Holy Crap!

LOL Ooookkaaayy so this was the laasssttt thing I was planning on right now but here we go I guess.

I've lost 24 lbs doing under 15 carbs a day for the past two and a half months or so - and have been living off of this forum - and now I'm pregnant???

I was planning on losing a ton more weight but well yeah, you get the point.

SO. Here's some good news for anybody that this happens to - I've added back in some whole grains (gasp!) this past week and have not gone into a psychotic craving induced rampage! I thought to myself yesterday "I can have anything I want again!!" And went and looked in the fridge. There were my husbands pudding cups, a chocolate bar, some noodles, some chicken and rice on and on you get the point, our house is loaded for my husband - and I chose green beans, spinach and some low carb pot stickers!

How cool is that! I don't and have not yet wanted anything carby-ridiculous! I've been so HAPPY eating low carb - can you say BACON AND BUTTER??? - that now I'm unsure WHAT I'm supposed to do.

I can't go on eating super low carb, but I don't want to go high and mess everything up. Plus if I up my carbs that means no more unlimited bacon on my spinach salad and no more unlimited butter on my beans right? So ... I have to count calories now?

LOL has anybody here made it successfuly through pregnancy doing low-er carb? Have any idea what is a healthy amount or a good source to find out? I guess I could ask my doctor - lol - but I haven't been to one yet! And what if she freaks out? Or would she be happy? Will she know what she's talking about or give me some random # off the top of her head or off of the food pyramid chart??

I should stop freaking out any minute now. I don't want to gain 40 lbs like I did last time (Gaahhh!!) but I can't starve the baby either. I need a middle ground.

Ok, lol, I'm off to stalk this part of the forum now, I would appreciate any knowledge you all might have, and thank you so much for the past two and a half months!!


***UPDATE***** Okay, I just went crazy all over Google and it seems the consensus seems to be around the 65-75 a day range. Does that sound about right to you guys? It sounds great to me! Lol I could have a lot more green beans with that amount of carbs! ;D This is going to be so weird going from under 10 - 15 a day to 65! I need to start stalking the maintenance threads I guess?? I've got to use up these bags of soy, almond, golden and regular flax flours somehow! ;D*******

I'd say keeping your carbs in the 65-75 range is excellent and still considered moderate carb. You can ask cnmlisa but I thnk she'd agree.

One of the most important things you can do for your baby and your pregnancy is make sure you get adequate D3. It will give you an easy pregnancy and a healthy baby and protect your baby from birth defects, abnormalities, juevenile diabetes, and autism.

Assessment of dietary vitamin D requirements during pregnancy and
lactation1,2
Bruce W Hollis and Carol L Wagner
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/79/5/717

Congratulations lindystar!!

You are where I was in May I had been eating at a ZC level when I got pregnant... The big difference is that we had just given up trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully after a year when it just happened to us . The first thing I did was go looking rampantly for as much info as I could since I was and had been in ketosis for awhile.

I was worried that ketosis, while not harmful, might not be the healthiest for baby, so I upped my carbs to the 50-70 range. I found quite a bit of info, a little here and a little there, and relaxed about my eating habits, and went back to lower carb. My weight loss had been very gradual prior to pregnancy, about 20 pounds over 6 months, but I think that was largely due to some meds I had been taking at the time.

Everything I have read regarding LC continued throughout pregnancy has been good enough evidence to make me feel I am providing the best environment for my baby. I have also had an extremely easy pregnancy so far: absolutely no morning sickness, no swelling, no cravings, no mood swings... I don't even feel pregnant at all! I could just be very lucky, but I am attributing it to my healthy WOE. I lost the last 5 lbs into the pregnancy, I think I finally quit losing though a week or two ago, but have yet to gain anything at all. I am comfortable with this since I was pretty fluffy to begin with, and in the past week I've gone from not showing at all to having a belly that is larger than life already and baby has been doing great.

My midwife is a little sketchy that I don't eat grains or consume 4-6 servings of dairy a day but he's dealing with it. He's OK with me getting my carbs from fruit. The OB I had prior, well, I had a difficult time getting LC past his nurses, and the only thing the Dr. told me was not to eat too much italian food or drink too much soda.

Your baby doesn't need very much in the beginning, just eat for yourself and baby will be fine. The experiences I have read of women who were able to maintain their LC WOE throughout pregnancy are nothing but positive. There are many in this forum who may chime in to say they would def be keeping to LC if they were ever pregnant again (if they make it down to this part of the forum ). The best doctor for you will be understanding enough to trust you are taking good responsible care for the nutritional needs of you and your baby. Eating during pregnancy should not be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Take care and congrats again

hey there! I just found out some good news.... it's a bit early to be announcing, but whatever! I'm due May 15... doing my low-carb pregnancy research too =)

I gained waaaaaaaay too much last pregnancy on a diet of smoothies, pizza and ice cream, and I just recently lost my baby weight. so this time around, I need to be disciplined. I'm going to aim to keep it pretty low still (I'm not worried about ketosis), but not stress out about actual counts.

I would recommend the book Real Food for Mother and Baby, by Nina Planck. Lots of good info there!

ps....... congrats to all the preggos

It's great that you got pregnant WHILE low-carbing, because it won't be a shock to your system. I wasn't low-carbing when I got pregnant, therefore was not allowed to start. If I had already been on LC at the time, I would have just upped my carbs some and been fine.

I think it's best for you to keep your carbs at maintenance level during pregnancy (65-70 seems totally reasonable). As the pregnancy progresses, just understand you are going to get REALLY hungry. Also, if you have a craving for something, there's usually a good reason for it, so pay attention to that. My cravings didn't get ramped up until the second trimester and I just wanted sweet tea, jalapenos, and honey mustard. I don't know what's up with that, but whatever. lol

Stick to maintenance as best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you deviate occasionally. Pregnancy is hard! I was so, so hungry through pregnancy and breastfeeding that I thought I must just be overeating. Within three days of quitting breastfeeding, my appetite went back to how it was pre-pregnancy and I was so relieved that I actually had been THAT hungry.