pregnancy & calories what to do

I just found out I am pregnant. I have been calorie counting for about 2 months. But now am really unsure where to go next. Here was my pre-preg diet: 1350 calories a day and was going to start a 4 day a week light excersize plan.

I am 5'0 and 180 ish. I gained all my weight during my previous pregnancies. I have never gained weight otherwise. Never lost much either! I am terrified of reaching 200. I gained 60 with my son and 40 with daughter.

I will see my doctor tomorrow. Need to figure out calories and working out. This week, since I just found out, I am not counting calories. Not going crazy either, still no fast food or soda. Oh and its very early, I am only 4 weeks.

My doctor never actually told me to increase my calorie intake. What I read said to increase your maintainence calories by 300 after the first trimester. Just remember, 300 calories is really not much! A bowl of cereal with skim milk is about that much. You should speak with your doctor about weight gain expectations. I didn't start either pregnancy overweight but have read that some women are put on a special diet and don't gain weight or even lose weight while pregnant. I do not advise doing either without speaking to your doctor and doing so under their close supervision.

The rule of thumb with exercising while pregnant is do what you did before you were pregnant. However, if you didn't exercise before you were pregnant, I don't see how adding a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood would be bad. Again, this is something to speak to your doctor about. Mine told me not to let my heart rate exceed 140 and not to lift anything over 30 pounds (I think he may have been overly cautious since I had a previous c-section).

I may sound like a broken record but I think you should tell your doctor exactly what you wrote. He/She will probably have some great advice for you.

You can get the weight off afterward with hard work. Don't compromise the health of your baby because of some numbers on a scale (not saying you would!). The important thing is to be healthy at this moment in your life. Eat the right things, get plenty of rest, take your vitamins and do some sort of physical activity.

Congratulations!