I have a c section scheduled for the end of this month and I’m wondering about belly bands/binder for after the surgery. I’ve seen people say the hospital will provide this… for those of you who had that experience, did it fit? I don’t know if my hospital will provide one or not and am wondering if there’s a good one out there that will be the right size! I’ve been about a 3x pre-pregnancy and am mostly wearing a size or two up in pants now.
Hey beautiful mums, I’m pregnant with my second 22 nearly weeks high risk due to my medical history. My first Bub was via a planned c section due to my medical stuff and it was recommended for bubby at the time (my medical stuff is I have a shunt like a little drain for excess fluid in the brain due to a thankfully stable brain tumour which I’ve had for over a decade) so my drs have suggested I can delivery safely both ways c section or vaginal however if vaginal they recommend an epidural is done to prevent extra pressures on the brain when labouring.
So this time round ideally I would like to try deliver vaginally and I’m sooo curious about everything these are my main questions
- what the general experience is of an induction if I need one?
- How Long after do you generally go into labour/ Do you stay at the hospital after you’ve been induced?
- how is it when your actually giving birth with an epidural given you can’t move catheters etc? (I can’t vision trying to push a baby out with that damn tube etc in the way lol)
- how does it work if you end up needing a c section?
- if all is well do you get to go home that day after having an epidural? As I know c section you have to stay a few days
- do you feel much overall maybe apart from contractions of your go into spontaneous labour or if you are induced are you fairly “pain free” during it all?
I have nobody to ask, I would be so grateful for anyone to share their experiences. Thank you so much everyone 🌸
Hey ladies, looking for the best baby wearing recommendations. Im currently 30W5D and weighing in at about 250.
Hubby and i decided to just get a revolve 4-in-1 car seat instead of an infant seat, cause money and it just makes more sense to me than buying to seats within a year. So that means we'll have to do baby transfers from car seat to us/stroller when its cold and wintery (We live in Illinois). What wraps/baby wearing have you like the most, what's comfy for us with a larger circumference?
Thanks 🫶
Hello everyone
I am 33 weeks pregnant , I got scan today found out my baby is 1.7kg when my baby needs to be atleast 2 kg now and it show 31 week of growth . I am genuinely scared howevery blood flow , heart beat everything is normal. Doc said I need to eat more protein and increase my baby's weight in 4 weeks like eating eggs , chicken milk and all . How do I need to increase my child weight in my womb and is there something to be considered about doc said everything else is normal except for the weight . Got to another anomaly scan in 4 weeks is my baby small can a baby gain 1 kg in 4 weeks ?
(idk if this might be controversial and if I change my mind later in pregnancy or post partum I will come back and retract my statement)
But i’m so happy i didn’t decide to lose a ton of weight before pregnancy. I’m 5’4 and 260 lbs pre pregnancy.
Now I’m week 24 and I have no clue how much I weight now.
I know I’ve gained weight. I’ve also seen my other pregnant friends or just women online struggling for not having the same energy levels, being bloated, gaining weight, having more fat on their face or arms or stretchmarks or whatever
and I’m just so happy that hasn’t been an issue for me.
I don’t care I’m gaining weight because I was already fat. I don’t care if I don’t have energy to do that cute workout because I 100% wasn’t doing it before. I don’t care if my belly is bloated because it probably was before. I know I’ll get stretchmarks because I got them when I first gained weight, I still have them, and I know they won’t be the death of me.
I’ve just have such an appreciation of my body now, what it can do, and with the extra weight and everything is able to give me the most boring pregnancy ever and grow my baby boy, stay healthy, big and enough for both of us without challenging my mental health.
anyway just wanted to drop a body appreciation post
because I thought I was getting pregnant despite how overweight I was.
Before being pregnant it never crossed my mind that I would be pregnant and healthy THANKS to how my body is built🤍
and this is healing years and years of body and weight trauma
Would love to hear from this community about if their vaginal induction was successful. If so, how long did labor take? If it was unsuccessful, in hindsight would you have opted for a c section from the beginning?
I am 33 weeks right now and have had a challenging pregnancy with cervical insufficiency and needing a cervical cerclage plus bed rest for 8 weeks. Also have GD and she is a big chunky baby so will have to be induced 38 weeks.
This is my second pregnancy back to back (had my first last August will be having this one at some point this August) I was fat pre pregnancy and was actively loosing weight but was still on the chubby side. Anywho this second time around my grandmother has been firing off left and right with the back handed comments. The main one that’s bothered me was recently she showed up to my house unannounced and I was wearing shorts and a sports bra, first thing out of her mouth was “you got enough stomach”
Anyone else deal with rude comments
Just wanting to hear some birth stories from women who were induced and opted out of the epidural. How far along were you? Why did they induce? What was it like? Did you use other pain relief methods?
I just found out I’m pregnant this week and one of my first thoughts was that I didn’t lose as much weight as I wanted to before becoming pregnant. My weight isn’t posing a health risk, I’m active and eat balanced meals (except salt and vinegar chips lately lol), but I just can’t feel happy because I already have a belly. I have a PCOS body and I’m so afraid I won’t get the cute bump like other women get. My breasts are already saggy and face is already round so I’m afraid I’m gonna look awful by the time I’ve given birth. And I’m worried that everyone is going to judge me for being fat and pregnant. I should be happy but I feel awful about myself, and guilty that I feel this way!
Please tell me I’m not alone and it gets better. Or maybe I’m just spiraling 😢
I'm a FTM , 5'4 and now 270 lbs. I've been reading a lot about failed inductions resulting in emergency csections. I haven't thought too much about it, but I'm wondering how likely this will be because of my weight? I would rather plan a C-section instead of having one emegently.
Thanks in advance for any guidance
Hello, I’m ftm, 28 years, 31 weeks currently. I have high bmi, 106 kgs (233 lbs), pre pregnancy 101 kgs. Yesterday, I had a conversation with someone and they asked “have you prepared for c-section?” And I said no, because my OB said there are no factors so far that would require c-section, unless I wanted an elective one and I said no, I would go with vaginal birth unless there is a complication for me or baby, then I’ll be okay c- section.
Now this person goes, “well with your weight, c-section is evident. Dr is just making you feel good.”
Ever since that conversation I have been thinking and researching. Does being plus size mean I can’t have vaginal birth? I don’t have GD, or BP issues or any other thing that would indicate c-section. Getting a C-section isn’t a bad thing, it’s everyone’s choice but I just wanted to go for vaginal delivery always. Anyone with high BMI, what was your birth experience and how difficult was vaginal birth?
Hi, I'm a 39 y/o first time soon-to-be momma. I'm American and have been living in Japan for several years now (not military).
Now y'all know Japan doesn't have a lot of overweight folks, and so I expected some inexperience among medical staff. I purposely planned my pregnancy at a private hospital with a NICU, can do emergency C-sections, etc (this is not the default in Japan). I have a ton of family members, sister, mom, cousins galore who gave birth at the 250~300+ pound range without much of any issues at all.
For context on how I'm built, I'm big on my butt, thighs and boobs, but actually pretty light on the belly area. My belly never sagged over my crotch, I never had to pull my belly up for a sonogram, etc.
Somethings that happened to me in Japan that I never heard my other obese family members complain about was:
it was really hard to see the baby on a sonogram. Even with several different sonographers trying. I didn't find out until 36 weeks that I'm having a boy because my fat apparently made it too hard to see the baby. And even then, the head sonographer told me they're about 80% sure. The baby has only looked like an alien on sonograms btw, never got a clear picture of them...
finding a heartbeat has always been hard and they point to obesity as the reason. They always have to bring in the top midwife to find it, because the others can never find it.
I don't know how I'll be able to do natural birth due to this heartbeat finding issue. Today I'm 38 weeks and did NST testing and they had a midwife hold the device in place for 40 minutes (this poor girl) because it was hard to find the heart beat. Despite his beat sounding strong and steady, in the end, it was worthless data because there were 3 big gaps where the head midwife had to come in and find the heart beat again. How tf am I supposed to labor with this device on if it struggles to consistently read my son's heartbeat when I'm relaxed and reclined lol?
Is this normal? I feel like none of my fat fam ever complained about these issues in the US. My main concern is that I'd like to labor naturally and not being able to monitor him well is freaking me out. I'm at peace with doing surgery if I have to, but even the docs at this fancy hospital seem cautious about doing a C-section on a fat girl like me. I live in Tokyo, not the boonies...2 weeks to go and I'm a ball of nerves.
Hi all! I need something to ease my mind or something. So, I went in with sudden UTI like symptoms for a uti around 18+5 weeks, got a urine culture and I had 1+ Protien, 3+ Blood and some other things that seemed to indicate a UTI, per dr.
She told me that around 18 weeks was too early to try to do any pre-eclampsia diagnoses, however I did have my first elevated bp while there, with readings from the nurse maybe 15 minutes apart. They were just slightly over the pre-e threshold. I noticed in my after visit summary, it had something about notifying MFM (I already attend) and diverting pre-eclampsia labs/testing. Had to get antibiotics, got the urine culture back, and then had to switch to some that would actually fight the infection. As of today, I’m finishing that second round of abx and do feel much better, still have a little bit of mild cramping and urethral discomfort.
Should I just not worry about this? The doctor wasn’t super reassuring one way or another, but just wondering if anyone else had something like this or a “one off” type thing. I’m a FTM, 26 years old, 5’9 and now 281lbs at 20wks. My mom also hasn’t been helpful, saying well “I told you weight gain would lead to this” and is chalking it up to me gaining 35lbs in 20 weeks. I came off of a GLP-1 after losing about 70lbs, so that was also a shock. And yeah, I have been beating myself up about not eating the best and exercising like I should, but this is definitely scaring me, and my mom scared me, lol
I'm trying to choose a mode of birth.
I am 40, a first time mom, and my pre-pregnancy BMI was 33 (don't know what it is now since I am not weighing myself while pregnant because I don't want to spiral).
I have been told the combination of age + weight makes vaginal delivery much more risky and likely to end in an emergency C-section or other trauma (episiotomy, forceps).
(I didn't feel like my midwife was fear-mongering, but just just trying to be transparent and share the statistics.)
Has anyone had a successful vaginal birth as a first time mom 40+ years old? Or did you choose a c-section (or wish you did)? Just curious what others' experiences were like, and how you made your choice.
Oh and I don't have any complications (e.g. GD, preeclampsia, etc etc) if that is relevant / helpful ...
[Trigger warning]
I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant and I've been told that my blood flow to the placenta has dropped to 8th percentile from 49th percentile (29th week). I'm from Hyderabad, India. Is anyone here from India?
Doctor has suggested Doppler every 3 days and I'm at loss on what to do next, never expected something like this would happen to my bub, the guilt is overwhelming.
I'm unable to overcome the guilt of becoming pregnant, while being overweight. Pls share your experiences here, so that it will be easy to navigate further and be positive.
Edit: I've been consulted with daily NST and my baby has AC, almost 4-5 weeks behind and is less than 1 percentile.
I'm too emotional to write down properly but it is what it is. Idk what to do next and it's hard to stay positive.
Hi everyone! I am currently stuck awake and consumed with the same thoughts on repeat the last few weeks.
Over the past 2 years I have lost a significant amount of weight, I went from 330 to about 220.
In January I had a huge life change and ended up moving across the country with my husband and I had gained at least 15-20lbs back. That really didn’t bother me much because I knew I was going through a lot of life changes and things would settle again.
However, finding out I was pregnant has sent me into a spiral. I spend every day just looking at my body, noticing the weight gain and feeling more and more depressed. I feel like I can’t control my eating.
Even though I’m nauseous AF I still eat. And I’m exhausted ALL the time, so I know I’m not exercising enough.
I know I haven’t done anything directly to put my baby at risk, but I’m really mentally struggling and being extremely hard on myself. All I want is to enjoy the process and I know my body is bloating and going through so many changes. I don’t know how much of these feelings are from my hormones.
I barely want to leave the house because I’m so scared of people seeing me and judging me for my weight gain. The last time I was weighed I was 240 so I know I haven’t gained too much, at most 250. I just look in the mirror and am SO ashamed.
I just need support and nobody in my life can really understand this right now.
My regular swimsuits are getting to be a bit too small with the baby belly. I need something that will work for big boobs as well. Seems hard to find swimsuits that are maternity that will fit okay if you aren't straight sized.
Any good recommendations? I'll even take an Amazon link if it's good.
Thank you!
I am 17 weeks and am already struggling with back pain. I have a history of back pain and was diagnosed with stenosis of the lower spine years ago. And doctors noted "the beginnings" of arthritis. I lost some weight and got more active and hadn't had bad back pain for months before I got pregnant. But now in the last week, I've noticed my back has become so much more sensitive. I can't bend over too much or really pick up anything heavy without back pain.
I was thinking about getting a belly band even though I am barely showing. However, I am not sure what to buy. I have an apron belly and I've seen a few comments that belly bands aren't helpful for those.
Does anyone have any advice? Any belly band suggestions? For more size context, I am 5'5" and 265ish pounds.
Yes I was technically considered obese at the beginning of my pregnancy. I’m just appalled that they have now marked me as severely obese at one of my previous prenatal appointments, but they told me I’m gaining weight at an appropriately healthy rate for my growing baby and not to lose any weight right now. I’m only 4’11 and I haven’t been a “healthy weight,” according to BMI charts, since I had an ED in middle school.
I know I need to think about my baby and be healthy for her, but this brings back feelings and tendencies from my ED days (not wanting to eat and forcing myself to try to eat). It’s not like I wasn’t already self conscious and worried about my baby’s health now I feel shamed and punished for my weight gain when I’m not even in my third trimester yet. I’m honestly worried that I’m going to slip into bad habits when my baby is born or even before because of this. Rhetorical question: Like should I just stop gaining weight since I’m clinically obese despite my still growing baby? I’ve gained 14-15 pounds so far, but I know since I was considered obese I was only “allowed” to gain at most 15 during this pregnancy. I still have a whole trimester left, so what do I just try to stop the weight gain but put my baby at risk?! 🤦♀️ Obviously I wouldn’t do that, but these thoughts are now in my head tormenting me with each pound I gain.
Why don’t they consider the growth of the baby, placenta and amniotic fluid or any other metabolic issues when they write up our medical charts? My labs have been perfect, I don’t have GD, and my blood pressure has been normal, so why do they have to put this feeling on me like I’m not doing my best to take care of my baby or not eating healthy enough when I have been conscious about what I’ve been eating during pregnancy. I’ve also told them I have PMOS/PCOS so does that not factor into the equation at all? No, because they use an outdated chart that only looks at height and weight and nothing else.
Sorry for the rant I’m just feeling emotional about this right now and needed to let off some steam. My boyfriend has never brought up my weight and even shuts me down when I try to tell him I feel fat and disgusting. The only people who have ever brought up my weight have been my own (obese) dad and people on the internet, which I don’t pay much attention to because they are just internet trolls. Until now I haven’t put much thought into my weight since I’ve been relatively healthy and happy, but now that’s it’s a relevant fact in my medical charts it feels damning and shameful.
I’m 28 weeks and experiencing the weirdest pain for the first time. It feels like (from my belly button over to my hip bone) an insane charlie horse!! I don’t know how else to describe it other than intense painful cramping. Is this round ligament pain? I’m not too worried about preeclampsia because this is definitely not right upper pain, I’d consider it low abdomen.
I haven’t had much pain yet this pregnancy so this is somewhat alarming. I did place a call to the nurses just for some peace of mind, but I just was curious if anyone else has experienced this?