Pregnancy Weight Gain: What To Expect
How much will you gain in pregnancy? Pregnancy weight gain is defined on a person by person account. What you gain will be different than what someone else gains. There are many things that determine just how much you will gain; your heredity factors, your baby’s genes and even the way that you live will help to determine how much you gain during pregnancy. Of course, your height and weight currently will also determine how much more weight you are likely to gain.
Healthy weight gain usually is dependent on what your weight is when you become pregnant. For example, take the time to calculate your BMI, or Body Mass Index through one of the many BMI calculators available online. Then, use this number to determine just how healthy your weight is currently. A healthy BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is a good range to be in. It also signifies that you will likely gain between 25 pounds and 35 pounds during pregnancy.
For those underweight before pregnancy, you may gain more during pregnancy. For those underweight, with a BMI of 18.5 or lower, you will likely gain between 28 and 40 pounds during pregnancy. For those that are overweight before pregnancy, you are likely to gain less weight during pregnancy. This may amount to between 15 pounds and 25 pounds. For those that are obese, which a BMI before pregnancy of 30 or more, gaining no more than 15 pounds is necessary.
For those having twins, pregnancy weight will be different. Most twins are born to mothers that have gained between 35 and 45 pounds during pregnancy. This will depend on your size, too, which is often an important part of your overall ability to carry twins full term.
Pregnancy Exercise Counts
The estimates of weight gain during pregnancy listed above are just estimates. They are meant to show averages of those women that have had healthy weight gain during their pregnancy. Yet, to have a healthy pregnancy from start to finish, you also need to provide your child with all of the building blocks to make that happen. In other words, you will need to provide them with all of the resources and nutrients they need, and you have to take care of yourself in the process. This often means having regular health checkups. It also means getting pregnancy exercise in.
Exercise during pregnancy should be approved by your doctor in terms of what types of exercise you can do as well as what amount of exercise is allowable. In most situations, doctors will encourage regular workouts that do not force you to do more than your body can handle. To keep in line with healthy weight gain during pregnancy, you will need regular exercise to help you through the process.
Additionally, you also need to healthy diet during pregnancy. Giving your baby all of the necessary nutrients he needs is an important part of the baby’s development. A healthy diet will be one that limits saturated fats, sugars and other bad food groups. You should increase the amount of healthy grains, whole foods and vegetables you get in your diet.
During the stages of pregnancy, it becomes more important than ever to be sure that you provide your baby with all of the necessary tools to help him survive. This also includes gaining only a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy. By participating in regular exercise and a good pregnancy diet, you will facilitate this. Take the time to consider pregnancy weight gain in terms of what is healthy. Not gaining enough is not a good thing, though! Gaining the right amount of weight is essential.