What to do when expecting?

[jj]

Well, I just got the news about 2 months ago, and I just started posting back here, but I am going to be a father around the end of next january. So, my question is: My wife wants to eat as healthy as possible, as well as not gain a lot of bad weight, only what is necessary. She is wanting an idea of what she should eat, and also wants to know how much walking she should do a week. She is not going to do any weight lifting, she just wants to walk to keep her cardio on track. She is a very small girl, around 5'6" and 120 lbs after 3 months of pregnancy. She's put on about 7 lbs. She was around 115 before. I believe we have read that 2 lbs. a month is a healthy weight, any validity to this? Also, I know she has to hydrate more than usual, what would be a good target for hydration for someone her size. 80 ounces to 128 ounces a day?

[jj]

By the way, she will be 26 in about two weeks, and this will be our first child.

JJ

[Mahler]

JJ,
I know absolutely nothing about pre-natal nutrition. I just wanted to post to congratulate you on the upcoming event. Those passionate pushups really paid off. LOL

Mahler

[emartin10]

First of all, CONGRATS man!! That is awesome!

For a woman of healthy weight, 25-35 lbs can be expected in total weight gain. In the first trimester, 7 lbs is right on track. Expect about @ .5 - 1 lb a week for the rest of the pregnancy. From what I've studied, an extra 300 or so kcal a day than what she used to eat is what she should be aiming for, and she should really follow a typical clean eating program similar to those that we follow. Balancing her diet is key. Lots of nutrient dense fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains. Low fat dairy as well. Pretty much how we all strive to eat huh?

Her doctor should be able to provide a lot of info regarding vitamins and minerals. Keeping calcium, sodium, iron, thiamin, B vitamins, etc. at healthy levels is a pretty important step, but can be regulated pretty well with a clean diet and multi vitamin. If you are worried about any of this, her doctor should be the first person you go to.

Congrats again JJ, more motivation for you to keep fit! Gotta be able to keep up with your kid!!

[GqArtguy]

Krista Scott Dixon has several very good articles about training pregnant women. Click on "women stuff" and be sure to read the one called "weight training during pregnancy."

www.stumptuous.com/weights


This article discusses the nature of cravings but provides some nutritional ideas as well.

Pregnancy Nutrition

[GqArtguy]

This was interesting study, you can tell her not to have a fatty later on in life [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Note: this is just one study, it was done in animals so the effects may not be 100% transferable, I just found it to be an interesting read and not a definitive stance on consumption and obesity.

Study shows why poor prenatal nutrition leads to obesity
18:16 07 June 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Anna Gosline

Poor nutrition in the womb may remodel the brain circuitry of newborn babies and predispose them to become obese in later life, research in mice suggests. The findings may help doctors to prevent the onset of obesity in susceptible infants who are born undernourished, say the researchers.

“Nutritional restriction during fetal life is not uncommon even in modern Western society,” says Norimasa Sagawa at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, one of the researchers. “The important point is that after such nutritional stress during fetal life those (children) are exposed to high-calorie and high-fat diet during their later life.” A combination that may be a recipe for obesity.

Previous research has found that babies born to malnourished mothers are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes in later life. These small babies have a phase of “catch-up” growth, where within their first months they grow more quickly than their bigger born counterparts, eventually reaching equal size. During catch-up, they also show elevated levels of the appetite-regulating hormone leptin. This is secreted by fat cells and acts to diminish appetite when reserves are high.

These children may have been pre-programmed with a “thrifty phenotype”, a term coined by David Barker at the University of Southampton, UK, and his colleagues. They reasoned that fetuses who sense food scarcity in the womb set their bodies to store more fat, more efficiently. But it was unknown exactly how this programming worked.

Feeding regimes

To investigate the mechanism behind this, a team led by Shigeo Yura, also at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, gave pregnant mice different feeding regimes – normal and underfed.

As in previous studies, they found that underfed mothers gave birth to lower-weight pups that grew quickly and caught up with normal pups after 10 days. When fed a diet with an average calorific content after weaning, pups from both normally fed and underfed mothers weighed the same and had similar fat reserves.

But when the pups that experienced fetal impoverishment were fed a high-fat diet, they grew much bigger than pups that had prenatal plenty. At 17 weeks, mice from the underfed group weighed about 15% more and stored 50% more fat than the prenatally well-nourished mice on the same high-fat diet.

The underfed pups also showed a premature spike in leptin levels at 8-10 days old, compared with a surge on day 16 in normally fed pups. To test whether this early spike was the cause of later obesity, the team injected leptin into normally fed mice at 10 days. These mice also tended to become obese under calorie-rich diets, even though they had experienced no fetal malnutrition.

Always hungry

The authors conclude that the early leptin spike alters neural circuitry during a critical developmental window and interferes with the transport of leptin to the brain in adulthood. These changes effectively make the mice insensitive to “full” signals. Understanding this mechanism might help clinicians to reverse fetal programming, says Sagawa.

Susan Ozanne at Cambridge University, UK, who studies nutritional programming, cautions that it is difficult to translate these results from mice to humans, but she sees potential to treat obesity-prone children. “The evidence certainly suggests there are critical time periods in humans and there is some kind of postnatal plasticity where you have the potential to intervene.”

She adds that the results reinforce the importance of a balanced diet during pregnancy – not just the raw amount of calories. “You can have lots of food but still be starved in terms of a particular nutrient,” she says.

Journal Reference: Cell Metabolism (vol 1, p 371

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7482

[hard_rox]

JJ,

can't add anything except "Congratulations!". your life will be forever changed.....for the better. Good luck and welcome back.

[jruck37]

JJ- Congratulations on the pregnancy!

I kind of agree with the premise of the study GQ posted, but I see it a little differently.

My hypothesis is that if the mother eats poorly and gains more weight than necessary while pregnant, it will be hard for her to control herself after pregnancy. Not only would this lead herself down the road to obesity, but what would she be feeding the kids? Most likely the same junk she's feeding herself. Thus, the child is more predisposed to obesity. And the cycle continues...

[jj]

Thanks John, Gq, hard-rox, jruck and emartin. I appreciate the congrats. Also, thank you Gq for all of the insightful studies and links. I will be sure and show them to her when I get home. I was really interested to find that malnourished animals in the prenatal condition were predisposed to lead a life of obesity. That is very interesting. Thanks again.

JJ

[emartin10]

Originally posted by jruck37:
JJ- Congratulations on the pregnancy!

I kind of agree with the premise of the study GQ posted, but I see it a little differently.

My hypothesis is that if the mother eats poorly and gains more weight than necessary while pregnant, it will be hard for her to control herself after pregnancy. Not only would this lead herself down the road to obesity, but what would she be feeding the kids? Most likely the same junk she's feeding herself. Thus, the child is more predisposed to obesity. And the cycle continues...

That is certainly true. Poor nutrition during pregnancy can also lead to birth defects, post partum depression in the mother, gestational diabetes and hypertension, etc. That's not to say some women won't get weird cravings, that happens too. Just have to keep an eye on them. Good links GQ!

[TrainingGirl]

emartin pretty much hit it. An extra 300 cals and a healthy weight gain of 25-35lbs. I gained 30 during mine. 7lbs during the first trimester is ok, the usual is around 5lbs. She can expect 12-15lbs during each of the next two trimesters (averaging about 1lb a week). You don't want to gain too little or two much. She should be getting in 400mcg of folic acid to aid in the prevention of neural tube defects. (If she is taking a prenatal vitamin, it should contain this amount). She may need to increase her calcium intake as well. She should be taking in 1200mg/day. If she does not take in an adequate amount, the baby will pull from her calcium stores which can demineralize her bone.

Walking is definitely good for her. It is not recommended that her heart rate go above 140, so just have her check this periodically.

I'll quote a few things on nutrition for you from my ob book ("Maternal-Newborn Nursing Care" by Ladewig, London and Olds, 4th ed):

"The carbohydrate and caloric needs of the pregnant woman increase, especially during the last two trimesters. Carbohydrate intake promotes weight gain and growth of the fetus, placenta, and other maternal issues. Dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain cereals and breads all contain carbohydrates and other important nutrients."

"The body uses the increased protein that is retained, beginning in early pregnancy, for hyperplasia and hypertrophy of maternal tissues such as the uterus and breasts, and to meet fetal needs. The fetus makes its greatest demands during the last half of pregnancy, when fetal growth is greatest. The protein requirement for the pregnant woman is 60g/day, a 14g increase. Animal products such as meat, fish poultry, and eggs are sources of high-quality protein. Dairy products are also important protein sources" (The dairy, of course, can also help to increase her calcium)

"The RDA for fat is less than 30 percent of daily caloric intake, of which less than 10 percent should be saturated fat."

Also want to say Congrats [img]smile.gif[/img]

[jj]

Thanks TG, she will enjoy the info from another womans input.

JJ

[raymond3]

This post couldnt have come at a better time..me and my wife are trying to conceive now, and she wanted to know this information.

Thanks for the post, they are very helpful to me too...oh and congrats jjschmidt1121!

[jruck37]

Originally posted by raymond3:
This post couldnt have come at a better time..me and my wife are trying to conceive now,

ditto!


Actually, that's what initially perked my interest to respond.

[jj]

Good luck to both of you and your wives. I hope you are as excited about it as I.

JJ

[raymond3]

Yeah its funny, we have been trying for 3 months...she was on BC for 3 years, now shes off and getting pregnant isnt as easy as it seems (when actually trying)...I think its taking her body a little more to normalize though because of the BC. We are presently on round 4, so hopefully Ill have some good news soon.

Oh and believe me, Im excited...cant wait. (I know alot of people probably think Im crazy, but Im ready )

[OldGuy]

We are presently on round 4

TMI, ray, TMI. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Best of luck, and congrats jj. It will be the best thing you have ever done.

[raymond3]

[quote]Originally posted by OldGuy:
[QB]

We are presently on round 4

TMI, ray, TMI. [img]tongue.gif[/img] [quote]