown men scream with the slightest poke of my corpse-like ice-cold feet. The temperature was in the high 60s the other day and I wandered around with my teeth chattering. Bah.
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About this column
Zero to Forty is a week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it. The calendar follows the forty-week model and is complete for now, though the author plans to come back and add some more articles soon.
The follow-up to this column, Bounce Back, is about the postpartum experience -- the good, the bad and the gory. There Amalah is covering everything that happens to your body, mind and circadian rhythms after you have a baby, and (hopefully) help you make sense of the New Normal. You must go read that too!
The column is well-researched but not written by a health care professional. Consider it your internet BFF pregnancy guide. See our legal disclaimer below.
About the author
Amy Corbett Storch, aka Amalah, is a freelance writer and professional blogger from Washington, DC. She has since had this baby. His name is Ezra, he was born in October of 2008 and is delicious. Amy's first son Noah is in preschool and he's pretty edible too. NomNomNom.
Amy also writes Alpha Mom's Advice Smackdown.
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Comments (15):
Ida said:
I tend to be a cold pregnant person as well which was awful last time since I had my son in March. This time being due in October I can only think that it will be a plus.
Posted on March 19, 2008 12:40
sarawr said:
Don't forget that some weight gain comes from that extra blood volume -- at least, that's what my doctors and pregnancy books told me. That way, when I faced my 45-pound pregnancy gain I could wave it away with, "But a lot of that is just extra blood for THE BABY." Of course, it really only accounts for a couple of pounds, but ssshhh.
(Apologies if this goes through twice -- I posted it a couple of hours ago but don't see it now.)
Posted on March 19, 2008 12:50
WabiSabiLife said:
Oh. I guess all that extra blood explains the night sweats I've gotten 4 out of the last 7 nights. I hate waking up slick, throwing off the covers and being instantly frozen.
(I am officially five days ahead of this column--with my first--so this is fun readin'.)
Posted on March 19, 2008 13:05
Kate said:
I just wanted to say that for some people born in the 1970s, asking your mom for her weight gain may not be terribly accurate.
My mom, who was pretty much a stick in 1974, was told not to gain more than 20 lbs. Say WHAT?! Why, I don't know. What I DO know is that I was two weeks LATE and only weighed 6lbs 13oz. With my brother, who is 12 years younger than I am, she gained a much more realistic amount of weight (around 30 lbs) and he was born 3 days "early" at almost 8 lbs.
I had no such restrictions, gained in the low 30s. My 2 week overdue baby was 8 lbs 11oz.
My OB told me back in 2004 that the average US baby was weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz, so more Cheezits for everyone!
Posted on March 20, 2008 13:41
psumommy said:
i'm a HUGE believer that the weight gain 'suggestion' is full of bull. And I completely subscribe to eating healthily, doing some mild exercise regularly, and just letting your body do what it needs to do. This is coming from someone who lost 5lbs in the first trimester with the first pregnancy, and now with the 4th has gained 13lbs and am just barely into my 2nd trimester. Sigh.
I'm absolutely freezing this time around, too. It's driving me insane! Too cold all day then too hot at night. Gotta love pregnancy.
Posted on March 20, 2008 15:22
Zoot said:
I gained 65lbs with kid #1, 50lbs with kid #2 and am on my way to 55lbs with kid #3 if my current trends are any indication. I spit on the "recommended" weight gain.
But, in the defense of the doctors that yell at me every visit, it's not healthy eating. It's anxiety eating.
Also - right now? I'm SWEATING MY ASS OFF and the thermostat says 60 degrees. So, um, yeah.
Posted on March 24, 2008 14:56
Amy Corbett Storch said:
Zoot, I totally had you in mind when I wrote this entry. You and the other pregnant mother at Noah's Kids At Play group, who gained 100 pounds with her daughter and is already up 35 pounds at four and a half months with her second. And I met her before this pregnancy, and she's the tiniest, most active (she's a swimmer) thing ever. This is just how her body does pregnancy, and obviously she can drop the weight afterwards.
In summary: stupid books and guidelines.
Posted on March 25, 2008 16:08
KlausHaus said:
I just want to make the comment that I love this zero to 40 side of things. I frequent another website which tracks the growth of the baby and it is just so uninspired, but THIS site is just spectacular. Each Wednesday morning, when I reach another week, I read aloud to my husband what you have here. It is so much fun, and not as scary.... Thank YOU for the weekly dose of inspiration. I also don't look ahead so that I'm surprised each week :)
Posted on May 15, 2008 18:35
alli said:
Please, please tell me when I can poop normally again! I NEVER had constipation when I was pregnant the first time. NEVER. And now, it is turning me into a witch with a capital B who is in pain that she is just not used to.
Posted on July 15, 2008 21:19
gtdnmkluv said:
I remember going to my first visit with my second child where they told me not to gain more than 20 pounds. Considering I gained 35 with my first, I immediately requested another doctor. I later found out they say that because of the overweight rate. However, starting out at 110 pounds, I was very offended that I was told that. I didn't feel I should even be approached with the overweight info ( not to sound conceided at all, but you dont want to make a pregnant woman feel any bigger than she already feels)
Anyway, I gained 35 with my first and 40 with my second, and have already put on some weight with my third. Granted my first was almost 9 pounds and my second was almost 10! (PLEASE dont let this one be 11..) If you feel like you need it, dont deprive your baby and if you didnt need it you can deal with that later. I dont think weight should be a big issue
Posted on April 23, 2009 16:53
susie said:
ahaha oh man that "YOU FAIL PREGNANCY!" comment cracked me up. i admit it, i lol'ed. it's a good point, i think way too many women get worked up about whether or not they are "on schedule" or fitting into the general guidelines. every pregnancy is different, and every woman is different. obviously, a woman who starts out weighing 98lbs should probably gain more than 30lbs during pregnancy, while a woman who starts out at 300lbs might actually be doing herself and her baby a favor if she LOSES weight during pregnancy (i am NOT a doctor and am NOT advocating weight loss during pregnancy, it's just what i read!!!) i think we should all just loosen up a little bit and enjoy being pregnant, rather than worrying about whether or not every little thing falls within the "normal" boundaries.
Posted on May 2, 2009 04:13
amy said:
I have lost 6 pounds so far. Doctor said it is normal and I should gain once that my body is used to eating better food! and well less food. I also throw up on a regular basis. SIGH! and have all day sickness and can't eat normal portions without well you know so that has alot to do with it. My doctor is old school and well old so he really does not push lot of stuff which I LOVE!. I continue to work out but not as much as before. My 4 mile walk has been cut in half. But it is still something.
Posted on November 12, 2009 09:16
sarahm said:
I just wanted to say that I poopped a button on my shirt today. I am 9 weeks. Erg! so much for that shirt. HA HA
Posted on November 18, 2009 13:45
Cara said:
My doctor hasn't even mentioned weight to me. (I started off at a healthy weight, which might be part of it.) She gave me a list of foods I should try and pack in and ones to avoid (which was about safety issues, not cheetos) and left it at that.
Posted on November 29, 2009 08:18
Janet said:
I lost my concept of time for a day this week. I saw the numbers on the clock, but it had NO meaning for me. I was a little late for work and almost missed picking my 5 year old up at the bus stop! I feel like I have pregnancy brain times ten with this pregnancy!
Posted on December 2, 2009 20:40