My Doctor Called Me a Fatty

At my 27 week appointment, my doctor more or less told me that I was a fatty.  I was simultaneously offended and worried.  First of all, of course I'm fat - I'm pregnant!  Leave a girl alone!  But of course, I did gain about 22 pounds since December, which is definitely on the high end of the "recommended" spectrum.

I think the weight issue with pregnant women is such a touchy subject.  On one hand, pregnancy should not give you a "get out of jail free" card to eat whatever you want.  On the other hand, the emotional, psychological, and physical changes associated with pregnancy are challenging and for many, eating helps them to cope. I'm somewhere in between.  I don't necessarily eat whatever the hell I want, but sometimes - particularly when I'm out with others, who are drinking or doing other things that I can't do - food is all I have.  While everyone else is holding a drink, I can hold a (high calorie) lemonade, or an appetizer.  Or perhaps something sweet.  I'm an extreme introvert, and social situations can be exhausting for me.  Drinking used to help me relax but that is gone and I am painfully aware (perhaps overly so) of my awkwardness. 

Exercise is also hard.  Up until about the 20 week mark I was still jogging at least 3 nights a week on the treadmill.  But then my skin started stretching and my belly bounced up and down in ways that made me think my skin was going to tear.  I could have gone to walking, but I'm not really a walker, and so I just didn't.  Exercise left my life while the increased eating remained, which brings me to present day, and my doctor calling me a fatty.

To be fair to myself, this particular doctor is relentless about his nagging on women regarding weight gain.  None of the other doctors that I've met with have had any concerns about my weight.  I suppose in some ways I should be thankful that he's watching out for me, and keeping my health in mind.  But on the other hand I just want him to back off, since clearly his comment has been weighing heavily on my mind. 

I know that plenty of women have gained 30, 40, 50, or even more pounds during their pregnancies, and quite successfully lost that weight after the baby was born.  I just worry that if I let myself go now, I'll never get it back.  Or that "getting it back" will be an even harder, more miserable process than I anticipate it will already be.  No one has ever said that taking care of an infant is easy, and do I really want the added stress of having to lose a ton of extra weight to those few precious months that I get to spend at home with my little one?  Right now, I have slightly more control over what I eat, what I do, what I gain.  In three months from now, the damage will already be redone, and the work will all be to undo that damage.  If I do damage control now, life will be so much easier later, but it's hard.  Finding that balance is most certainly going to be an ongoing challenge for me.