Pregnancy Weight Gain

So I figured I'd make two posts today, since Bill volunteered to work on the holiday, and I'm home alone. Plus, I want to try to put something up every couple of days, so this will catch me up. ;)

Right before I found out I was pregnant, I had won (tied anyway) a weight loss challenge at my office, by losing 20 lbs. I had been preparing for our Wedding, and I was still planning on losing additional weight after the challenge was over. Shortly afterwards I found out I was pregnant, which was a wonderful surprise. The only problem being that I started worrying about gaining a whole bunch of weight. I had a friend who gained almost 100 lbs during her pregnancy. She has since lost that weight, but it was hard for her to take it off.

So began my anxious monitoring of my bathroom scale. I started off weighing myself at the same time of day, every morning. I had already made alot of changes to my diet to include more fresh fruits and veggies, more fibre, and less junk. I continued almost with the same diet, I just increased the amount I ate. I asked my doctor about it, and she said that since I was already carrying some extra weight that I only needed to gain about 25 lbs with the baby. It is absolutely necessary for a mother to gain weight with her pregnancy, even if you're overweight to begin with. The baby cannot live on fat stores alone, they need nutrients, calcium, vitamins and protein on a daily basis for optimal growth.

When I tried to find information about weight gain expectations, I found this chart which shows how the additional weight is distributed.

7.5 - 8.5 lbs	Baby
2 lbs	Amniotic Fluid
1.5 - 2 lbs	Placenta
1.5 - 2 lbs	Breast Tissue
3 lbs	Blood Volume
2 - 2.5 lbs	Uterine Muscle
4 lbs	Water
8 lbs	Maternal Stores

The weight needed is about 32 lbs. If you're overweight to begin with, you can gain a little less, and vice versa, if you're underweight to begin with, you'll need to gain a little more. A healthy weight gain is anywhere from 25 to 35 lbs.

I'm about 34.5 weeks pregnant, and I've only gained 20 lbs. Sometimes I'm proud/happy about it, but sometimes I worry about it. Is this enough weight? My stomach and breasts keep getting bigger, and my fundus height is normal, but it just isn't being reflected on the scale. I haven't gained any weight in a few weeks, and I've heard that many women stop gaining weight in the last few weeks/month of pregnancy. I know lots of women would say, don't worry you're just lucky, but I really want to hit that 25 lb mark. What if this is it for the pregnancy?

Maybe I'll just shut up and go help myself to some Thanksgiving leftovers now. :)