strange pregnancy question

My friend just had a baby boy and she told me that he was 7 lbs. 1 oz, and he was born a few days after the due date.  While still a pretty healthy weight, I was a little surprised that he didn't weigh more, considering the amount of weight my friend had put on during pregnancy.  She started out around 210 or 215 I think, but up to birth she looked as if she were close to 300.  I wouldn't be surprised if she told me that she had gained 70 or 80 pounds during pregnancy.

Her first baby was well over 8 pounds, and she was around 210 when she had her and didn't gain much weight during that pregnancy.  I was just wandering if being severly overweight or morbidly obese or gaining too much weight can impede on fetal growth and actually cause lower birth weights.  I was thinking that the baby may have not had enough room to grow any bigger after a while.  I hear overweight women are more likely to have bigger babies, but I was wondering where the cut off point was to that and where and if the trend starts to reverse.

I was about 200 lbs when I had my daughter, but I started out at 160 and gained most of my weight during the 3rd trimester.  She was 8 lbs 5 oz when she was born, though she was a little on the short side (she takes after me :p)

Just curious if anybody had any similar experiences or any input to add. Thanks :)

being overweight doesnt limit the babys growth, has alot to do with how you eat while your pregnat are u giving in to those cravings, plus are you carrying water weight, etc

*speaks from experience*

being morbidly obese AND pregnant doesn't impede the baby's growth.

it does put you at increased risk of gestational diabetes (and high blood pressure), and if you do develop gest. diabetes, it means that your baby may gain fat too rapidly, and if the baby gets too large too soon, you may have to have labor induced prematurely, to prevent the baby from getting too large to deliver...

babies of diabetic mothers often have extra abdominal fat and fat that sort of hangs off their shoulders

but other than that... morbidly obese women can deliver a healthy weight baby.

I was morbidly obese. I did have gestational diabetes. I did gain about 70 lbs during my pregnancy.  My daughter weighed 7lbs 6 oz.  She was delivered 4 days after her due date.

I followed the diabetic diet they gave me to the letter.  I had already gained about 35 pounds before I was diagnosed, just from my usual bad eating habits.  Then I started losing weight on the diabetic diet.  My doctors adjusted my diet to a higher calorie level because they did NOT want me to lose weight while pregnant.  But I still gained another 35 pounds in the last 2 months...

Interesting, about the diabetes. I have a friend who was always extremely careful about what she ate (she's on the short side, like under 5 feet, most of her family is a little overweight), and she got pregnant. She got big, quick. Huge actually, but just her stomach, she didn't really gain weight elsewhere. Then at about 7 months in the doctors told her she had developed diabetes! I just wonder what made her develop diabetes, since she wasn't over weight, and wasn't eating junk....

well, being obese just makes it more likely that a woman will get diabetes during pregnancy - obesity doesn't actually cause it

the cause of diabetes is a pancreas that can't produce enough insulin (hormone) to keep blood sugar within the healthy range

it's mostly genetic, but being obese puts added stress on the pancreas, as does the pregnancy

I was lucky in that after my pregnancy, my blood sugar went back to normal (the stress of the pregnancy was gone, even though I was still obese)

Some women remain diabetic afterward - it's like, the pancreas is just shot...

When I lose this extra weight, it will be a relief for my pancreas, because obviously I have the genetics to have a weak pancreas (& become diabetic)

Well, breaking news today: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationw orld/2003646831_pregnancy02.html.  I don't know about the baby's birthweight, but it seems to affect them later.

Thats a bunch of melarki--- I gained 70 lbs with my first child and he was below average on weight until he was like 5 and then average from then on. My second I gained 28 lbs and she got chunky around 5th grade through 9th grade (puberty).

Theories..... thats all it is.

Well, yes.  I gained 17 pounds & my 4 year old is a little chunker (although still in normal weight range).

it's well established that children of overweight & obese parents are more likely to become overweight & obese

it seems to be somewhat widely agreed that there is a genetic tendency, but that it is only expressed when lifestyle factors turn on those genes

i.e. even if you have that genetic tendency, you won't be obese if you eat a good diet, appropriate calories for your activity level, and do get some activity 3 to 5 times a week...

I weighed 317 lbs at the end of my pregnancy. My daughter is now 15 years old and has never been overweight -- because I made sure she had good nutritious food and enrolled her in tae kwon do and things like that...

given my struggles and the bad example I have set, I thought I owed it to her to make sure she never followed in my footsteps. When she was 12 she started calling herself 'fat' and so I spent a lot of time talking to her about how girls fall into that trap...

With my first pregnancy i was obese, but lost 1 stone during the pregnancy. My son was born at 10lbs8.
I am pregnant now (about 8 weeks) and i am still losing weight. I should not gain more than 15lbs, and only in the final trimester. So i will continue my healthy eating plan, stick to 1900 cals a day till the end of my second trimester, and then increase that to the suggested 2200 cals a day for the final 3 months. This is still below my BMR of 2600, but enough to sustain me and the baby.

I was 320 lbs when I got pregnant with my daughter... I gained 10 lbs the entire pregnancy. I was VERY careful about what I ate, and I walked everyday.   My daughter was 7 lbs 14 oz, and 21 inches long.   Shes now 18 months, happy, and very healthy.   :)

Actually, from what I've heard women that are over weight to begin with don't gain much pregnancy weight. Some even lose weight during pregnancy. Still having babies with a hefty healthy birth weight.


However, just because a baby is small doesn't mean it's unhealthy. It could mean that the baby is simply a SGA. (Small for gestational age. ) My baby was only 5lbs 8 ounces. She was perfectly healthy and full term.

Small for gestational age (SGA) is a term used to describe a baby who is smaller than the usual amount for the number of weeks of pregnancy. SGA babies usually have birthweights below the 10th percentile for babies of the same gestational age. This means that they are smaller than 90 percent of all other babies of the same gestational age.

SGA babies may appear physically and neurologically mature but are smaller than other babies of the same gestational age. SGA babies may be proportionately small (equally small all over) or they may be of normal length and size but have lower weight and body mass. SGA babies may be premature (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy), full term (37 to 41 weeks), or post term (after 42 weeks of pregnancy).

Although some babies are small due to fetal growth problems that occur during pregnancy. Some are small because of genetics. ( Their parents are small. )