Need Advice: Wife Is Pregnant and Due Soon

[Baptizer]

Hello everyone! Sorry to 'invade' in the female bodybuilding forum, I really do apologize. However, I am hoping some people can offer me some advice. My wife and I are expecting our first child at the end of March! We are sooo excited, it is beyond belief! The only problem is my wife has put on some weight she wish she hadn't (no surprise).

My wife will no longer be working (day care in this area costs about as much as she would make, so from a financial perspective, it really doesn't make a lot of sense. In addition, I'd rather her stay home anyhow) and, at this time, she seems certain she is not going to breast feed (unless of course things go so smoothly and such, etc) even though it has a ton of benefits.

Before her pregnancy, she weight approximately 120lb or so (she is about my height, 5ft 5ish). I am pretty certain she weighs about 158lb or so right now, and our due date is March 28th. She seems to be getting rather depressed when she looks in the mirror and such, and hates when I even look at her and say she is beautiful and 'you look great!'. I continue to tell her that her body will bounce back with just a little bit of work and, if needed, some supplements can assist.

Does anyone have any advice? Our diet will be a lot better after the pregnancy, and she is planning on doing cardio on a regular basis. If she does not breast feed, does anyone have any supplement recommendations? I was thinking she could use something like sesamin (non-stimulating) but I can only assume she is open to try anything (CL Red Acid, etc).

[PrissyPants]

First of all, congratulation on the baby. That's fantastic. You're in for some of the hardest, yet best days of your life.

About the fat loss, I wouldn't do supplements after the pregnancy, other than a multivitamin. There's no need for a fat burner. Let her body have some time to try to rid itself of the fat on its own. Concentrate on eating clean and getting the appropriate amount of exercise. Make sure your wife takes it a little easy at first, though. Her joints will still be very loosey-goosey for a while after giving birth making high impact cardio or heavy lifting difficult at times.

As for her diet now, you mentioned that you'll eat clean after the pregnancy, but there's no reason to not eat clean right now. As a matter of fact, there's every reason to do so. Anything processed or unhealthy that your wife is putting in to her body right now is going straight into the baby's body.

Good luck with this. I can only imagine how hard it is to live with a pregnant woman. I know how hard it can be to be a pregnant woman, though, so have some sypmathy for her. She's endured so many changes over the last few months. It's a little disconcerting.

[Hoochiemomma]

Yes, weight gain during pregnancy can be really depressing. From my experience a lot of it near the end of the third trimester is water retention. However I did not gain quite as much as think your wife has gained, more like 25 lbs which was uncomfortable enough.

A question - why are you waiting until the baby is born to improve your diet? Do it right now! If you thinK your wife will have a lot of time after the baby is born to cook super-healthy meals just because she won't be working outside the home I have to tell you that is probably not the case. Newborns are unpredictable at best and unless you have a lot of family support the new mom barely has time to wash her hair, never mind meal planning or "regular" cardio.

But I digress.... breastfeeding will be beneficial for your wife's weight loss as well as a good choice for your newborn. I know you were asking about suppliments but I have no experience in that area, and IMHO they are not necessary in her case.

Congratulations on the baby, you sound like you are really excited!

[Amris]

I agree with Hoochiemomma, actually. Breastfeeding is one the BEST (hand's down!!) ways to lose weight after birth!

Not only that, but you really need to explain to her that a lot of that is most likely to be WATER GAIN due to hormones.

When I was pregnant, I gained- get this- NINETY POUNDS. I lost all but 5 of it in the first 2 weeks...

The next thing is, THERE IS NO MAGIC PILL. PERIOD. She must exercise, or she will NOT lose the PROPER kind of weight. It's THAT simple. There's no dancing around it, it's scientific fact. She might lose weight, but it WON'T be lasting nor will it be fat loss- it will be lean body mass loss.




So, to sum it up:

- breastfeed for weight loss for the win!
- exercise is the ONLY way

[energi]

Congrats on your baby! I gave birth to my first child in November. I had gained 60 pounds by the end of my pregnancy - I have been breastfeeding, and the first 40 pounds slipped off within 2 months. My weight-loss has slowed down now. I started exercising in January and I'm still sloppy with my eating - but I now only have 15 pounds left to lose.

I too felt bad about gaining so much - the books said that I should only gain 30. But I was hungry! And I didn't exercise at all (yes, I was a lazy butt) but I knew I would have to work it off afterward. So here I am, paying my dues.

I will stop breastfeeding soon. When I do, I will crack down on my eating and take supplements such as flaxseed oil and glutamine - other than that I'll simply increase my workout intensity. And I'm confident that I'll look and feel as good as before I got preggo - if not better! Give your wife a hug

[cardioking]

I know I am not a woman but I am really close to my wife and this is what she experienced after birth.

First off, the weight will come off. I mean she will immediately drop the weight of the baby and the fluid around the baby when the child is born. Possibly 8-9 lbs right there.

Second off, breast feeding is a good way to lose weight. This is kinda funny but I miss the size of my wifes breasts when she was feeding. Plus, your wife will realize how bad her breasts hurt when the milk is drying up from not being used.

And third, your wife will probably not have the most time in the world to eat due to her taking care of the baby while your at work and she will always be on the run trying to change diapers, clean up puke and running to the crib when it (hopefully a boy) starts crying.

Everything will be fine... just think about it like this. She would be just as depressed if she didn't gain weight and the doctor was concerned about the babies health due to that. Congrats on the baby.... its a blast. My son is 20 months old and I can't stop chasing him around the house and getting him off the couch so he doesn't fall and hit his head or something.

[Eileen]

Congrats, and don't write off breastfeeding. There was a piece in the Irish papers recently about the fact that non-breastfeeding mothers felt most stressed and helpless when their babies cried. Also, during breastfeeding is the one time the female body is willing to give up the hip-and-thigh fat that is normally the last to go. It's there to feed the baby, so let nature do its job.

I'm sure it's been said before, but it's important that for the first six weeks, your wife rests and does nothing but look after herself and feeds the baby. YOU can expect to be doing the housework. If she takes the time to recover, she should then be able to get back into the swing of working out soon after.

Check out what's available in the area in the way of Mother and Baby groups. Often these have some form of regular get-fit walks or swim or class organised, or will know of gyms with creches etc. Otherwise, brisk walking or jogging pushing a good buggy will help a lot, especially if coupled with some weights work. A gym ball is a good investment, both for core work, and to sit on and bounce to settle a crying baby.

Good luck.

[Eileen]

I will stop breastfeeding soon. When I do, I will crack down on my eating and take supplements such as flaxseed oil and glutamine - other than that I'll simply increase my workout intensity. And I'm confident that I'll look and feel as good as before I got preggo - if not better! Give your wife a hug

Breastfeeding is not the same as being pregnant. You can safely take a lot more supplements when you are nursing than when you are pregnant. Believe it or not, even things like ephedrine are not banned for nursing mothers.

And feeding a baby is a grand lazy way to use up extra calories. I did extended breastfeeding with all my girls, and got an awful shock when I stopped and had to drop my calories a lot. Given a choice, I'd much rather sit and let them suck the calories away, then have to go out and sweat them off!

[energi]

Eileen, you have a good point about being able to take more supplements while breastfeeding - I looked up flaxseed oil and it's perfectly safe, maybe even helpful right now. Thanks! However, I've tried to find info on taking glutamine, and it states to consult with a dr if breastfeeding. So I don't feel safe taking it right now. Also, ephedra is not recommended and even banned in the US for adult use - so I wouldn't dare take it in case it passes through to my baby. Maybe I'm a but paranoid, but I'd rather be extra cautious than not.

[Eileen]

Ephedrine is banned as a fat burner, but not as an asthma medication. And there is a paediatric dose of ephedrine for children. The general rule is that any medication which has a paediatric dose is safe in breastfeeding. The guidelines say that it may make the baby cranky, same as caffeine. The most dangerous part of an ECA stack, for a nursing baby, is the asprin.

Stuff like flaxseed and glutamine should be fine at any stage. If you were thinking of using something like E/C, then I'd suggest waiting until the baby is on solids. Nurse first, then take your supps, and wait a couple of hours before nursing again.

Worldwide, the average weaning age is four years, so there is a lot of experience out there of using supplements and drugs while nursing.

[energi]

Thanks for the info - I didn't know that!

[cardioking]

Ephedrine is banned as a fat burner, but not as an asthma medication. And there is a paediatric dose of ephedrine for children. The general rule is that any medication which has a paediatric dose is safe in breastfeeding. The guidelines say that it may make the baby cranky, same as caffeine. The most dangerous part of an ECA stack, for a nursing baby, is the asprin.

Stuff like flaxseed and glutamine should be fine at any stage. If you were thinking of using something like E/C, then I'd suggest waiting until the baby is on solids. Nurse first, then take your supps, and wait a couple of hours before nursing again.

Worldwide, the average weaning age is four years, so there is a lot of experience out there of using supplements and drugs while nursing.

Ephedrine is NOT banned. You can take it in 5 mg dosages.

[Baptizer]

Hello everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback everyone has provided! It took me awhile to reply because we are still without internet at home, ugh, so I am only able to check at work for now!

My wife and I had a discussion this weekend and she is definitely reconsidering not breast feeding, which is a great thing considering what everyone has posted!

In terms of her current diet, its not as if she is pigging out on a bunch of stuff. Honestly, at least from my opinion, it even seemed as though she was eating about the same amount prior to the pregnancy, which confused me considering how much weight she put on.

Thanks again for all the posts.....looking forward to my wife being able to read them in hopes of motivating her!

[energi]

She could be holding a lot of fluid - a lot of women gain a ton of fluid during pregnancy - which they lose very quickly after the birth.